A live-action television adaptation of Rumiko Takahashi's Ranma ½ martial arts comedy manga will air this December as a two-hour special on Japan's NTV network.
Yui Aragaki (Digimon: Data Squad, Koizora) will play Akane Tendō, and Kento Kaku (Paradise Kiss, Gokusen) and Natsuna (Gantz) will play the dual male/female sides of the title character Ranma Saotome.
Viz published the manga in North America, and it also released the
television anime series adaptation and the various anime spinoffs.
On Tuesday, the Mainichi Shimbun paper's Mantan Web and Oricon sites provided more information about the upcoming live-action television special based
on Rumiko Takahashi's Ranma 1/2 martial arts comedy manga. As a revival
of the manga, the special tells an original story centering around
Akane Tendō (played by Yui Aragaki). Kenta Kaku and Natsuna play the
dual male/female roles of the title character.
As the third daughter of the Tendō family, Akane is determined to
protect the family's legacy, its dōjō. However, her father Soun suddenly
and arbitrarily announced one day that "only men can be heirs."
Unfortunately, this puts Ranma in a bind, since he turns female when
splashed with cold water. To return himself to a "full man," Ranma
searches for the "secret hot spring" and gets caught up in a battle with
a mysterious enemy. Now Akane holds the key to the story.
Kyōko Hasegawa (Angel Bank: Dragon Zakura Gaiden, Dragon Zakura)
plays the oldest Tendō sister, Kasumi. Tōfū Ono, the man who has a
crush on Kasumi even as Akane has a crush on him, is played by Shosuke
Tanihara (Gekijōban Pocket Monster Best Wishes! Victini to Kuroki Eiyū Zekrom/Victini to Shiroki Eiyū Reshiram,
The Sky Crawlers, Vexille - 2077 Isolation of Japan). Genma — Ranma's
father who transforms into a panda when splashed with cold water —
appears in the form of actor Arata Furuta (20th Century Boys, Ping Pong,
Air Doll). Katsuhisa Namase plays Akane and Kasumi's father Soun Tendō.
Yoshihiro Izumi scripted this first live-action version of the manga after having written the live-action television and film versions
of the Rookies baseball manga. Takahashi herself said that she was
surprised at first when she heard about the live-action adaptation — but
with the interesting story scenario and all-star lineup, she added that
she now thinks it is very amusing.
The special will air during NTV's 7:00 p.m. Friday Super Prime timeslot in December. The original manga ran in Shogakukan's Weekly Shonen Sunday magazine from 1987 to 1996, and Shogakukan printed 53 million copies of the compiled book volumes.
