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One might have hoped that the last Ranma 1/2 story, and the second to
last Ranma 1/2 compiled book, would have been among Takahashi Rumiko's
strongest, most humorous works. Alas, this was not to be. However,
even Takahashi Rumiko at her most mediocre is still pretty good stuff.
Background
For anyone who has read or seen RANMA 1/2, the
short background introduction to the martial arts-comedy series is
probably old hat by now: Saotome Ranma is a 16 year old martial artist
boy who fell into the cursed Jyusenkyou springs in China. And as a
result he now turns into a girl when doused with cold water, and returns
to a boy with hot water. Ranma also happens to be betrothed, by
parental arrangement, to a feisty girl named Tendou Akane, who happens
to have no patience for his ego. Of course Ranma is not the only
Jyusenkyou victim; over the course of the series he meets all sorts of
friends and foes who turn into anything ranging from a baby pig to a
three-headed goddess when exposed to cold water.
Book 37 Overview
Book 37 opens with the traditional Jyusenkyou-related intro that
Takahashi seems so fond of: mysterious creatures (in this case winged
bird-people) arrive in town and the major Jyusenkyou victims (Ranma,
Ryouga, Mousse, Shampoo, and Genma) happen to be nearby. The
recycling of this opening is unfortunate; it's been used at least
twice before. And much like in the magic kettle story the bad guys
consist of two bumbling sidekicks (Korma and Masala) led by a
competent leader (Keema). (Yes, those names are all names of Indian
dishes). This time the bad guys are after a map of the Jyusenkyou
springs that will allow them to drain the springs. They manage to not
only get the map, but they brainwash Shampoo into becoming Keema's
loyal slave.
The Jyusenkyou Four chase after the bird people, who return to China
with the map and Shampoo. With the help of the Jyusenkyou guide's
young daughter, Ranma and friends challenge the bird people and their
lord, who is a small spoiled boy called Saffron. Though Ranma
captures Saffron's powerful magic scepter, the prince Saffron finds out
that Akane is Ranma's weakness. So the bird people kidnap Akane from
Japan and drop her into a Jyusenkyou spring...
Alas, even that plot twist was too obvious, and the explanation behind
it didn't quite make sense. Suffice it to say that by the end of
Book 37 the Jyusenkyou springs have been drained by the bird people,
Shampoo and now Genma are on the enemies' side, and Ranma is
struggling to rescue Akane in the Jyusen caves, the source of the
Jyusenkyou waters. Our heroes still don't know why the bird people
have drained Jyusenkyou.
Overall
The action is fast and the page flow is fantastic, as usual, but
unfortunately the plot and its little surprises feel a little
recycled. Even the occasional glimpses into the main characters'
hearts don't seem to go deep enough. Overall Ranma 1/2 Book 37 is a
good read and is worth buying (especially for those trying to complete
their Ranma collections), but is not the author at her best.
--Eri Izawa
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