A lot of people obviously wants to compare this to the original 80s anime adaptation however I think it can be said with certainty that both adaptations can exist in the same room - and its very obvious that the original Ranma ½ 1989 is a much more artistic, bombastic and energetic adaptation the opening and ending musics are classic examples.
However its important to understand that Ranma ½ 2024 is entirely its own thing and the only thing they share is the original source material, the manga.
With that in mind watching the first 12 episodes of season 1 of the new series showcases a very typical template for modern adaptations of 80s manga that seems almost entirely identical to Urusei Yatsura 2022 in its execution, flow and comedic timing.
This does absolutely nothing to really make Ranma ½ 2024 stand out, it struggles to get going in the first few episodes, the voice actors are clearly displaying their age as their energetic voices are subdued considerably with the exception of Hayashibara, Megumi, her voice stands out among the rest for her sharp, energetic and lively delivery that really brings back a ton of nostalgia - her voice defines a lot of late 90s and 2000s anime. Its almost shocking that she can still deliver the same performance 37 years later!!
The storyline follows the manga quite well, the pacing is much quicker however as they compress quite a lot of the manga into a shorter runtime, the overall flow of direction is updated for a modern audience with a shorter attention span, there almost no pauses which creates jarring overlap in scenes that could definitely use more time to develop, scenes from the manga that feel long are compressed and shortened in the anime which means we jump from one section to another without much break.
Because its a modern adaptation it also lacks artistic sense, and follows a more common neorealist direction - there is no creative symbolism used instead we are greeted with bold text flashing across scenes, fighting scenes in negative colours and the bare minimum of creativity in Ranma own transformation scenes, its almost like the studio responsible for this adaption is insulting its own audience ability to imagine anything outside.
Another gripe people have with the anime is the censorship around breast nudity, however - considering the characters age you would expect the studio to censor this creatively, instead they have simply removed the nipples making it the dumbest censorship possible, gone are the misty clouds or flying towels which would been a welcoming method for censorship rather than turning to the laziest method possible, not even the blu-ray release has uncensored episodes making this method of censorship the laziest depiction possible. Its a strict industrialised production that seeks no liberties in anything but to enslave itself to the manga content unless the manga content offends which is perhaps why they also removed the red star on Ranma famous green hat known in China as Jiefang Mao, alongside redesigning Ranma casual clothes Jiefang Zhuang which in China is known as the Liberation Suit, a fashion statement of the Revolutionary era.
A very STRANGE choice to censor considering the storyline still takes place in the 80s, which is also contradictory and almost insulting to the original manga, this removal of content possibly extends further. As they seek to not offend their Chinese audience.
Despite all the shortcomings of the modern adaptation which is to be expected nowadays, the original manga story is still here despite the incompetent production crew behind it, its still a funny slapstick comedy with a gender bender twist, the original voice actors are still recognisable which adds a nostalgic touch.
Its a much more compressed delivery of the manga content, the soundtrack lacks character, the opening and ending are pretty lacklustre yet the 2024 version has a charm to it, and perhaps it just goes to show how good the story in the manga really is that it can outshine even such a shoddy lazy production as this.
