#heregoesnothing

Let’s start with the beginning

A little over a month ago, I was reminded of a silly advertisement at the end of a Viz tape of some Pokémon episodes I had watched in my youth. Among “The Dog of Flanders” and “Kimba” there was a video about a girl getting kidnapped into a big flying boat. I had been unaware of the name, but I was told it was “Ranma” and it was about a boy who turned into a girl when splashed with water. I can’t pin down what exactly sparked my curiosity, but soon enough I was looking for a way to watch the first episode. I found it, watched it and was inexplicably hooked. I am not an anime fan, the most exposure I have had to the style was playing a Fire Emblem rep in Smash Bros.

I told myself, this is just “boy turns into girl, has fiancée, hijinks ensue.” Curiosity sated, case closed. Right? Right?? But something about the snappy writing, unique premise, and the art style kept my interest. I wanted to know how Ranma and Akane dealt with each other. I wanted to know how Ranma dealt with the inconvenience of being turned to a girl whenever it rained. I kept watching and got wrapped up in the story. The real irony is that eventually, the story would cave-in to disconnected, story-of-the-week fluff, truly becoming my initial judgment of “boy turns into girl, has fiancée, hijinks ensue.” But it was too late. The damage was done. I am now a fan of this silly old series, for better or worse.

So why the blog?

I want to write my own music and stories professionally. While the best practice is just taking a stab at it, there’s merit to studying stories and songs around you. You learn to parse out what works and what doesn’t. What went wrong in one story, what builds interest in another. I’m going to look at these episodes and try to see just that, how it all comes together to build something memorable.

I am a bit of a historian, having spent long hours compiling articles and details about past members of the music department at my university. I have an interest in these details, and what better to fuel this than in a passion project for a beloved series such as this? I wasn’t able to find a lot of analysis about Ranma 1/2, despite many sources claiming that it was instrumental in fueling the manga/anime boom in the US. With this blog, I hope to provide information and details on tropes and designs that shed light on the influence this series has had.

Most of all, this is a passion project. I wanted to start a blog, and I guess this is what I’m using to get it going. I have been a longtime fan of Bobby Schroeder’s Tumblr, Thanks, Ken Penders (link below). Her insight and humor has been fun to read and it’s shed light on a polarizing controversy that doesn’t often get enough analysis. For a children’s comic book. Lol.

I want to give back to the series, and this is how I chose to do it. I’m not getting paid, but I will make time to upload at least weekly. I may be shouting into a void, but hey someone’s gotta do it? For a children’s anime series. Lol. Let’s just hope Tumblr survives long enough to get this off the ground.

Here’s the link to Bobby’s blog! Please check her out, her work is wonderful!