This is the show that trained a generation to flinch at the sound of running water. Rumiko Takahashi builds an engine out of one gag, cold water makes Ranma a girl, hot water makes him a boy, and then keeps escalating until Genma is a panda holding up wooden signs, Ryoga is a black piglet in Akane's arms, and Mousse is a duck in glasses. Shampoo shows up to kill girl Ranma, loses to boy Ranma, and immediately declares marriage by Amazon law, which is the exact logic this series runs on. The martial arts are real enough to land, the romance never resolves because resolving it would end the joke, and Kuno keeps writing poetry to a pig-tailed girl who is standing right in front of him. Watch Ranma freeze at the sight of a cat and you understand the whole character.

Ranma Saotome has an unusual curse: a splash of water turns him into a girl. On top of that, he constantly has to fend off overeager admirers. One of the most obsessive is Shampoo, a girl from a tribe of Chinese Amazons. She tried to kill Ranma in his girl form, but when boy Ranma beat her, her clan's rule led her to propose marriage. Matters grow wilder when Shampoo falls into a cursed spring and becomes a cat. Then Mousse, who loves Shampoo, challenges Ranma to a fight that somehow centers on Ranma's fiancée, Akane. Action, comedy and romance collide in this long-running TV series.