Ranma 1/2, Random Rhapsody: Master and Student...Forever!?

Ranma 1/2, Random Rhapsody: Master and Student...Forever!?
Fuji TV
April 3, 1992
Anime
DVD
D+

I think there's a potentially good story here, with Happosai, the tiny old man, using magic pills to make Ranma his student forever, and the spell backfiring so that they're sort of like conjoined twins, except he's attached in different places at different times.  But because the old man is a pervert, there's a lot of tasteless humor about him exploiting the situation, including throwing water onto male-Ranma so as to be able to touch female-Ranma's breasts.  And there's a lot of pointless violence, not funny or well choreographed or accomplishing anything.  I'll note that I thought Happosai was Akane's grandfather, but it appears that he's not actually related to any of them, which makes this all a little more palatable than it could be.  This episode drags down the average for the episodes on this disc (which oddly skips over the previous episode, "A Teenage Ghost Story") to a C+ instead of a B-, recommended but with reservations.

Ranma 1/2: Random Rhapsody: Akane's Unfathomable Heart

Ranma 1/2: Random Rhapsody: Akane's Unfathomable Heart
Fuji TV
March 20, 1992
Anime
DVD
B-

A mind-reading little boy* shows up and demonstrates his clairvoyance on the extended family, including the perverted grandfather (more about that character later).  He can't read the mind or heart of Akane, since he has a crush on her, and yet by episode's end he knows that both she and Ranma are liars, presumably about their feelings for each other.  There are a few scenes with "Chinese" Shampoo, she of the purple hair and crush on Ranma.  And a guy with a headband wanders the woods and he's probably another suitor, but again, I can't keep track of all these characters.  Note that Ranma does not transform into his female form this time.


*In anime, it's really hard to tell the ages of characters unless specified.  He could be six but more likely ten.  Prepubescent anyway, since he can wear short-shorts, a pink shirt, and the largest pompadour on the show.

Ranma 1/2, Random Rhapsody: Gosunkugi's Paper Dolls of Love

Ranma uses his feminine
wiles on Gosunkugi

Ranma 1/2, Random Rhapsody: Gosunkugi's Paper Dolls of Love
Fuji TV
March 13, 1992
Anime
DVD
B-

The Noozles and Tales of Little Women aside, this is the first anime series I remember watching as an adult and knowing it was anime.  The woman I was dating at the time ('98) was a fan, partly because of the gender-bending.  I've watched a handful of episodes over the years and I like it, but, no, I'm not a fan.  A couple years ago, my current boyfriend, who's much more into anime than I am, was clearing out his collection in order to make room for more, so I took this DVD.

And I could go into the actual background of the show, but you could get that anywhere.  All you need to know for the purposes of this blog is that each season had a different subtitle, "Random Rhapsody" for Season Five.  And this is the 21st episode for that season.  The gender-bending is present but taken as a given, with Ranma assuming his female form to fool Gosunkugi, who uses the dolls of the title to try to get Akane to go out with him.  Ranma and Akane are in high school but nonetheless betrothed.  They're attracted to each other but they bicker a lot.  And there are a bunch of possible alternate suitors throughout the series, one of whom shows up in one scene here, but I don't remember all the characters and, again, you can look this up elsewhere.

As a standalone, the episode works pretty well, with some nice twists and humor.  Gosunkugi is pretty creepy, but he's meant to be.  The disc has only two more episodes on it and I don't remember if they have any relation to this one.

Note that I watched the American dub today but I'm going with the original Japanese airdate and station, since I don't know when or where the translation first aired in the US, and I don't feel that the American actors are as impressive or as memorable as on His and Hers Circumstances or Fruits Basket.

Tales of Little Women: Shout for Joy

I know they're genteelly poor, but why do they
wear the same outfits in every single episode?

Tales of Little Women: Shout for Joy
Fuji TV
November 15, 1987
Anime, Historical Drama
VHS
B-

I don't have the previous episode, where they send a telegram to Marmee about Beth's condition, but this series is slow-moving enough that it's easy to follow this episode.  Plus, yeah, it's somewhat faithful to the book.  The original title for the episode translates as the more desperate "God, Please Save Beth!"  There were six more episodes after this one, but this is all I own.

Tales of Little Women: Scarlet Fever

A different episode, but it gives you
a sense of the size differences.

Tales of Little Women: Scarlet Fever
Fuji TV
November 1, 1987
Anime, Historical Drama
VHS
B-

Unlike the previous episode, this one is more canonical.  (The Japanese title translates to "Beth Caught the Scarlet Fever!")  This is a good time to note that, while Alcott based the character of Jo on herself, this series features narration by youngest sister Amy.  Furthermore, instead of the year or two between each sister in the book, it seems like three or more here, even allowing for the exaggerations of animation.  So instead of the girls being 16, 15, 13, and 12, it's like 18, 15, 12, and 9 (or younger).  I'm guessing Amy was chosen to allow for more identification by preteen and younger girls than if Jo narrated.  It feels odd on this episode, considering so many of the events by definition have to happen when Amy is absent.

Tales of Little Women: Letters from Home

Tales of Little Women: Letters from Home
Fuji TV
October 25, 1987
Anime, Historical Drama
VHS
C+

Fumio Kurokawa directed this series, while Akira Miyazaki wrote it, based somewhat loosely on the Alcott classic.  How loosely?  Well, it's not till the 18th episode that material from the book appears.  This is the 39th episode, and the air-date is for the Japanese version, although I got it dubbed from Nickelodeon.  But since this is a case where the visuals are more interesting than the sound, I'm fine with going with the original broadcast dates.  (In contrast, Noozles is even campier with the American dub.)

The American voice cast:

• Mona Marshall as Jo March
• Melanie McQueen as Beth March
• Mike Reynolds as James Laurence
• Joshua Seth as Theodore "Laurie" Laurence
• Stephanie Sheh as Meg March
• Reba West as Amy March

The three most notable things about the look of the series:

• Hannah's dark skin
• Meg's waffle-hair
• The exaggerated perspective where characters loom as they approach and shrink as they depart

Note that almost without exception, the translations of the Japanese episode titles are much more interesting than those for the American broadcast, my favorite being "The Friendship Pin," formerly known as "The Town Burns Down!"  This one was called "Letters, Letters, Letters We All Wrote."