The Ryuu Kumon story has been one of my favourites in the manga ever since I first read it; it had a much more purely dramatic tone than much of the manga (though still balanced with humour), and some really excellent back and forth martial arts. Ryuu himself is also a really neat character, and it's unfortunately I've hardly ever seen him used in fanfiction or other fanwork. He's basically a blank slate plot-wise after the end of the story, and could be taken in a lot of interesting directions.
A lot of the longer, more dramatic stories in the second half of the Ranma manga tended to foreshadow Takahashi's changing tastes which led to Inuyasha; it'll be interesting to see if her next series is similarly foreshadowed by elements in Inuyasha.
Ryuu also has the distinction of being one of the few anime/manga characters whose martial arts moves sound nearly as cool in English as Japanese. DEMON GOD ASSAULT BOMB, indeed!
Ryuu Kumon Pictures
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