Hello everyone. Well, I thought after all the terrible anime that I've covered over the years, that I would do something nostalgic and fun to help close things out: the first movie of Ranma, 1/2! I have been curious to check this out for a long time; since it was advertised on the tail end of a lot of my Viz Pokémon videotapes growing up. I am not a huge fan of the show, but I at least know enough about it and like it enough to do this. So, let's open up "Ranma, 1/2: Big Trouble in Nekonron, China!"
We open on a recurring character named Happosai doing a panty raid as he flees from his latest score. Basically, just imagine Master Roshi if he were much shorter and even more perverted and you've got him. What follows is a chase throughout the town, and this establishes the tone of the movie nicely. Sure, as the villains enter the space; it shows what's at stake; but overall, the film is in tune with what I have seen in the TV anime. It has some fantasy and martial arts elements, but also plenty of quirky humor. Fitting, as the series centers around and the title character and his dad being cursed to turn into a girl and a panda bear respectively whenever someone splashes water on them. I may be crazy, but I'm not crazy enough to make that up.
Amidst all the commotion; we are introduced to our villain: Prince Kirin! He kidnaps Akane, vowing to marry her upon his return to his homeland of Nekonron, China! It’s a fairly common plot, but much like the series it’s based on, it’s the execution that makes the movie interesting.
So, it falls to Ranma and the rest of his compatriots to help save Akane, lest she fall victim to a life of drudgery; toil and three meals a day of rice and pickled vegetables! This may only be 72 minutes long; but it definitely captures the deadly serious, yet humorously offbeat nature of the series it's based on.
On top of this, it turns out that while Akane may be held hostage by this wedding; that someone does want to marry this prince: the excitable recurring character of Lychee! She is every bit as energetic as the nuts that she's named for, especially given how many time she and her companion Jasmine (no relation to the Disney Princess of the same name) ejected Ranma and his cohorts from their boat.
Back with Kirin, it turns out that he has a very strict diet of rice and pickled vegetables as per tradition in Nekonron, much to Akane's disappointment. It also turns out that in addition to her heart, Kirin and his "Seven Lucky Gods" have stolen Lychee's treasure of the "Scroll of Luck!"
Storming out of the dining hall on Kirin's ship in disgust, Akane happens upon the kitchen; and the cargo hold as well! She threatens to dump their food supply into the sea, and then feeds him some of her cooking! It turns out that it's not just tradition, but the people of Nekonron are only able to eat rice and pickled vegetables! Amidst all the chaos, Ranma is able to infiltrate the ship along with Akane's father Soun Tendo, Nabiki Tendo, Ranma's father Genma, Shampoo and Mousse. However, the next big obstacle to clear in order to stop the wedding are the Seven Lucky Gods, a group of fighters chosen to defend Nekonron! On top of this, Kirin is also a surprisingly powerful fighter; having previously defeated Ranma and the others with little more than a pair of chopsticks and a single stroke!
Kirin's flying ship has arrived in Nekonron, and as they approach the castle of the Seven Lucky Gods, Ranma must face them all in battle to stop the wedding and rescue Akane! First up is Bishamonten!
It also turns out the "Seven Lucky Gods" escalate in strength and technique with each succeeding opponent, with the second and third being a pair of twins playing Go named Daihakuse and Daikokuse! They are easily some of the most polite villains I've ever seen, and perfect examples of the unique antagonists this movie and series has to offer.
Though the game does pose a challenge for Ranma and his posse, he is able to not only break their game board; but their castle as well so they can cross the third gate!
Their fourth opponent is named Wu, but this fighter will be Jasmine's to deal with as Ranma and Lychee's true challenge is the femme fatale Monlon, who Happosai is very eager to see.
Though her enchanted lute does prove to be a formidable threat, Shampoo cuts the lute's strings! Shampoo will deal with Monlon as Ranma goes to face the boss of the fifth gate: Kirin's faithful ward, Ebiten!
I must say, for how long ago this movie came out, the animation and fight choreography have held up amazingly well over time. Though the quality of the images and recording I'm working with are the best I can do on such short notice, if they ever remastered the movies like they did the TV show; I hope they do a good job.
Before Ebiten can strike the final blow, Ryoga; one of Ranma's rivals is able to stomp on Ebiten! Along with everyone else, it's time to crash this party!
Just as the two scrolls are about to be joined, it's time for the final battle: Ranma's "Katchu Tenshin Amaguriken" against Kirin's chopstick technique!
Though Ranma at first thinks Kirin has some force field surrounding him, he realizes instead that the chopsticks themselves are being used for both defense and attack! Akane even demands that Kirin stop the fighting, but neither he nor Ranma will concede the fight! Ranma then realizes that the chopsticks can't block water attacks, so he shatters the floor and sends a geyser through the hole; flooding the lower levels of the castle and providing an opening for Ranma to fight back!
With his "Hiryu Shoten Ha" attack, Ranma wrecks the castle and saves Akane! As Lychee approaches Kirin, it turns out that their halves of the scroll make up recipes for his favorite pickled vegetable dish! So, we close on Lychee hooking up with Kirin and a rocking outro theme of "It's Love" by the band Rabbit!
Before I post my final recap, but after dealing with the slogs of my previous recaps; I thought something nostalgic would be good to indulge in, and "Ranma 1/2: Big Trouble in Nekonron, China" is a perfect way to do that. While this took much quicker than I was intending to, and while I do admit that this movie does require some knowledge of the source material to fully enjoy, it does capture the Ranma 1/2 experience in an easily-digestible 72-minute package. It's a film that I'm glad I was finally able to talk about, and a great penultimate anime to write about before my retirement. I hope to enjoy 2019, and I am eager to share more with you in the future wherever I am then. Next up is my final recap, so don't miss it. Bang.
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