Ranma 1/2 vs Orange Road: Which of these two classics do you prefer?

Jongriffin · Post by **Jongriffin** » 01 Sep 2021, 22:40

Both Ranma 1/2 and Orange Road or iconic mangas and animes dealing with teenage relationships. However, which one do you prefer? I myself am finding I am having a hard time deciding.

By the way, this post will have some spoilers to those who have not read or watched either.

Ranma 1/2 is great with comedy. Yes, Orange Road is a comedy too. But it doesn't make me laugh the way that Ranma 1/2 does. Both have some outlandish situations. But Ranma 1/2 takes it to a whole other level, something that Rumiko Takahashi is good at in her stories. While Orange Road does have outlandish situations, thanks to the esper powers that Kyosuke and most of his family has, it's more of a slice of life manga and anime. Sure, Kyosuke may occasionally use his power to transport somewhere or to save someone or to lift something up, and there is the bratty cousin that will switch bodies with him, and the occasional time traveling stories, but these are only the icing on the cake, not the cake itself. Orange Road deals much more with relationships and everyday slice of life; in this regard it's not that different than the American sitcom The Wonder Years. Kyosuke and his family's powers, as a whole (except for a few exceptions, such as the power that made Hikaru fall in love with him on the second episode), don't drive the story as much as they could. On the other hand, every situation in Ranma 1/2 is outlandish, with their very powers driving the story. As such, the stories in Ranma 1/2 are just full of sanity, being far more outlandish and unrealistic than even what Orange Road presents. Because of this, it makes for fantastic comedy. You're not going to get a story as insane as bath-house battles in Orange Road, or a a young girl who wields a giant spatula as a sword. The early stories with Genma, while in panda form, working for Dr. Tofu makes for great humor as he tries to answer a phone, only to hold up a sign in frustration proclaiming that pandas can't talk. In fact, while Orange Roads esper powers of the character are the icing on the cake, the gender and species changing of the characters in Ranma 1/2 is the very cake itself. From the outlandish stories of Kuno trying to seduce female Ranma while spurning male Ranma, to Ryoga's embarrassment of changing into a piglet, to Ranma's awkward situations of turning into a girl or back into a boy at the most inopportune moments, to random cartoony fights, Ranma 1/2 really knows how to play up the laughs.

On the other hand, Orange Road is far better with character development. That's not to say that Ranma 1/2 doesn't have complex characters. It does. Takahashi is good at creating multilayered characters. But they don't truly grow or evolve. Not by much anyway. They may change a little bit in the first season of the anime or story arc of the manga, but then they seem to remain static. Whereas Izumi Matsumoto truly knows how to gradually develop characters, having them go through moments of growth. For example, there is no closure in Ranma 1/2. The manga ends with a wedding, but it's a wedding that gets cancelled and everything goes back to normal. Much like most of the prior stories, the characters don't truly learn or grow. In Orange Road, Madoka starts out as a cigarette smoking tough girl, who borders on being a delinquent. While she keeps being "tough" she also grows and becomes softer and kinder as the series progresses. Even Kyosuke has to grow. This is properly illustrated in the last episodes of the second season of Orange Road, in which his feelings for Madoka come out so much stronger. This further cemented in the first Orange Road movie, I Want to Return to that Day, in which he has to finally learn he can't keep playing with Madoka and Hikaru's hearts, leaving him with a painful growing lesson.

So, I can't decide which I love more. They are both classics of anime and manga. Is there a title out of these two that you prefer, and if so, why? Also, do you disagree with any of my thoughts?

Momogari · Post by **Momogari** » 01 Sep 2021, 23:01

I wonder how many people here have even seen both. These days anime fans having seen any older anime feels rare.

I've seen both, but only Ranma 1/2 recently.

I really like Ranma 1/2 but I didn't finish rewatching it since it's episodic and gets old after a while. With that and what you say about character development, I bet if I were to watch Kimagure orange road again, I'd probably say it was better.

Ryuuko · Post by **Ryuuko** » 02 Sep 2021, 00:33

It’s true Ranma 1/2 was not interesting just good for laughs.

Besides there are many other classics.

Orange Road for the win here

Post by **Expendable** » 06 Sep 2021, 21:12

One of the first manga I got introduced to was Ranma 1/2, but while I've heard of Orange Road and the great things people were saying about it, I never found it anywhere.

Jongriffin · Post by **Jongriffin** » 06 Sep 2021, 22:12

Expendable wrote: ↑
06 Sep 2021, 21:12
One of the first manga I got introduced to was Ranma 1/2, but while I've heard of Orange Road and the great things people were saying about it, I never found it anywhere.

Sadly, the Orange Road manga seemed to go out of print fast. Well, the first omnibus volume at least. But maybe the first one will be reprinted. After all, more people are buying manga than they are super hero comics, so maybe they are just having a hard time keeping it in print. The other volumes are available on Amazon. I would check out the anime. It's still in print on Blu Ray. That said, you can watch it on Crunchyroll to see what you think of it.

Post by **Expendable** » 14 Sep 2021, 16:06

Watched the first episode of Orange Road. First thing that struck me is the characters have a very similar look between the two shows. They also both share a school setting, martial arts and unusual abilities - psychic powers vs Jusenkyo's magical transformation curse.

Possible makings for a romantic comedy as well.

Jongriffin · Post by **Jongriffin** » 15 Sep 2021, 03:39

Twilight wrote: ↑
02 Sep 2021, 00:33
It’s true Ranma 1/2 was not interesting just good for laughs.

Besides there are many other classics.

Orange Road for the win here

I don't agree that Ranma 1/2 wasn't interesting. I found it highly clever, creative, and funny. It's just not the best show for character development. It's great for a comedy that you can watch or read without having to worry about following the whole series.