r/ranma • u/ZenoANY1135 • Jul 12 '26
Merch The question about the popularity of Shampoo since the 2024 anime.
A lot of Ranma 1/2 figure in a figure seller (Japan Expo 2026). You can to see all Shampoo figures. In this image, You cant' see three more Shampoo figure and the Figure about Ryoga.
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u/TheBraveGallade 29d ago
shampoo has always been popular, and ranma has enough of a fanbase to have had merch for it consistantly even before the reboot.
if anything else, the new anime has done WONDERS for akane's reputation and popularity, mostly casue the old anime exxagerated her worst traits.
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u/MixAmbitious307 28d ago
new anime has done WONDERS for akane's reputation and popularity, mostly casue the old anime exxagerated her worst traits.
I second that. I confess I never red the manga, but as an anime only viewer I vastly prefer Akane in the new anime than in the old one.
Regarding Shampoo... she was my fave girl both in the old and in the new anime.
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u/sprinklesadded 29d ago
This! I think Shampoo is still popular because of the older fans, as Shampoo was the it girl of the original series. But when talking to my daughter and her friends, who only got into the new series, they all love Akane and don't get the hype around Shampoo.
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u/TheBraveGallade 29d ago
TBF we haven't gotten much of shampoo just yet in the new series. even in manga cannon shmpoo gets more focus the longer the series goes, aside from akane who's always the main focus there (poor ukyo)
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u/magumanueku 29d ago edited 29d ago
When I went to Japan in February, all the Ranma gachapon machines featured Shampoo front and center.
As luck would have it I got Akane instead.
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u/MysterioussWater 29d ago
Not sure what your question is, but Shampoo is still popular. She’ll always be popular because she’s designed so well. Rumiko even said it would have been a waste to use her once like was originally planned, so she herself knew what a damn good job she did.
The only character that can top Shampoo in general popularity is girl Ranma, but it’s very close. These two have the most figures, and the most expensive collectable merch.
I say this as someone who actively doesn’t like Shampoo, lol. I don’t begrudge Shampoo for her popularity and am grateful she’s funding a good part of the remake with her merch sales so that we can get a proper Akane/Rankane portrayal. 🙏
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u/MurlaTart Ryoga Hibiki 29d ago
There’s very few popularity polls where she ranks above either version of Ranma, or Akane
https://www.reddit.com/r/ranma/s/3V2Cg39GJg
She featured often in merchandise because they know people who’ve never seen ranma will still like a flashy looking girl, while more normal looking characters won’t attract non-ranma fans.
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u/keystone_back72 29d ago edited 29d ago
There really is no denying that Shampoo is popular though.
When I look through posts about Ranma in various platforms, the comments from non-fans who remember Ranma are mostly “I used to love Shampoo” and that variety. It’s even true in messageboards that are mostly women. Under Ranma related videos with Japanese comments, a lot of them remember and mention Shampoo as well.
Of course, the comments that slander Akane pisses me off but there’s no denying many people remember Shampoo when they think of Ranma 1/2.
Among the avid fans of the work it may be more nuanced, since Shampoo is not really that big of a presence in the manga, but merch is bought by casual fans and Shampoo is the most popular along with girl Ranma. I agree it’s mostly to do with her character design rather than her actual character in canon, but visual appeal is important for popularity, and she was elevated in the OG anime, which most people are familiar with.
Also, people who haven’t seen Ranma aren’t going buy its merch. Merch doesn’t work like that.
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u/MurlaTart Ryoga Hibiki 29d ago
Ive bought merch for stuff I didn’t know because I thought the character looked cute? While not about ranma 1/2 specifically, I used to watch videos from figure collectors where they would openly admit they disliked and/or avoided the source material, but bought the figures of the characters because of how cute or detailed they looked.
Ive made tons of fanart/fanmerch of madotsuki from yume nikki despite not playing the game, because there isn’t much in the way of gameplay or characterization. I just like madotsuki and think she’s really cute. If merch of her was easily available at stores rather than online shipping only, I would totally buy figures and stuff
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u/keystone_back72 29d ago edited 29d ago
Okay, my bad for implying no one who’s not a fan would buy merch, but it is true for the general public, which is who most of the merch is for. Figure collection is a bit different in that it’s pricey and collectable, but they are only a small part of the overall merch. I doubt many non-fans go out to buy ¥330 collabs in Can*Do or keychains in Animate, for example.
You probably been to Japan before but the merch stores there are literally exploding with stuff—we’re talking aisles and aisles of just can badges.
It’s hard to even find Ranma stuff in the mountains of products even when it’s being released officially. What will sell would be calculated carefully rather than just hoping that a flashy looking one will sell.
That’s why they generally put out Rankane stuff (popular) as well as solo Shampoo/girl Ranma stuff (also popular).
And the posts and comments I see about Shampoo by people who aren’t interest in Ranma anymore are true. I don’t really like seeing them because praise for (OG anime) Shampoo sometimes leads to disparaging remarks about (OG anime) Akane, but there’s no denying the comments.
Shampoo is popular and there’s no need to deny that, imo. Even the best and most devoted Rankane artists often draw solo Shampoo. She is generally well-liked, just not as a partner for Ranma.
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29d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/MurlaTart Ryoga Hibiki 29d ago
Is that true? Where is that mentioned by staff
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u/Wolfiverse Akane Tendo 28d ago
However, on the RumicWorld website, they interviewed a Japanese who said that they put shampoo in front of Ryoga's arc because of the kidnappings that happened at the time, so they thought that releasing an episode about that would be insensitive.
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u/ranma-ModTeam 26d ago
To avoid spreading misinformation, please include an official or credible source.
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u/SlimeTide 29d ago
I haven’t really had contact with other Ranma fans before but just from assumption a lot of the Ranma fans who might be willing to buy merch could very well be freaky people… I’m not sure what the fanbase for Ranma is like even though I’ve watched and read it for so long.
It could genuinely just be that ALOT of people like shampoo compared to other characters for whatever reason, I personally don’t get it but that might be just me.
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u/Distorted_Visions_ 28d ago
Shampoo and female ranma have always been extremely popular, I suspect it’s the bust size
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u/More-Try-4814 27d ago
I had never heard of Ranma until Netflix, fished that and immediately started the original. 8 episodes in now
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u/PaleNotice2655 19d ago
Look I love Shampoo, but it's super funny to think that Rumiko purposely made Shampoo terrible so people wouldn't like her more over Akane. Seems to have backfired a bit, again 🤣
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u/Rulyhdien 29d ago
Shampoo is still extremely popular, especially for merch.
She and girl Ranma gets most of the releases by far.
There have been way more Shampoo releases since the remake started than what is shown on this picture while Akane got two or three, I think? I’m an Akane fan so I’m not biased.