, later reprinted in Japan as , is a series of short manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 stories created by Rumiko Takahashi

Rumiko Takahashi

is a Japanese manga artist.Takahashi is one of the wealthiest individuals, and the most affluent manga artists in Japan. The manga she creates are popular worldwide, where they have been translated into a variety of languages...

, mostly created early in her career before Ranma ½

Ranma ½

is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi with an anime adaptation. The story revolves around a 16-year old boy named Ranma Saotome who was trained from early childhood in martial arts...

. These tend to be comedies.

"Rumic World" is also the series name under which Central Park Media and Manga Entertainment

Manga Entertainment

Manga Entertainment is a producer, licensor and distributor of Japanese animation in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Australia and New Zealand...

 released in North America and the UK four anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 OVA

Original video animation

, abbreviated as media , are animated films and series made specially for release in home-video formats. The term originated in relation to Japanese animation...

s in 1992 based on Takahashi's stories:

1. Fire Tripper
   Fire Tripper
   is an anime OVA based on a manga story by Rumiko Takahashi. In North America, it was released on VHS by Central Park Media under the "Rumik World" series...
   
   
2. Maris the Chojo
   Maris the Chojo
   , literally translated as "The Supergirl", and originally titled Supergal in U.S. markets, is a one shot manga story by Rumiko Takahashi...
   
   
3. Laughing Target
   Laughing Target
   is an anime OVA released in Japan in 1987. It was licensed for North American release by Central Park Media, but this license has since expired...
   
   
4. Mermaid Forest.

Some of these stories, along with newer stories, were also animated as part of the Takahashi Rumiko Gekijou (Rumiko Takahashi Anthology) anime series.

Even though Manga Entertainment

Manga Entertainment

Manga Entertainment is a producer, licensor and distributor of Japanese animation in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Australia and New Zealand...

 has released all of its UK and American catalogue to Australia, all of the Rumic World series did not make it into Australia due to Manga's Australian division's takeover by Madman Entertainment

Madman Entertainment

Madman Entertainment is an Australian company that distributes international films as well as Japanese anime and manga in Australia and New Zealand. The company is owned by Funtastic Limited and is one of the major entertainment companies in Australia. It employs 130 people and has an annual...

, which after takeover, released most of Manga UK and Manga USA's catalogue until 2001 when Madman integrated Manga Entertainment's Australian division. Madman staff have rumored to release the Rumic World series on DVD under Manga Entertainment's label, and Madman still licence and distribute Manga's titles like Macross Plus

Macross Plus

is a four-episode anime OVA and theatrical movie in the Macross series. It was the first sequel to the original Macross television series that took place in the official timeline...

, and Space Adventure Cobra

Space Adventure Cobra

is a space-opera manga series written and illustrated by Buichi Terasawa of the Black Sheep studio. The serialized form of Cobra originally appeared the Japanese shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump during 1978–1984...

.

Japanese editions

Rumic World was first released in Japan in the tankoban format, but was rereleased in wideban format, which included many of the original colored pages of the series. Rumic World stories were originally published in various Shōgakukan magazines, as opposed to Rumic Theater stories, which were published in Big Comic Original

Big Comic Original

is a Japanese seinen manga magazine published by Shogakukan, aimed at an older adult and mostly male audience. It is a sister magazine to Big Comic, the biggest difference being that it goes on sale twice a month in the weeks Big Comic doesn't. Cover artwork usually features a dog or cat, and a haiku...

.

First edition

The first edition, , contains the following stories:

Second edition

The second edition, , contains the same stories, but in just two volumes and in a different order.

One or Double

, also titled contains a number of similar short stories not included in the other editions. The use of the word "Rumic World" makes it related to the other volumes branded as "Rumic World". The book is in the same format as the second Japanese edition.

English Edition

Viz Media

VIZ Media

VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...

 initially published two Rumic World stories in English: Fire Tripper (1989) and Laughing Target (1990). It subsequently (1996) published five volumes of the Rumic World collection, three under that name and under the "Rumic Theater" name. The contents of the volumes correspond to the Japanese-language collections, but the stories are in a different order in some of the books.

Some of Takahashi's stories were printed in Manga-vizion magazine.

All were printed in "flipped" style in a larger comic-sized format. They are no longer in print.

Volume 1

• "Fire Tripper": A gas explosion sends young Suzuko and Shuu 500 years into the past, but she lost Shuu in the way, Shuu ended up 10 years before her and is then 15 years old. They both somehow return to the future and then back to 500 years ago. Shuu and Suzuko marry.
• "Maris the Chojo": An alien policeman sees a kidnapped quadrillionaire her ticket out of debt.
• "Those Selfish Aliens": Aliens, the government, and fishmen implant bombs in a poor individual.
• "Time Warp Trouble": Warriors from feudal Japan inexplicably pop into a high-school classroom.
• "The Laughing Target": When they were children, Yuzuru Shiga and his cousin Azusa Shiga were engaged, and Azusa will make sure that Yuzuru stays hers, no matter what.

Volume 2

• "Wasted Minds (Dust Spot)": Follows a pair of two bickering government agents. (A five-part miniseries)
• "The Golden Gods of Poverty": A boy's parents try to use him to make money, but they only succeed in contacting the Seven Lucky Gods who are also broke.
• "The Entrepreneurial Spirit": A woman leads seminars for a get-rich quick scheme.

Volume 3

• "That Darn Cat": Rumiko Takahashi remembers having to take care of her neighbor's cat.
• "When My Eyes Got Wings": A couple befriend a sickly child with a secret and his destructive pet bird.
• "Wedded Bliss": A wedded couple can only let out their tension from working all day by fighting with one another, until their neighbors threaten to have them moved.
• "Sleep and Forget": A girl relives a past life involving her lover and an evil witch back from the dead in the form of a dog.
• "A Cry for Help": A fairy gives a boy a frightening split personality thanks to the wind-up key she inserts in his neck.
• "War Council: Student councils go to war with one another over a stamp.
• "The Face Pack": A man can change his appearance at will and leads a "masters of disguise" club.

Rumic Theater: One or Double

• "Excuse Me for Being a Dog!": A boxer tries to hide the fact that he turns into a dog every time he bleeds.
• "Winged Victory": A rugby team with 999 losses is cheered on by a ghostly girl whom only the team captain can see, this girl turned out to be the first captain of the team, who died from a disease, after that, they won the season.
• "The Grandfather of All Baseball Games": A man uses the money his grandson makes in sandlot baseball to lavish his elderly girlfriend with gifts.
• "The Diet Goddess": A young girl goes through a rigorous training exercise to fit into a dress and impress her crush while developing feelings for her stern coach, also, the man who she lost weight for, likes fat girls.
• "Happy Talk": A girl thinks her dead mother might be working as a hostess in Tokyo, so she and a classmate hire a detective to find her, but they find a gay friend of her mother, who took her name after she died.
• "One or Double": An accident places the soul of a fanatic kendo
  Kendo
  , meaning "Way of The Sword", is a modern Japanese martial art of sword-fighting based on traditional Japanese swordsmanship, or kenjutsu.Kendo is a physically and mentally challenging activity that combines strong martial arts values with sport-like physical elements.-Practitioners:Practitioners...
  
   coach into his favorite pupil's crush and he will not leave until his pupil can get at least one point on him, but when he leaves they had found his body and he came back.
• "To Grandmother's House We Go": A woman poses as her dead friend to claim a 500 billion yen inheritance with the help of the girl's dead grandmother.
• "Reserved Seat": A singer deals with stage fright and memory blackouts after his grandmother, an avid Takarazuka
  Takarazuka Revue
  The Takarazuka Revue is a Japanese all-female musical theater troupe based in Takarazuka, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Women play all roles in lavish, Broadway-style productions of Western-style musicals, and sometimes stories adapted from shōjo manga and Japanese folktales. The troupe takes its name...
  
  fan, dies. It turns out his grandma possesses him and goes to their concerts in his body.
• "Shake Your Buddha": A hilarious debate between the future Buddha and an idiot yam fanatic during a food shortage over whose methods can lead to Japan's survival.

External links

• http://www.furinkan.com/rumictheater/
• The Rumic World by Rumiko Takahashi