Samの英語チャンネル

Chaotic cursed cast of classic anime/manga are here to help keep your belongings in order.

Manga creator Rumiko Takahashi’s Ranma 1/2, and its anime adaptation, fall in that sweet spot of looking retro but not necessarily old. Yes, character design trends have changed since Ranma’s salad days of the early and mid-‘90s, but that time frame puts it in an era that’s aged more gracefully than the more heavily stylized aesthetic of both earlier and later periods in anime history.

There’s a timeless appeal to Takahashi’s soft, inviting linework, and so it’s now the basis for a new line of Ranma-themed bags, pouches and wallets.

The pastel-colored collection comes from Japanese design house Mudie, and the snazziest piece is the Kinchaku Shoulder Bag, which adds a removable strap to a Japanese-style drawstring pouch evocative of the bags carried by women wearing kimono.

Embroidered into the cloth are Ranma (in both male and female versions), rivals Ryoga and Mousse, self-professed fiancé, Shampoo, and contender for title of least responsible dad in all of anime, Genma, in his panda form.

As fans will recognize, that specific group of characters has something in common: they’ve all fallen into the cursed springs of the Jusenkyo training grounds, causing them to transform when they come into contact with hot or cold water, and many of these transformed states show up in the rest of the collection.

These tote bags in these tote/pouch sets, for example, feature not only male and female Ranma, but both the human and animal versions of Ryoga (pig), Shampoo (cat), and Mousse (duck), as well as cameos by Jusenkyo’s tour guide and Shampoo’s great-grandmother Cologne.

▼ Genma, who’s comfortable enough with his panda curse to regularly lounge around the house transformed, doesn’t appear in his human form anywhere.

In contrast to the entire Jusenkyo curse club, the synthetic leather wallets split them into Ranma for one design, and everyone else for the other.

▼ Though considering the countless times Genma and Ranma are (accurately) called “freeloaders” throughout the series, you wonder if they themselves would have much use for a wallet.

Rounding out the collection are a laptop case and zipper pouch, both with cute ramen Naruto fishcake draw tabs…

…and two different acrylic keyholders, the only items without any sort of internal carrying capacity.

The entire lineup can be pre-ordered between now and September 17 here through Muddie’s online store, with delivery projected for late October. Prices range from 2,090 yen (US$19) for the key holders and top out at 7,920 yen for the wallets, which seems pretty affordable by limited-edition anime lifestyle merch standards, especially when compared to that 36,000-yen Ranma Yokosuka jacket.

Sources: Muddie, PR Times
Top image: Muddie
Insert images: PR Times, Muddie
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Source: SORA NEWS24