By: Rumiko Takahashi Publisher: VIZ Media LLC Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: VIZ Media LLC Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 208 Publication Date: November 14, 2006
After sixteen years the longest running manga series in America has finally come to an incredible ending! That's right, this is the conclusion to one of the most outrageous, entertaining, and endearing manga stories the world has ever known. This volume will answer all your questions (no peeking at the end)! Does Ranma break his gender-flipping curse? For that matter, does anybody find a way to reverse the effects of the legendary cursed spring? Does Mousse get Shampoo? Does Kuno finally get his little red-headed pig-tailed girl? Does the panty-grabbin' Happosai pilfer enough undergarments to be satisfied? And yes, the ultimate question will be answered: do Ranma and Akane get married? Find out inside!
A good way to end Ranma 1/2... officially, at least. I bought the final volume shortly after it came out, and I was satisfied with everything. The storyline, the final battle, even the way Rumiko Takahashi ends this whole mess. How does it end, you ask. Well, it doesn't, really. Even though Takahashi seems to give us a clue as to what might happen after the series ends, with a picture of Ranma and Akane at thew very last page of the book, we can't be sure of that, because their story hasn't even come close to being concluded. In fact, we can't be sure *any* of the truly relevant plots will have closure. We can only imagine what might happen to the cast after the final curtain call. And to satisfy our inclinations, whatever they may be, we have a ton of fan fiction to read.
Insatisfactory This volume continues with Ranma's tale and crazy adventures. It is funny and interesting and crazy. But in the end all the questions are answered. Few satisfactorily and mostly NO. Rumiko Takahashi should have worked a bit harder and brought some closure to the story.
The grand finale "Ranma 1/2" careens madly to a stop, with the thirty-sixth volume of action, romance, and lots of slapstick. While Rumiko Takahashi never quite wraps up most of the plot threads, she does deal with the most important part of it -- Ranma and Akane's not-quite-relationship, which finally gets real attention. And Ranma practically says the L word.
Ranma is doing battle with a transforming Saffron, when Akane suddenly vanishes -- she has been transformed into a "doll" form, and only the water in Jusenkyo's heart will revive her. If Ranma doesn't douse her in it before her eyes close, then she'll die -- and even worse, Shampoo gets her hands on her.
Meanwhile, Saffron reemerges as a far more dangerous creature, who is more than capable of taking Ranma out. Now Ranma must fight his most devastating battle ever, and defeat Saffron once and for all. If he doesn't finally deal with the bird-men, then might lose Akane forever.
When the dust settles, Ranma finds himself being roped in for a wedding, with all the trimmings. Unfortunately, his other fiancees aren't about to give up so easily -- and chaos ensues when the others learn that Guide has sent him a barrel of Spring-of-Drowned-Man water, which everybody wants, but only one can have. Will the wedding be wrecked?
This grand finale is a pretty packed one -- Takahashi has to round off one of her action-packed arcs, and somehow link it to the final chapter. Not easy. But it somehow seems that way, as Ranma finds out exactly what Akane means to him.
And Takahashi knows how to load on the pathos, when it appears that Akane has died. She does a magnificent job, without making him seem uncharacteristically mushy. Instead, he punches himself, awkwardly apologizes, and eventually starts to cry -- just what we'd expect from this emotionally stunted guy.
But it's not all sad. The finale is absolutely sidesplitting, like when Ranma gets knocked out and stuffed into a tux, or has Kuno, Kodachi, Ukyo and Shampoo trying to marry him and/or kill Akane. And the battles will definitely fulfil the expectations of any fans of "Inuyasha." The only flaw is the final pages -- nothing really gets wrapped up, although Takahashi makes it clear what's going to happen.
The final volume of Ranma is sweet, funny, and uplifting, and by the final pages there's a deep sense of satisfaction. Way to end up, Ms. Takahashi.
Anything Goes Trivia
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