Ranma 1/2 - Random Rhapsody - Who Do? Voodoo! (Vol .1)
Everything's normal at Furinkan High School--which means everything's chaotic by any reasonable standard. The principal of Furinkan, who sounds like a pidgin English version of a surfer dude, tries to play traditional father to his long-lost progeny, Kuno and Kodochi, in "Dear Daddy." The results are predictably disastrous. Gosunkugi's a new student, so he doesn't understand why Ranma won't let him accept the lunch Akane offers. The indignant Gosunkugi tries to work voodoo on Ranma but only wreaks havoc on Kuno--and himself. Ranma's outraged when a martial artist won't accept his challenge: the newcomer practices Martial Arts Calligraphy--and Ranma's handwriting is atrocious. American viewers may not recognize the ink stones and sticks used in traditional Japanese calligraphy, but they know what happens when Ranma and Happosai get mixed up in anything. Despite the general chaos, these three episodes rank among the tamest in the series, with no gender transformations. Still, Sasuke sums up the whole series when he comments at the end of "Dear Daddy," "After all that, nothing's changed. The family's just as strange as before." Not rated; suitable for ages 12 and up.--Charles Solomon