VIZ Media has released new Blu-ray Standard Edition sets for the complete Ranma ½ series. All 161 episodes can be had on seven individually sold sets (MSRP $49.99 U.S. / $57.99 CAN) for the first time since the Limited Edition was released in 2014, rapidly selling out.
Each set features 23 episodes on three discs, along with a variety of bonus features. Extras include convention highlights and Ranma ½ panel discussions, episode previews, series trailers and a special seven-part We Love Ranma series that takes audiences behind the scenes, detailing the process of the manga and anime release and exploring the action-adventure title’s enduring popularity.
Ranma ½ centers on Ranma Saotome who goes on a fateful martial arts training mission to China, where he accidentally takes a dive into a cursed spring. From then on, a splash of cold water turns Ranma into a girl, and the effect must be reversed with hot water, leading to all kinds of confusion.
The series is the creation of Rumiko Takahashi, one of Japan’s most prolific and respected manga artists (Maison Ikkoku, Inuyasha and Ranma ½ are all published by VIZ in North America) Takahashi first achieved major recognition in 1978 when she was given an honorable mention in Shogakukan’s New Comic Artist Contest for Those Selfish Aliens. That same year, her comedy series Urusei Yatsura was serialized in Weekly Shonen Sunday — it would later spawn a TV series and half a dozen theatrical features. Her other notable works include Mermaid Saga, Rumic Theater, One-Pound Gospel and Rin-Ne (also published by VIZ). The Ranma ½ manga originally ran from 1987 to 1996.
