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Following a rather foolish choice to take a yacht out on its
maiden voyage, the gang are stranded on a desert island. Things
seem to be going well until Kusumi disappears. Soon a number
of the other girls are also gone, each leaving behind only
a peach (really, don't ask. Just go with it), each of which
looks a little more like buttocks than you'd like. It seems
that the girls have been kidnapped by a prince looking for
his perfect bride. After an encounter with the prince, Ranma
in his female form, heads off to the rescue. But not all goes
to plan...
Based
on the original manga by Rumiko Takahashi, Nihao My Concubine
is a 1994 offshoot of the very long running show. The film
continues with the usual blend of martial arts and large breasted
teenagers. If you've not come across this anime, things can
get confusing very quickly. Biggest problem is that Ranma
and his father are cursed and, when in contact with water,
undergo certain changes. Ranma changes from a boy to a girl
and his father turns into a giant panda. Best just to go with
the flow really.
The narrative is both peculiar and amusing. The final half
of the film, showing the brides competing to be the next princess,
includes combat flower arranging. Of course, Ranma has his
own agenda; it seems that the prince possesses a gourd full
of water that will let Ranma remain a male for good. But will
he be able to bring him/herself to destroy the spring, from
which the water originates, for the love of Akane, the object
of his hearts desire. Far be it for me to say that you could
have seen the ending coming a light year away.
On
the down side the fight scenes are not only overly reminiscent
of console games, but quickly become repetitive. The film
itself is less than an hour long, so if you're buying it as
a fan of the show then you're not going to be really bothered,
otherwise you have to question whether such a short feature
represents value for money. It would have been better if they
had included two of the many Ranma feature films, or
something substantial in the extras. The feature itself feels
more like a summer special that a full blown film.
Language
set-up is restricted to English or Japanese stereo with the
added option of subtitles. On the extras front there are seventeen
character biographies, well worth a look if this is your first
foray into the wacky world of Ranma - it may save some
confusion when you're watching the main feature. There are
fifteen pages of less interesting conceptual art, which is
a watch once option, as well as the usual bunch of trailers.
So,
not bad, just a little too short, making the disc feels a
bit of a lightweight. One for the fans really.
Charles
Packer
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