Cinderella Boy is a Japanese manga masterpiece by Monkey Punch which was published and serialized by Kobunsha in 1980. It was later adapted for an anime television series with the direction of Tsuneo Tominaga. The anime was produced by Magic Bus Studios together with Michiro Tsuchiya (series composer, scenario and script writer), Toshimistu Kobayashi (character designs), Maho Takahashi (art direction), Hideo Takahashi (sound direction) and Hiroaki Shimegatsu (chief producer). It was broadcasted all over Japan on the AT-X Television network on June 2003 which ended shortly on September of the same year with 13 mind-blowing episodes.
Cinderella Boy follows the adventures of the impoverished yet energetic private detective, Ranma Hinamatsuri. Together with his life-long partner, Rella “Cindy” Shirayuki, they go through case to case in a futuristic town called “Kirin Town”. Kirin Town is famous for its lawlessness in European lands with its own brand of currency with a pun of the word “killing” etched on it. Despite opposing ambitions, Ranma for the money and Rella for the action, they go through several cases as partners of their very own detective agency in Kirin Town. After stumbling across a peculiarly suspicious criminal organization, they find themselves in an unfortunate accident where they now both share the same body. To make matters worse, every night at the stroke of midnight, they swap bodies both physically and mentally. Ranma becomes Rella or otherwise Rella becomes Ranma. Since they are unable to see what the other person is doing or talk with one another, they are both unaware of anything the other person is doing or got himself or herself involved in. The other person loses consciousness for 24 hours which makes the commotion rather an understatement of the predicament they are in. With cases piling and waiting to be solved, can they still go through life with unanswered questions and doubts while the two figure out the greatest mystery of all time: how to get back into their own bodies and get their lives back?
