15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The grand finale, November 5, 2006
This review is from: Ranma 1/2, Vol. 36 (Paperback)
"Ranma 1/2" careens madly to a stop, with the thirty-sixth volume of action, romance, and lots of slapstick. While Rumiko Takahashi never quite wraps up most of the plot threads, she does deal with the most important part of it -- Ranma and Akane's not-quite-relationship, which finally gets real attention. And Ranma practically says the L word.
Ranma is doing battle with a transforming Saffron, when Akane suddenly vanishes -- she has been transformed into a "doll" form, and only the water in Jusenkyo's heart will revive her. If Ranma doesn't douse her in it before her eyes close, then she'll die -- and even worse, Shampoo gets her hands on her.
Meanwhile, Saffron reemerges as a far more dangerous creature, who is more than capable of taking Ranma out. Now Ranma must fight his most devastating battle ever, and defeat Saffron once and for all. If he doesn't finally deal with the bird-men, then might lose Akane forever.
When the dust settles, Ranma finds himself being roped in for a wedding, with all the trimmings. Unfortunately, his other fiancees aren't about to give up so easily -- and chaos ensues when the others learn that Guide has sent him a barrel of Spring-of-Drowned-Man water, which everybody wants, but only one can have. Will the wedding be wrecked?
This grand finale is a pretty packed one -- Takahashi has to round off one of her action-packed arcs, and somehow link it to the final chapter. Not easy. But it somehow seems that way, as Ranma finds out exactly what Akane means to him.
And Takahashi knows how to load on the pathos, when it appears that Akane has died. She does a magnificent job, without making him seem uncharacteristically mushy. Instead, he punches himself, awkwardly apologizes, and eventually starts to cry -- just what we'd expect from this emotionally stunted guy.
But it's not all sad. The finale is absolutely sidesplitting, like when Ranma gets knocked out and stuffed into a tux, or has Kuno, Kodachi, Ukyo and Shampoo trying to marry him and/or kill Akane. And the battles will definitely fulfil the expectations of any fans of "Inuyasha." The only flaw is the final pages -- nothing really gets wrapped up, although Takahashi makes it clear what's going to happen.
The final volume of Ranma is sweet, funny, and uplifting, and by the final pages there's a deep sense of satisfaction. Way to end up, Ms. Takahashi.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A good way to end Ranma 1/2... officially, at least., July 5, 2007
This review is from: Ranma 1/2, Vol. 36 (Paperback)
I bought the final volume shortly after it came out, and I was satisfied with everything. The storyline, the final battle, even the way Rumiko Takahashi ends this whole mess. How does it end, you ask. Well, it doesn't, really. Even though Takahashi seems to give us a clue as to what might happen after the series ends, with a picture of Ranma and Akane at thew very last page of the book, we can't be sure of that, because their story hasn't even come close to being concluded. In fact, we can't be sure *any* of the truly relevant plots will have closure. We can only imagine what might happen to the cast after the final curtain call. And to satisfy our inclinations, whatever they may be, we have a ton of fan fiction to read.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent finale to the series, with a single caveat, August 5, 2010
This review is from: Ranma 1/2, Vol. 36 (Paperback)
The final volume of Runiko Takahashi's excellent series Ranma 1/2.
This volume ties up the "Saffron" arc that started in the previous volume.
Some people have complained about the Saffron arc because it is generally darker than most of the rest of the series, with a major emphasis on action and death. It does have the requisite Ranma 1/2 humor and a healthy dose of romance with Ranma finally admitting how he feels to Akane. It also has one of the most beautiful drawings that I have seen in any manga when Ranma burst in on Akane in her wedding dress. Regardless of your feelings toward Akane that panel was exceedingly well drawn with breath taking detail.
My single caveat about this volume is the way that Rumiko Takahashi actually ended the series. Despite the admittedly minimal growth that takes place throughout the series Rumiko Takahashi beats down all of that and ramrods the story right back into the status quo that has existed for nearly a decade. Despite Ranma finally admitting to Akane how he feels during the Saffron arc, despite Kodachi admitting that she realizes that Ranma doesn't love her in the White Lily arc and despite all of the other minor growth throughout the series in the end they all revert to a state of equilibrium with nothing really being resolved.
Then again, this was a series where practically no matter what happened nothing was ever really resolved, so despite my misgivings with this "non-ending" it does somewhat fit into the Ranma universe.
One interesting note about the Saffron arc which finishes in this volume is that in some ways it acts as a precursor for Rumiko Takahashi's next series, Inuyasha. Which dealt a lot more with dark subjects and violence than the slapstick which primarily exemplified Ranma 1/2.
So, overall I would highly recommend this volume to any Ranma 1/2 fan. If for no other reason than to see how it ends, or doesn't end, depending on how you choose to look at it. I would also recommend it to any Rumiko Takahashi fan for its insight into the progression of her storylines, as it segues into Inuyasha's style.
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