It's all Kimada's fault.

You see, he decided to roleplay Tarou in my online roleplay, and since I knew virtually nothing about Tarou, I decided to read the translated manga Tarou was in at The New Ranma 1/2 Project...and...poof! I'm in love.

So is born a Pantyhose Tarou fan.

All right, so...on with the show now, Froggy, right? I've decided to dedicate a small portion of The Pond to my dear Pantyhose Tarou.

These are the basic stats of Pantyhose Tarou, from what I can see. I'm not sure if there even ARE official stats for him, so I'm just guessing from how he looks and acts in the manga I read.

Here goes...

Name: Pantyhose Tarou
Gender: Male
Height: Around 5'9
Hair Color: Black, although in some pics from the animé it looks dark reddish brown
Eye color: Blue-Purple
Age: I guess 17, he seems to be a little older than Ranma and Co.
Nationality: Chinese
Born In: China, at the Cursed Springs of Jusenkyo
Fighting Style: Defensive, usually ducks blows, allowing his opponent to hurt him or herself. Tarou strikes when he sees an opening.
Fighting Skill: About equal to Ranma, although he can beat Happosai in his cursed form.
Reason for Coming to Japan: He was searching for Happosai to get his name changed. (More explanation on this below.)
Personality: Has a high opinion of himself, tends to be contemptuous, although he's highly self-conscious and unsure of himself in certain situations (for example, dealing with girls) because of his name. He's self-sufficient to an extreme, and enjoys having power.
Appearance: Bangs that hang in his eyes; his hair is dark and wavy, and he has twin strands of longer curly hair that hang in front of his ears. He wears a vest and bracers of a purple-scaled leather (general opinion is that it's dragon scale), long, loose white trousers, Chinese slippers and a sash made of a pair of pantyhose. He also has two earrings, one in each ear. ^.^
Quirks: Hates being called by his name (prefers 'Tarou') and also nearly never calls others by their real names, usually referring to them by some trait, or, if they're Jusenkyo cursed, he refers to their other form. For example, he calls Ranma 'fem-boy', Ryoga 'pig-boy' and Shampoo 'cat-girl'.
History: Tarou appeared in Volume 18 for the first time (he makes other appearances in volumes 23 and 32, I believe). He wasn't seen at first, but had a register of all those cursed in Jusenkyo and went around beating up cursed males in Nerima and leaving them tied up with pantyhose. He fought Ranma several times, but the battles were never completed, so we never get to see who's stronger. ^.~
Tarou's goal in life is to get his name changed. When Tarou was born, Happosai happened to be passing by, and helped Tarou's mother. When finished, Happosai took Tarou and bathed him, which, by Tarou's village rules, gave Happosai the right to name him. And name Tarou he did! It took him three days, but he finally settled on Pantyhose. By those same village rules, Happosai is the only one who can change Tarou's name, and this is why he comes to Nerima - to convince Happosai to change his name to something more masculine.
When Happosai bathed Tarou that first time, it happened to be in a Cursed Spring at Jusenkyo. The spring was Spring of Drowned Yeti-Riding-Bull-Carrying-Crane-and-Eeel, so Tarou's cursed form is huge and very formidable in battle. Tarou likes the power his cursed form gives him, and added octopus tentacles to himself with water from that Jusenkyo spring after he encountered Ranma the first time.

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Ahhh....psychoanalysis of animé characters - one of my favorite pastimes. Now, it's Tarou's turn.

This psychoanalysis is basically going to be Froggy sitting down and trying to figure out why Tarou does what he does and acts the way he acts, so expect a lot of weirdness...I had a 'B' in Psych 11 and I know how to use it! However, this section might be useful if you want to understand my fanfiction (when I finally get it finished and posted, that is).

Tarou is a wierd mix of conceit and inferiority complex. Outwardly, he's very self-sufficient, strong and emotionally unaffected (except, of course, for his temper). Because of this, a lot of people on the 'Net paint him as a monster in their fanfiction or websites. Personally, I don't think he's even half as mean as he pretends to be.

I think Tarou acts the way he does because of his name. He has probably been teased about it whenever he was around other people (aka. most of his life), and most people probably don't look past the name when they judge him. Because his name gives him an automatic disadvantage, he probably feels he has to be strong in order to prove he's not what his name insinuates - a wimp. ( "I'm not crying, if that's what you think!!" - Tarou - The New Ranma 1/2 Project) But the front seems to be fake. Tarou isn't cruel or unfeeling, which is proved several times in the manga.

For example, walking in the forest one day, Tarou saw a girl being chased by a wild animal. Instead of standing back and watching her get hurt, he beat up the animal and rescued her. Not only that, but he proclaimed later that it was "Love at first sight". He liked the girl a lot and thought she was cute, but was too ashamed to tell her his name. In order to avoid the rejection he was sure he would get from her, he fled before she could press him for his name. Sad, ne? Especially since this situation happened several days in a row with different girls.

So, I think Tarou is essentially a cleverly disguised nice person. He does do some mean things, like beating people up and kidnapping Akane, but when you think about it, even Ranma, hero of the series and undisputed good guy, does things that aren't much nicer, like beating up Kuno and calling Akane names.

That's why I like Tarou so darn much.

Oh, yeah, if you have any questions about this, or any comments (although please avoid flaming me, I'm pyrophobic), please send them to the e-mail address listed at the bottom of this webpage.

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First off...many many thanks to Bobbin for letting me use the images I got from her not-dead-anymore Pantyhose Tarou shrine. (In the Links section)

Now, onto the pictures! No Tarou site would be complete without pictures of the man...especially since he's so darn good-lookin'. Here are some pictures I got from Bobbin's site, as well as other sites around the 'Net. If there's a picture here that comes from your site, and you don't want to share, just send me an e-mail at the address listed at the bottom of this page and I guess I'll have to remove it.

Manga Images

Tarou picking on Ranma...

Tarou, tied with his own pantyhose...

Tarou's reaction to being told his name won't be changed...

A very happy Tarou, he's too incredibly cute in this one, it's my favorite!

Oooh...did I say I liked that last one best? This one's pretty nice too. Tarou in the bathouse.

Ranma, defacing Tarou while he's unconscious. The nerve!

Tarou as an infant. Being held by mommy, of course...kawaii...

Tarou being pretty.

Showdown between Tarou and Ranma-kun.

Tarou looking surprised.

The 'Hose giving Ranma a little piece of his mind.

And the mysterious stranger is revealed.

In a cave, Tarou drags along the captive Akane, while holding a torch.

Tarou and the Nerima Crew looking surprised - Shampoo, Akane and Ranma-chan.

Monster to man - Tarou drops a pot of hot water.

While Ranma-kun looks crabby, Tarou looks like an evil bishonen in the background.

Tarou, looking evil

Someone hurt Tarou!

Animé Images

Gorgeous picture of Tarou. It actually makes a nice desktop in a pinch...

Tarou's face, close up.

The boy, wearing his robe.

Man and monster - Tarou and his cursed form. Gigantic picture.

Well, that's all I have for now. I'll try to get my rear in gear and put up more if I have time...hope you enjoyed!

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Fanfictions

Sorry, this spot is still under construction. It's mostly because I haven't finished my Tarou fanfic yet (I only became a fan recently) and partly because I just started this page today.

Anyway, this section will eventually contain fanfictions written by me, or by others, that are mainly about Tarou, or in which Tarou is a main character. If I have any fics by others, they'll most likely be ones that I found and asked for. But if YOU have a good Tarou fic that could be rated PG at the least, send it to the e-mail address listed at the bottom of this page and I'll consider it.

Thanks for your patience!

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Miscellaneous

I found this on www.aaanime.net. It's a sort of funky writeup that was posted over a mailing list, I believe...it's the marriage prospects for Tarou. Check that page out after you're done here, it's got marriage prospects and write-ups on most of the main characters of Ranma Nibun no Ichi. All in all, a pretty cool site.

This was written by Rick Hall, although I edited it a little to suit the ratings of my page. I didn't change words, I just cut some stuff out of it...sorry.

Pansuto Tarou

Looks: Tall (tall as/taller than Ranma) and bishounen. Or taller still (thirty feet or more) and very hairy.
Smarts: Very intelligent. His usual smarts falter where his name is concerned, but otherwhise, is quite intelligent and adaptable.
Personality: Intense, hard-edged, 'Don't Mess With Me' attitude.
Cooking: Tarou has lived on his own for some time now and has been shown to be able to at least prepare edible chicken.
Fighting Skills: Possibly the fastest person in his age group (Mint, Happousai and Cologne outdo him, but are all older/younger than him by at least 5 years), very intelligent, as tough as Ranma. Alternately, the strongest thing in the manga, period, the second-fastest flyer, and also the toughest.
Special Abilities: Capable of turning into a huge monster at will with cold water; can produce a dragonscale bracer/vest whenever doused with hot water.
Competition: Two known girls, Fafa and Saffron from China, with an uncounted set of others. They don't know his name, but could identify him on sight. In Nerima, it is believed that Ukyou Kuonji, Akari Unryuu and Nabiki Tendo are all potential matches for him.
In-Laws: His mother, who STRONGLY resembles Akane Tendo.
Economics: If nothing else, possibly the greatest moneymaker in the world from freakshows alone. He can apply himself to a variety of jobs - demolition, high-speed air freight, a war...
Overall: Got a thing for...the terminally bishounen, go for it. Just wait for him to beat a new title out of Happousai and you'll be sitting pretty.
Written by: Rick Hall

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Link to Me

If you'd like to link to Feh! please save the image below and use it as a button to link to the URL: https://www.angelfire.com/mi2/thepond/feh.html

Other Tarou Pages

Don't Call Me That! ~ Bobbin's Tarou site, the source of most of my pictures. This is a great site, and includes the Lovers of Pantyhose Tarou Unite! members page, profile, and fanart.

Fem-Boy's Page ~ Contains links to fanfiction!

International House of Pantyhose Tarou ~ Contains pictures and info on voice actors.

I'll try to get some more, as I find them!

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Updates to Feh!

Hey, I added a links section today, and my badge at the bottom. Member of Lovers of Pantyhose Tarou Unite! Check it out!

August 6, 2001
Looooong time between updates, huh? Anyway, all I did today was put Feh! back up after a long absence and add a linking button. If you want to link to Feh! you can use the button in the linking section. ^.^ Toodles!

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