AKA: Ranma 1/2 Chuugoku Nekonron Daikessen! , Okite Yaburi no Gekitou Hen. Ranma 1/2 The Decisive Battle in Nekonron, China! A Battle to Defy the Rules

Genre: Martial arts romantic comedy

Length: Movie, 74 minutes

Distributor: Currently licensed by Viz Entertainment

Content Rating: 6+ (some violence)

Related Series: Seasons 1 to 7, twelve OAVs, one more movie, It's a Rumic World: 50th Anniversary Weekly★Shonen Sunday (crossover)

Also Recommended: Urusei Yatsura, Maison Ikoku

Notes: Movie feature for the Ranma 1/2 franchise.

Rating:

Ranma 1/2 the Movie: Big Trouble in Nekonron China

Synopsis

Well, it was a typical day in the Tendo neighborhood. Akane and the rest of the cast were chasing Ranma down the street, wanting his blood, his hand in marriage, or other sundry things. Suddenly, though, Lychee and her combat elephant Jasmine show up with a scroll and a grudge against Happosai, the perverted master of the Anything-Goes-School-of-Martial-Arts.

The scroll turns out to be an object that would signify the owner to be the bride of a Chinese prince named Kirin. Due to a mixup, Akane somehow gets her hands on the scroll just as Kirin shows up in his floating airship. Kirin and his minions, the warriors of the Seven Lucky Gods Martial Artists, kidnap Akane and take her with them to China. It's up to Ranma and the gang to journey to Nekonron, China to face down Kirin and his minions in a desperate fight to get Akane back!

Review

This is the first Ranma 1/2 movie, and it does a pretty good job of living up to its namesake, even if it does go a little overboard in the silliness category.

The plot is the standard rescue-the-damsel-in-distress story that we've all grown to get tired of, but as before, the characters help save it from becoming too cliched. Nothing can be taken for granted when these fellows are around, although Lychee is one of the most annoying female characters in anime I've seen thus far (besides C-ko, of course). The sequence of battles between Ranma and the rest of the Lucky Gods Martial Artists become a bit repetitive after awhile, though, and the final showdown between Ranma and Kirin was WAY over-the-top.

Dialogue is great, with zingy one-liners being tossed around as if they were free. Actually, some of the best lines I've ever heard are found in this movie. The animation is pretty good as usual, and the soundtrack does a pretty good job capturing the mood of each scene.

Overall, not a bad watch at all. Not quite as good as the Ranma series, but pretty fun nonetheless.

— Raphael See

Recommended Audience: Just the same as the TV and OAV series. Okay for just about everybody.