25 minSeason 1 • Episode 161
LatestNodoka's stay is rather short, and Ranma hears that she is planning on returning home soon. He decides that he would really like for her to meet him as himself rather than as Ranko. Genma warns Ranma and constantly tries to stop him. When a water main explodes and sends Nodoka flying, Ranma saves her and Nodoka catches a glimpse of her son before passing out. When she awakens, she sees Ranko and thinks it was all a dream. Nodoka says that in her dream Ranma was very manly. Ranma tells Akane that he will wait until he can be normal before he tells his mother the truth. At the end, Ranma and Akane head off to school, and then turn towards the screen and say 'Goodbye!'.
Ranma Saotome, a teenage martial artist, and his father Genma travel to the 'cursed training ground' of Jusenkyo in China. There, despite the warnings of the Chinese guard, they fall into the cursed springs. From now on, whenever Ranma is doused in cold water, he turns into a girl and a cute, well-built redhead at that. Hot water changes him back into a man again, but only until the next time. To make matters worse, his father engages him to Akane Tendo, a girl who hates boys.
Acting
Megumi Hayashibara's pitch-perfect dual performance as both Ranmas
Direction
Rumiko Takahashi's manga translated to pure animated chaos
Writing
Gag density that somehow sustains 161 episodes
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Ranma helped popularize 'gender bender' tropes in Western anime fandom, though its treatment of gender identity is more slapstick than progressive by modern standards.
Kappei Yamaguchi and Megumi Hayashibara recorded Ranma's male and female voices separately, rarely meeting in the booth—fitting for a character literally split in two.
JP
