Ranma 1/2 (1992)

[らんま1/2]

Volume 22

Author/Artist: Rumiko Takahashi
Publisher: Shounen Sunday Comics

Synopsis:
The Martial Arts Cheerleading match reaches its finale. Ranma is reunited with his mother. A charm reverses Shampoo's feelings for Ranma. Happousai gets lured in by a haunted girls' dormitory.

Story/Characters:
I don't have much to say about the latter part of the cheerleading match. It wasn't a story that interested me too much. Now, the introduction of Ranma's mother, on the other hand, that had my attention. All told, I really don't like how stories with Ranma's mother are handled while Ranma is trying to hide his identity. I absolutely despise Genma dragging Ranma down with his cowardice. (But, hey, at least it does get resolved further down the line, so there's some light at the end of the tunnel.) It's also nice that Akane's able to find something of a surrogate mother in Nodoka. This happens to be where the TV series ended and the Reversal Gem story was the first OAV released a year later. It's funny how Ranma's pride drives him to go to such lengths to get Shampoo back on his side. The final one-shot is another Happousai story and pretty bad even by Happousai story standards. Ugh.

Art:
The climactic scene of the Nodoka story is great. Also, Shampoo looks quite lovely all dolled up for the trap she and Cologne set for Ranma.

Conclusion:
The introduction of Nodoka and the Reversal Gem story make this volume worth reading. The Happousai one-shot is garbage, but that's not enough to take away from the quality material.

Rating:
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