Ranma 1/2 Season 7: Ranma Forever Box Set (2000)
Review by Dindrane
Film:
DVD:

Based upon the manga by Rumiko Takahashi
Directed by Koji Sawai

Features:

• Line art gallery
  
• Textless opening/closing
  
• Cast list
  
• Actor profiles
  
• Cast wrap party film (2001)
  
• End of Ranma 1/2 party (2003)
  

Dindrane's Anime Warnings:

• Animated Ranma-chan boobages
• Hardcore mother with a sword
• Happosai being...Happosai

Released by: Viz
Region: 1
Rating: T
Anamorphic: N/A; appears in original 1.33:1 aspect

My Advice: You need this if you love Ranma, and even if you don't.

For years, one of the best loved manga and anime titles both has been Ranma 1/2--its special blend of martial arts action, comedy, and do-they/don't-they romance has kept fans enthralled and amused more than just about any other franchise. Now, the series comes to an end with the season seven box set, "Ranma Forever."

The real problem with this set is minor, but niggling. The plot of the final, two-part episode, "Boy Meets Mom," comes from the manga, but also echoes certain elements in one of the OAVs, "Akane vs. Ranma: I'll be the one to inherit mother's recipes," where Mrs. Saotome shows up, and Ranma must spend the entire episode as Ranma-chan, while Genma stays in panda form. Genma mentions his promise to commit seppuku (along with Ranma), if Ranma is returned to his mother as less than a man. While these final series episodes deal with the story more in depth, flirting with the possibility of revealing the truth to Mrs. Saotome, the troubling element is that no one in the show seems to remember that ostensibly we've heard about this danger already.

The audio and video quality are excellent. There are no aliasing or other animation problems, and the sound in both English and Japanese is great. This is one of the most talented English casts around, so if you traditionally prefer the Japanese with subtitles, give the English version a chance here, just to see how well it can really be done. The translation is professionally done and very close, without sacrificing understandability for cultural exactitude.

The features list is nice, if not particularly original or astounding, with the exception of the snippets from the cast wrap party and the end of Ranma party. Hearing Ranma scream in the body of Richard Ian Cox, the voice actor, is surreal and highly entertaining. After all the years of working together as a family and creating one of the greatest titles of anime history, the cast, both English and Japanese, deserve to have their moment to wrap up and celebrate and remember. It's not a sappy, overwrought production, but still, there won't be a dry eye in the house.

If you've been following the saga of Ranma, Akane, and the rest for years, as I have, then you will need to own this box set. You might be a bit disappointed with the rather abrupt end (a series this loved deserves much more of a finale than that), but you'll still need to have it, and you'll probably be sad that there will be no more new Ranma in your hands ever. But look at it this way...if you own the previous box sets, and if you don't then shame on you, you can watch them from the beginning and watch Akane and Ranma fall in love all over again. Just remember, with the convenience of DVDs, Ranma really can be forever.