This classic Japanese comic book is becoming a more modern series on Netflix. And if it remains fairly confidential, it’s a success that all fans of the genre should discover!
Anime is booming on streaming platforms. Older anime adaptations, like Death Note, Hunter x Hunter Or Naruto Shippuden are to binge-watch on Netflix. Since October, however, the streaming platform has offered a remake that stands out, a modernized version of a classic of the genre. This cult manga is finding a new lease of life on the site, you may not have heard of it.
However, we can only advise you to discover the 2024 version of Ranma 1/2. This comic manga by Rumiko Takahashi, published between 1987 and 1996, had already been adapted into an animated series from 1989 to 1992. Netflix, however, sought to modernize this classic under the direction of Kônosuke Uda (who worked notably on One Piece And Sailor Moon) and at the Mappa studio (Attack on Titan, Jujutsu Kaisen…). The opportunity to (re)discover a major work by the mangaka, awarded the Grand Prix at the Angoulême festival in 2019 for all of her work.
Ranma 1/2 is an animated series mixing comedy, fantasy, romance and adventure. So there is something for everyone! In detail, the manga tells the story of Ranma Saotome, a teenage martial arts expert, whose life changes when he falls into a magical hot spring: when he is doused with cold water, he transforms into a girl , and he becomes a boy again once he gets hot water. Enough to punctuate the incredible daily life he shares with his fiancée, Akane Tendo.
The 2024-style adaptation has everything to please Netflix subscribers who are fans of anime: those nostalgic for the first animated series and the manga will find all the humor and dynamism of this manga rich in twists and turns, all punctuated by modern animation which does not betray the spirit or the atmosphere of the original work.
If the series does not yet seem to have met a large audience (the series no longer appears in Netflix’s weekly ranking of non-English series since October 27, unlike the anime Dan Da Dan came out at the same time), it remains a production that is worth a look if you are a fan of anime or simply light and easy comedy series.
An episode of Ranma 1/2 has been broadcast on Netflix every Saturday evening since October 5. Season 1, made up of 12 episodes of around twenty minutes each, will be available in its entirety on December 21.