@Robby said in Ranma 1/2 (2024 revival):
(I also recall from when I did read some of the manga that Lum is only in like one chapter in the first volume, then a bunch of random nonsense, and then Lum was brought back in as the defacto main character and they dodged that entirely, understandably.)
Lum appears in the first chapter, is gone for the second, and then is back for the third by mass popular demand (awkwardly so; she solves the crisis of the interstellar taxi union sapping away all of Earth's oil but we don't get the why or the how of it), but it's also clear that Takahashi hasn't given up on Ataru (who isn't as much of a leech then, his bad luck is still his defining trait) and Shinobu as the main characters/couple, so Lum is far more a villain for the first few volumes before she's clearly the main character. The remake skipped quite a few of those chapters (the second part of the first episode in the remake is more typical of that period; they also introduced Mendo earlier, which is really the point where Shinobu stops showing any sign of wanting to get back together with Ataru, so we don't feel as bad when Lum shocks him for getting close to her), which is understandable. They're not the best and they want to introduce much of the supporting cast quickly so we can get to their later, more developed parts sooner (like Oyuki is clearly trying to seduce Ataru in her intro, as would be typical for a Yuki-Onno, but that's not how she was used later on).
Early Ranma demands it stay in sequence a little more, given how some of the elements stack on each other, like Ranma's fear of cats followed by Shampoo coming back with a cat transformation and how characters build up movesets... and most of the really memorable stuff and fan favorites is near the start.
Meh... There's a must have ordering for somethings (Ryoga should appear in the second episode) but neither of those examples really matter. You can introduce Ranma's fear cats with Shampoo's returns (instead devoting a whole episode with that camera stalker) and the various martial art techniques can come in when they matter. There's no reason you have to go Kodachi arc-skating pair arc-Shampoo arc in that order, though I suspect they will.
I think the problem there is that Mendo and Ataru were equals. Medou was his superior in a lot of ways, and the gate into lots of antics with his wealth, but they both gave what they got and sparred properly with each other and were both equally awful, and for whatever faults Medou had you liked him.
Meanwhile Kuno was so outclassed by Ranma, immediately that he was never a legitimate threat or rival... he was never an actual obstacle to Akane that she might actually like... and the need to make him part of the romance octahedron joke meant he had to remain oblivious to Ranma's transformations for the sake of the joke... which meant he had to be an idiot as well. Ranma just outclassed him in every way (and so did Akane) so it just never clicked and he never worked until he became Nibiki's toy to play with and even that was a pretty one-sided route of shenangans because Nibiki didn't have anything to do either.
Kodachi had the same general problems. If Ranma's gender bending and dual identities had ever been treated seriously as trying to juggle two different identities then maybe? But as just crazy poison lady that wasn't in on the transformation joke she was also forcibly one-note. And the SAME note as her brother.
Takehashi figured out the balance much better almost immediately with Ryoga and then Shampoo, and its no shock they went on to be the prominent rivals instead. While the Skaters faded to one-offs.
They had to be in on the transformation joke to stick around, otherwise they couldn't deal with Ranma in any meaningful way.
Re-reading Ranma, that’s probably big part of it yes. Shutaro does become a bit more of a butt monkey later on; Ataru later on gets craftier and sneakier (lot of surprise hammer shots) and against Ryoko (whose intro is sort of a turning point here), Shutaro stands no chance what’s so ever. But those aspects are things meant to bring Ataru on level with Shutaro; Shutaro is still “dangerous” with his sword and his money and his looks, and so Ataru has to outsmart him to beat him. Takawaki meanwhile does have nothing over Ranma, who can outfight him easily and can mostly outsmart him and so never lose (the wishing sword story is an exception). It’s just not as funny to find out how will Ranma get the better of him. Ryogua worked far better as rival both in combat and in love (Ryogua also has way better characterization, probably one of Takahashi’s best).
But I don’t think that’s the problem with Kodachi compared to Ryoko and that really just comes down to concept. Ryoko is the kind of person who would purposely set you up in a no-win scenario, scream (“in tears") about how horrible you are once you were caught in it whilst throwing a hand grenade at you, all while getting the sympathy of any outsiders. She’s a rich girl who was never told no to (except perhaps by her brother) who is bored with her life and thus treats everything and everyone as part of one big play with herself as writer, director, and lead. Utterly evil but so over the top and thus fun because you wonder what devilry she’s cooked up this time.
Kodachi has none of that. She’s nasty but she doesn’t have that exaggerated nature that makes it fun to read and her plans aren’t as layered. I think the other problem is that (this applies to Shampoo and Ukyo as well, but not as much for reasons I can’t explain) is that they love boy Ranma but their rival there should be Akane here and for reasons, they rarely directly conflict with Akane. Instead these things usually work out to Ranma having to deal with them. I don’t think the Lum, Ataru, Ran, and Rei love rectangle was that good (mostly because of Rei, who is just too dumb to plan and scheme as needed; hence why he didn’t work as rival when it was Lum, Ataru and Shinobu), but at least whatever Ran’s cooking to steal Ataru’s youth to get revenge, it actually requires Lum to do something.
@Robby said in Ranma 1/2 (2024 revival):
I'm looking at the actual chapters now... wow, Shampoo shows up for the first time, has her arc, and leaves.
And then she's back THREE CHAPTERS LATER. With grandma and Mousse in tow.
That's not even enough time to get weekly reader input before Takehashi would have been working on that return chapter.
She must have been a really popular mega hit, no wonder the original anime pushed her up to season 1.
I don't think it's a surprise; she was basically Lum 2.0 and we all know what her popularity did. Takahashi, though seems to have been in a better position, to keep Shampoo from taking over.
What's more interesting to me is how much Ryuoga is in the early chapters. He shows up for his whole arc, and still stays on the whole for the Gymnastic arc (even training Ranma), the ice skaters (where as P-Chan, he becomes the mcguffin), and Shampoo's intro. It's not even until Shampoo leaves that we get even one chapter without Ryouga at all.
