Ranma 1/2 Movie 2: Nihao my Concubine
By: Rumiko Takahashi
Genre: Action/Adventure/Romance/Comedy
Rating: PG-14 Nudity and girls in skimpy suits
Year released: 1994
Overall Rating: 81.3%
"Listen up numbskull, if Kasumi isn't back by dinnertime, we're gonna have to eat Akane's cooking, and if we do that, man oh man we're gonna wish we were lost at sea!" - Ranma Saotome
Reviewer: Chibiwonton
Synopsis
At first it was supposed to be a nice vacation at the beach until their boat (or Kuno's boat) was completely destroyed by a viscious storm. Well, it didn't matter to be stranded on such a nice island, except when they find out all the girls in the small island started to disappear one by one. It happens to be the work of the young prince who wants to find himself a bride so he held a competition to pick his perfect soulmate. A special thing about this prince is that he owns a small spring that is able to turn anybody into a man! Knowing this fact, Ranma ventures into the prince's palace to search for the spring...but who would've knew that the prince chose Akane to be his wife?
Story/Plot: 8.5
I actually liked this movie better than the first one even though they relatively portrays the same theme. But this doesn't stop the movie from it's incredible humor and superb story. This is why I love the Ranma 1/2 movies: they always deepen the love between our favorite couple, Ranma and Akane. The focus of this movie is on both action scenes and various relationships between characters (such as Ranma vs. Akane or Shampoo vs. Mousse).
Characters: 8
The characters, again, are always amazing. This movie focuses on the characters even deeper than the previous movie, especially during the rescue scenes. Ranma actually reveals quite a lot of his feelings in this movie, compared to other parts of the anime series. There are also some individual focuses for characters like Mousse and Ryoga which is also very sweet. The new characters are pretty cool characters too, my favorite was that cat-dog fat guy (I don't think he has a name).
Art: 9
This is pretty much one the best art I've ever seen on any Ranma 1/2 movie or series, and I think it's even better than the OVAs. Ramna looks better in this movie than any other part of the series, and Akane is actually 'cute' here!! The mine cart fight scene is my favorite scene in the movie, but the rest of the action is also done very, very well. The setting on a beach island is very nice, and I love how they animated the water in the beginning. But beware of the naked scenes and the extremely skimpy clothes warn by the girls: it is actually quite dangerous. Eye candy for the lecherous ones ^_^
Music: 7
Again, there isn't really a lot of memorable music in this movie. The ending theme "A Peace of Love" is pretty cool to listen to while you enjoy the art in the ending credits.
