Watch Ranma 1/2 Online - Full Episodes

The animated, comedy television series Ranma 1/2 chronicles the rivalries and romances of a group of Japanese high school students with super-powered martial arts skills. A large part of the series is driven by the budding, often-denied relationship between the title character (Ranma Saotome) and his unwilling fiancée (Akane Tendo). The series is rife with punny dialogue, over-the-top martial arts battles, inconvenient supernatural occurrences, and comical conflicts between virtually everyone. There is a large cast of recurring characters, each with his or her own agenda and bizarre character quirks.

The series is named for the other major theme of the show: Ranma's quest to restore himself to a fully male state. Before the show begins, Ranma and his father journey to China for martial arts training, where each falls into a different magical cursed spring. As a result, Ranma now turns into a girl when doused with cold water, while his father turns into a panda. Much of the series revolves around the confusion and embarrassment spawned by Ranma's transformation from boy to girl and back again.

Ranma 1/2 is based on a Japanese comic book series of the same name, which was written and drawn by the popular, award-winning manga artist Rumiko Takahashi. With its lighthearted romances and fast-paced but relatively simple plotlines, it was specifically created to appeal to women and children.

The TV series was produced by Kitty Films and Studio Deen, and it aired on Japan's Fuji TV beginning in April 1989. In Japan, it ran as two separate series. The first contained only 18 episodes and ended in September 1989. The reworked series, picking up where the first series left off, was then launched by the same studios under the name Ranma 1/2 Nettohen. It ran from October 1989 through September 1992, for a total of 143 episodes. In North America, the two series are treated as a single series and are licensed by Viz Media.