I highly recommend giving the first episode a try. The premise is not, like I mistakenly thought, a weird fetish thing. It's unusual, but that only lets the author's creativity shine. And the premise is not the only interesting aspect of Ranma 1/2, all of the characters are unique and there are many fun and intriguing aspects to many of them.
I have not watched the original nor read the manga, an I find myself captivated by this anime every moment (it's a remake apparently).
The most difficult part in watching this is waiting for the next episode rather than watching the old version, for the pain of seeing the episode end is hard to bear.
Very cool, thanks staff. 10/10
