Rumiko Takahashi and Progressive Love (or why I love InuYasha and Ranma 1/2)

When I was young it was my daily routine to watch Hero or Animax for at least an hour. I was addicted to anime at ages 12 to 13 until it mellowed during my last two years of high school--that was when I started to take interest in reading.

Out of all the anime I'd seen, my top two would be from the same mangaka (or comic illustrator): Rumiko Takahashi. She created InuYasha and Ranma 1/2, and I am indebted to all of the laughs and kilig that I felt as I watched hundred-something episodes from the mentioned shows. I could have chosen more dark-themed anime or more action ones but somehow Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, Naruto, Dragon Ball, Gundam Seed, One Piece, (not to mention Death Note which was agony to watch because it was as pretentious as raisin cookies) among others didn't make me feel as I did with her classic masterpieces.

Rumiko Takahashi. Photo stolen from the web.

Rumiko--it seems--made 2/5 of her anime as action, 2/5 as comedy, and only 1/5 was reserved for romance (Disclaimer: This was of course, pure speculation and made-up for the sake of argument). This combination makes the romantic scenes much-awaited for and it builds up enough tension for the characters involved.

InuYasha and Kagome. Another image stolen from the Internet.

Since we are already using made-up statistics regarding Rumiko's works, why not invent vocabulary to fit this article? I mentioned progressive love from the title: simply, it means a love that wasn't romanticized from the first encounter but is rather hidden and develops within the characters who are destined to be together under unavoidable circumstances (for Ranma 1/2, it would be their engagement, as for InuYasha it would be the necessary collaboration to collect the Shikon jewel shards) as the couples face various challenges.

Ranma and Akane were very shy and would hide their feelings toward each other. The author would only hint with some misplaced stares, jealousy, concern, and verbal slips. It was the same with InuYasha and Kagome--they were fighting a lot at first but would later reconcile with shy faces. You can see Ranma's concern over Akane, it is obvious with the little things: the constant way on which he catches her, the need to protect her whenever a creature would attack her. Akane, with her weak state, would do all she could to save Ranma as well. It is this similar formula that was used with InuYasha and Kagome.

The scene that almost caught my heart on fire: Ranma was really shy when he offered his hand to Akane. I think I just melted again. Even this snapshot is stolen.

This is the kind of love to root for--the kind where you're sure you are protected by the one you care about. There's not much need to talk romance; you can feel it in the air, you can almost taste it with their actions, you can see it in the way they just are. Their feelings strengthens as the show progresses and it is only when it's in full-bloom that they talk about it. This kind of love could only grow as time passes: this kind of love progresses into the future, and this is why I love InuYasha and Ranma 1/2.