Thumbs up for Ranma 1/2, Volume 1 and Ranma 1/2, Volume 2
by Rumiko Takahashi. Manga.
My current project of reading Japanese literature would not be complete without some manga. My options were limited to what we had in the bookstore where I work: in other words, it was this or nothing. I did check reviews on Amazon first to make sure I was reading something decent, and was astonished to find that the first and second volumes had five stars each – with scads of reviews. Having delightedly gulped down the two volumes in about an hour each, I can now see why. They remind me of nothing so much as Shakespeare’s “twin” plays – except instead of two people being mistaken for each other, the incidents of mistaken identity revolve around a young man who transforms into a girl on contact with water. Now take him, and have him stay at the home of three young sisters (at “Tendo’s Martial Arts School of Indeterminate Grappling”). Hilarity ensues. I laughed out loud often, and would happily read more of this series…though I’m pretty sure I couldn’t commit to 36 volumes.
“Are you okay? Don’t think too badly of Akane. She’s really a very sweet girl. She’s just a violent maniac.”
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