Ranma 1/2 (1994)

[らんま1/2]

Volume 28

Author/Artist: Rumiko Takahashi
Publisher: Shounen Sunday Comics

Synopsis:
A young man pretends to be Ranma for Nodoka in a bid to get his hands on the secret technique of the Saotome Style. Happousai tries to make Ranma cry for him to provide the key ingredient for a youth potion.

Story/Characters:
The Yamasenken/Umisenken story, if not the height of storytelling for the series, comes very close. You've got all the tension built around Ranma keeping his identity from his mother, the very real threat Kumon represents, Ranma's journey to master the Umisenken, then the big showdown between the two, pitting the techniques against each other. Ryuu Kumon is an interesting character with a fair bit of depth. As an antagonist, I prefer him to Herb and Saffron, the two heavy hitters in the series, as he has a lot more going for him. In the end, the takeaway is that Genma makes people's lives miserable. We already knew this, but it gets reinforced substantially here. The Happousai one-shot at the end of the volume isn't even worth mentioning, so I won't.

Art:
There are some great action scenes this volume. The Yamasenken and Umisenken are such different styles that we get some good visual variety. Also, Nodoka is cute with her hair down. I just thought that was worth mentioning.

Conclusion:
Ignore the Happousai one-shot. The Yamasenken/Umisenken story is amazing and makes this volume worth owning. Very good stuff.

Rating:
Own It