Arakgaki Yui Cast as Akane Alongside Kaku Kento in the Ranma 1/2 Live-Action SP

Honto? This I gotta see to believe. A manga I have long held is impossible to turn into a live-action adaptation is finally getting that treatment, albeit via a SP and not a full dorama. Fresh off the precious and warm Zenkai Girl is Aragaki Yui, who joins my small but growing list of J-actresses I adore (the other being Maki and Haruka), and her next project will be a doozy. She’s just been cast as Tendo Akane, the fiesty, slightly sanctimonious, quick tempered daughter of a dojo owner and fiancee to one Saotome Ranma, the world’s most famous dual-gender martial arts wunderkind with a panda for a father.

If all of this sounds confusing, that’s probably because you haven’t read Takahashi Rumiko‘s famous Ranma 1/2. Cast as male Ranma will be Kaku Kento, who was most recently in Tumbling alongside Yamamoto Yusuke and my Daito Shunsuke, and also in the movie version of Paradise Kiss with Mukai Osamu and Kitagawa Keiko. He’s a cutie pie for sure and yet another promising J-actor with his star fast rising.

Playing the female version of Ranma (you know, when he encounters water) will be Natsuna. The two-hour long SP will be based on a new story not part of the canon manga or even anime universe, centering around Akane rather than Ranma. To be honest, Akane is one of the most annoying Takahashi heroines EVER, and really one reason I only like Ranma 1/2 but don’t love it as much as I love Takahashi’s other mangas. Character-wise, I adore Shampoo and I would have loved for her to get her cat paws on Ranma in the end. Akane should have ended up with Ryoga, her P-chan. Anyone agree with me?

The SP story will involve Akane’s father decreeing that the dojo successor must be a full man, so Akane and Ranma must travel to a mystic locale to find a cure for his gender-bending affliction. Honestly, the one way to make Akane appealing for me is to cast an actress I absolutely adore in the role. And Gakki fits that profile completely. I’m sold for now. Can’t wait to see how the chemistry translates onscreen between the bickering couple.


Comments

Arakgaki Yui Cast as Akane Alongside Kaku Kento in the Ranma 1/2 Live-Action SP — 28 Comments

  1. I luurve this manga/anime! It’s a riot! Who is going to be the perverted grandmaster (aka panty robber)?

    I kind of like Ranma and Akane’s interactions. Explosive but cute. Ryoga, on the other hand, being directionally-challenged, stirred up maternal instincts rather than romantic feelings. But I must say I would love to hug P-chan to bed too… I am so looking forward to this.

  2. omo! Kaku Kento! Finally a new drama with him. When I watched Tumbling, I thought that he looked a lot like Lee Hong Ki. >< Yes I so agree he is a cutie. ^^
    Who would have thought that Ranma 1/2 would be adapted to drama! I'm looking toward this. It looks exciting!

  3. I don’t think this is going to work, but let’s see XD
    I loved the manga (haven’t seen the anime), and though Akane can be annoying, she can also be cute ^^
    Shampoo is gorgeous, and Ukyo is cool…but Ranma loves Akane. There were some characters that were seriously annoying, and all those misunderstandings and hidden feelings or secrets could grate on my nerves at times, but Ranma 1/2 is just awesomely quirky and funny! ^^ I love it.

  4. Hmmm…this could be entertaining in a so bad it’s good kind of way but I’ll just hope for the best…YamaNade came out alright and did what the mangaka refuses to. Ranma was not a fave for me though…I tend to never finish her mangas

  5. Read Ranma a long time ago. Loved it although it got rather repetitive at the end. The outrageous transformations of people who had fallen into those springs were hilarious though.

    My fave characters in this manga are the side characters – Saotome/Panda, Akane’s father, Ryoga/P-Chan, such funny stuff! The comedic timing is fantastic. Ranma and Akane paled a little next to them.

    Anyway, it could turn out to be a so bad it’s good thing like what Hipployta said…or it could totally bomb…let’s see how it goes.

  6. Ah. I only watched Kaku Kento in Asuko March. Why did I finish that drama? Probably because I adored him in it :’). *sigh* Okay, and the fact that the girl was surrounded in a classroom of hot guys with her being the only girl. V_V.

    I’m super excited for this! ^___^. I loved the manga when I was a youngin’, but at that time there was no such thing as scanlations xD. So I only found volumes of it at the library.
    ^__^ I love gaki. I didn’t realize it before, but I’ve seen all her works :’). So I’m definitely looking forward to this one ^^. Ah I wish they made a live action of Inuyasha.

  7. Hmm, Ranma 1/2 is the last manga I thought would get a drama adaptation because it’s so bizarre, so this should be interesting. Wish it was a long drama instead so we could get all the characters, but I guess something is better than nothing, especially since Gakky is in it. I can definitely see her being feisty Akane after being overly-ambitious Wakaba, so this should do well.

  8. I totally agree with you- tried really hard to like Akane, but she’s such a drab, moody, and violent character that it just got annoying. Ultimately I never finished the manga, but got pretty far with it.

  9. I used to like Ranma 1/2 but not as much as I LOVE Takahashi’s other manga called Inu-Yasha. I will die (LMAO) once they announced a live-action drama for that one. XD I can’t wait to see the actor who will play Sesshomaru. XD

    Okay, back to the topic… I’m not sure if I will be checking this one out. I’ll look at other people’s reviews first maybe. ^^

      • Oh… I Googled it and saw the drama. ^^ You’re right. The drama has the same plot as Inu-yasha. This is actually the first time seeing that drama so thanks for sharing! ^^

        It seems pretty interesting too but I still want to see a real Sesshomaru. Haha! XD

  10. If this includes Pantyhose Taro, I’m game. I love that guy.

    Also, is there a reason they couldn’t stick the actor playing male Ranma in drag? I don’t like how they’ve cast a whole new person for that.

    • I’m torn on that issue, but ultimately female Ranma is really really pretty, and no dude in drag can be convincing as a pretty girl, except perhaps Lee Jun Ki.

      Pantyhose Taro annoyed me only because “dude, it’s just a name!”, but yeah, I’d love to see more side characters in this baby and make it as insane as can be.

      • I honestly don’t know why anyone would err on the side of sanity with this thing. It’s Ramna. You know, with martial arts tea ceremony.

        I read Ranma back in high school–I think I was stuck in India for the summer and had somehow gotten my grubby hands on a functional Internet connection–and I identified like mad with poor Pantyhose. I hated my name too, you see. (It doesn’t help that my name means “prudence”, either. Eurgh.)

  11. OMG! Ranma 1/2 was actually my second Takahashi manga but it’s my favorite. I will actually laugh out loud reading that manga so I tend to read it by myself or risk looking like a weirdo laughing my butt off in the bus.

    I actually love Ranma and Akane’s relationship. They have wonderful chemistry together but I also imagined that Ryoga and Ukyo would end up together. Ukyo was actually my favorite female character but I never saw her with Ranma. As for Shampoo and Ranma….ehhh…honestly, Shampoo’s character annoyed me the most in the manga even moreso than Akane.

  12. Yay! Gakki as Akane, I still can’t imagine how will it be but I’m looking forward to see it.
    I guess there would be some similarity with her character in Zenkai Girl cause Akane is a talking machine when she gets mad plus the violence. Really excited!

  13. Oh my goodness! Is this for real? Ranma 1/2 live-action? Who’s going to be Shampoo and Moose? Hahaha. This is going to be a total funfest!

  14. AHHHHH!!! So excited!! Ranma 1/2 is like a major part of my childhood, I honestly hope they won’t ruin it. I actually quite like Akane, did kind of ship her and Ryoga in beginning, but I concede that Ranma is ultimately the one for her.

    Kaku Kento’s a very promising actor, bled my heart dry in Asuko March, glad to see that he’s finally getting a leading role (and getting the girl). I love Gakki, but she’s more of a Kasumi to me than Akane, not sure how it will turn out.

    oh I suppose there will be a lot water involved, so…does that mean we will get a lot of shirtless scenes? 😀

  15. Goshhhhh Ranma can never ever be LiveAction-ed *check*
    Akane is annoying ->> Ranma 1/2 is like not love *check*
    Shampoo +Ranma <3*check*
    P chan is sooooo cute and Akane is actually capable of being normally human to him and him only that and he can distract me fr the want to hit Akane.

    I kinda love most of the side characters, so I do hope they cramp as many of them in!

    And Gakki has always been my bias in her gen even b4 her improved acting, I have never thought she could be Akane(coz it's never crossed my head it'll ever EVer be done, but now I can totally see it, and she'll somehow make it work! I have to see this to believe my eyes!!!!

  16. I would have never considered this manga for TV adaptation…they’d better make it look good coz it’s one of my fav mangas…

    Very much agree with the following:
    1. Akane is annoying
    2. Totally shipping Ranma with Shampoo

  17. i read the manga and i disagree, i loved ranma and akane’s relationship though takahashi kept them from growing they are cute. its not a manga to take seriously just fun, crazy stuff. it might be an unpopular opinion, but i find akane far more likable then the nondescript sueish kagome and the personality-changers mana and kyoko. as for shampoo, she was portrayed as mostly a psycho rival in the manga and i dont like her paired with ranma, i’d rather her and mousse.
    the live action was enjoyable considering my low expectations. live actions are always campy and cheesy lol. but it made me ship ranma/akane even harder than the manga did.

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