AllMovie

Ranma and his father, Genma Saotome, are on a martial arts training journey to China when they are afflicted with a bizarre problem. The Jusenkyo Springs that the two are visiting are cursed; each spring carries the burden of the creature that drowned there. Any person who falls into the icy waters of a particular spring will be cursed with his or her body transforming into the body of that spring's martyr every subsequent time he or she touches cold water. The person's body will transform back to its original shape if the person touches hot water, but this does not make the curse much less inconvenient. Genma falls into the spring of the giant panda and Ranma tumbles into the spring where a young girl died. Now, thanks to the curse, Ranma sometimes switches genders, and to make his life even more stressful, he finds out that he's been promised to a girl he's never met for marriage. The family of Ranma's new fiancée has actually not yet decided which of their three daughters he will marry, but when they learn that Ranma changes into a woman when he touches cold water, they push the engagement onto the youngest sister, Akane, because she hates boys anyway. This anime, though quite bizarre, is considered a classic in the realm of anime comedy.