Ranma 1/2, Volume 26

by Rumiko Takahashi

Book Overview

Can Ranma prevent his teacher, Miss Hinako, from stealing his ki and transforming into her grown-up, more dangerous form? Illustrations. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1591162963
• ISBN13: 9781591162964
• Release Date: April 2004
• Publisher: Viz Media
• Length: 179 Pages
• Weight: 0.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.2" x 7.1"

Customer Reviews

Ranma 1/2

I love this series. Although corny at times, it is one of my favorites.

Drama and pain

Rumiko Takahashi's "Ranma 1/2" series has always focused on action and romantic comedy, but in the twenty-sixth volume, she ditched the comedy in favor of a dramatic, more violent, intense story about Ranma's mother and a mysterious impersonator. Consider it a prelude to her darker "Inuyasha" series. Ranma Saotome is on a shopping trip with his mother -- who believes him to be Akane's female cousin -- when a bear gets loose and tries to attack Nodoka. But a strange boy leaps out and levels the bear, then tells Nodoka that he is her son. Nodoka is overjoyed, and Ranma is enraged that the mysterious Ryu Kumon is impersonating him. When the two young men finally fight, Ranma is defeated -- and almost killed -- with a strange technique called the "Thousand Mountain." There's only way to defeat Ryu, and that is an even more powerful technique that Ranma's father created -- the "Thousand Seas" technique. Now Ranma has to use this incredibly subtle, sinister technique to win back his name -- and his mother. Somewhere around the midpoint of the Ranma series, Takahashi began experimenting with more dramatic stories. This story is one of them -- it's bloodier, almost never funny, and deeply poignant, with Ryu reflecting on the loss of his father, and Ranma desperately trying to get closer to the mother who doesn't know him. Okay, there's a funny story right at the very end, where Happosai is trying to make Ranma cry, so he can create a youth potion. And in the Ryu Kumon story, Ranma's experiments with the "Seas" technique lead him to drive Akane crazy by putting vegetables in her underwear drawer. However, these scenes are overshadowed by the dramatic duel between two superpowered boys. Takahashi's artwork had also grown more refined and often lifelike by this point, along with some increasingly good battle scenes -- the final duel between Ranma and Ryu is literally explosive, especially when the participants start to strangle one another. On the other hand, we get to see Ranma and Akane genuinely supporting one another. "Ranma 1/2" is all about the comedy... except with it's dramatic. And though there's humor in the twenty-sixth volume, much of it is a deeper, darker, and poignant story.

I love them all!

Ranma's mother hasn't seen her son in over a decade, or, at least, she thinks she hasn't. Ranma's been visiting her as the female version of himself. He doesn't want her to know that, depending on the temperature of water splashed onto him, he can become either a boy or a girl. One day, a stranger visits Ranma's mother and she becomes convinced that this stranger is Ranma. Ranma knows that can't be true and tries to find out who this stranger really is and what he wants. As usual, Rumiko Takahashi's writing is hilarious. The fighting techniques in this book were really funny, especially once their intended use was revealed. I don't keep up with the Ranma series as much as I could, but I seem to love every book I pick up. If you like quirky manga and for some reason have not stumbled across Rumiko Takahashi's works yet, I would suggest picking up a volume of this series. This story is fairly stand-alone, although some of the details may be hard to understand if you don't have any previous experience with the series. As usual, there is a "story thus far" section, as well as a character section.

confused...

I absoltely LOVE Ranma 1/2, but I have this book with a different cover. I also have Ranma 1/2 book 25...At the back of book 25, it says that the story will be continued, but never continues on to this book. Also, in this book, it says in the back "end book 28". What is this supposed to mean? Anyway, this book is another hit from Rumiko Takahashi! She outdoes herself in every single volume that she writes!

RANMA ROX!!!

Buy every one in the series. IT IS THE BEST! Ranma has always pleased me and this book will be the greatest, and the future books by Rumiko Takahashi. Also, her Inu-Yasha (demon dog in japanese) is a great series. They play Inu-Yasha on ADULT SWIM on cartoon network each week day. So buy the two series. Rumiko Takahasi is an excellent manga writer. Enjoy!