Viz Video and KTEH-54 San Jose proudly announce that KTEH-54 has acquired the rights to show Viz's two RANMA 1/2 movies. Soon, anime fans in the San Francisco-San Jose Bay Area will be able to enjoy these enduring fan-favorites on TV!

RANMA 1/2 is the third Viz title to show on non-cable TV. (FATAL FURY: THE MOTION PICTURE and GALAXY EXPRESS 999 aired on the Sci-Fi Channel in Summer 1998.) The 3-volume series PLEASE SAVE MY EARTH aired on KTEH-54 in July 1999, and by the 8-volume series KEY THE METAL IDOL in Fall 1998. RANMA 1/2 MOVIE #1, ""Big Trouble in Nekonron, China"" will be shown on Sunday, March 12 at 9:33 P.M.; MOVIE #2, ""Nihao My Concubine"", does not have a time scheduled yet.

RANMA 1/2 is a high-school kung-fu romantic comedy based on the manga (Japanese comics) by Rumiko Takahashi. Due to an insidious curse, whenever teenage martial artist Ranma is splashed with cold water, he transforms into an attractive young girl! Hot water reverses the effect...but only 'till the next time. Chased after by lovesick suitors of both sexes, constantly challenged by battle-happy martial artists for crimes both real and imagined....What's a half-boy, half-girl to do? In "Big Trouble in Nekonron, China" (74 mins.), Ranma and Co. must travel to China to prevent the Seven Lucky Gods Martial Artists from carrying out a diabolical plan. In "Nihao My Concubine" (60 mins.), youthful Akane, Kasumi, Nabiki, Shampoo and Ukyo are kidnapped by a prince searching for his perfect bride! Can Ranma ("in disguise" as a girl) rescue Akane and beat scores of kidnapped concubines in an anything-goes martial arts bride-off?

Unique among public TV stations, KTEH-54 has aired other anime, including LUM*URUSEI YATSURA, TENCHI MUYO!, and soon, NEON GENESIS EVANGELION. Their weekly anime block is on Sunday nights, their traditional science fiction night. KTEH-54 has even attended conventions such as Fanime Con '99. Like all public television stations, they are supported by viewer pledges.

"KTEH is delighted to be able to include Japanese anime in our schedule," says Karen Roberts of KTEH-54. "If it weren't for the interest and financial support of the anime fans located here in the Bay Area, we would not be able to continue to acquire this unique strand of programming."

For more information, check TV listings for KTEH-54. Viz encourages all fans of RANMA 1/2 and other Viz titles to have their anime clubs petition their local public TV stations to show anime.

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