Nihao My Concubine - Ranma Movie #2

[Edward]

The second Ranma movie features dramatic increases in the girls' bustlines and dresses them in as little as possible for most of the movie.  That's the movie's only redeeming point and it's clearly there to distract from the film's numerous flaws.

Oddly, wearing less clothes makes most of the girl's hair grow longer.  No, this makes no sense, and the hair returns to normal when they wear more clothes later.

The plot is an inferior rehash of the first movie, Big Trouble in Nekonlon China.  The main villain, Toma, is the most pathetic antagonist to appear in the Ranma series.  Kirin was cooler.  Saffron was cooler.  Tarou was cooler.  Even Sentarou was cooler.

Okay, Toma's tougher and more charismatic than Gosunkugi.

Toma's minions are even more pathetic than he is.  In anything but this movie, Akane probably could have beaten the whole lot single-handed, and by that I mean not just by herself, but that she could do it with one arm tied behind her back.  But the skills of all the girls, including Ranma's female form, have plummeted.  Maybe silicon implants interfere with chi flow.  Regardless, in this movie the girls exist only to look good, they sure can't fight.  Not that there's a fight scene worthy of the name, anyway, though Mousse almost gets one.

Finally, there's the characterization.  If you're familiar with the TV series or the manga, you'll have to recognize most of the characters by appearance, not actions.  Oddly, the movie's characterization seems to be the basis for most fanfics that set out to pair everybody up.  Like those fics, the mindless matchups are assumed, not demonstrated in any credible manner.

I'll rate it a 2 out of 10 for the fanservice and because Nabiki got to be cool and clever for a bit.

[DB]

Yes, I believe 'Gainax was in the credits somewhere, and we now what happens to bust sizes in their works.

Sadly, I'm inclined to agree with Ed here. I should also mention this was my first exposure to Ranma 1/2, and at the time it made me enjoying the series enough to seek more of it. However, further exposure to the product does indeed to reveal this to be incredibly weak. Especially on the parts of the female cast, whom inexplicably become damsels in distress to the most moronic villains in the R 1/2 series.  And as Ed says, had far too much influence in the 'couples' that seemed to crop up in bad fanfiction.  A pity, but  those are the breaks.

DB Sommer

[Dracos]

Breasts do wonders for turning off brains.

Dracos

[Brian]

Kind of tells you why the Musk never got anywhere....

This may not be true elsewhere, but the second movie was always very difficult for me to get a hold of for the longest time, until I saw it for download on #topseekrit.  When I finally got it, I was a ... hair ... dissapointed.  It just doesn't stack up to the later volumes of the manga, or even most of the wacky episodes, like the christmas special.

[Anastasia]

I'm in the same boat as DB. I saw this early in my Ranma career, and liked it at the time. Looking back, however, it's not really good at all. It suffers from the problems listed and the almost random pairing up syndrome that's not continued at all past that one OAV.