Takahashi and the many halves

A comic about multiple multiple halves

Rumiko Takahashi's manga series Ranma 1/2 is a peculiar and fascinating story about a legendary cursed spring Jusenkyo and how every time a person falls into these waters, they are doomed to become whatever it is that died there when they come into contact with cold water. As crazy at it might sound, this makes for a very interesting series of events since the many creatures that drowned in the springs include many animals and a girl, the latter being the curse of the main character Saotome Ranma.

What I thoroughly enjoy about this story is the many levels of complexity it involves. It is a fairly long story with new characters being added constantly. Every time a new character is introduces, they create some sort of conflict, and every conflict either lasts for a long time or becomes a reoccurring thing that comes back again and again in the most unexpected situations. A lot of the characters end up being affected by the curse which only makes things more interesting especially when the character they end up becoming has something to do with their personality or life story. In the end all the stories are incredibly well developed and end up being intertwined in some unexpected way. All-in-all there is always something new coming around the corner, and the plot is always thickening and getting better with every page.

Even though the story is mean to be fairly comedic, the plot and sub-stories can get fairly serious and inspiring as well as history-oriented. There are many thins to be learned from Ranma 1/2 from teen relationship advice, to urban legends, to ancient history.