Ranma ep 1.6: "Akane's Lost Love... These Things Happen, You Know!"

Summary | Dub & Animation | Notes & Comments

Animation (1 to 5):
I'm going to give this one a five for various reasons. It's not perfect all the way through, but there are some truly awesome angles and other things that they do in the course of it. Like the splash receding after Ranma falls into the reservoir, to show Akane calmly watching from the pole she's balancing on. Everyone is on-model throughout, and although some of the "distance" moments are a little sketchy, the closeups are very good and everything's consistent. Yay! First 5 out of 5 for the animation!

Dub (1 to 5):
High marks for this ep: 4 out of 5. It's wonderful in Japanese, but this is a very good dubbing.

To start with, although this is Brigitta Dau's last episode as girly!Ranma, it's also her best. She's never sounded so good, seriously. In particular during the discussion before the big argument with Akane, she sounds about as natural as Megumi Hayashibara does, and although she doesn't bring the same personality to it there is still personality throughout it. Plus her delivery on the little throwaway lines Ranma keeps shooting at Akane are better than Sara Strange's, particularly the deadpanned "Whoopee" after Akane tosses the wrapper into the trashcan and looks to Ranma for acknowledgement.

It's also a particularly good Miriam Syrois episode. I'm actually very fond of Miriam and like hearing her pop up in other dubs; I think she has her strong suits, and happy!Akane is one of them. Unfortunately, mad!Akane is not, because she's just very one-note on it; Akane has levels of anger, ranging from annoyance to total fury, and Miriam only seems to play the same level over and over. Still, this is a great episode to showcase what Akane is like when she's, well, normal. In a good mood, in a sad mood, anything but angry; self-pitying, lying to her sister (well, maybe not quite *G*), and honestly enjoying spending "girl time" with Ranma - all of those are high notes in this ep and Miriam hits them all with pretty sure footing.

Sara Strange is a bit more average; she doesn't stand out in this one, though there aren't any huge blunders or anything either. She has a few great deliveries, here and there: especially when Ranma is following Akane and she says "you're annoying me!" Sara's "Well, that's okay!" comes across with exactly the right flavour: it's not exactly to bait Akane so much as it's just a statement that no matter what, Ranma is likely going to annoy her. ^_~ Robert Smith is another high note, though he only really has the one short scene towards the end. But "How His Thoughtless Words Broke My Heart! Have you heard these words before?!" cracks me up every time; he's great at delivering totally loopy lines as though they are wise and noble. He really nails Genma in most episodes, and compared to Ken Ogata that's saying something. ^_^

The only real sore point in this ep is Ian Cortlett, who just doesn't make the grade. Sorry, but his Dr. Tofu is just bland - and Tofu is a bit of a bland character anyway, but Ian lacks all the nuances. He sounds plain flaky. Tofu's eccentric, yeah, maybe a little bit of a bubblehead even, but he's not really a flake. Ian Cortlett has a tendency not to even put any difference into his voice between Tofu's "normal" moments and his moments in his "Kasumi haze". Speaking of Kasumi, she's in this ep but not enough to leave a real impression; Willow Johnson does fine but she's no standout, either. And neither Soun nor Nabiki make an appearance. Not a huge loss, since they wouldn't have a place in the ep, but just to make a note.

In terms of translation, mostly it's pretty similar; there are a few line changes that improve the flow, and a few that detract - so over all, I guess it's just about even. ^_^

Right at the start, Tofu's first line is changed from "Oh, what are you two doing out here?" to "Hello you two! What can I do for you?" - that's rather a big continuity flub, since they've been in his office for some time now. Akane insisted on pouring the tea, remember? Though we could just say that Tofu really IS that flaky, I guess. ^_~ A bit later, when Ranma and Akane argue in front of Tofu - during the "Dr. Tofu, can't you see what a pervert Ranma is?" exchange (heehee) - they switch up Akane's line oddly.
A: You always look at me; admit it!
R: Ha! You wish!
A: So you're saying that you never look, then!?
Um... yes? I mean, isn't that sort of the implication of "you wish" under that context? I can't tell if she's trying to call him on a lie, or if she's pissed off that he never looks at her. O_o

There are also things changed in the argument (the big one, with cheeseburgers) that change a few little nuances; the gist definitely stays the same, with Ranma almost inexplicably trying to encourage Akane to open up about her feelings (and then proving, via what he says, that he's not very good at being a sympathetic ear *lol*), but we miss out on things like "You don't know how this feels!" "How do you know I don't?" since Ranma just takes a "that doesn't mean I don't CARE" kind of approach in this version. And finally, Akane's "I like being angry!" in the dub is never in the original at all, or in the manga. It's an interesting interpretation, almost a sort of Freudian slip on the part of the dub writers. ;)

Meanwhile, though, a few lines are improved. The best one is Tofu's comment about seeing Akane full of energy; "it makes you what you are!" he says, and that's just a cute line. Tofu knows what Akane's really like, even though she goes to lengths not to let him see her acting that way when she's around him.

From manga to episode:
This is a single manga chapter - well, half of it is. The beginning and ending are direct from the manga (and a good adaptation, too); the middle, with Ranma and Akane hanging out, are new creations. And actually I really, really like them. The original was obviously just a filler chapter both to set up a little bit of romantic headway between R&A and also to give Rumiko something easy to do before Ryouga came into the picture; this one is given more significance and therefore gives more significance to the developing relationship between the characters. I first saw this ep in raw Japanese, which hadn't been a big problem on earlier episodes since they were usually adapted pretty closely from the manga; the middle parts in this one threw me for a loop. *G*