Ranma 1/2 is like eating too much chocolate. After a while you want to crawl off into a corner and moan from a well earned stomach ache. Created by Takahashi Rumiko (Inuyasha, Maison Ikkoku, Urusei Yatsura), Ranma 1/2 is a series that is over 150 episodes and seven seasons long. Unfortunately, with a length like that there are always bound to be problems with keeping the show interesting. However, if there's one thing that Ranma 1/2 accomplishes, it's that it has proven once again that Takahashi is a monster incapable of creating a short series.

The greatest thing about Ranma 1/2 is its quirky cast of characters. No matter what your tastes are, there is definitely a character that you will like in Ranma 1/2. From Ranma's temperamental fiancée Akane to a 300+ year old lecher named Happosai, all of the characters are just so ingenious. In fact, with the sole exception of Happosai (the 300+ year old lecher), I'd even go so far as to say I enjoyed almost all of the characters in the series.

Really, the one thing that Ranma 1/2 has going for it is its characters and the way they interact with each other. The sheer number of characters that exist in the Ranma 1/2 universe is simply mind boggling, and new characters are constantly added into the show. However, around season four, new characters popping up becomes a rarity and instead old, uninteresting characters return for another fifteen minutes of fame. At this point, the problems in series only become more and more apparent.

The problem with Ranma 1/2 and countless other long series is the issue of filler material. This is an anime that constantly reuses old, dried-up scenarios and boring characters just so it can be a few more episodes longer. After a while, you sort of get tired of watching Akane getting kidnapped for the twentieth time, or maybe you're watching the demon cat terrorizing Ranma yet AGAIN.

Then you start to realize that the main cast of characters, the ones that are so astronomically interesting, haven't actually changed over the years. They still have the exact same personality and relationships that they had when they were first introduced. The most frustrating thing I experienced in the series is watching nothing at all happen between Ranma and Akane, or between any other character for that matter. Ranma 1/2 is probably the only series which uses the old "I want to tell you something but I keep getting interrupted at a bad time" plot device more than Cardcaptor Sakura. Of course, there's also the problem of how the series ends without providing any closure at all to any relationships.

Another problem which plagues every long series are episodes which have a substantially worse animation quality than other episodes, and you can really tell when the animators became lazy in Ranma 1/2. The music quality is surprisingly good, but with the exception of the opening and ending themes which change with the passing seasons, the same exact music is played throughout the entire series. It felt like there was a total of about three background songs used in the 161 episodes of this series.

However, in my opinion, the good outweighed the bad in Ranma 1/2. I think that, despite the series dragging on and on, the episodes that were really good overshadow the episodes that are really bad. Yes, the dragging is definitely a valid problem, but the importance of a comedy series is its comedy aspect and not necessarily its story.