by The 12th episode of the utterly new anime adaptation of Takahashi Rumiko’s smash-hit manga Ranma 1/2, “The Deadly Shampoo,” will air on Nippon TV on December 21st.
The series was initially broadcast as a TV anime from 1989 to 1992, and this will be the first time it has been adapted for TV in 32 years. The new anime is also attracting attention as it will feature the same voice actors as Yamaguchi Kappei, who plays Saotome Ranma; Hayashibara Megumi, who plays Ranma; and Hidaka Noriko, who plays Tendo Akane.
Akane regains consciousness, but Shampoo’s legendary magic fist has erased her memories of Ranma, the Washing Hair Cosmetic Shiatsu Fist. Ranma struggles to obtain the 119 Herbal Medicines necessary to restore Akane’s lost memories, but Shampoo has the medicine in his hands. Shampoo’s condition for the medicine is to “kill the female Ranma.”
Ranma 1/2 was serialized in the manga magazine Weekly Shonen Sunday (Shogakukan) from 1987 to 1996 by Takahashi, who is also known for Urusei Yatsura and Maison Ikkoku. It depicts the hectic daily life of high school martial artist Saotome Ranma, who turns into a woman when splashed with water, and his fiancee, Tendo Akane.
While training in the indiscriminate fighting style with his father, Genma, Ranma developed a unique constitution in China, where he trained in Jusenkyo. When splashed with water, he turns into a woman and reverts to a man. When Ranma returns to Japan, he and his son stay at the home of Genma’s best friend, Tendo Soun. By chance, he becomes engaged to Soun’s daughter, Akane.
In addition to the theatrical anime version, an original video animation (OVA) was also produced. The TV anime aired on Fuji TV and other stations from 1989 to 1992, and a live-action TV drama starring Aragaki Yui, Kaku Kento, and Natsuna aired in December 2011, which also garnered attention.
The new anime, the first in about 32 years, will be directed by Uda Konosuke, who has worked on “One Piece,” among others, and will be produced by MAPPA, who has worked on “Jujutsu Kaisen” and “Chainsaw Man.” It is currently airing on Nippon TV every Saturday at 12:55 a.m
