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Ranma ½ #23

Ranma 1/2, #23

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Follows the adventures of half-boy, half-girl martial artist Ranma, whose transforming gender problems began at the Accursed Springs in China when he became cursed to turn into a girl when splashed with cold water, and back into a boy with hot water.

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

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About the author

Rumiko Takahashi

1,584 books2,100 followers
Rumiko Takahashi (高橋留美子) was born in Niigata, Japan. She is not only one of the richest women in Japan but also one of the top paid manga artists. She is also the most successful female comic artist in history. She has been writing manga non-stop for 31 years.

Rumiko Takahashi is one of the wealthiest women in Japan. The manga she creates (and its anime adaptations) are very popular in the United States and Europe where they have been released as both manga and anime in English translation. Her works are relatively famous worldwide, and many of her series were some of the forerunners of early English language manga to be released in the nineties. Takahashi is also the best selling female comics artist in history; well over 100 million copies of her various works have been sold.

Though she was said to occasionally doodle in the margins of her papers while attending Niigata Chūō High School, Takahashi's interest in manga did not come until later. During her college years, she enrolled in Gekiga Sonjuku, a manga school founded by Kazuo Koike, mangaka of Crying Freeman and Lone Wolf and Cub. Under his guidance Rumiko Takahashi began to publish her first doujinshi creations in 1975, such as Bye-Bye Road and Star of Futile Dust. Kozue Koike often urged his students to create well-thought out, interesting characters, and this influence would greatly impact Rumiko Takahashi's works throughout her career.

Career and major works:

Takahashi's professional career began in 1978. Her first published story was Those Selfish Aliens, a comedic science fiction story. During the same year, she published Time Warp Trouble, Shake Your Buddha, and the Golden Gods of Poverty in Shōnen Sunday, which would remain the home to most of her major works for the next twenty years. Later that year, Rumiko attempted her first full-length series, Urusei Yatsura. Though it had a rocky start due to publishing difficulties, Urusei Yatsura would become one of the most beloved anime and manga comedies in Japan.

In 1980, Rumiko Takahashi found her niche and began to publish with regularity. At this time she started her second major series, Maison Ikkoku, in Big Comic Spirits. Written for an older audience, Maison Ikkoku is often considered to be one of the all-time best romance manga. Takahashi managed to work on Maison Ikkoku on and off simultaneously with Urusei Yatsura. She concluded both series in 1987, with Urusei Yatsura ending at 34 volumes, and Maison Ikkoku being 15.

During the 1980s, Takahashi became a prolific writer of short story manga, which is surprising considering the massive lengths of most of her works. Her stories The Laughing Target, Maris the Chojo, and Fire Tripper all were adapted into original video animations (OVAs). In 1984, after the end of Urusei Yatsura and Maison Ikkoku, Takahashi took a different approach to storytelling and began the dark, macabre Mermaid Saga. This series of short segments was published sporadically until 1994, with the final story being Mermaid's Mask. Many fans contend that this work remains unfinished by Takahashi, since the final story does not end on a conclusive note.

Another short work left untouched is One-Pound Gospel, which, like Mermaid Saga, was published erratically. The last story to be drawn was published in 2001, however just recently she wrote one final chapter concluding the series

Later in 1987, Takahashi began her third major series, Ranma ½. Following the late 80s and early 90s trend of shōnen martial arts manga, Ranma ½ features a gender-bending twist. The series continued for nearly a decade until 1996, when it ended at 38 volumes. Ranma ½ is one of Rumiko Takahashi's most popular series with the Western world.

During the later half of the 1990s, Rumiko Takahashi continued with short stories and her installments of Mermaid Saga and One-Pound Gospel until beginning her fourth major work, InuYasha. While Ran

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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
Profile Image for Frahorus.
356 reviews81 followers
February 2, 2018
1. Il ritorno di Collant Taro (se la prende col vecchiaccio perché vuole cambiare nome!)
2. Un lord si innamora di Ranma
3. Guerra ai fornelli (il ritorno della madre di Ranma che prova ad insegnare a cucinare ad Akane)
4. La canna dell'amore (Ranma si innamora di Ryoga ma è un incantesimo)
5. Hikaru sfida Ranma indossando un'armatura alla Robocop (la storia più debole e brutta dell'albo).
Profile Image for Lisa.
173 reviews25 followers
January 31, 2021
This volume concludes the Musk Dynasty Arc, and I continue to be convinced that twenty-years-ago self was stupid AF for not liking it. We left off with Ryoga and Mousse returning to the mountain top with the Pot of Liberation. Ranma makes a move for it, but it falls into cracks that were made with all of Master Herb's ki damage. Ryoga leads Mint down there with him after the Pot, and has the strong Tiger-fellow hold the chasm open. But his strength only last so long, and Lime pulls him out (leaving Ryoga down below). But they're underestimated Ryoga, and he emerges via Bakusai Tenketsu and a geyser of hot water that's been affected by the Pot of Liberation.

Ranma jumps into the geyser and performs another Hiryu Shoten Ha, even though Herb has already defeated this skill. But it's a trick, he's using the tornado to suck in all the hot geyser water, and Herb's cool ki to pull it down into a tidal wave, which Ranma calls The Dragon's Descending Crashing Wave. Herb now defeated, Ranma thanks the other two for saving him and then asks what took them so long and chastises them (while saying that he's humbling himself. Classic arrogant Ranma. But then the entire mountain comes crashing down, and Ranma saves the unconscious Herb.

Meanwhile in Tokyo, Akane hears the news of the crumbling mountain and knows that's where Ranma went. There are all sorts of other ill omens around the house, but she has faith, and bundles up to stand outside in the cold to wait for Ranma's return. Kasumi calls her back in for a hot bath, but when she gets there Ranma, Ryoga, and Mousse are all in the soaking tub. Akane is angry at first, but softens when Ranma says that he wanted to be a man again before she saw him. He's grousing about some welcome home when Akane throws herself at him in a giant hug.

The next story arc is about a new teacher, Miss Hinako, who is allegedly amazing at keeping delinquent students in line. The thing is, when she shows up she's a little girl. But then Happosai comes along with his bag of stolen underwear, and she sucks out all his ki through a five-yen coin, citing the School of Anything Goes ultimate technique, and transforms into a gorgeous adult woman. Ranma becomes obsessed with finding out her secret. She agrees to meet him after school, but she's back in child-form by then and has the attention span of a child.

Shampoo, Akane, and Ukyo are less than pleased that Ranma's all over the new teacher. They confront him, and Akane sarcastically says that she's glad to see this sweet side of Ranma and walks away, while Shampoo and Ukyo beat him up. Kodachi, even, arrives and swears to steal back Ranma. These three confront Miss Hinako and she sucks out their battle ki. She finds Akane while she's carrying their unconscious forms, and the two go to a sweet shop where Miss Hinako confirms that they're Ranma's fiances and that means he's a womanizer and a delinquent. She also gets red bean paste all over her face because she eats like a child.

Ranma learns from Happosai that there are five pressure points he can press to make her lose this ki-sucking ability. (Happosai taught her this ability as a sickly kid, for the record, and used her ki power to stop those who were preventing him from stealing panties. Go figure.) Two pressure points are on her shoulder blade and three are around her right breast. Ranma... doesn't really think about this. He tries to perform it the next day, but is caught in the act by Akane and Ukyo and it looks like he's sexually assaulting the teacher. He later tries it from behind, and it looks just as bad. And then he tries sneaking up on her away from school, and ends up molesting a little old woman. So finally he realizes that it won't look bad if it's a girl. (Tbh, I'm kind of uncomfortable with all the boob-grabbing images. But that's Ranma-life.) The fiances decide that Miss Hinako won't recognize their battle ki if they attack her during the gym class basketball game. Kodachi and Shampoo put on clever disguises (aka, don glasses) and join the Furinkan students, and Ukyo asks Miss Hinako to play. Ranma, unaware of this plan, turns into girl form in order to play as well, with the intent to hit her pressure points.

What ensues is one of the longest repetitive battles I've seen in Ranma, where he repeatedly fails, and Hinako switches from child to adult form over and over again as she sucks ki and then blasts it at him. When it looks like he's lost completely, he comes back in boy form (still wearing girls' gym shorts, which is mortifying until he changes) and he puts the basketball net rim over child Hinako so that when she sucks ki and turns into an adult, she's stuck and he can hit the pressure points. Happosai then tells him that he needs to do this every day for a month to make it go away completely. (sigh)

The final arc, which extends to the next volume, begins with Akane remembering a boy who saved her from a monster and gave her a charm - a little hornpipe she can wear around her neck. Later she makes curry and it's edible - but when she tries to share it everyone runs away and won't eat (especially Ranma). Watching tv, she hears the news of monsters in a forest near Ryugenzawa and her sisters talk about having vacationed there as kids, and Akane getting lost. She realizes that her memories were real. The Tendos get a call asking for help (because martial artists deal with monsters) so she leaves in the night. The family assumes it's because Ranma was rude about her food, which they have all now tasted and appreciate, and send him to bring her back.

Akane arrives in Ryugenzawa to offer assistance, and runs into a boy who saves her from a monster. He warns her to leave because his traps are all over the forest, and then he falls into one. So she takes him back to his home (and remembers that she did this when they were kids). She asks if he gave her the hornpipe and he says no. Later, he's out and about and runs into Ranma, who asks if he's seen a woman. No, he says, he hasn't. When he gets home, his sick grandfather reminds him that she's there, and he feels bad for having told Ranma otherwise. He then goes to take a bath, forgetting that his grandfather told him Akane was taking a bath. They have a naked meet-cute, a la Ranma and Akane, and when he turns around she sees the scratch scars on his back and knows for sure that he's the boy who rescued her. He just, apparently, has a terrible memory. (to be continued)

I loved the ending of the Musk Dynasty arc, and Ryugenzawa is one of my absolutely favorites. The story about Miss Hinako was fun, but too long for my tastes. I still rate this a really good Ranma volume, though!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
6,073 reviews35 followers
January 20, 2016
Part 1: A Man Again!: The battle between Herb and Ranma continues. Ranma gets changed back into a man.

Part 2: Welcome Home, Ranma!: Ranma defeats Herb but Ranma saves Herb's life when the mountain starts to collapse.

Part 3: The Ultimate Teacher!: Hinako is the new teacher. She's at times a young girl and then can absorb energy from the boys and turn into a woman. Hinako takes on Happosai and defeats him.

Part 4: The Eight Mysterious Treasures: Kodachi, Ukyo and Shampoo think Ranma has feelings for Hinako. Happosai tells Ranma a little about Hinako and says he must not attack her.

Part 5: The World's Most Powerful Woman: Happosai fills Ranma in on Hinako's history. Hinako has defeated Kodachi, Ukyo and Shampoo. Happosai tells how to neutralize Hinako's abilities.

Part 6: Go For the Pressure Points: One or two of the pressure points Ranma is supposed to use are on her right breast. Akane catches him doing that and think's he's trying to cop a feel.

Part 7: The Formation From Hell: The girls try to attack Hinako during a basketball game but they keep hitting Ranma-chan instead.

Part 8: The Eight Treasures Change Return: Ranma-chan and Hinako fight and Hinako seems to win.

Part 9:The Ultimate Health Regimen: Happosai tells more of Hinkao's back-story. Ranma fights her and wins.

Part 10: Akane's Journey: Akane remembers being lost in a forest during a vacation her family took when she was quite young. Akane prepares a meal that's actually edible. Akane goes back to look at the forest again.
Profile Image for Sha.
1,000 reviews40 followers
January 7, 2021
07 Jan 2021

Objective vs Subjective Rating: 4 stars vs. 5 stars
Reason: I had an ABSOLUTE BALL with this volume with everyone teaming up to confront the Happosai threat and Ranma/Ryoga (the OTP in this series I shall not take criticism) to everything else it was a WILD ride from start to end and boy was I happy to be on it. But it still doesn't advance the story in any way.

General Disclaimer: Because of reasons, what I'm actually reading are the English translations of the Japanese volumes which are arranged differently from the US versions. So the stories I'm reviewing will not match up with the stories in the description. Plus; there are going to be spoilers because there isn't enough content in these books for me to discuss them while avoiding the things.

Profile Image for Philmore Olazo.
Author 6 books4 followers
February 12, 2023
We have here the end for of the Musk warrior saga, and it’s quite satisfying. Herb is an incredibly powerful foe that pushes not only Ranma, but Ryoga and Mousse to their limits.

We’re then introduced to teacher Hinako, who has a special technique to put all rascals down.

And finally a story dedicated to Akane. Where we find out something from her past.

Profile Image for Cecillie.
1,063 reviews15 followers
December 28, 2023
It took me a bit to get to this volume, because the first thing I saw upon opening it was Happosai, and as established; I can't stand that character. I'm also not a fan of the dude he named, because I know that once he's there then Happosai is bound to show up. I think the rest of the volume was fine once we got past Happosai.
Profile Image for Bernardo.
Author 1 book6 followers
December 28, 2020
En este capítulo Ranma se enamora de Ryoga 😱.
Una de las cosas que me gusta de la serie es que todos los productos milagrosos que se venden y que están bien chafa funcionan. ���
Profile Image for BooksLoveBrains.
321 reviews2 followers
December 30, 2023
This one is quite great! We get to see Ryoga and Ranma really being friends, slightly more depth to Ranma and Akane’s relationship, and of course the humor is on point.
Profile Image for Chloe.
245 reviews
January 31, 2024
The demon returns now with tentacles??

Ranma falling in love with Ryoga funny.

+ Akane is good at boiling water. ♡
Profile Image for Miss Ryoko.
2,678 reviews171 followers
December 29, 2012
Well, I wasn't too impressed with this volume. The conclusion with Herb was alright, but the main storyline with the cutesie teacher that became an Amazonian kick ass babe... meh. It really wasn't that funny of a storyline. I wasn't that into it.

However, I started reading the next volume before I wrote this and the storyline that started at the end of this volume really has me hooked! So that's good!!

The end is getting near (yet its still so far)! I can't wait to finish this series so I can read some regular books off my book shelf.
Profile Image for Jucchan.
61 reviews
April 22, 2011
They say you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. But I did - And I was right ;) This series is amazing! You get genderbender, fantasy, action, romance and slapstick-humor along with intense serious moments, what more can you want?
Profile Image for Matt.
562 reviews7 followers
January 12, 2013
More wacky gender / martial arts hijinks, this time with a focus on girl- and womanhood.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews

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