First Trailer for New Ranma 1/2 Anime Unveils Returning and New Cast, Staff, Premieres October 5

First Trailer for New Ranma 1/2 Anime Unveils Returning and New Cast, Staff, Premieres October 5

A live stream on the official X (formerly Twitter) account for the new anime adaptation of Rumiko Takahashi's Ranma 1/2 manga revealed new and returning cast members, staff, and an October 5 premiere date in its first trailer on Wednesday. The live stream also announced that artist ano will perform the opening theme song for the anime.

Kappei Yamaguchi, Megumi Hayashibara, and Noriko Hidaka will reprise their roles as (male) Ranma Saotome, (female) Ranma, and Akane Tendō, respectively (image above from left to right).

Other returning cast members include:

• Minami Takayama as Nabiki Tendō
• Kikuko Inoue as Kasumi Tendō
• Kōichi Yamadera as Ryōga Hibiki
• Rei Sakuma as Shampoo

New additions to the cast are Akio Ōtsuka as Sōun Tendō, replacing Ryunosuke Ohbayashi, and Chō as Genma Saotome, replacing Kenichi Ogata, who will now narrate the anime, taking over from the late Tadashi Nakamura.

Kōnosuke Uda (One Piece: Dead End, DAYS) is directing the new series at MAPPA. Kimiko Ueno (Delicious in Dungeon, Astro Note) is handling the series scripts, and Hiromi Taniguchi (Kurage no Shokudō) is designing the characters.

Additional staff includes:

• Chief Animation Directors: Hiromi Taniguchi, Takeshi Yoshioka, Yoshiko Saitō, Nao Ōtsu
• Main Animators: Nao Naitō, Rie Aoki
• POP Artwork: Minami Kitamura
• Art Director: Chihiro Ōkawa
• Color Key Artist: Yukiko Kakita
• Compositing Director of Photography: Atsushi Kanō
• Editing: Keisuke Yanagi
• Sound Director: Kōnosuke Uda
• Sound Effects: Takuya Hasegawa
• Music Selection: Makiko Chihara
• Sound Production: dugout
• Music: Kaoru Wada
• Planning Production: Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions

The anime will premiere nationwide in Japan on October 5 on the NTV channel at 24:55 JST (effectively, October 6 at 12:55 a.m. JST) and will stream exclusively on Netflix after its broadcast.

Rumiko Takahashi debuted the Ranma 1/2 manga in Shogakukan's Weekly Shōnen Sunday magazine in August 1987 and concluded it in March 1996, resulting in 38 compiled volumes. The manga inspired a television anime series in April 1989, which continued into the Ranma ½: Nettō-hen series from October 1989 to September 1992. The franchise also inspired two movies, a theatrical anime, OVAs, and a live-action television special in December 2011. Viz Media has released the anime on VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray Disc and published the manga in English.

Rumiko Takahashi's Urusei Yatsura manga also inspired a new television anime, which premiered on Fuji TV's Noitamina programming block in October 2022. The show's second half began on January 11, and the fourth and final cour premiered on April 11.

Sources: Ranma 1/2 anime's website and X/Twitter account, Comic Natalie