The last episode of the Ranma ½ remake’s first season left the door open for many possibilities when it comes to exploring all the characters’ developments and that of their relationships. With the announcement of a confirmed season two following shortly after, newer fans are in for the wild and unpredictable ride that is seeing what’s next for Ranma’s crazy life. As for longtime fans though, they already know. Upon watching what this modern retelling has to offer, they are now left waiting in anticipation to see the next set of their favorite storylines brought to life in the remake’s uniquely refreshing brand of entertainment quality. After all, not only did they manage to fix the original anime’s more problematic elements, but they also did a surprisingly decent job tying the first season together with fewer episodes. Suffice it to say, there is so much that Ranma’s story has in store for fans. As for the original anime, there are also a few aspects left up for a better adaptation when it comes to today’s audiences. Here is everything we could anticipate for the second season of Ranma ½ (2024). Spoilers ahead!
Shampoo’s Curse
Yes, Shampoo does indeed make a return in the original anime’s second season, but not without a Jusenkyo curse of her own! At a certain point, Shampoo made her way to the Cursed Hot Springs of Jusenkyo herself and fell into one that cursed her to transform into a cat whenever splashed with cold water. What made this even better was that the original Ranma ½ season one finale addressed Ranma’s debilitating fear of cats. So, when a stray cat makes its way into the Tendo household, Ranma is first scared of it then absolutely shocked to see that it’s Shampoo once doused in warm water. Now, on top of causing trouble for Ranma’s love life, she also becomes a trigger for Ranma’s traumatic experience with cats – causing him to run away whenever she turns into one.
Cologne
Something else that comes with Shampoo’s return is the old woman who trained her to become a Chinese Amazon Warrior – Cologne. Upon her arrival in Japan, she is the one who elevates Ranma’s martial arts training by teaching him a few techniques. This includes the hilariously named move “Chestnuts Roasting on the Open Fire” which has become infamous within the franchise. Throughout the series, she is very fond of Ranma but only for his status as Shampoo’s rightful husband. As such, she often helps Shampoo manipulate various situations in order to get him to fall in love with her as well as run a ramen shop later on in the series.
Mousse
There is one more member of Shampoo’s past that makes a regular appearance in the anime and his name is Mousse. Having grown up with an unreciprocated crush on Shampoo, he arrives in Japan and instantly makes an enemy out of Ranma for stealing her heart. Like Ryoga and Shampoo, he often attacks with his own set of surprise weapons such as lethal yo-yos. However, his ability to fight or even see in general is largely reliant on his iconic set of glasses as he is infamously blind without them – so much so that he even mistakes his beloved Shampoo for different people! If this isn’t a source of humor for his character, he also comes with his own Jusenkyo curse that turns him into a duck.
Ukyo
Ukyo is another one of Ranma’s major accidental fiancées that’s sure to make an appearance. While just as determined as Shampoo and Kodachi to keep Ranma for herself, she is actually one of the tamer contenders in the way of Ranma and Akane’s relationship. Having been childhood friends, Genma promised Ranma to her as a peace offering for stealing her father’s food cart before continuing their training elsewhere. During the time Ranma spent training away from her, she worked hard to develop expertise in a cooking based martial arts style which she uses throughout the series.
While she still believes herself to be Ranma’s rightful fiancée, she also ends up pouring her passion into running her own Okonomiyaki shop. Because of this, she often treats Ranma and Akane as friends since marriage isn’t her only ambition in life. Despite the level-headed personality this gives her though, she does still have moments where she ruthlessly competes with Akane as well as Ranma’s other fiancées to ensure that she is the one that he marries in the end. Personally, Ukyo was always one of my favorite characters in Ranma ½. She had the chance to appear in many episodes and even some of the movies. I very much hope she makes an appearance next season for this shorter retelling of the anime and have confidence that they will do her character justice.
Happosai
While there are many exciting things that season two has to offer us, there is also a sizable flaw that’s likely to be fixed. One of them is the introduction of Happosai, a universally hated character amongst the fanbase. Only somewhat respected as Soun and Genma’s martial arts trainer, Happosai is an old man who takes a more selfish and disrespectful approach to teaching martial arts. As the trademark perverted character, he is often seen taking things too far by creating a collection of panties that he’s stolen from all the women around town and making intensely inappropriate advances at all the women in the show. While they are all capable of fending him off, he is known to become upset for not getting his way especially when it comes to his perverted desires. As such, he always uses his martial arts skills to get revenge on those defending themselves or others from his wrongful actions. Worst of all, when he’s defeated, he calls others terrible for attacking a poor old man. Because of such problematic behavior, he is at least the most annoying character to watch in the entire show.
Unfortunately, Happosai is still quite a prominent character as he makes an appearance in almost every episode from season two onwards. While there is currently no way to be certain about what they will do to this character just yet, as this is a modern retelling of Ranma ½, I’d assume they would tone down his actions significantly. There could even be a chance that they cut him out of the show entirely since he doesn’t play too much of an important role at any moment in the series. That is, his actions could be replaced with new characters and a slight change in circumstances. Whatever they decide to do here, time will tell what this will all actually look like in the remake.
Ryoga’s Breaking Point Attack
Ranma isn’t the only one that gains a new martial arts move from Cologne. In order to balance his strength out with Ranma’s, Ryoga heads to the mountains and learns the The Breaking Point Attack from her. This move enables him to completely demolish an object of any size with just one hit of its breaking point. All the while Ranma trains on the same mountain with his father and Akane, preparing for the duel Ryoga set up for them. This arc is very much focused on him and his progression as a martial artist considering that this becomes his trademark move. Given how well they adapted Ryoga in the remake, I’m personally excited to see how they execute this two-episode journey full of drama and ridiculous looking training.
Akane’s Cooking
A trait we have yet to see play out in the remake is Akane’s terrible cooking skills. First demonstrated when she makes stew for Ranma and his dad while they trained up in the mountains, it’s a running gag for everyone to be afraid whenever she cooks something up for them. The final episode of the original Ranma ½ anime truly goes into detail about this though as she is someone who thinks eggs are cooked in the microwave. As a matter of fact, she is shown to lack a few other skills belonging to housewives as well such sewing and making clothes. While she often finds this frustrating, it actually stems from a sweet desire to emulate her late mother. As a result, she shares sweet moments with her oldest sister Kasumi when trying to learn these skills from a motherly expert such as herself.
Ranma’s Uncontrollable Hugging
On top of what we’ve gotten so far, season two alone is full of its own set of cute moments where Ranma and Akane show their feelings for each other. The first one happens when Shampoo makes Ranma smell something that causes him to hug anyone who sneezes. To make matters worse, this occurs not too long before Akane catches a cold. I for one cannot wait to see Ranma take care of a sick Akane despite both their frustrations towards each other. When she finally sneezes around him, he holds her so close and it’s one of their best moments to see them care for each other so intimately – especially since Akane doesn’t know that his urge to hug is literally uncontrollable. Despite flaws to the modern adaptation of these two characters, the remake revived their cute moments very nicely and I’m sure they won’t fail to deliver with this one.
Romeo and Juliet
Quite possibly the biggest moment for Ranma and Akane’s romantic relationship early on is when they shared a kiss playing Romeo and Juliet for the school play. Granted, Ranma only went through with it because he could win a free trip to China and reverse his curse if he played the role best. Still, even though Akane covered his lips with duct tape before they kissed, the impact it had on them both during and after the fact was excitingly fascinating. From Akane actually wanting Ranma to kiss her to him seemingly wanting it to have been real upon walking back home, this moment gives the remake an opportunity to elevate their romance in much bigger ways than in the original. This is especially true since Ranma has already told Akane that he loves her already by accident. If done correctly, this kiss could make the remake much more special.
Akane’s Fake Transformation
While not as atmospheric as their usual romantic moments, one final Ranma and Akane moment in season two that remains memorable comes at the end of Mousse and Ranma’s battle at the circus. Throughout the battle, he tries to douse Ranma in cursed water from Jusenkyo. By the end, it’s assumed that Akane got hit with the water instead and he mistakes a duck carrying her shoe for a now cursed Akane. What’s even worse is that she doesn’t turn back into her girl form when Ranma goes home and puts the duck in a warm bath. He blames himself for getting her into such a mess and almost goes through with even marrying her right away in her duck form before the real Akane shows up to reveal that she is indeed not cursed.
While a more hilarious turn of events for them, Ranma still shows his sincere and strong feelings for her while in distress throughout the whole ordeal. His intense emotions mixed with the absurdity of the situation makes for a pretty iconic episode that’s bound to look amazing as a modern adaptation.
Conclusion
If you’re a fan of everything that unfolded during season one, you’ll definitely want to see how things are taken to the next level with these events throughout season two. Between a plethora of new characters for the protagonists to deal with and more kinds of martial arts to explore, season two is guaranteed to twist and turn the story in the most entertaining of ways. Not to mention how much the romance between Ranma and Akane grows as they go through more emotionally stirring experiences together. Depending on what your favorite parts were so far in the remake, there are even plenty of other developments outside of what’s listed here to be excited about as well. Although there is currently nothing else but a season two confirmation, there is indeed already much to anticipate about the remake for Ranma ½ season two that can keep new and old fans excited throughout the wait.
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