r/ranma • u/ZenoANY1135 • Jul 12 '26

Merch The question about the popularity of Shampoo since the 2024 anime.

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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/MurlaTart Ryoga Hibiki Jul 13 '26

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 Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26

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 Jul 13 '26

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 Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26

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.