Tezuka VS. Takahashi..FIGHT!

Manga, a comic form I know all too well. For this section of class, I decided to read Rumiko Takahashi's “Ranma ½” and a bit of Osamu Tezuka's “Buddha.” “Ranma ½” is a fun story about a boy named Ranma who travels to China with his father Genma, in order to complete martial arts training. While there, they stumble upon an area with many “cursed” springs. Legend has it that anyone who falls into one of these particular springs will be cursed to turn into the form of whatever died tragically there whenever they are hit with cold water. Warm water, of course, turns them back. While fighting, Ranma and his father fall into different springs. Ranma lands in one where a girl tragically drown, and his father into one where a panda drown. Throughout the story, crazy adventures unfold and of course water is always a big threat. On the other hand, “Buddha” tells the story of Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. This story does a good job of mashing together a pretty serious story line while also throwing in some elements of comedy and craziness, something I find a lot of manga does very well. Sure some comics other than manga can pull this off, but I find that manga really takes the cake when it boils down to it.

Having seen and read “Ranma ½” a long time ago, while reading through it again I thought long and hard about where my love for manga started. I can point it back to when my cousin showed me a few episodes of “Ranma ½” a very long time ago. I immediately fell in love with how crazy it was, and also quickly learned how addicting it could be. I can easily say that because of discovering manga, I have the appreciation of comics that I do today. Manga opened up a floodgate for me, and it always helps to have an older family member who has all the resources to lots of comics.