Ranma 1/2 - Random Rhapsody - The Way We're Not (Vol. 2)
In the last volume,Back to the Way We Were... Please, a peddler offers Ranma, Ryoga, and Mousse the answer to their prayers: a powder that will reverse the curse of the Spring of the Drowned Man that causes them to transform into a girl, pig, and duck, respectively. They buy three envelopes of powder, only to discover the labels are missing. One envelope contains the magic antidote; the other two are unknown substances, and bathing in them could produce horrific results. The efforts of the trio to figure out whose envelope is whose and which one contains the curse-ending philter provide the special brand of slapstick comedy that has madeRanma 1/2an international hit. Typical insanity reigns in the other two episodes. Ranma wanders into a deserted corridor of Furinken High and stumbles across a strange old man who guards a dark secret about the school's nutty principal in "The Secret Don of Furinken High." The filmmakers spoof the look of historicalmangato depict the old geezer's tangled memories and fantasies. In the third episode, an argument over a batch of stolen candy escalates into Genma disinheriting his son. But if he does, what happens to the fractious "engagement" between Ranma and Akane? Things eventually get sorted out, but there's no way any situation inRanmacould be described as "back to normal." Not rated; suitable for ages 12 up: slapstick violence.--Charles Solomon