Review of Ranma Movie 2: Nihao My Concubine

Introduction

Curses can be pretty tricky things. They cause all manner of mayhem for all and sundry in fantasy stories. Pretty soon on the big screen, the world`s favourite teenage wizard will be once again facing dread enemies armed with the Unforgivable Curses. Sinbad the Sailor`s life would be whole lot easier if he didn`t have to deal with evil viziers and their litany of blights. But curses can be pretty entertaining as well, as evinced by the anime Ranma½. If you have been watching as much anime as I have, you probably are used to the harem genre by now, where a teenage boy finds himself pursued by no end of beautiful women. Ranma is another such teen that winds up in similar straits. The Ranma½ series originates from the late eighties/early nineties, and MVM have released two of the movies that spun off from the show. Ranma is a martial artist who is engaged to Akane by mutual agreement of their fathers. There are a whole host of other women who become attracted to Ranma, including Amazon warrior Shampoo, and Pizza chef Ukyo. Ranma has his rivals for their affections as well, fellow martial artist Ryoga, playboy Kuno and bookish Mousse. Thrown into the mix are Akane`s sisters, as well as other assorted relatives. Which would all be recipe for a lot of straightforward relationship mayhem, were it not for the curse. The springs of Jusenkyo have resulted in Ranma turning into a busty redheaded girl when splashed with cold water (hot water reverses the effect), which causes more than a few problems. Similarly, Ranma`s father Genma turns into a Panda, Ryoga into a pig, and Mousse into a duck. For our transsexual hero, you`d think his relationship with Akane would be the least of his problems.

It`s summertime and the heat is stifling. It`s a godsend when Kuno pops around and invites the girls he most admires, Akane and the `girl with red pigtails` on his luxury yacht for a refreshing cruise. Of course everyone else decides to tag along. One shipwreck later and everyone is sunbathing and enjoying a desert island`s beach while Kuno patches up his yacht. Then the women start disappearing from the island. A mysterious island appears on the horizon, and its Prince Toma is in the market for a new bride. It turns out that no women are born on the island at all, the natural spring there is magical in that it can actually turn all who drink it into men. Toma`s advisers used to be a monkey, bird and dog respectively before they drank from the spring. For Ranma, it is a godsend, a chance to break the curse. But first he has to infiltrate the island, which means becoming the redheaded girl and taking part in the Martial Arts Marriage Contest. The only way to break the curse may be to go through with marrying Prince Toma.

Video

A 4:3 regular transfer on this disc, and the film looks more than acceptable. It does seem constrained by the image quality of the source material however, the animation is distinctly old style, and the resolution is a little soft. There is a hint of ghosting at times and darker scenes are indistinct. You can also see that this is a Western version, with burned in captions for the credits and end song. Despite the film`s age, the image is consistent in quality throughout. A couple of scenes did give the impression that the image had been cropped from a widescreen source, but it was nothing conclusive.

Audio

You have a choice of DD 2.0 Japanese and English, with optional translated subtitles. The dialogue is clear, but the soundtrack is nothing special, sounding very front focussed and static. It`s also a little dull sounding, but again this is more a sign of age, and never going to detract from enjoying the film. The English dub (what I sampled of it) sounded acceptable, and the only thing really differentiating the two is a slightly higher degree of hiss on the Japanese track. There was a problem with the subtitles, in that a couple of lines of dialogue flashed by far too quickly to read, staying on screen for a frame or two. You have to be pretty nifty with the pause button to catch what was said.

Features

Much needed character biographies for the main cast in the film. There are 17 in total and it helps to keep everyone differentiated.

There are 15 conceptual drawings for the characters in the film. They are pencil sketches, but it would have been better if they had been displayed over plain backgrounds rather than the patterned wallpaper that is used here.

Finally there are trailers for Yu Yu Hakusho, R.O.D. The TV and Love Hina, as well as a jacket picture that displays when the disc isn`t spinning.

Conclusion

A bold hero who becomes a cute busty young heroine at the drop of a drip, I`m so confused. This disc should come with a health warning, to be watched only by those comfortable with their own sexuality. Seriously, Ranma`s second movie is a good deal of irreverent fun, centred on a curious premise that works very well in the context of the story. I quickly grew comfortable with the curse and the effect that it had on their victims, and if the writers chose to have Ranma as a girl in skimpy beachwear for much of the film, who am I to complain.

The story is hardly groundbreaking, and it`s all done with tongue firmly in cheek. The humour is saucy but never crude, with very much a Benny Hill vibe to it; especially with elderly martial arts master Happosai indulging his hobby of collecting female undergarments, preferably while still being worn. His first target is Ranma of course. When Prince Toma shows up and kidnaps the females to select a wife, he`s hardly the most virile of rulers, and instead puts all the potential brides through a series of challenges that could come from the game-show Endurance. The Ranma movie has a distinct air of silliness that pervades it throughout, and that`s no bad thing. A little daftness is good now and again, and Ranma provides a neat burst of mindless escapism.

I was thoroughly entertained by Nihao My Concubine; it`s sixty minutes of light and fluffy fun. The central conceit, that of the gender swap curse is weird enough to make the characters memorable and the story stand out, but it`s not supposed to be deep or meaningful. And if the idea of an animated transsexual hero gives you pause for thought, just hark back to those old Bugs Bunny cartoons, where the sight of Bugs in drag seducing Yosemite Sam or Elmer Fudd all seemed so plausible. You know it makes sense.