Ranma ½ (らんま½?) is a Japanese anime series adapted from the manga of the same name by Rumiko Takahashi. It was created by Studio Deen and aired weekly between April 15, 1989 and September 16, 1989 on Fuji TV before being canceled after 18 episodes due to low ratings. Shortly after, the series was reworked by most of the same staff, retitled Ranma ½ Nettōhen (らんま½ 熱闘編?) and launched in a different time slot, running between October 20, 1989 and September 25, 1992 for 143 episodes.
Three movies were produced, The Battle of Nekonron, China! A Battle to Defy the Rules! on November 2, 1991; Battle at Togenkyo! Get Back the Brides on August 1, 1992; and Super Indiscriminate Decisive Battle! Team Ranma vs. the Legendary Phoenix on August 20, 1994. The first two movies are feature length, but the third was originally aired in theaters with two other movies: Ghost Sweeper Mikami and Heisei Dog Stories: Bow. Following the ending of the TV series, 12 OVA episodes were released directly to home video, the earliest on December 7, 1993 and the twelfth on October 20, 2010. In celebration of Rumiko Takahashi's 35th anniversary as a manga artist, the TV series was released on Blu-ray for the first time in three box sets between May 24, 2013 and January 24, 2014.
Viz Media licensed both anime, the films and the first 11 OVAs for English dubs in North America. They labeled both anime as one series and first released it on subtitled and dubbed VHS, later combining it into seven DVD collections they call "seasons". Besides changing the ordering of many of the anime episodes, Viz also added the third film to their set of the OVAs. They began re-releasing the show on Blu-ray and DVD in 2014.Madman Entertainment released part of the anime series and the first two movies in Australasia, before their license expired, and MVM Films released the first two movies in the United Kingdom.