Ranma 1/2 03
らんま1/2

Spoiler Summary/Synopsis

Kuno wants Nabiki to give the red haired, pigtailed girl a plushy as a present. Nabiki gets Kuno to buy a set of female Ranma photos for ¥3000, and a set of Akane photos for ¥4000. To that end, she arranges for Kuno to give it to Ranma to give it the the red haired girl. Ranma rejects it, but is forced to hide when he gets splashed with cold water. Nabiki’s continued pot stirring forces Ranma to fight Kuno.

Ranma defeats Kuno, but Akane exposes that Ranma took a powerful blow from Kuno. Akane and Ranma go to Tofu’s doctor’s office, where he learns that most of Ranma’s injuries came from Akane. Before they leave, Tofu tells Ranma that Akane is actually a gentle person. To force Ranma to depend on Akane, Tofu gives Ranma a delayed crippling effect, that causes him to be carried home, in female form, by Akane.

At school, the boys give up on Akane after learning Ranma defeated Kuno. Ranma, who got splashed on the way to school, is forced to deal with Kuno. Later in PE, the boys discuss Ranma’s training and Akane, when Akane hits a baseball that nails Ranma in the cheek. Akana and Ranma return to Tofu-sensei’s office. Ranma thinks Akane should hang out since she likes Tofu-sensei. Akane rejects it ’cause she knows Tofu-sensei likes someone else.

Kasumi shows up, causing Tofu-sensei to act completely different and further injure Ranma. That evening, Ranma observes Akane training, so he tries to cheer her up. He easily defeats her, but calls her cute when she smiles. However, that night before bed, he insults Akane and pays for it with another injury.

Thoughts/Review

I can’t believe how much I’m enjoying this series thus far. Certainly, Ranma 1/2 03 continues that enjoyment. If only the Netflix subtitles weren’t utter fetid dung.

More Comedy Fun

Even though I knew everything that would happen in Ranma 1/2 03, I found myself laughing out loud many times. I honestly think that one major aspect of this is how great the original seiyuu are in their old parts. I’ve even gotten used to Kuno’s new seiyuu, going through his normal comedy routine.

That aside, Nabiki secures her role as pot stirrer. I laugh at how she jerks Kuno’s chain, starting with addressing him as Kuno-chan. What makes her so great is how she goes about stirring the pot. She purposefully and earnestly says things in such a way that can easily be misinterpreted. At the same time, she openly admits that she does things like sell illicit photos of female Ranma and Akane to Kuno.

Then there’s the heavy array of slapstick humor, such as when Kuno takes a legitimate beating. Also, there were hilarious moments, such as Akane not realizing Ranma transformed into female form on the way to school. It is so wild to me that even though I know this story, the gags are hitting to well to me in this new version.

That’s not to say everything is comedy. I think this episode is where Ranma and Akane first start showing a measure of care and concern for the other. But, this is a Takahashi-sensei work, so that means that the two won’t progress much beyond where they are at here until the very end of the series. And that’s a shame.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

Let me wrap up my review of Ranma 1/2 03 with some final thoughts.

• It is very minor, but for a show supposedly set in the 80s, it doesn’t feel very 80s-ish. Then again, maybe I’m biased. I thought about that when Akane took a call on a corded telephone. For young folks today, that moment would probably stick out like a sore thumb. Still, 80s-styled music would probably help.
• Man, I hate to say this, but I honestly think the “localizer” for Netflix should be fired. Most of the time, incorrect names are used in the subtitles. Why? ‘Cause the “localizer” decided that it was stupid for folks to address each other by their last name, which is common in Japan.
• Beyond that and the loss of Japanese honorifics (save “senpai” for inexplicable reasons), too often, choices are made to have folks say things different from the what they actually said. “Tomboy” instead of “troublemaker” springs to mind. Changing the Japanese martial art “kenpo” to the Chinese martial art “kung fu”. Kung fu and kenpo are not the same thing.

In the end, Ranma 1/2 03 would have been awesome fun, but the Netflix localizer did their best to ruin things. I mean, what do those idiot Japanese people know when it comes to writing? 😑