Manga Alphabet: R is for Ranma, Rose of Versailles, more

[rainsometimes]

Ranma 1/2 by Rumiko Takahashi

Ranma 1/2 is a shonen romantic comedy based around magic and martial arts, with the most prominent magic being the famous shapeshifting curse that the title character carries: he transforms from teenaged boy to teenaged girl at the contact with cold water, and turns back again by hot water.

There are times when the comedy steps aside for drama, whether romantic or adventure-oriented - or, more rarely, just character-exploring. Action sequences are everywhere, often ridiculous but always fluidly drawn, easy to follow, and just plain nice to look at: no reason to have most of your cast be superstrong martial artists if you don't make use of it, is there?

To get the bad out of the way first: the status quo is extremely strong in this series, and while I do think the latter half or so is unfairly maligned - many of my favourite storylines take place there - I have to admit some of the last volumes, while always entertaining, weren't quite as spiffy as the earlier ones. And it has to be said that the ending does not have much in the way of clear progression, let alone resolution or closure. (It's not completely devoid of progress in character development and in the central relationship, but what there is is smaller than many readers have wished for.)

Also, if you expect Ranma's curse to lead to subversive underminings of gender roles, you may well get disappointed: Takahashi makes fun of stereotypes at times, particularly overdone "manliness", but you can also read many of her arcs at conforming to many conventional views of gender and sexuality. I'd say that if you go into it expecting it to be clearly subversive or transgressive you may well get disappointed, but if you go into it expecting it to be conventional and mainstream you may still get some happy surprises, here and there.

All that being said, it's a wildly entertaining series making great use of Takahashi's comedic genius. It flows extremely well in the panel composition and page layouts, even when there are advanced martial arts techniques that could only work in Shonen Physics; the action is thrilling and fun; the characters are memorable and, while often acting unsympathetically, still pretty likable to me - maybe because most of the main cast is young, relatively innocent, and funny. I always felt there's a genuinely good-natured feel to the whole madcap setting, notwithstanding all the Comedic Sociopathy, to speak TV Tropean. I must admit that there aren't many genuinely heartwarming scenes of the "d'aww" kind, nor frankly tearjerking ones; but I still found many scenes quite touching. (And I have to say, I much prefer a hero who is often a jerk but the readers are supposed to notice and he does gets called on it, to one who's only a jerk at times but never gets called on it.) Oh, and the English translation is very good in terms of sounding natural and finding equivalents to Takahashi's many puns. (As always, can't speak for fidelity.)

This was the canon that got me into fanfiction, once upon a time long ago. I'm not going into all of that in this main post (feel free to ask in comments if you want, though); but I have to say that while it may sound strange, I still think there's a magic unique to this series. A humble one, but still there. And, well. It's just so fun!



RIN-NE by Rumiko Takahashi


Another lukewarm rec. I kinda have to agree with manga reviewer Connie on this one: it's a fun read when you're in the mood for something very light-weight, but even after nine volumes the characters haven't made much of an impression. Very unusual for a Takahashi comic. So I'm afraid this is another rather half-hearted recommendation. On the one hand I genuinely do get amused by it - but on the other it keeps nagging at me that it ought to be so much funnier and more engaging, given the mangaka's abilities. It can feel a little frustrating. Certainly the premise (ghosthunting and ghosthelping shinigami plus friends and rivals, played for comedy) and the characters have plenty of potential. I will keep picking it up now and then when I need my dose of new Takahashi, but it's not a title I leap upon directly - and if you're not as given to Rumiko as I am, it might be best to save it for library reading on a rainy day.




Rose of Versailles/La rose de Versailles/Berusaiyu no Bara by Ryoko Ikeda

This shojo classic has got to be the most unabashedly Romantic manga I've ever read, in the literary sense - and it's also shamelessly small r-romantic. Initially it looks like it will be primarily focused on the life of Marie-Antoinette, the "Rose" of the title; but the fictional captain of the palace guard, Oscar de Jarjayes, raised as a man though her sex is no secret, soon becomes the charismatic co-protagonist of the story. The focus is on the build-up to the French Revolution, starting decades before it, and there is a lot to go through for our two heroines and the people around them, from the significant nuances of court etiquette to exciting duels and much romantic angst.

Ikeda based her portrayal of Marie-Antoinette on Stefan Zweig's popular biography of her, and as such there are many historical details that I think are disproved these days (also, a lot of people being more handsome than they were in real history, but that goes with the territory). As I started to read this in its French translation, I feared it would be distorted in a Scarlet Pimpernel way, with nothing but poor innocent aristocrats being persecuted by the senseless revolutionary fanatics for no reason; happily, Ikeda is more balanced than that (as was Zweig). Marie-Antoinette does have her flaws and is portrayed as such; and there are a lot of evils of the ancien régime on display. In fact, it feels much closer to something by Victor Hugo than by Baroness Orczy. I admit I was bugged by the worship of Axel von Fersen, a historical figure that is so not to my taste (it doesn't help that a well-known writer of popular history books in Sweden is a total Fersen fan, bah); but even though he plays a big role in the narrative, it wasn't enough to turn me against the work as a whole.

Coming from a time when starry eyes and flowing background petals were used totally unironically, Rose of Versailles makes great use of such imagery, and I found it surprisingly fun to indulge in all the sparkle. The frequent cartoony moments are also charming and funny. Better, there is genuine character growth and powerful moments underneath all that. I really hope it comes out in English one day - I know the anime is finally re-issued, so maybe if it sells well enough, some publisher will brave the pricey license money and get the manga translated.




Rumic Theater by Rumiko Takahashi (who else?)


In bringing this collection of Takahashi's josei (edit: no, actually seinen) short stories out in English, Viz Media invented the word "Rumic", making an adjective out of Takahashi's first name. They've used it since in some contexts; personally I find it a handy word as long as people know what you're talking about (rolls better off the tongue than "Takahashi-esque").

Well, I don't think I'll surprise anyone at this point by saying I like these stories a lot. Focusing on domestic dramas of various kinds, the twists in most of these pieces still make me wibble - whether it's about the place of pet animals in the world of humans, an awful conflict between a young wife and her mother-in-law, the tribulations of running a debtridden wedding chapel... All very down-to-earth and I suppose not too unpredictable. But they always work for me.



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Favourite characters

Rin Asano (Blade of the Immortal
Ryoga Hibiki (Ranma 1/2 - manga version only)

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Anime corner

Revolutionary Girl Utena

Brilliant 39-episode anime with some inspiration from Rose of Versailles above, as main character Utena Tenjo dresses like a boy (or... she dresses like no-one else, but more like a boy than a girl?) and aspires to be as brave as a storybook prince. And at first it seems pretty clear that schoolmate Anthy Himemiya is her designated princess-to-be-rescued, as her passive demeanour and status as a trophy called the "Rose Bride" for the winner of secret duels seems to indicate. But all is not what it might seem on the surface, fake princes are more common than real ones, forced passivity and victimization does not lead to saintliness, "big brother" figures are not necessarily good; and the standardised fairytale tropes are featured to get deconstructed. Heartbreaking, beautiful, and magnicifent - and in between the dramatic highpoints, there's some very funny comedy as well. Has a regrettably low production budget for backgrounds, etc, though its use of stock footage is at least ingenious as a narrative theme.


These are all the recs I can think of for now! What starts with an R in your manga (and anime) alphabet?