Netflix has the weirdest Christmas movie I've seen:

 Fatman 

Not a Metal Gear Solid reference...

Mel Gibson is Santa Claus. That's all I needed to see this movie. 

Is it me or does Walton Goggins looks like a younger Julio Iglesias.

REBOOT½ Reached Happosai. will see the episode on Monday.

SH Figuarts is doing Ranma the Reboot figures

 They are a rip-off!

The Older Ranma-chan I reviewed...

The Older Boy Ranma...

And Shampoo...

As you can see, these seem to be for the most part new sculpting. But I, but I kind of fear that they have a lot of reuse parts with just a few tweaks. 

Since these are a $100, I don't see myself buying them. I MAY cave in for a Kuno. 

So, I'm watching the new Ranma

 And my boy Ryoga finally appeared and the OG LatAm dub VA is back as Ryoga. This brings me some peace, as I'm getting some nostalgic feeling hearing the classic dubs. I still can't get over how they did the Ranma Saotome VAs dirty. (Male Ranma got blacklisted for criticizing lowball payments by studios.) 

So far this new Ranma is proving itself to be better than the classic anime... I still stand by the classic's fanservice and slightly more "natural looking" movement in the fight scenes. But the new Ranma is slowly winning me over...

Unlike Tomb Raider, which lost me by the second episode.

Getting Castle in the Sky flashbacks. Damn your Netflix, you survived cancelation a bit longer. All I need to see is the Amazon arc... wonder if SH Figuarts will do more Ranma figures now.

Half boy half girl the reboot: the rant

 I'm watching Netflix's Ranma½ in LatAm dub because fuck you that's how I watched the original and to make a fair comparison, I have to use the LatAm dub, since I'm not a fan if the English dub and I only saw a few snippets in Japanese. (Duolingo is no help here)

The artwork is pretty. There are SOME returning voices, namely Akane, Soun, and Kasumi... just checked the Jusenkyo guide returned as well.

Now I don't like the new theme... it's not bad, by any means, but it's too mellow and chill... yeah, Nostalgia is overriding my judgment. 

Aw lawd the censorship is far worse than expected!!

I was too lazy to look for the Austin Powers gag.

Not only conveniently placed objects censor the nippless Barbie boobs, Ranma has no buttcrack! She cannot poop! At least Barbie has a buttcrack!

90s Ranma wins in this department. At least the nudity warning contains ACTUAL Nudity. 

Fights are a bit better In 2024 though. So 2024 wins in this department. 

The true litmus test:

Happosai will be who determines which Ranma½ is better. Judging by the buttkess/nippleless Ranma, Happosai may be drastically toned down. We'll see.

Netflix is giving me my favorite genderfluid character...

 In Anime form... I'm afraid. Yes, I'm talking about Ranma ½... but it's current year... so fan service (which is ½ of Ranma) will be hyper-censored. 

Guess who will suffer the most out of this censorship? Happosai, of course! 

Ranma Is coming in October and here's the trailer:

It looks pretty good, but as I stated above, fanservice has been castrated. Supposedly it's also coming with a few dub, LatAm included. Let's see if the "more faithful to the Manga adaptation" can capture audiences. 

There's one thing I'll miss from the old series though:

Inuyasha is getting a sequel? What?

I'm not a fan of Inuyasha... I've always seen Inuyasha as a Dog-Ranma knock-off. And I've just traumatized an entire generation of anime Watchers. I'm well aware that I'm painting Inuyasha with a broad brush just because there are some similarities to Ranma 1/2. Also it's no secret that I have a bias in favor of Ranma 1/2... P-Chan is my spirit animal.

 But yes, it seems that Inuyasha is getting some love. We know nothing if the sequel is going to be an anime a manga or a movie... hell it might not even be a sequel it maybe a reboot or remake. In all fairness it's nice that Inuyasha is getting some love... hopefully we might even get a new version of Ranma 1/2 that follows the manga a lot closer than the previous anime... Sadly, a modern Ranma would be "offensive" to Western Sensibilities.

It came from the Toy Chest: Forever lost in the Friendzone

Finally one of the Lords of the Friendzone has come out of the Toy Chest. I am talking of a kindred soul, the Eternally Lost Boy, the echo of a good fang. Half man, half bacon seed... I am talking, of course, of the closest thing to a nice guy in Rumiko Takahashi's Ranma 1/2... My homie Ryoga.

Who is he? Ranma's best friend and rival, who is cursed with the curse of the drowned piglet and a horrible sense of direction. Not to mention being as deep in the Friendzone as yours truly... Or Bow, or Jorah Mormont, or Severus Snape. No really, there is a Boulevard in the Friendzone with my name on it. I believe they are rechristening the public Library with my name as well. Well, Ryoga has an Avenue in the Friendzone with his name on it, a football stadium and a school as well. He's like:"How deep in the Friendzone am I? Bitch, I AM the Friendzone!!"

While he is madly in love with Akane's, he's socially awkward as heck. Having the curse of the drowned piglet doesn't help much.  But We shall not talk about P-Chan here, since this is the Ryoga review and he didn't come with P-Chan.

Articulation:
It's similar to that of Male Ranma's, though the shoulders seem to have a slightly better range. Posing for the Shishi Hokodan is impossible with his backpack. You can do it without it. If you buy the breaking stone effect you can complement the Bakusai Tenketsu.
5.0

Paint and Sculpt:
Much like Ranma and the others, the paint and Sculpt match the anime counterpart. Everything I've mentioned on Ranma's applies to Ryoga here.
5.0

Accessories:
Ryoga has MORE stuff than Ranma.
-Backpack with 2 top pieces (one with loops for the umbrella and one without the loops)
-His umbrella. Only in closed position, sadly.
-stand with an alternative piece to attach the backpack.
-3 extra faceplates
-13 extra hands, one is carrying a present for Akane.
5.0 is fair enough for him. I would've preferred an extra umbrella and P-Chan, but it is what it is.

Overall:
5.0 is The final score for Ryoga. I still wish we could've gotten a bit more stuff, but he has plenty and is a pretty well made figure. Most of my Ranma wants have been made. I just need a few more...

Ryoga Hibiki totally deserves his own Spin-Off...

Everyone who has read the House of Rants for a while knows of my love of Ranma½. I've mentioned a few times that I have a certain kinship with Ryoga.

Well, as you already may know, I am revisiting certain anime series from various decades. Great Teacher Onizuka was the one I chose for the 90s, Ranma½ for the 80s, for the 00s I'm torn between FullMetal Panic! or the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Well, I saw this Filler Episode of Ranma yesterday: Ryōga! Yūhi ni Mukatte Hashire or as I like to call it: Red Dead Ryoga. This episode is rumored to have been the inspiration for Akari Unryu, AKA Ryoga's official Girlfriend in the manga.

So, we all know that Ryoga spends half the time MIA, due to his travels and horrible sense of direction. Well, that easily lends itself for a whole spin-off series following Ryoga in his travels. We have seen a few snippets of what he does in filler episodes. but most of them are him hiding from the rain in some shack or something. What Ryōga! Yūhi ni Mukatte Hashire did was to give us a Ryoga adventure that didn't rely on Ranma or Akane to push the plot forward. Ryoga getting lost can lend itself to various different kinds of episodes, like in one Episode he could end end up in Yokosuka and accidentally get involved in a gang fight on the port. (Yes, it's a Shenmue reference) then the next episode he could end up being captured and used in Piglet Races by US Soldiers in Okinawa. There's plenty of bizarre situations that Ryoga/P-Chan can be put into. Not only that, but Akari could get an official introduction without having to do a complete Ranma ½ reboot (which I wouldn't mind if it's made a lot more faithful to the manga.) Heck maybe some episodes could mildly connect to some Ranma episodes. Like say in episode 12 Ryoga sends Ranma a challenge, but Ryoga doesn't actually arrive at the Tendo Residence until Episode 26 (sidetracked by his bad sense of direction and misadventures.)

It came From the Toy Chest: Uncute Tomboy who Can't Cook Edition

Just don't tell her I said those things, Otherwise I might need to use the Ultimate Saotome Style Technique. So, Akane Tendo... How can I describe her?
I already said she's unfeminine and can't cook to save her life... Speaking of saving her life she is kidnapped almost as much as Peach...
Also, she is FREAKING DUMB... I Mean Beavis and Butt-Head are rocket scientists next to her kind of dumb.

She never figures out the truth about mah boi Ryoga... Not even after the Mark of the Gods she figured out that Ryoga and P-Chan are one and the same... Violent!! She's VERY VIOLENT!!

She's also Ranma's True Love despite all her flaws... Then again, Ranma him/herself is a massive douchebag.

Articulation:
I'm surprised with this figure. Her Long Skirt doesn't hinder her articulation that much. That is because the skirt is made of soft plastic and it's not one piece but two that overlap at the sides, which allows for a wider range of motion without having to split the skirt. It's an ingenious trick to keep articulation AND preserve the sculpt. I wonder if this was what the Four Horsemen Intended to do for the skirts on MOTUC before Mattel design went ass backwards on it.
5.0

Paint and sculpt:
If it looks like Akane, then it must be Akane... She appears in her Furinkan High Uniform... The Paint is flawless. If there is one tiny nitpick is that my Akane might be lacking one piece... specifically on the groin area, and yes, it involves her Panties, Happosai-sensei.
She HAS her panties, but I think they weren't glued in place and they are floating on her crotch. When they move, you can see how her crotch is engineered... IT's creepy.
5.0 I know what you're asking: If this is a "flaw" why is Akane getting a perfect score here? First it's in a part that's not supposed to be visible normally. Second, it was an easy fix. I just glued the panties to her lower torso (which isn't an Articulation point... I quadruple checked.) Now she looks normal. But yeah, check the crotches in your Akanes... (I also could be wrong, btw) (This would have made it a 4.8, but since the 5 points system only allows me to dock either whole points or half points, removing half a point for this is overkill)

Accessories:
-Stand
-Mallet
-8 extra arms
-4 extra faces
-Schoolbag
-Ryoga...

Akane has a TON of stuff and most of it suits her School look... BUUUUT I'm gonna say this and it may be an unpopular opinion... I wish she had gotten a second head and hairpiece from the earliest episodes... you know with the longer hair. That way with the Ryoga that is coming in Q3 (pre-ordered mine) could recreate that infamous scene where Ryoga and Ranma cause her to lose her long hair.
5.0

Overall:
Akane gets a 5.0 as her final score, or a 4.80 if I dock 20% of one point at the end for the panties issue. Also, being in her high school uniform makes her seem a bit TOO Plain, or too normal for the bunch of weirdos that the Series has. I GET why they did it and I DO LIKE it, but the Gi would have allowed for a bit more poseability options... Other than having All the Ranmas, Shampoo, Akane, and Ryoga released in the nude, the selections are OK... Before anyone complains about the nudity, ALL THOSE characters I've mentioned have had various scenes involving nudity. Now to wait for Ryoga...

The Rose comes from another SH Figuarts...

It Came from the Toy Chest: Ni Hao Ranma!!

As you may have guessed, I am Finally doing the Shampoo review...

So, Who is Shampoo? One of Ranma's many fiancees... She was originally a rival for Ranma-chan... Nothing big, just that Ranma embarrassed Shampoo in front of her village and she swore her vengeance on Ranma with a kiss of death... She went to Japan looking for Ranma and Ranma-kun defeated Shampoo in combat, which meant a marriage proposal for Shampoo. Wait... She was voiced by Spike!? Azusa too!? Shoot! Looks like I might take a look at the English version... once I finish the Latin American version!

So, let's get started with the review, shall we?

Articulation:
Her Articulation is very similar to Ranma-chan th main difference is that she lacks a bicep swivel, but her elbows behave like the hasbro ball joint elbows.
5.0

Paint and Sculpt:
She's wearing the waitress outfit, which is not my favorite, but it's Shampoo. Like other Ranma Figures, she's mostly molded in the appropriate colors to avoid paint rub, but there are some painted areas. (most notably her hair and torso.) Her hair seems to be painted a tad darker than what's seen on the anime.
5.0

Accessories:
She has a ton:
-An extra neck peg with reduced articulation to hold her head and heavier long hair. (I swapped to this peg the moment I opened her)
- 3 Extra faceplates
- 7 extra hands (3 left, 3 right and one wih both hands in prayer pose)
-Cursed form: Cat Shampoo
-Ramen Bowl
-Ramen Delivery box
-stand
5.0

Overall:
Shampoo is a great figure... who totally deserves her 5.0 score. I do kinda wish she came with even more stuff... Mainly her Chuí (aka her big assed Maracas of Doom!)

It Came from the Toy Chest THE OTHER ½ of the review.

It's time to douse ourselves with cold water and let the Cursed Form of Ranma to come out of the Toy chest...

I don't think I NEED TO EXPLAIN RANMA once again... Martial artist, arranged marriage to an uncute tomboy, water changes his sex... Ryoga is a pig!! etc.

So, let's get started on Ranma's cursed form... I do have one serious drunk question... If  a dude were to fall in love with Girl Ranma and he knows about boy Ranma, the Jusenkyo curse and everything... Does that make the person gay? then there's the classic: Can Girl Ranma get Pregnant?  Or what if Hot water were to fall On Girl Ranma in the middle of intercourse?


Let's just get on with the review...

Articulation:

Nearly Everything Boy Ranma Does, Girl Ranma can do better... aside Toe Articulation... she lacks it. The Bicep swivel ie easier to maneuver due to the short sleeves she's wearing. At the same time I'd be more careful with her... changing hands is even scarier than with the men...
5.0

Paint and Sculpt:

There is very little paint here since the pieces are mostly molded in the appropriate colors. The painted areas show no visible slop or paint bleed. The sculpt is a bit on the simplistic side, mostly to match the source material. (No 4Horsemen level of detail here, which is good, since a Hyper-realistic Ranma toy would be scary... I know it echoes the Male Ranma segment, but it applies here as well.

5.0

Accessories:
If you thought Boy Ranma had stuff, let me run down what Girl Ranma has:
8 extra hands 3 extra faceplates, stand with clear arm to hold Ranma, Extra arm to hold a sound effect sign (when Akane bats Ranma into the heavens with her mallet... I lack an Akane for now), a Kettle, and a Staff and Sword.
5.0 for Ms. Saotome here.


Overall:
It's easy to see WHY Ranma gets a 5.0 as an overall score. The Japanese Collector's market KNOWS IT'S GEARED TOWARDS ADULT COLLECTORS and treats their items as such. Unlike Western Companies that deliver overpriced inaccurate crap that doesn't work as a toy or as a movie prop... (Not a reference to CattyMolector's failed McFly prop).




The Next Ranma ½ figure review will be soon... but here's a hint:

你好

Top most wanted Ranma ½ characters to become figures.

As you have seen with the Male Ranma It Came From the Toy Chest, I'm a bit into collecting Ranma figures. I have both Ranmas and I preordered Akane Tendo, because you KINDA NEED Both Ranma and Akane if one were to display them...
Once my boy Ryoga is made available, I'll preorder him, because he's MY FAVORITE CHARACTER. So, that's why Ryoga and Akane will NOT BE ON THIS LIST...
I'll post the character and a brief explanation WHY I WANT said character.


Genma Saotome Panda Form:
I'm aware of the Figuarts Zero, but that's a cop-out. I think we deserve a fully Articulated Genma in his cursed form... Sure it would be a bit expensive due to the new tooling, but he wouldn't NEED That much in accessories.

just enough articulation so I can do
this... I can get any ball 

Maybe 2 extra hands to change to gripping the broom or sign., the broom, the signs, a bit of bamboo, 2 extra faceplates (Scared and open mouth for eating, or angry look) and  Happosai with clip-on bag of loot and extra Panty Raid Faceplate.

Human Genma Saotome:
You knew this one was coming as well. He's more likely to happen than Panda Genma and I'd take just human form if it means getting ANY Articulated Genma.
what I'd like to see with him:
4 sets of extra hands similar to those that Ranma has. 2 Extra faceplates besides the normal stoic face plate. (screaming and crying), a Panda face sign, as seen on the pic to the left.
IF the Panda Genma mentioned above isn't made, then toss in Happosai here (no extra Faceplates, just normal Happosai and a Happo Daikarin.

The Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, Tatewaki Kuno:

Not a difficult one to make, in theory... He wouldn't need that much. His Bokken, a dozen roses, a single rose, 4 pairs of hands and an extra hand to hold the single rose. 3 extra faceplates (shocked, goofy grin, Angry) Maybe we could toss in a barely articulated Cologne with him. just to get her. (she could be as articulated as the upcoming Meowth from the Team Rocket set.)

Ukyo Kuonji:

She completes the Triforce of fiancées.
She could reuse the existing female hands, then all we'd need is the specialized accessories for her, consisting of a single small spatula, the Large Spatula, an okonomiyaki, a brush with sauce, 3 extra faceplates (shocked, happy, angry). I'd toss in a Different P-Chan from the one from Akane. (Maybe this P-Chan could have the Mark of the Battling god...) This is also a nod to the Ukyo/Ryoga shipping.

Mousse:

We have Shampoo and I suggested a way to get Cologne. Getting Mousse is not as Far-fetched.
He'd be an accessory heavy figure... 2 extra hairpieces (one with the Glasses on top, the other with no glasses at all. the default hairpiece would have the glasses at the bottom so it looks like the figure is wearing the glasses normally. Otherwise we'd need a ton more of faceplates with glasses and without glasses.) the available male hands would work on him. I'd add a Hidden knives set of hands
 His 3 extra faceplates would be Goofy grin, angry, and shocked. His cursed duck form could come with 2 extra sets of wings. (The default would be tucked in to his body. the extras would be spread wings and the third set would be spread wings + knives.

Pantyhose Taro: (Human form)

I can't pick the spring of drowned "yeti holding an eel and crane while riding an ox" form, because of tooling, but having A somewhat big bad is a good thing. He'd reuse most of the Male parts, hands, I think Ranma's legs could get some usage here too. For his face plates, we get the usual, stoic, angry, shocked... I'd add an even angrier face to use while displaying him with Ranma. Here's also another opportunity to toss in Happosai if any of the previous two spots are a no go.

Where's Soun, Kasumi, Nabiki, Dr. Tofu, Kodachi, Gosunkugi, etc.?

Let's be fair: Kasumi and Nabiki would be harder to sell. They are plain normal humans. Soun we could sell, but he'd be pushing it a bit too far. Same thing would apply to Dr. Tofu. Kodachi, I'd like... Hell, I'd trade Pantyhose for her, but I chose Taro to increase the chances of getting Happosai. I'd like to get Gosunkugi but since the line seems to be based on the anime instead of the manga, then Gosunkugi would be like making a really obscure side character.

It came from the Toy Chest: ½ of a review...

Seriously, I can't do justice to this character in a single review. The review will be a two-parter...
So, you might have guessed that this review is for a Japanese toy... a Toy that has had a few hints that it was coming... I mean, I bought FRIGGING NARUTO BEFORE Getting a toy from my favorite anime... Cat's out of the bag now...

I'm talking about Ranma ½... Seeing that to review Ranma Saotome, I need 2 Figures, hence the reference of being HALF a review (which also serves as an extra nod to Ranma ½'s well ½)

I wish Girl Ranma was wearing this outfit.

This one isn't so bad but I like
the long sleeve look better.

As you can see I have BOTH FORMS of Ranma, which you kinda need if you're collecting Ranma ½ stuff...  So, you know that the Form that doesn't get reviewed now will be the next one to be reviewed.
I'm going to get my biggest complaint out of the way... They aren't wearing the same outfit. Please don't be a ploy for SH Figuarts to release another set of Ranmas with the opposite outfits...






With that out of the way, do I NEED TO EXPLAIN Ranma? Yes? Dangflabbit!
Ranma is a Martial Artist. He's engaged to another Martial Artist due to an arranged marriage between their parents. Ranma has one tiny problem... Cold water transforms him into a girl.


So, let's review Ranma Saotome... Normal Form.





Articulation:
It's a Figuarts figure, so there is plenty of Articulation. some of it is a bit tricky at first (mostly because I'm more used to the slightly less Articulated MOTUC Figures. You can recreate some of his attack poses... (The Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken being the huge exception since we don't have a fist flurry part.) But with the wind effects parts a convincing Hiryu Shoten Ha could be displayed. (This applies to Girl Ranma as well.)
5.0

Paint and sculpt:

Realistic P-chan is not as cute as Stylized P-chan.

There is very little paint here since the pieces are mostly molded in the appropriate colors. The painted areas show no visible slop or paint bleed. The sculpt is a bit on the simplistic side, mostly to match the source material. (No 4Horsemen level of detail here, which is good, since a Hyper-realistic Ranma toy would be scary...
5.0

Accessories:

8 extra hands 3 extra faceplates, stand with clear arm to hold Ranma, bucket and water attachment, backpack.

This Ranma has a TON of things!
This one gets a 5.0 here.


Overall:
It's obvious that Ranma gets a 5.0 and that's WITHOUT MY PRO-RANMA bias. It's a decent figure with plenty of stuff and it's very accurate to the animated version.