Ranma 1/2 Volume 33 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 2006. 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 four stories that appear in this volume of Ranma 1/2; all of these stories are exclusive to the manga. The first story sees girl-type Ranma and Genma in panda form taking shelter at an old inn while out on a training trip. While at the inn, girl-type Ranma accidentally uncovers a cursed mirror that creates a copy of the person that looks into it. A copy of girl-type Ranma is created, and the copy wreaks havoc around the Tendo Dojo and the surrounding area.
I enjoyed this story quite a bit. The mischief that the copy of girl-type Ranma got herself into was very amusing, and I think Takahashi executed this story concept quite well. While this may not have necessarily been the first story where a copy of Ranma was created, I think this version of the concept was done in such a way that the recycled idea didn’t seem quite as obvious to the reader.
The second story runs for one chapter, and the main focus is on Nabiki. Nabiki actually spent some of her own money to score some really good seats for a concert. Unfortunately, Ranma chases Happosai through the house, and causes the tickets to fly out of Nabiki’s hands into the burner where Kasumi is cooking a meal. On the night of the concert, Nabiki and Ranma end up being alone at the Tendo Dojo, and awkward interactions occur.
I always like seeing a story that features Nabiki, since she tended to be underutilized by Takahashi during the series. It was amusing to see Ranma trying to outsmart the conniving Nabiki in an attempt to beat her at her own game. This was one of the better one chapter stories for Ranma 1/2 that I’d seen in a while.
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