RANMA 1/2 REVIEW | BREAKING POINT IS COOL (S3E2)

Ranma 1/2 is my favorite anime of all time.

I was initially excited when it was relaunched a couple of years ago.

However, I crashed out in Season 2.

Cramming around 50 episodes' worth of content into two seasons bugged the hell out of me. There were a lot of arcs that felt messed up, and yeah, the chest reveals involving girl-type Ranma made the show stupid for me.

It's not that the original series didn't rely on fan service. It's just that Ranma's sudden transformations either served to expose her weaknesses or create a turning point in battle. The ramen delivery race, for me, underachieved because the show seemed more interested in chasing punchlines than in letting the story breathe.

For me, it felt like a punchy, medium-tasting drink. Sure, you get to enjoy the familiar taste, but it doesn't have that wow factor.

That's why I didn't really care about Season 3. Yes, I am still a fan, and I would still watch the show. However, I wasn't looking forward to it. I didn't think it deserved a rewatch, or even a trip to YouTube to check out fan reactions.

That said, Season 3, Episode 2 was awesome.

The first two episodes of Season 3 brought two important elements of the Ranma 1/2 universe to the forefront.

SPOILER ALERT!!!

Because of the constant harassment he faces, Ranma has grown stronger. He was already stronger than most of his enemies, but he has also learned to attack and defend himself to the point that he has outgrown Kuno and Ryoga. So, when he and his dad head to the mountains for training, it's not because he needs to catch up with his rivals. He needs to further hone his skills and learn what else he can do.

This prompts Cologne to teach Ryoga about the Breaking Point. It's a powerful technique that, spoiler alert, means nothing to the human body, but its visual presentation is insane. Imagine a guy destroying boulders with nothing more than a touch of his finger.

When Ranma discovers the technique's power, he initially thinks it's a one-sided attack. All he needs to do is keep Ryoga's fingers from touching his body, right?

But this is where the beauty of Season 3, Episode 2 comes in.

The modern presentation, along with the reveal behind the technique, makes Ryoga's defensive game much more formidable. It also exposes another of Ranma's weaknesses. Ranma tends to look at things from the outside without questioning the rationale behind them.

Cologne wasn't simply improving Ryoga's offense. She was strengthening his defense from the ground up.

Yes, it was funny when Ryoga got smashed by a boulder while hanging helplessly from a tree, but the training also made him more capable of enduring Ranma's attacks.

And then Ranma unleashed one of the Saotomes' secret moves.

Yes, it was funny to see it as nothing more than running away and regrouping, but how is that a bad thing when the end justifies the means?

Ranma's fighting style is called "Anything Goes," for crying out loud!

Running away while thinking of a better strategy is the ultimate move for someone known for his counterattacks.

You see my blog's banner. It says "Anything Goes Sports and Entertainment." Of course, I'll approve of this move because I know that sometimes, you can't tackle a problem head-on.

Sometimes, it's best to step back and look for an opening.

And the other arc here is Akane's cooking.

If you're a fan of the series, you know that her weakness is both comedic and potentially fatal. It was one of the funniest running gags in the old anime, and the new series captures how Akane can be both nurturing and downright demented in the kitchen.

This is why, even though Ryoga is thankful for the food and there's an actual food store owner in the mountains, he still ends up eating Akane's cooking.

And again, the 2026 presentation was awesome.

Across the two episodes, there were no breast exposures, just more of Ranma's hijinks. Episode 1 had to cram several characters and storylines into the narrative because that's what the original series covered.

However, I was very happy with how the Breaking Point battle turned out.

Letting 2D fighters slug it out in a 3D environment is always fun for me, especially when the execution is done right.

Hopefully, the rest of the series delivers more of this, especially if the stories don't feel rushed, aren't riddled with Ranma's accidental flashings, and don't dwell on punchlines without giving them the proper setup.

We still haven't seen the Nihao My Concubine arc, Pantyhose Taro, the Hawaiian Principal, Kuno and Nabiki's romance, the arrival of Ranma's mother, and the moments when the Jusenkyo springs' effects somehow find their way into Japan.

I'm still cautiously optimistic about the series, but at least the Breaking Point battle was done awesomely.