Manga Review: RANMA 1/2 2-in-1, Volume 1

RANMA 1/2 2IN1, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

CARTOONIST: Rumiko Takahashi
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Gerard Jones, Matt Thorn
LETTERING: Deron Bennett
EDITOR: Hope Donovan
ISBN: 978-1-4215-6594-1; paperback (March 2014); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
368pp, B&W, $14.99 U.S., $16.99 CAN, £9.99 UK

Ranma 1/2 or Ranma ½ is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi.  It was originally serialized in Shogakukan’s manga magazine, Weekly Shonen Sunday, from September 1987 to March 1996, and later collected into 38 tankōbon (graphic novel) volumes.  Ranma 1/2 spawned anime series and films and recently a live-action special.

VIZ Media is the North American publisher of Ranma 1/2 and recently began publishing the series again in its “2-in-1 editions,” which collects two tankōbon (graphic novels) in one paperback edition.  Ranma 1/2 2-in-1 Edition, Vol. 1 collects Ranma 1/2 Volume1 and Ranma 1/2 Volume 2.

Ranma 1/2 introduces a 16-year-old boy named Ranma Saotome who was trained from early childhood in martial arts.  While on a training mission in China, Ranma and his father, Genma, dive into some cursed springs at a legendary training ground.  As a result, whenever he is splashed with cold water, Ranma turns into a girl, while hot water changes him back into a boy.  His father transforms into a panda.  What happens to the life of a half-boy, half-girl?

The story really starts years ago when Genma Satome promised his old friend, Soun Tendo, that Ranma would marry one of Soun’s three daughters:  19-year-old Kasumi, 17-year-old Nabiki, and 16-year-old Akane.  The girl picked to be Ranma’s bride doesn’t seem to like him, and she also seems to have a lot of suitors – many of them being quite combative.  Plus, an old rival of Ranma’s returns looking for revenge.

A truism about the work of mangaka (manga creator) Rumiko Takahashi is that her work mostly defies easy classification.  Her manga, for the most part, don’t really belong to one genre.  If I were forced to pick one, I would say fantasy, because of the various fantastical elements that permeate Rumiko’s work.  In addition to elements of fantasy, Rumiko’s manga incorporate comedy, romance, and martial arts.  There is a bit of an edge and a small undercurrent of darkness in her manga, just enough to let the reader know that all is not fun and games.

Ranma 1/2 is a delightful concoction of martial arts comedy and comic teen romance.  It is light-hearted and free-spirited, as exemplified in the way the characters so easily leap and levitate through martial arts battles.  I found myself in flight with these characters.  Ranma 1/2 2-in-1 Edition, Volume 1 allows readers to experience this unique and classic manga in big chunks, and it still might not be enough, once you get hooked.

A-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

Leroy Douresseaux on WANDERING SON Volume 1

WANDERING SON, VOL. 1
FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS

CARTOONIST: Shimura Takako
TRANSLATION: Matt Thorn
LETTERS: Paul Baresh, Ian Burns, and Priscilla Miller
ISBN: 978-1-60699-416-0; hardcover
208pp, B&W with some color, $19.99 U.S.

Fantagraphics Books is back in the manga-publishing game, but their new series does not feature boy heroes, aliens, monsters, robots, magic, super powers, or even love-starved teen girls.

Wandering Son is a manga from creator Shimura Takako that began serialization in 2002 in the manga magazine, Comic Beam. Fantagraphics Books recently began publishing English-language graphic novel editions of the series. Wandering Son follows fifth grader Shuichi Nitori, a boy who wants to be a girl, and his friend Yoshino Takatsuki, a girl who wants to be a boy.

Wandering Son Volume 1 introduces the two protagonists and their friends and family whose lives intersect with their own. Nitori is the new student in school and makes his first friend, Takatsuki. They bond over a dress that Takatsuki doesn’t want and gives to Nitori’s sister, Maho. Nitori wonders what he would look like in a dress, and soon his female classmates are encouraging him to wear them. Meanwhile, Takatsuki is exploring life as a boy by passing for a boy. When the fifth-graders put on a production of The Rose of Versailles for the farewell ceremony for the sixth graders, the play’s gender-bending brings gender issues out in the open.

Ostensibly a seinen manga (comic book for adult males), Wandering Son begins with characters that are preteens or preadolescents and is appropriate for readers of that demographic (although I say this as someone who isn’t a parent). I assume parents and guardians freaked out about any discussion or visual fiction depiction of issues relating to gender identity, puberty, and transsexuality would consider Wandering Son inappropriate for their preteens.

However, Shimura Takako tells this story in such a gentle, unobtrusive way, one might believe that this story flows naturally – as if it simply spun itself from nature and is the way it is supposed to be. I think Matt Thorn’s tidy translation, which goes down the mental gullet with such smoothness, is a big reason for how readable this is. Wandering Son is not flashy or aggressive, nor does it pander or try to be hip and stylish. Takako draws the reader in so quietly that some may be surprised to find themselves on a journey of discovery and exploration with these characters. It’s like seeing preadolescence for the first time or seeing it again through fresh eyes and a new perspective.

Takako’s simple approach to compositions and graphical storytelling entails sparse backgrounds and a cartoony method of figure drawing. The figures are striking in their simplicity, and their emotions and actions in the story are crystal clear. If only more comic books were so evocative and so clear in their storytelling like Wandering Son, an ideal comic book. Ages 8 to 80 will like Wandering Son.

A

---------------------------------