Dispelling Fan Misconceptions

Proud to be the second most controversial Ranma webpage

Misconceptions based upon Takahashi-san's Ranma 1/2 manga story as canon, and most accurate (being that this IS what she penned herself). The anime/OAV/movie stories (except for most of Ranma season one) have had liberties taken on them by the animators/writers of the series. Takahashi-san, as I understand it, had just about little or no control/imput on those productions. Some really terrible misconceptions can be traced back this way.

Of course, that won't stop me from making anime-misconceptions, either. Or fanfic misconceptions, for that matter (i.e., Passion Spice, whatever that is).

4/29/02: Added more submissions.

4/19/02: Added more submissions.

2/26/02: Added more submissions. The sidebar was changed around.

1/24/02: Added more submissions.

12/14/01: Added a submission. Oh yes, I still do look here occasionally.

7/3/00: Anime Expo 2000 Con Report available for viewing.

Update 1/27/00: Entries revised. Well, some of them, at least. Some more added here and there.

1. Ranma's hair is red as a girl. Not in the manga it isn't. Any arrows to color manga pictures will be met with arrows pointing to Ranma's hair yellow, blue, and pink, to name a few.
2. Why is it that Ranma always wins? I want him to lose! Well, technically, Ranma has lost fights, about half of them, really. Most prominently against Panyhose Taro, Herb, Cologne, and other high-level martial artists. Sometimes he even loses to Ryoga or Kuno. Ranma just wins the fights that count.
3. Ranma is the best martial artist in the series. Well, no, not really. There are quite a few martial artists that are better than him: Pantyhose Taro, Rouge (although she's not an acutal martial artist), Cologne (who IS the most powerful martial artist in the series, btw), Happosai, Kirin, Herb.... the list goes on. The only way Ranma can beat such opponents is either through cheating (most often) or with help (mainly from Akane).
4. Ranma confides his problems to Ukyo (or anyone, for that matter). Considering how Ranma isn't a very open, touchy-feeling kind of person, no. If any such thing happens it's just a chat between friends. Ranma has a tendancy to speak rather honestly, and, unlike Akane, Ukyo doesn't beat him over the head the moment those words leave his lips.
5. The Dragon Whisker always grows more hair on Ranma. The Whisker only affects Ranma while he's male; and after the Niku-men story the effects of the Whisker wore off. So if you removed the Whisker from Ranma's pig-tail while he's a girl or any time after the Niku-men story, it won't grow out.
6. Ranma and Ukyo are best friends. Doubtful. Ukyo obviously thinks of Ranma as more than a friend, and Ranma's dense enough to think he knows Ukyo. One can toss this one up either way, depending on what you call a 'best friend.' Therefore, this interpretation is very subjective.
7. The Tenshin Amaguriken is a technique. Only in the anime it is. In the manga, it's merely a training technique to build up speed.
8. Horizontal Hiryu Shoten Ha! I've been bombarded by people who insist that such an attack exists in the manga, then point to the Saffron story (final conflict, Vol.38). First of all, it's called Hiryu Hyotoppa, it's not horizontal (it's diagnal-downward), and it's definitely not the same Hiryu Shoten Ha we know and love; the attack was augmented by Ranma's iced fist and the air currents in the whirlwind.
9. The Spring of Drowned Twins can cure Ranma's curse by separating his two forms! Hmmm... didn't you read it? Spring of Drowned TWINS. All the water would do is make two Ranmas, and Ranma'd still be cursed (the both of them, actually).
10. Ranma never fights girls. Well, not in guy form, at least. He thinks it isn't "macho" for a guy to fight girls. However, if pressed he will fight back, even going so far as grabbing their chests (this didn't quite work on Konatsu, but then, he's not really a girl). While in girl form Ranma has no reason to hold back, either. It's an ego thing.

1. Akane is an incredibly-violent person. False. She's actually a very nice person, but gets angry whenever she sees Ranma with another girl or whenever Ranma insults her. Those are the only times when Akane becomes violent (unfortunately for Ranma, this happens quite often).
2. Akane is a terrible cook. Well, she got BETTER as the series progressed; for example, at the beginning of the Orochi story she made a decent curry (don't listen to what the OAV did with THAT one). Of course, in Vol.36, Akane made terrible okonomiyaki.
3. Ukyo and Akane are bitter enemies. Not true, considering how much time they spend with each other without hurting each other. The two are actually good friends; their high-end personalities make this no surprise. Of course, that friendship goes out the window where Ranma is concerned (both are guilty of this):
   Ukyo: tried to break up Ranma and Akane by forcing them through the Tunnel of Lost Love together.
   Akane: tried to get rid of Ukyo during the Secret Sauce story by telling her that she and Ranma were already married, and telling Ranma to act like a jerk to her.
4. Akane is a psychopath. Quite the contrary, Akane tends to react violently only at Ranma's words; otherwise, she's generally a very nice person. She's MUCH closer to being a saint than Ukyo.
5. Akane drowned in the spring (Vol.37), so why's she still alive? The Japanese word for 'drowned' is different from what we define it; apparently, this is a translation error. Drowning should be taken more as 'fully-immersed' in the water rather than our definition for drowned.
6. Akane could accept Ranma if he were trapped in his girl form forever. Actually, it's been demonstrated time and again that she cannot; whenever Ranma does something that implies that he loves Akane while in girl form, Akane would react appropriately as if any other girl said the same thing-- back away, then beat the crap outta them.
7. Akane is such a terrible cook that she can create life! This is a fan idea stretching things to ridiculous levels. Take it as it is: a joke.

1. Ukyo is a saint. C'mon, she, too, has her own agenda. She might appear this way because she tends to be nice to everybody, even complete strangers.
2. Ukyo is Shampoo with better grammar. She's not Shampoo.
3. Ukyo is a saint/demoness/nicest person/hateful person. Somewhere in the middle, there is the truth! Ukyo is one of the most friendly people in Nerima. She let the Tendos stay at Ucchan's when they lost their house to the Gambling King. She took in Konatsu, even though she thought he was a lesbian at the time. In general, she helps people. However, she also has quite a temper as well.
4. Ukyo didn't know Tsubasa was a guy. Actually, at the end of that manga story, Ukyo had to explain to Akane that Tsubasa was a guy, and Akane got pissed because Ukyo didn't tell them before. Ukyo did go to an all-boys school, after all, and so did Tsubasa.
5. Ukyo is legally a guy. In Japanese, I believe that people, when speaking to/refer to one another, do not specifically-refer to gender. Ukyo is a guy's name (well, MOST of the time), she dressed like a guy, she acted like a guy, and gave no reason otherwise that day that she was really a girl (especially since they never went to do the phys-ed class, where Ukyo wears the girls' gym uniform and all-- my, how convenient).
   I don't recall the teacher referring to Ukyo as a guy, just that Akane and Ranma jumped to that conclusion first. From the way she put it, Ukyo put herself into the boys' school (and not by her parents). And at least one student (Tsubasa) knew she was a girl, too. She never claimed to be a guy, only that she chose to live like one (and she still appreciates her femininity to some degree-- ie, reaction when Ranma grabbed her chest, and when he slashed her shirt open). If someone mistakes her for a guy, that's their problem, not hers. If the all-boys' school took her, then all the good for her, and the school had no problems with it, I suppose, if they thought Ukyo was a guy.
6. Ukyo can only cook okonomiyaki. This has been proven untrue in Volume 19, where Ukyo cooks a meal for the Tendos (none of which included okonomiyaki). Kasumi herself praised Ukyo's cooking as excellent.
7. Ukyo kind of likes Ryoga. On the contrary, she thinks he's a real dipstick. The anime would have you believe that she does care about him, but in reality she likes him only so far as he's useful. She can't put up with Ryoga's lack of direction and utter stupidity (in contrast Akane doesn't beat him over the head for that kind of stuff), and would gladly get rid of him as soon as possible. After the Tunnel of Lost Love she hates him.
8. Ukyo would still love Konatsu even if he were a girl. Now that's just getting into that lesbian thing again. Not that she loves Konatsu so much as she puts up with him.

1. Ryoga gets so lost that he can end up on the moon! If you pay close attention to where Ryoga travels, it's always within Japan unless he consciously decides to leave it. That means no, he can't get lost and end up on another continent, outer space, other dimensions, etc.
2. Ryoga kind of likes Ukyo. Ryoga likes/loves any girl that appears to like him (Akane, Akari, some of Ranma's disguises). Since Ukyo doesn't like him, he doesn't like her back. Of course, that never stopped him from following her plans or listening to her, being the dumber of the duo.
3. The Bakusai Tenketsu can only blow up rocks. Well, that was the original intention of the technique, at any rate. Ryoga has (tried) to blow up other inanimate objects other than rock, such as a metal pipe and wood (I'd tell you why it didn't work one time, but it's a major spoiler). It just doesn't work on animate objects.

1. Kuno can't adapt to new situations. He's been shown to be quite adaptive; he found a way around the Cat-fist the first time it was used, and when Shampoo was using the laced dim-sum to get Akane to hug people on the sound of a gong Kuno appeared with a gong so Akane would hug him :)
2. Kuno is mental/insane and incredibly stupid. No, just blinded by his love; this is the same thing that keeps him from seeing Ranma's curse for what it is, as he sees the 'pig-tailed girl' as the perfect woman, and Ranma as the 'vilest scum' to walk the Earth. He doesn't always act like an idiot, either (especially where 'Daddy' is concerned). Like Kodachi, he's quite eccentric, especially about his samurai lineage (which he takes very seriously, despite being out of place in time).
3. Kuno is oblivious to others' feelings. Actually, he's quite receptive; he has demonstrated some care for his sister (the day after the two had a fight, Kuno tried to get Ranma to be her slave for a week to make up for ripping-up a Ranma poster). Kuno gets confused/concerned whenever the pig-tailed girl shoves him off, as he's used to being loved back (Ranma's fault for leading him on in the first place). He accepts that Kodachi loves Ranma, even though he doesn't understand why (if only to make sure Ranma doesn't get Akane). Kuno himself does not know Akane doesn't love him, as she never explicitly said such to his face (most of the time she just clobbers him).
4. All the students think Kuno is an idiot. If everybody at Furinkan thought Kuno was such an idiot, then why is he captain of the Kendo team? If anything, he's rather charismatic, as other students (Gosunkugi) try to suck-up to him sometimes. He's either a leader or very popular among his peers, and thus this is rather a high regard than a low one. He even got all the boys to fight Akane for the right to date her. And, unlike Ranma, people listen to him. The source of stupidity comes in matters about the pig-tailed girl, but apparently, that didn't hurt his reputation very much. But, back to the subject, some people do think he's stupid.
   Side note: In the story where Kuno caught a cold, one guy thought he was too stupid to catch a cold. This is rooted in a cultural reference, where only silly/stupid/dumb people don't get sick. The fact that Kuno got sick at all pretty much throws that little theory out the window for that student.
5. Kuno was the undefeated Kendo champion until Ranma came along. Bzzz! Wrong! Kuno is still the undefeated Kendo champion, as Ranma has never challenged Kuno that way before.
6. Kuno and Kodachi aren't smart enough to figure out Ranma's curse. NOBODY figured out Ranma's curse unless Ranma (or someone else) told them. The fact is, NOBODY told either of them about Ranma's curse, so it's natural that they wouldn't understand Ranma's situation. As an example, Ukyo didn't buy the idea that Ranma could turn into a girl until he explained it to her (after Akane's date with Ryoga). When faced with the dilemma, Nabiki told Kuno that Ranma was a sorcerous sex-fiend, so that is what he thinks about Ranma's curse.
7. Kuno and Kodachi hate each other. If they really hated each other, they wouldn't be living under the same roof. Their bitter words/opinions of each other are typical of brother/sister squabbles.
8. Kuno's title is 'Blue Thunder.' The way the name was portrayed, Nabiki hadn't ever heard of it before, and could quite possibly been made-up on the fly by Kuno. He's never called himself by this name at any other time beside his introduction story in the manga; however, he has used it on a number of occasions in the anime.
9. We've seen the Chinese Phoenix Sword already. No, we haven't. If you call sticking the Phoenix Egg on your head a martial arts technique, you're delusional (as Kuno was). For one thing, you're NOT supposed to put the Egg on your head in the first place.

1. Kodachi is mental/insane. No more so than most of the other Ranma cast, if you think about it. Her apparent 'insanity' is a myth that springs from her overly-obsessive behavior and huge ego. She's too blinded by her love for Ranma to notice his curse, and, like Kuno, refuses to associate perfection with perversion. At most, she can be called 'eccentric.'
2. Kodachi always drugs her food. She's only done it whenever there is a reason for it; she doesn't do anything for no reason.
3. Kodachi cheats! Cheater! Okay, people, tell me when she cheated. In the rhythmic gymnastics competition, Kodachi was well within her rights to use razor hoops, spiked clubs, and get the rest of her team to move the ring around for her, because they were well within the rules of the competition! Anything she did then does not constitute as cheating. Secondly, people like to point out that taking out the opposing team is cheating, but tell me, HOW is it cheating? Is it Kodachi's fault that the opposing team was no match for her in a real fight? If they lost to her then, then they REALLY had no hope of beating her in the tournament. Her battles outside the tournament constitute as an all-out fight as the other Ranma characters have done, so why is it that Kodachi is singled-out as the cheater? No reason.

1. Mousse must defeat Shampoo in order to marry her. False, the tribal law only applies to outsiders. Amazon law dictates that they must marry the strongest man around, namely Ranma, so if Mousse wants a chance to marry Shampoo he must defeat Ranma in battle. Even then, that won't guarantee Shampoo would marry him, as the most she'd ever offer was a date (and Mousse would gladly jump on that, too!).
2. If Mousse could see normally, he could beat the crap out of Ranma, easily. What makes you think Mousse wasn't going 'all-out' all those other times? Losing his glasses (and thus his sight) only guarantees a loss, but certainly doesn't imply that if Mousse could see perfectly fine he'd beat Ranma. It would only be harder to beat Mousse if he had normal vision, as he wouldn't have such a critical weakness then. Mousse can beat people faster than Ranma (Mint), but when Ranma got transformed into a kid Mousse still lost to him.
3. Mousse is evil. Well, he sure does act that way, but he's too pathetic to be evil. Trust me :)
4. Mousse is an idiot. Lovesick.
5. Mousse carries everything in his robes, even the kitchen sink. Within reason, please? He's not a utility belt, you know.

1. Shampoo has bad grammar. Only because Viz is trying to simulate her poor Japanese (actually, she speaks the stereotypical manner in which Chinese speak Japanese).
2. Shampoo's family name is 'Shan' and Mousse's is 'Mu.' If people derive this from the Chinese names 'Shan-pu' and 'Mu-su,' then this is technically incorrect, as the first 'name' and the second 'name' are actually one whole name.
3. Shampoo really does care about Mousse. Hates him; she could care less if Mousse died. In the Reversal Jewel manga story, Shampoo did not beat up Mousse; it never happened, and it's an OAV invention.
4. Shampoo really does care about Akane. If you're deriving this from when Shampoo saved Akane from the fall in the Phoenix OAV story, here's a wakeup call: In the manga, Shampoo wasn't even in that story!!! In fact, Shampoo would kill Akane if she thought she could get away with it. She doesn't even care what Ranma would think of her after doing it, either. In the Taro story, she tried to kill Akane and blame it on Taro.
5. Shampoo is not a killer. We haven't seen her do it, but she hasn't hesitated from doing it, either.
6. Shampoo only knows how to cook ramen. I have no idea where this started, but she has made nikuman (among other things) on a few occasions.
7. Shampoo is Cologne's puppet. "Shampoo can make decision of her own, thank you very much."
8. Shampoo always drugs her food. She's only done it once; what makes one think she always does this?
9. Shampoo's hair is blue/purple. Same deal with Ranma's hair being red.

1. The guys and girls in volume 38 were more violent than usual. Well, duh, considering the circumstances. One: nobody told them about the wedding until Nabiki happened to send them an invitation. Two: how many other attempted weddings have there been, and why's this any different than the other times? Three: none of them were through with Ranma yet. Four: they didn't know Ranma and Akane were willing to go through with it.
2. In volume 38, during the wedding, Ukyo was trying to kill Akane. I wonder why this is any more unusual than Shampoo trying to kill Akane, but the fact is Ukyo is Akane's friend, and the actions seem a little out-of-character. When it comes down to it, Ukyo (and Akane as well) would choose Ranma over friendship. Also keep in mind that the exploding okonomiyaki is at the same level of violence as Akane's hammers; don't take it too seriously.
   Think of it this way: there's yet another attempt to wed Ranma, you have no idea that Ranma and Akane declared their love for each other, and you don't find out about the wedding until the last minute, giving you very little time to plan. Consider it a last-ditch effort, as Kuno, Kodachi, and Shampoo were making it.
   Of course, I think 'killing Akane' is a bit of a stretch of interpretation, as there were plenty of chances to 'kill Akane' before, so why do it now? Incapacitate is more likely, as Ranma didn't die when the explosives hit him. As far as I can tell, NONE of the characters actively sought to kill one another except for Shampoo.
   I have come to the conclusion that Ukyo was not aiming for Akane, but for Ranma. Hang on, let me explain! Okay, we all know Ukyo has a terrific aim (when she misses her targets are usually faster, i.e. Ranma). We know Shampoo was aiming for Akane, but what of Ukyo? She never specified anything either way. The exploding okonomiyaki hit Ranma. Unless this was a freak accident (and Ukyo missed!), Ukyo was attacking Ranma. This is quite consistent with her previous behavior, as she (like Akane) beats up Ranma when he gets her mad.
3. Passion Spice! I have no idea why this happened, but this is a popular fanfic device, and is NOT canon.
4. None of the characters fight honorably. Honorable fighting is a subjective term, but in general this refers to fighting without resorting to cheap/dirty tricks. There are quite a few characters who tend to fight honorably: Happosai, Cologne, Herb, Ukyo (unless given good reason), Kuno (he resorts to tricks when he believes he can get away with it), Akane, and a few others.
5. The Jusenkyo-cursed people are psychologically-affected by their transformation. If you mean that they take on the attributes of the cursed form, no. Ryoga, Shampoo, Mousse, Genma, and Taro, despite being animals, retain their human perceptions. Ranma doesn't act any more like a girl in his girl form; it's just he thinks he can get away with 'unmanly' stuff while in girl form, and thus behaves accordingly.
6. The Jusenkyo-cursed characters don't age while cursed. The biggest refute to this theory is this: Happosai bathed baby Taro in the cursed spring, and popped-up as a baby monster. Present day, he's a giant. If that's not aging, then you're deluded. HOWEVER, some curses are age-specific; Lukkosai (an old man) turns into a boy, for example. Ranma got dunked in the spring of young girl (and not woman), so that one is age-specific, too (it's unclear what age marks the cap for young girl, though).
   Furthermore, there are cursed springs that are personality-specific, too (to complicate matters further!). For example, Taro thought he had water from the spring of the good samaritan, and tried to splash it on Happosai to get him to change his name. In the anime, there's the guy cursed to act like a priest, too.
7. The Spring of Drowned Man can cure the Jusenkyo curses. Correction; it is only explicitly stated that it would cure Ranma's curse (stated by Takahashi-san herself), but possibly not the others. It certainly WON'T cure Shampoo's curse, that's for sure.
8. Nabiki has enough money, power, and connections to get what she wants. Well, lets get a few things straight: Nabiki has just about no money (why else would she be so miserly?), and she has no 'connections' of any sorts. She is not a mob boss. She is NOT a Yakuza leader. This illusion springs from the fact that Nabiki is very persuasive and clever when she wants to be. Her 'power' is based off subtle influence and being at the right place at the right time.
9. Nabiki has a soft spot for Kuno. Yes, she does. His money.
10. Nabiki really does care. Yes, about money. Where money is concerned, Nabiki's willing to sell out her own family (the wedding fiasco comes to mind).
11. Nabiki takes care of the family financially. There's no evidence to support this. We know that Nabiki would spend money on herself, but others? Besides, the Tendo property is quite large, and the dojo is known (otherwise, the Dojo Destroyer wouldn't have come), so maybe Soun's got some hidden wealth/stash or something? Oh, forget it; it's a story mystery that can't (and shouldn't) be solved.
12. Cologne is evil. Most people who've seen only her intro story come to this conclusion. She's actually quite helpful-- she did teach Ranma the Hiryu Shoten Ha to beat up Happosai. Her 'evil' behavior springs from her attempts to get Ranma to marry Shampoo; after their last battle Cologne realized that Ranma would rather die than marry Shampoo, and therefore gave up trying to force him. Most of the time Cologne minds her own business, or acts as the resident sage.
13. Cologne is (insert bloated number here)+ years old. Seeing how old she was when she first met Happosai, Cologne couldn't be much more pass 100 years old. Usually the larger numbers she spouts is in reference to 3000 years of Chinese Amazon tradition. In the Anime, she said 300 years, but that's seriously incorrect. Comparatively, Happosai is only in his 100's.
14. Cologne lost to Ranma, so she has to marry him. Pay attention. The fight ended inconclusively, as Cologne threw in the towel before Ranma could finish it. Therefore, NO, she does NOT have to marry Ranma.
15. Cologne is evil. Considering how fanfics portray her, and how many fans only saw her in her entrance story, then considering what she does in the rest of the manga, no. She is NOT evil. The entrance story was the one and ONLY time she tried anything to force Ranma to marry Shampoo; at the end she realized the futility of it and gave up on force. After that, she's just your better-than-average old woman.
16. Kasumi is a ditzy, scatterbrained airhead. Well, she just acts that way; Kasumi is quite perceptive. When Nabiki pretended to love Ranma, Kasumi saw right through her trick. I'm told she borrowed a book about acupuncture from Dr. Tofu, too-- something any idiot can't read. Kasumi's just unusually-optimistic, that's all.
17. Kasumi is an awesome cook. I don't recall any instance where Kasumi cooked something absolutely fabulous; she is, after all, the only one in the Tendo household who is a decent cook (or even willing to cook; Akane's cooking is bad, Nabiki would get someone else to do it for her, Ranma, Soun, and Genma are too lazy to do it).
18. Nodoka is an idiot. Well, she married Genma, but that doesn't quite crack it. As the series progressed, she became increasingly-suspicious of 'Ranko's' true nature, going so far as knocking her on the head with a tea kettle to turn her back into Ranma! She's dying to meet her son, and would love dearly to meet him.
19. Nodoka's idea of a 'man among men.' Think Happosai.
20. Nodoka knows how to use her katana. Actually, when she was ready to senppuku Ranma, she showed some proficiency with it, but not like a master.
21. Mrs. Tendo's name is _____. She never had a name. Any name you hear otherwise was fan-made.
22. Cologne is evil. Shall I explain some more?
23. Happosai can't be REALLY evil. He's evil, evil, evil! By his own admission! He doesn't help others unless they help him first, and only if he likes them. He couldn't give a rat's ass about Ranma after hitting him with a weakness cautery. He helped Hinako just so he could get panties from the nurses.
24. Happosai was handsome while young. Actually, that's what he'd like you to believe; when he was younger he was still the short little troll, just younger. Cologne was the one who was beautiful in her youth, not Happy.
25. Pantyhose Taro is evil. Not completely, but he sure does act that way, having such a bitter time growing-up. He has saved 'damsels in distress' quite a few times, actually; probably the most selfless thing he's ever done and ever will do. He doesn't act like a jerk to people he respects (Akane).
26. Hinako is a ki-vampire! I have no idea where this came from, but she doesn't need to drain ki so much as she enjoys doing it.
27. Akari is too utterly perfect to be real. Well, yeah, she is. Everything about her reeks of convenience. One theory is that she was made especially for Ryoga because Takahashi-san felt sorry for Ryoga, so when you think of her, think of Ryoga's perfect match.
28. The Musk Dynasty throws animals into the Spring of Drowned Girl and marry them. According to Herb, the Musk Dynasty no longer does that practice; instead, when they marry they select a woman from a neighboring village.
29. _____ is gay. The closest characters you could call gay are Tsubasa and Konatsu, but they turned out to be guys in the end. Otherwise, there are no gay characters existing in Ranma 1/2 (unless you want to pass around that stuff you're smokin').
30. Ryu Kumon continuing to use the Yamasenken after his defeat. Considering how much of an honor-freak Ryu is, and the fact that he agreed to seal the deadly art after Ranma defeated him, he'd never use those techniques again (unless, of course, there's a really good reason for it).
31. Konatsu's family name is 'Kenzan.' Konatsu doesn't have a family name; 'kenzan' roughly translates to 'introducing' or 'presenting,' as in 'Presenting Kunoichi Konatsu!'

Submitted by Henry J. Cobb

Akane's mallet as a ki attack. It's comic relief.

The Akaneniichuan causes a psychic link with Akane or will freeze her age.

Curses are matched to the recipient's nature. To an extent, it is.

Akane is a lesbian who lusts after onna-Ranma.

Any teenage martial artist who loses their mother will fall in love with Ranma. Ranma has been chased by a few people who haven't lost their mothers.

Submitted by David Homerick

SHAMPOO HAS REALLY BIG BREASTS. In fact, Shampoo's bra size isn't notably different than that of the other characters. Of course, the late-model anime Shampoo has a larger chest than the original Takahashi version, but this is true of ALL the female characters. I have no idea how Shampoo got nominated for Miss Mammaries.

BLUE MUST FIGHT PURPLE. IS FANBOY WAY. In the manga, Shampoo's hair is BLACK. In the TV series, it's shown as cornflower (blue) with lavender (pale purple-pink) highlights, while by the OVAs it has developed into a plum color. But this is all visual convention, and not meant to be interpreted literally.

FEMALE RANMA INHERITED HER MOTHER'S RED HAIR. The red hair was introduced in the anime as a way for the audience to quickly identify Ranma's male and female forms. His hair does NOT change color in the manga. Since he doesn't have red hair, he couldn't have inherited it from anyone. If you point at color manga pictures featuring Ranma with red hair, I'll show you some where it's yellow, purple, black, and blue....

SHAMPOO TALKS FUNNY BECAUSE SHE'S STUPID. Shampoo has an exaggerated, stereotypical accent, like Jack Dawson's friend in TITANIC. Unfortunately, the translations tend to render this as baby talk. Based on her actions, she isn't much dumber or brighter than the rest of the cast, although her social skills are rather lacking.

Submitted by Ed Simons

1) Ukyou always wears guy's clothing. Ukyou does wear a boy's school uniform in class, but that is the only time she wears male clothing. Her other common outfit, the tunic and tights okonomiyaki seller's outfit, is not male clothing, Ukyou wore it long before she pretended to be a boy.

For school athletics Ukyou wears a girl's gym uniform, as shown in Miss Hinako's intro. At the beach Ukyou wears a girl's one piece swimsuit, as shown in the Aloha Disease storyline. In the Shrine Horse storyline Ukyou wore a traditional shrine maiden's outfit. For casual wear around the house Ukyou wears a woman's kimono as seen in the Gambler King, Secret Sauce, Konatsu's intro, and Ukyou's Illness storylines. And for Ranma and Akane's wedding Ukyou wore a formal traditional woman's kimono.

2) Mr. Kuonji's name is ______. Like Mrs. Tendo, Mr. Kuonji's name is never given in the manga.

3) Ukyou is helpless without weapons. During Konatsu's Intro, Ukyou dodges one flight of shuriken and deflects a second with a washbucket and a towel, all while dressed in a kimono and wooden sandals, even though she's outnumbered two to one.

4) Shampoo is the best female martial artist in the series. No, Cologne is the best female martial artist in the series.

5) Ok, Shampoo is the second best female martial artist in the series. Well, she has beaten Akane, Pink and Link. Shampoo's one battle with Ukyou during the Hot Springs Race ended inconclusively. Shampoo lost badly against Miss Hinako. Shampoo hasn't fought the other female members of the cast, though the length of their respective battles against Ranma implies Shampoo is not as skilled as Kodachi, Mariko, Rouge, or Ukyou.

6) The Anything Goes School of Martial Arts does not use weapons. Actually, every member of the Anything Goes School uses weapons. Some of them are very nonstandard weapons, but so are spatulas.
Akane favors improvised weapons like stone lanterns and kitchen tables, but she can pull a bokken from nowhere and used it in a Kendo duel against Kuno during the Martial Arts Cheerleading storyline.
Soun can pull a naginata from nowhere.
The Umi-sen techniques created by Genma and used by Ryuu Kumon include binding an opponent with a rope.
Genma is shown teaching staff fighting to Ranma. Color artwork shows several pictures of Ranma wielding a staff, or more rarely a sword or nunchaku. Ranma uses some rather nonstandard weapons in the Martial Arts Gymnastics, Tea Ceremony, and Cheerleading storylines, but they were weapons. In the Phoenix Mountain storyline, Ranma uses improvised weapons to counter Kiima's 1000 Wings of the Seabird attack. He later uses both the magical Kinjakan and Gekkaja staves as weapons against Saffron.
Happosai, the oldest known practitioner of Anything Goes uses explosives, a technique he calls the Happou Dai Karin.
Even Hinako normally uses coins as focus for her chi techniques.

7) Ranma thinks of Ukyou as a guy. Not since he accidently copped a feel towards the end of her origin story. Ranma went on a date with Ukyou shortly afterwards and again during the Nabiki as Fiancee storyline. In the Secret Sauce storyline, Ranma's reactions to a fully dressed Ukyou in the bathroom and his bedroom prove he knows she's a girl. Ranma went out of his way to make sure Ukyou still loved him in the Reversal Jewel storyline.

8) Soun and Genma are close friends. They only refer to each other by their family names of Saotome and Tendo, not exactly a sign of close friendship.

9) The promise Soun and Genma made requires that Ranma marry Akane. The promise requires a member of the Saotome family marry a member of the Tendo family. Nabiki briefly becomes Ranma's fiancee in Volume 17. When Ranma was trapped in his cursed form, Soun encouraged Ranma to find a cure because otherwise Soun would have to marry Ranma.

10) Nodoka favors Ranma's engagement to Akane over his engagement to any of the other girls. Nodoka does want Ranma to marry Akane, but she doesn't know her son has two other fiancees. If Nodoka ever finds out she might decide that Ukyou or Shampoo have a better claim.

11) Mousse would do anything to get Shampoo. In the Phoenix Mountain Storyline, Shampoo comes under the influence of a magic that will make her the willing slave of the next person she sees. Mousse holds up a mirror so Shampoo sees herself, rather than using the magic to his advantage.

12) Since Ranma chose okonomiyaki over Ukyou as a child, he rejected his engagement to her and she is not his fiancee. We have only Genma's word that Ranma ever said that and Genma is not the most truthful person. Ranma does not recall the event at all. Even if this event occurred, Genma accepted the dowry. When Ukyou found Ranma as a teen, Genma freely and publicly stated that Ukyou was Ranma's fiancee. Ranma also publicly acknowledged that Ukyou was his fiancee.

13) Since Ukyou lost the family okonomiyaki cart to the Gambler King, it could not be used as dowry and she is not Ranma's fiancee. The Gambler King's claim to the cart is based on fraud committed against a child too young to sign any legal document. Besides, the cart belonged to Ukyou's father, not Ukyou, and he arranged the marriage contract.

14) Ranma is a Japanese citizen so the Amazon Laws do not apply to him and Shampoo is not his fiancee. Just because the laws of the Amazon tribe are different than the laws of Japan, does not mean they are not valid laws. Even though Ranma is a foreigner, those laws can still be enforced if he returns to an area controlled by the Amazons. The Amazons could even petition the Japanese government to have Ranma extradited to their lands.

15) Akane has the best legal claim to Ranma as a fiance. Akane has the largest number of people supporting her claim and the most vocal supporters, but that is irrelevant. Several things reduce the validity of Akane's claim.
Soun Tendo arranged a marriage between Picollete Chardin and one of his daughters, yet it is obvious he never intended to keep that agreement. Genma arranged a marriage between Ranma and Ukyou, yet it is obvious he never intended to keep that agreement. A verbal agreement between two men who have lied when making similar arranged marriages rests on very shaky ground.
Akane has publicly repudiated the engagement, most noticeably when she transferred it to Nabiki in Volume 17.
When Nabiki was Ranma's fiancee she offered Ranma to Ukyou for 6000 yen. Ukyou eagerly accepted the deal and Nabiki stated that Ukyou could do what she wanted with Ranma. Kodachi immediately offered more money, but Nabiki had already publicly accepted Ukyou's offer.
The agreement between Genma and Mr. Kuonji specified that Ranma would marry Ukyou. The agreement between Genma and Soun merely specified that a member of the Saotome family would marry a member of the Tendo family. Neither Ranma or Akane was specifically mentioned. The agreement can be fulfilled without the involvement of either and without violating the agreement between Genma and Mr. Kuonji.

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