Saotome Ranma is an average boy who travels the world with his father Genma in order for him to complete his training as the next heir to the Saotome school of Anything-goes Martial-Arts. However, when he arrives in Tokyo, he finds his father has brought him here to meet his fiancée, a daughter of his fathers old friend Tendo.
During a trip to China before their arrival in Tokyo, both Ranma and his father developed a strange new constitution, where if they are splashed with cold water, their bodies will change. For his father, he takes the form of a giant panda, but for Ranma, much to his own horror, he turns into a girl.

Wanting nothing more than to change back to his original state, Ranma is opposed to meeting his new fiancée, and after a mishap in the bathroom where he changed back into a man on contact with the warm water, his relationship with his new fiancée Akane could not have gotten off to a worse start.
As the series goes on we meet many different comical characters ranging from new fiancées to powerful enemies.

This anime focuses primarily on martial-arts and Ranma's relationship with his Fiancée, but there are many interesting characters who appear and serve to spice up the story, whether it is the underwear thieving master, the beautiful Chinese Amazon who is after his life, or the old directionally challenged school friend with a grudge.
Ranma easily conquers all his foes whilst learning new techniques and desperately trying to find a cure, avoiding cold water as best as he can.

Ranma 1/2 is an oldish anime and is often considered one of the must see classics. Much like the Disney originals are to western families, Ranma 1/2 is the classic for all anime fans.
Somewhat comical with many misunderstandings and awkward situations, Ranma 1/2 has proven to be very imaginative with many seasons spreading over a few decades, which will keep you laughing for hours.

I would not recommend this series to those of you who love deep stories, but this is the perfect series for those who like a good nonsensical laugh.

Though Ranma has passed many episodes, it is still disappointing at how inconclusive the series has been so far and one can't help but hope the series will be continued further at some point.
161 episodes makes this one of the longest running anime of all time, though it still falls behind anime such as Sailor Moon, Bleach and Naruto.

I would advise that if you intend to show this to young children you may first wish to see this series through as Ranma's lack of modesty as a woman often leads to the odd flash of chest when he accidentally changes. However this seemed to decrease as the series went on and by the second season it seems much of these scenes were cut in a way so as not to show any nudity.

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