I Won't Stand for a Fiancé Like This!
Interview: Series Composition Kimiko Ueno

Translated by: Harley Acres

Don't lie about it being the 80s

Please tell us about how you first encountered Rumiko Takahashi's work.

Ueno: At the time, Takahashi-sensei's work was serialized in a shonen magazine, but I was in elementary school and hadn't read the original manga. I first got into it through the anime. I first watched the Urusei Yatsura anime. I think it was broadcast during prime time at the time, and I looked forward to watching it every week. From there, I started buying manga volumes of Urusei Yatsura. After that, I watched the Maison Ikkoku anime. Up until then, I hadn't been aware of Takahashi-sensei's work, but around the time of Maison Ikkoku, I started to become aware of Rumic World. From there, I watched the previous adaptation of the Ranma 1/2 anime, and found that to be interesting as well... I consider Takahashi-sensei's works to be the origin of my brand of comedy.

What kind of version Ranma 1/2 did you want to create this time?

Ueno: After I heard about this adaptation of Ranma 1/2 I rewatched the previous anime. It was interesting, but the original anime was different in some ways from the original manga. When I spoke with the staff this time around, we agreed that we wanted to place importance on expressing Takahashi-sensei's original work via animation. We wanted to work while respecting the original work.

What is the appeal of Ranma 1/2 to you, Ueno-san?

Ueno: Every single character in Ranma 1/2 is incredibly interesting. Thanks to that, I was able to enjoy writing the script while developing all of the characters. ^[1] I'm glad to be alive and to have had the opportunity to be involved in Takahashi-sensei's work.

What were the key points you considered when adapting Takahashi-sensei's comedy into an anime?

Ueno: It's all about the tempo. For example, in the original work, a character might travel to a very distant location in one panel, and then suddenly appear behind another character in the next panel. I wanted to keep that kind of good tempo in mind for this anime, so I wrote it into the stage directions (descriptions of the scenes in the script).

Ranma 1/2 also contains some fanservice scenes. How much of that did you intend to include of those? ^[2]

Ueno: I don't think of Ranma's nude scenes as fanservice, but depicting nudity in modern times is difficult in many ways. For example, the original work includes depictions of touching a girl's breasts, and phrases like "acting like a boy" and "acting like a girl." These ways of thinking don't fit with the current era, and I was unsure how to express them. But when I thought of the work as being set in the '80s, my doubts disappeared. In fact, if I had changed that from the original work, I would have been lying about the '80s setting. I wanted to write about the '80s properly.

For example, Tatewaki Kuno makes statements that are on the edge of morality. What do you think about a character like Kuno?

Ueno: I love him (laughs)! "I love both of them." That's something he can say so refreshingly, something that would probably cause controversy today. I thought it was important to write that interesting character properly.

Are male Ranma and female Ranma written as different characters in the script?

Ueno: I wrote them as the same character regardless of their gender. However, to make the visual differences clear, I wrote the lines as "female Ranma" for Ranma in his female form and "male Ranma" for him in his male form. ^[3] In the world of Ranma 1/2, no one makes fun of or laughs at a character who transforms from a human into a panda or a pig. Even after finding out that Ranma turns into a girl and back into a boy, Akane treats him normally. She sees the transformations as something natural. I think that's what makes this work so great.

What was it about the three Tendo sisters that appealed to you?

Ueno: I think Takahashi-sensei's heroines are popular with both male and female fans, but when you look at them again, they're not just cute. Akane has her flaws, she gets jealous, she's had her heart broken, and she has a natural charm. I think she's the kind of girl you want to be friends with. I like Nabiki. She's the dry, straight-man type, but she's also kind. Kasumi has a big heart, but I think she might be the scariest of all. It feels like she's the one who represents the unfathomable fear of the women Takahashi-sensei draws.

Which character do you most identify with, Ueno-san?

Ueno: Probably Ryoga (Hibiki). He's extremely directionally challenged and can get lost for three days without reaching his destination. People really did get lost in the '80s. They didn't have smartphones like we do today, so sometimes they couldn't reach their destination, and it was common for them to miss appointments with friends. When I was in high school, I couldn't find my way to a part-time job interview, so I called the company and gave up.

Were you present at the dubbing, Ueno-san?

Ueno: I went just once. The cast was like a dream team. The main cast in particular haven't changed at all since the original anime. I thought it was truly amazing. Shampoo (played by Rei Sakuma) is especially cute. Even when I was writing the script, I had in mind Shampoo's voice from the 1989 anime version. I never knew that the cast would be reprising their role this time around, so I was really happy to hear her voice during the dubbing this time around.

What did you think of the finished product?

Ueno: While it's a modern anime, it still has a strong '80s vibe. I think it has a nostalgic feel to it. A few years ago, I worked with director Parako Shinohara-san on another project, and she told me at the time, "My dream is to do Ranma 1/2 someday." ^[4] She then participated in this version of Ranma 1/2, fulfilling her dream. I almost cried when I saw Shinohara-san's name in the credits. I think this work is filled with the dreams of many different people.

How would you like people to enjoy the Reiwa version of Ranma 1/2?

Ueno: I would like children to watch it. No one dies, no one kills, and someone falls in love with someone else and builds relationships. It's a really fun anime, so I hope it becomes someone's weekly treat, just like it was when I was a child.

If you could transform by pouring water over yourself, what would you be?

Answer: Cat
Reason: I'd love to be a cat and just relax. Once I'm a cat, I never want to go back to being human. I don't want to take baths!

Ryoga Hibiki

Ranma's rival. He often fails to reach his destination due to his severe lack of direction. Due to the Jusenkyo curse, he turns into a black piglet whenever he gets splashed with water.

Shampoo

The daughter of a Chinese warrior tribe called the Joketsuzoku. She's skilled enough to win the village's martial arts tournament. She seems to have followed Ranma to Japan, but what's her purpose?

Tatewaki Kuno

A second-year student at Furinkan High School and Nabiki's classmate. He's the captain of the kendo club and calls himself "Furinkan High's Blue Thunder." He is in love with Akane.

Kodachi Kuno Kodachi

A first-year student at St. Hebereke School for Girls. Tatewaki Kuno's younger sister and a master of rhythmic gymnastics martial arts. Nicknamed "Kodachi the Black Rose."

Azusa Shiratori

A student at Kolhotz High School who pairs up with Mikado Sanzenin. She loves cute things and names them and then takes them home if she likes them.

Tofu Ono

A doctor at the chiropractic clinic that the Tendo family visits. He is an expert in bone setting and a master of martial arts. He often carries a skeletal specimen, which he has named Betty-chan.

Mikado Sanzenin

A student at Kolhotz Academy High School. A narcissist who only thinks about girls. He pairs up with Azusa Shiratori in martial arts pair skating.

---

Footnotes

• [1] Kimiko Ueno (うえのきみこ) has written scripts for Crayon Shin-chan (クレヨンしんちゃん), Space Dandy (スペース☆ダンディ) and New Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt (パンティ&ストッキングwithガーターベルト).
• [2] In an interview with the series director Konosuke Uda, he also discusses having to keep in mind modern broadcast standards that had changed since the 1980s when the original series aired.
• [3] A note of clarification, "male Ranma" and "female Ranma" are differentiated in Japanese by the way the name is written. Male Ranma is always referred to via kanji "乱馬" (Ranma), while female Ranma is always written, "らんま" (Ranma), in hiragana. Here it is translated as "male" and "female" to clarify this.
• [4] Parako Shinohara (篠原ぱらこ) had a number of different jobs on Ranma 1/2 including storyboards, episode director, unit director and key animator. She worked on storyboards for Attack on Titan: The Final Season Part 2 (進撃の巨人 The Final Season Part 2/Shingeki no Kyojin The Final Season Part 2) and You Don't Know Gunma Yet (お前はまだグンマを知らない/Omae wa Mada Gunma o Shiranai).

---