Ranma 1/2 Volume 13 is a manga with the story and art by Rumiko Takahashi, and it was published in North America by Viz Media. This review is for the second printing of this volume, which was released in 2004. The Ranma 1/2 manga volumes are “flipped,” which means that they read like American books instead of traditional Japanese manga. Ranma 1/2 is rated “T+” for older teens, due to some panels that include female nudity.
The first storyline in Volume 13 sees Ryoga encountering a martial arts calligrapher who says that he can make Ryoga the strongest man in the world by drawing a special symbol on his abdomen to help draw out incredible strength. While the symbol does indeed make Ryoga very strong, the symbol itself is rather goofy-looking. The only way for the symbol to disappear is for Ryoga to be defeated in battle; Ryoga turns to Ranma for help.
The next storyline is actually one that was never included in the Ranma 1/2 anime series. In this story, two young children are looking for Happosai, because they think he is Santa Claus and want to be his disciples. Apparently the previous Christmas, the children caught him during a panty raid at their home and believed he was Santa. Happosai agrees to let them be his disciples, and the story follows their “training.” While this was an interesting story, and I personally liked it, I can see why it wasn’t adapted for the anime series.
This is followed by a story that features Tatewaki Kuno, an arrogant schoolmate of Akane and Ranma; he’s in love with both Akane and girl-type Ranma. He goes to a yearly gathering, where participants try to pull a Japanese feudal sword from a stone (like King Arthur and the Sword in the Stone); whoever pulls the sword will be granted three wishes. Kuno successfully pulls out the sword, and hijinks ensue as Ranma plots to get the sword away from Kuno in order to try and break his curse.
Article comments