Noy Telinú wrote: Like Ranma... Why think he's anything other than 16 to start the series? He's in the same class as Akane, he looks for the 16 cm mushroom and is set to marry a Tendo on arrival. Yet I've seen him at 15, which would make him unable to legally marry a Tendo.
During the "Mushrooms of Time" (Japan 33.03-33.05 / Viz 31.03-31.05) arc Ranma claims to have recently turned 16 for an unknown reason. If Ranma thinks he had only recently turned 16 then a 17 centimeter mushroom would have made a huge difference. This would mean Ranma thinks he was 15 when he arrived at the Tendo home.
Ranma's age can also vary greatly depending on what method of age reckoning is used. If Genma was using the traditional east Asian method instead of the legal/western method Ranma could be as young as 13 years old at the start of the series which would be oddly fitting given the themes of the series.
http://web.archive.org/web/201108281016 ... japan.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Asian_age_reckoningRanma was to be engaged to one of Soun's daughters, and in all honesty there was no reason to rush things. Most likely the original plan was for Ranma to marry after finishing high school or college.
Noy Telinú wrote: Also, Kodachi has been considered 15 by a lot of fanfics. Why? She's in high school and it's been established that first year high schoolers are 16. And that Nabiki is 17 along with Kuno, so Kodachi being 16 isn't impossible.
To use Sailor Moon as an example, all of the Sailor Senshi's birthdays are scattered throughout the year. Uranus and Neptune are one grade above the 5 inners while not being a full year older then the youngest inner There is no realistic way to have everyone the exact same age, at the exact same time, in the exact same grade.
Noy Telinú wrote: It judge confuses me. Canon set this to be very likely as there is nothing on age jokes or mentions that would say that Ranma, Ryoga, Kodachi, Shampoo and Mousse are younger or older than Akane by a year or more.
Genma using the traditional method of age reckoning would be a joke in that it would mean Ranma could be 13 years old at the start of the series. 13 years old was the minimum age for a girl to marry with parental consent when Ranma 1/2 was written, and 16 was the minimum age to marry with parental consent. The minimum age for a girl was raised to 16 and for a boy was raised to 18 in 1995.
It also doesn't help that Genma took Ranma before Ranma could seemingly walk or talk. Genma may not even know what the date of Ranma's birth is.
We can only guess at most of the character's ages.
Noy Telinú wrote: And WHY would female Ranma be younger biologically?
Logically Ranma's female form would not be physically younger then Ranma's male form during the series, but it might differ in physical age as Ranma gets older. There are springs that turn people into babies after all.
Girls can be down right tiny in their teens, and if you look at Ranma's flashbacks during his time going to school with Ryoga, you will note Ranma went through some rather large growth spurts while in China.