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Cel Shaded
Jason Yadao
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Viz brings ‘Ranma 1/2’ run to an end
It took more than 14 years, three different formats and pages upon pages of characters transforming from one living being into another with splashes of water, all the while taking part in wacky martial arts battles.
But as of last Tuesday, with the release of "Ranma 1/2" volume 36 to bookstores nationwide, Rumiko Takahashi's epic is finally complete and fully translated in the United States.
It's been quite a year for completed series at Viz, with the samurai epic "Rurouni Kenshin" and the sci-fi chop-socky adventure "Dragon Ball" also wrapping up this year. But with the "Rurouni Kenshin" collections debuting stateside in 2003 and "Dragon Ball" in 1998, "Ranma 1/2" trumps them all in longevity.
Granted, there are times when the story of Ranma Saotome, a boy who fell into a cursed spring and transforms into a girl every time he gets splashed with cold water, gets a bit tiring to read. Yet "Ranma 1/2" holds a special place in the hearts of your Star-Bulletin anime/manga columnists.
It was the subject of Wilma J.'s fourth "Drawn & Quartered" column five years ago -- visit starbulletin.com/2001/07/29/ features/jandoc.html to check it out. I picked up on the series soon after reading "Maison Ikkoku," another Takahashi gem.
But worry not for Viz; the release of chapter 481 of "Inu-Yasha" in Japan ensures there will be plenty of Takahashi material for years to come ...
In Sunday's 'D&Q'
An e-mail I got last week:
From: Wilma J.
Re: Column on "High School Girls" and "Doubt!!" manga
AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! *slaps forehead*
Will Wilma survive long enough to write about these two comedies set in high schools, or will the sheer insanity of the situations contained within those series overcome her? Find out in the Sunday Today section ...
Cel Shaded, a look at the world of Japanese anime and manga, appears every Monday. Reach
Jason S. Yadao at
jyadao@starbulletin.com