Seriously, this might be the coolest news to come out of Bandai’s Tamashii Nations 2014 con, Ranma 1/2 S.H. Figuarts. For those young fwooshers out there that were born after the ’90s (whoa… just call me Grandpa pabs) Ranma was an uber popular manga and anime that came out of the late ’80s. Like many of the manga/anime’s from the time, the manga is superior to the anime, but the anime was huge since we were all starved for anime of any kind during that era.
Ranma 1/2 is about Ranma Saotome who learns some serious martial arts. During one of his training sessions something goes wrong and he is transformed into a girl. The transformation is effective when he is splashed with cold water, warm water makes him a boy again. Ranma’s dad, Genma Saotome, turns into a giant panda.
I’ll be one of the first people to line up and buy both versions on Ranma, and I hope that Genma is also going to be sold by Bandai. This development is great for collectors interested in seeing more ’80s and ’90s anime characters in their collection and I can only hope it opens the possibility for Starblazers, Robotech and Gundam (a whole lot more) action figures in the future.
