Cinderella Boy

Cinderella Boy was a thirteen episode series that aired starting 2003 June 21 on the Japanese satellite channel AT-X. The series revolved around a pair of detectives that are dragged into a rather bizarre experiment.

In the near future, Ranma makes his living in Kirin Town as a hired detective. He has a penchant for driving a London taxi and an extreme fear of heights. His unlikely partner is the thrill-seekign Rella, the daughter of a very wealthy man. One night, their assignment takes them to the skyscraper of a powerful gangster.

They barely esacpe from the building with their lives but find the gangster's henchmen chasing them through the streets. The last thing Ranma can recall is driving off an unfinished section of a highway on-ramp. He awakes a few days later to find Rella missing and visions of a scientist floating in his head.

His efforts to learn what happened lead him back to the gangster's building. And once again, Ranma finds himself on the run; this time, the chase ends with Ranma stuck out on the ledge of the building. He loses his balance and begins to fall as the clock strikes midnight.

A flash of light surrounds him, and Rella suddenly finds herself falling the rest of the way into the outside pool. Dazed and confused, she manages to escape back to her mansion to begin her own investigation of what happened that night.

The remainder of the series has the pair attempting to first discover the fact that they are sharing a body and then attempting to discover who did this to them and why. It is an amusing series that leaves itself open for more episodes. However, the high cost and low episode count for the R2 DVDs make it a tough buy. You can view the official Japanese site for more information and images.