Ranma ½ Splashes Back Onto Screens This Fall!

Ranma ½, the beloved manga and anime series from the 80s and 90s is being resurrected for 2024!

Thanks to Nippon TV and Netflix, animation studio MAPPA is producing a new Ranma ½ anime premiering in the fall which will reintroduce the wacky world of Ranma Saotome and Akane Tendo to the world with a modern level of animation quality backing it up.

Ranma Saotome (Kappei Yamaguchi/Megumi Hayashibara), a sixteen-year-old martial artist who has been learning martial arts while travelling with his father most of his life, has his life turned upside down when his father takes him to China. While sparring at what is supposed to be a training ground in the mountains, Ranma cursed when he falls into a magical spring and finds that he’s been transformed into a girl! being splashed with hot water reverses the curse, but only until the next time he’s touched with cold water, which reactivates the curse. His life is further complicated when his father, Genma, tells him that he’s to be married to Akane Tendo, the daughter of Genma’s best friend.

Best of all, they’re bringing back nearly all of the original cast which is great for the old-school fans, and a benefit to the production overall as these actors clearly love these roles given all the special live performances they give for fans to this day. They know these characters inside and out, so there will be little room for fandom debate on “who played them better.”

Missing from the cast is Ryūsuke Ōbayashi as Soun Tendo, patriarch of the Tendo Family who, at 78 years old, seems to have retired from acting as he has taken on very few roles in the last decade. Soun is now played by Akio Atsuka (Ghost in the Shell, Street Fighter, Metal Gear Solid) who is certain to turn in a wonderful performance.

Kenichi Ogata who played Ranma’s father, Genma Saotome, has also stepped back from his role in the new series. However, he is still taking part in the series, lending his voice to the production as the series narrator. Genma is now played by Chō, Formerly known as Yūichi Nagashima (One Piece, Weiß Kreuz) who adopted the name Chō after his character in Tanken Boku no Machi.

One of Ranma’s closest friends, the chef, and business owner, Ukyou Kuonji, will also be recast as her original actor, Hiromi Tsuru (Dragonball, Trigun, Dominion) sadly passed away in 2017. There has yet to be an announcement who will take over that role.

Only one short preview teaser has been released so far, which shows that the producers are planning to stick to the original Manga stories, much like how the original anime began its life in the 80s. It’s possible that the new series will be a closer adaptation of the source material where the original anime became more of a loose adaptation, focusing more on the action and comedy, leaving much of the story arcs and character development of the original comics behind.

If the series lasts long enough, we may finally get to see many of the manga characters who never had the chance to be portrayed in animated form, such as Konatsu the ninja, or the villainous Prince Herb from China who shares the same curse as Ranma.

The future is looking bright for fans of Ranma ½, and fandom will only grow as a whole new generation is introduced to this world of martial arts and magic when the new series debuts on October 5th.

Ranma ½ Announcement trailer: