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Ranma 1/2 is Now on VUDU

 


This is a classic anime series from the creative mind of Rumiko Takahashi, who, at this point, is probably better known outside of Japan for another TV series,?InuYasha.
Ranma 1/2?preceded that one and uses much of the same voice cast in the English dub. Canadian actors, in fact, who have appeared in the flesh in such shows as the rebooted?The Outer Limits, Stargate SG-1,?and?The X-Files, to name a few. So they are no slouches.?You can be all subtitle-fan as you want but I will not hear a single word of disparagement against the talent involved in the dubbed version.
Both versions can currently be viewed on VUDU for free, albeit with ad interruption. All you need is to create an account there and you're good to go.
Having watched the first two episodes there (and comparing them to my DVDs), it seems they have decided to go with the original Japanese openings and closings rather than the ones created by VIZ for home video. So you don't get Trish Ledoux's "translation" of the theme song as it is being sung. Actually, she made up her own lyrics, which fit the spirit of the song better in English than a literal translation would have done, plus it rhymes.
Another thing missing is the previews of the next episode, which came after the closing credits. Myriam Sirois narrated those while in character as Akane, and I consider them to be as much a part of the show as anything within the episode. Ah, well, I suppose it could have been worse.
Ranma 1/2?(pronounced "Rahn-mah One Half") begins in the household of a widower named Soun Tendo, who teaches martial arts in his dojo. He gets a postcard from his old buddy, Genma Saotome, telling him that he will be arriving shortly from China with his son, Ranma. Soun, as it happens, has three daughters. If one was to marry Ranma, they'd all be one happy family, and the legacy of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts would be secure for another generation.
Here is where the complications begin. Ranma and his dad are cursed. When splashed with cold water, Genma turns into a panda. Ranma turns into a ginger female version of himself. Warm water changes them back. The two older Tendo girls immediately push the youngest sister, Akane, off on Ranma, even though she and Ranma get off on the wrong foot, and neither of them likes the idea of being fiances. A fact that everyone else blithely ignores.
Ranma being a girl half of the time and also having to deal with a violent tomboy for a fiance are just two of his ever-growing list of problems. As the series progresses, new semi-regulars are introduced who either bear grudges against him for one reason or another, or they become smitten with him to the point where they just won't leave him alone. Akane, too, gets a bevy of uncalled-for suitors who see Ranma as the barrier to her that they must defeat. And Akane often has to fight Ranma's would-be girlfriends for the same reason. Good thing she's no pushover at martial arts, herself.
I forgot to mention that this show is hilarious. The humor is just nonstop, from the clashes of characters who must be seen to be believed to the ridiculous situations that they often blunder into. Yet, when it needs to, it can turn quite dramatic on a dime. The music written for this series also deserves high praise. So much of it is catchy and hummable.?
Highly recommended!
Walt
 

Ashamed to admit that after all these years I've still not watched a single episode of this series. A few short years ago I purchased the Viz re-release DVD Set 1, which is somewhere around here still sealed, somewhere.

Believe the Canadian company that handled the dub for Viz was Ocean Group, they were big into commercial dub work back in the 1990's before the anime licensed publishers discovered they could save money doing in-house dubbing.

And what a shame that they chose to cut the "Next Episode previews. Like you, I consider those to be as much a part of a episode as any other part of the episode. The would be like cutting episode's prologue segment (content before the opening sequence), you lose something doing that.
On Friday, March 19, 2021, 08:34:30 PM EDT, Walter Chmara via groups.io <wchmara@...> wrote:



This is a classic anime series from the creative mind of Rumiko Takahashi, who, at this point, is probably better known outside of Japan for another TV series,?InuYasha.
Ranma 1/2?preceded that one and uses much of the same voice cast in the English dub. Canadian actors, in fact, who have appeared in the flesh in such shows as the rebooted?The Outer Limits, Stargate SG-1,?and?The X-Files, to name a few. So they are no slouches.?You can be all subtitle-fan as you want but I will not hear a single word of disparagement against the talent involved in the dubbed version.
Both versions can currently be viewed on VUDU for free, albeit with ad interruption. All you need is to create an account there and you're good to go.
Having watched the first two episodes there (and comparing them to my DVDs), it seems they have decided to go with the original Japanese openings and closings rather than the ones created by VIZ for home video. So you don't get Trish Ledoux's "translation" of the theme song as it is being sung. Actually, she made up her own lyrics, which fit the spirit of the song better in English than a literal translation would have done, plus it rhymes.
Another thing missing is the previews of the next episode, which came after the closing credits. Myriam Sirois narrated those while in character as Akane, and I consider them to be as much a part of the show as anything within the episode. Ah, well, I suppose it could have been worse.
Ranma 1/2?(pronounced "Rahn-mah One Half") begins in the household of a widower named Soun Tendo, who teaches martial arts in his dojo. He gets a postcard from his old buddy, Genma Saotome, telling him that he will be arriving shortly from China with his son, Ranma. Soun, as it happens, has three daughters. If one was to marry Ranma, they'd all be one happy family, and the legacy of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts would be secure for another generation.
Here is where the complications begin. Ranma and his dad are cursed. When splashed with cold water, Genma turns into a panda. Ranma turns into a ginger female version of himself. Warm water changes them back. The two older Tendo girls immediately push the youngest sister, Akane, off on Ranma, even though she and Ranma get off on the wrong foot, and neither of them likes the idea of being fiances. A fact that everyone else blithely ignores.
Ranma being a girl half of the time and also having to deal with a violent tomboy for a fiance are just two of his ever-growing list of problems. As the series progresses, new semi-regulars are introduced who either bear grudges against him for one reason or another, or they become smitten with him to the point where they just won't leave him alone. Akane, too, gets a bevy of uncalled-for suitors who see Ranma as the barrier to her that they must defeat. And Akane often has to fight Ranma's would-be girlfriends for the same reason. Good thing she's no pushover at martial arts, herself.
I forgot to mention that this show is hilarious. The humor is just nonstop, from the clashes of characters who must be seen to be believed to the ridiculous situations that they often blunder into. Yet, when it needs to, it can turn quite dramatic on a dime. The music written for this series also deserves high praise. So much of it is catchy and hummable.?
Highly recommended!
Walt

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