...Well, you're probably here because the title got your attention, so let's be clear about this from the get-go: I don't mean Ranma 1/2 was unjustly strangled in the crib. It ran forever, and in many ways, it reveals problems that would've beset Arrested Development anyway if it weren't. But, we're getting ahead of ourselves.
The individual components of Ranma 1/2 are of uniformly high quality. The art is clean, crisp, shows exactly where everyone is in fight scenes, and does a great job of setting up the jokes and comedy. The characters are just well-drawn enough to feel like people rather than caricatures, but just silly enough that you laugh at them instead of feeling sorry for them most of the time. The humor and action are generally top-notch and creative, inventing new situations rather than just repeating the same ol' tired gags over and over again. And the series defies common logic to remain mostly a comedy to the very end.
But... that end is a long time coming. And here's the rub: like Arrested Development, this is ultimately a series about people who don't grow, develop, or change. They aren't quite as evil or unsympathetic as that show's protagonists, true, but they're still static. They're not all flat or devoid of complexity, per se, but they are set in stone. The few exceptions are, of course, some of the highlights of the series: Ryoga in particular goes from Ranma's bitter enemy in love and war to a healthier relationship as his rival, with his own girlfriend and life. In a way, though, that makes it worse: by showing that growing as people and undergoing self-improvement is possible, it serves to underscore just how sad it really is that everyone else refuses to.
By the end, the series is still funny, but I didn't make it for years. I had to take breaks eventually. It's still good most of the way through, but, again, the simple fact that no one grows or changes serves to make it feel samey, even as I acknowledge that the situations the characters are in are quite different. It gets exhausting and a little frustrating.
It's not bad. But most of it is just more of the same.
The Arrested Development of Martial Arts Comedy
...Well, you're probably here because the title got your attention, so let's be clear about this from the get-go: I don't mean Ranma 1/2 was unjustly strangled in the crib. It ran forever, and in many ways, it reveals problems that would've beset Arrested Development anyway if it weren't. But, we're getting ahead of ourselves.
The individual components of Ranma 1/2 are of uniformly high quality. The art is clean, crisp, shows exactly where everyone is in fight scenes, and does a great job of setting up the jokes and comedy. The characters are just well-drawn enough to feel like people rather than caricatures, but just silly enough that you laugh at them instead of feeling sorry for them most of the time. The humor and action are generally top-notch and creative, inventing new situations rather than just repeating the same ol' tired gags over and over again. And the series defies common logic to remain mostly a comedy to the very end.
But... that end is a long time coming. And here's the rub: like Arrested Development, this is ultimately a series about people who don't grow, develop, or change. They aren't quite as evil or unsympathetic as that show's protagonists, true, but they're still static. They're not all flat or devoid of complexity, per se, but they are set in stone. The few exceptions are, of course, some of the highlights of the series: Ryoga in particular goes from Ranma's bitter enemy in love and war to a healthier relationship as his rival, with his own girlfriend and life. In a way, though, that makes it worse: by showing that growing as people and undergoing self-improvement is possible, it serves to underscore just how sad it really is that everyone else refuses to.
By the end, the series is still funny, but I didn't make it for years. I had to take breaks eventually. It's still good most of the way through, but, again, the simple fact that no one grows or changes serves to make it feel samey, even as I acknowledge that the situations the characters are in are quite different. It gets exhausting and a little frustrating.
It's not bad. But most of it is just more of the same.