Ranma 1/2 Volume 31 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 2005. 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 feature female nudity.
There are a total of seven stories that appear in this volume of Ranma 1/2; all of these stories are exclusive to the manga. The first story is about a frail young man who is dying because he refuses to take his medicine. He sees girl-type Ranma outside of his window, and says that he will only take the medicine if a beautiful young woman administers it to him. This one chapter story follows girl-type Ranma’s attempts to get the young man to take the medicine.
Of all the stories that appeared in this volume, this one was probably my least favorite. There was already a storyline where girl-type Ranma tried to help someone out who was on their deathbed in the hospital. While the actual circumstances behind both of these stories were different, it still kind of gave me that “been there, done that” feeling.
The second story sees Ranma, Genma, and the Tendo family (minus Kasumi) going out to dinner. When Soun calls to let Kasumi know they won’t be coming home for dinner, he gets the impression that mild mannered Kasumi is mad. When they return to the Tendo Dojo, they see evidence that confirms the belief that Kasumi is upset.
I liked this story for two reasons. First, it’s a story that’s centered on Kasumi; this is a rather rare occurrence in the later volumes of the series. And for some reason, I find the thought of mild mannered Kasumi becoming angry and upset to be rather amusing.
The third story in this volume sees Ryoga accidentally eating a mushroom of time, which causes him to shrink back down into a six-year-old. During the story, Ranma also accidentally eats a mushroom and returns to being a six-year-old. The only way to return to their normal size is to grow a mushroom to 16 cm and eat it at that size, so they will return to being 16 years old. During the story, Ryoga and Ranma keep fighting over who will grow their mushroom faster, and hijinks ensue.
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