Why I Like Akane and Ranma

[Tinkerbell]

This is mostly about the manga versions.

(1)Manga Akane is cute, smart and kind, and is actually a very forgiving person when her friends are involved - once she gets over her fit of temper, that is.

(2)Manga Ranma is handsome, strong and has a heart of gold, and manages to win and thrive against whatever life throws against him - even though he does have a streak of idiocy and jerkishness a mile wide, and it shows, sometimes.

(3)As a couple - From Ranma's side, people who could get along with him without cramping his style are few and far between, and Akane seems to be one of the few, IMO. (And no, Akane putting him into LEO occasionally does not seem to cramp his style at all.)
From Akane's side - Well, she is shown in the manga to be both willing and able to stick with him, no matter what kind of trouble his trouble-magnet-ness keeps drawing to him.

So, what do other people think about this?

[LadyRelena]

What you have just described is extremely vague and doesn't really say anything that makes them any different or better then any other character. The same descriptions can be said for Ukyo and Ryouga. Maybe even more so for Ukyo since she's the nicest and most forgiving out of all the fiancees. Ryouga is also seen as being strong with a heart of gold: proven in The Ryugenzawa arc, some of the Herb arc, and the Saffron arc.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

I'm not going to get involved in this impending argument, but I will say this. Akane is no worse, in either canon, then any of her rivals. However, nor is she any better then them. With the exception of using love magic, there is nothing they have done to Ranma that she hasn't done to Ranma.

[AdmiralTigerclaw]

I'll bite, for discussion's sake.

From what I've seen/remember, it's Akane who likes him for who he is over anything. Out of the cast of women, she's the only one who Ranma lets his guard down around. Even Ukyo at best gets the Best Buddy front.

Shampoo sees him as a top peice of breeding stock. She's easy to nix.
Kodachi, well... Infatuation and romantacism gone off the deep end if her introduction story arc is any evidence. Ranma's a knight in shining armor.
Ukyo's motivation is hardest to pin down, but after some thinking, it's Business to her. If it weren't for the initial arrangement and the stolen cart, she'd probably be okay with being Ranma's buddy.


Akane, on the other hand, actually REJECTED the idea of being Ranma's Fiance. Didn't help with that rough start the Curse gave them, but out of all the possible pairs here. She's the only one ranma is comfortable around most of the time. She doesn't dote on him smootheringly, she doesn't try to drag him off to be breeding stock and second class citizen, and she doesn't see marrying him as some kind of business arrangement. (Even if her engagement to him IS a business arrangement.)
She just beats on him. But that's stapstick for you.
Once she's done fuming at his 'jerk' attitude, she knows he's the one who keeps his word and likes to set a better example than his father with his chivilrous attitude.

Out of possible pairings, they're the mutual pairing that respects each other's emotional boundaries. (Sans hiccups for Drama's sake.) While not ideal, it is a comfortable arrangement. They bicker like siblings, but that actually shows their personal emotional guards are down and the typical Politeness Gloves are off.

Personally, while I could see another arrangement working, it would be superfluous and artificial as sticking to it would actually be out of character for Ranma. In short, it would be an act. As such, it would take a well written story to drive such a setup home.

[LawOhki]

I'll bite, for discussion's sake.

From what I've seen/remember, it's Akane who likes him for who he is over anything. Out of the cast of women, she's the only one who Ranma lets his guard down around. Even Ukyo at best gets the Best Buddy front.

Akane has just as selfish reasons to like Ranma as the others, and she's used Ranma's tolerance against him. Battle Dogi arc for instance, had her threaten to hate him forever if he actually hit her to remove the suit. Or during the final chapter where she attempted to blackmailing him into doing as she said or else he wouldn't be cured.

Akane likes Ranma, but for the most part because he likes her. When something comes up that makes her think that he's not doing that, she freaks out everytime without fail.

Shampoo sees him as a top peice of breeding stock. She's easy to nix.

Pure fanon, Shampoo cares for Ranma very much, and is even willing to violate a magically induced command from Kiima to save his life, and failing that was willing to die with him. There's also when she first found out about the curse (likey realizing that Ranma was openly lying to her), she ran off in tears, vowing to leave forever.

Kodachi, well... Infatuation and romantacism gone off the deep end if her introduction story arc is any evidence. Ranma's a knight in shining armor.

Same with Akane, such as when she switched the engagement to Nabiki, Akane was angry that Ranma had chosen to save someone who needed saving rather than her.

Ukyo's motivation is hardest to pin down, but after some thinking, it's Business to her. If it weren't for the initial arrangement and the stolen cart, she'd probably be okay with being Ranma's buddy.

Based off of what?

Akane, on the other hand, actually REJECTED the idea of being Ranma's Fiance. Didn't help with that rough start the Curse gave them, but out of all the possible pairs here. She's the only one ranma is comfortable around most of the time. She doesn't dote on him smootheringly,

This is because Akane and Ranma are friends, their problems arise when the engagement come up. As evidenced by how they are often shown simply hanging out.

she doesn't try to drag him off to be breeding stock and second class citizen,

Pure fanon, there is 0 proof that Joketsuzoku males are second class citizens, in fact Mousse gets away with pretty much whatever he wants, he's well educated, well trained, and attempts to force Shampoo to be his bride. Breeding stock as well, speculation based on the mistranslation of the name into "Amazons".

[Mark Davis]

My take is:

A) Rumiko Takahashi always intended Ranma and Akane to be a couple, and she wrote the story that way. For all their faults, there are multiple hints about how much they come to like each other very much (if not actual love), and multiple hints that Ranma is not actually in love with any of the others. People who try to prove that any other matchup is the better one based on what's in the manga are at least partially deluding themselves. You can say, "If Ranma broke up with Akane and hooked up with (insert name), he'd be much better off," but you can't say, "It's obvious based on the manga that Ranma really loves (insert name) more."

B) They're 16. People change a lot between 16 and, say, 24. People really over-analyze the personalities of ALL the characters involved, forgetting that things can change dramatically as they grow up. Just because Ranma and Akane like each other when they're 16 does not mean they will want anything to do with each other when they're 17. Their personality faults will likely get smoothed over as they grow older -- or maybe will become dominate personality traits. Anything's possible. It's reasonable to assume that both Ranma and Akane will become less socially awkward, that Ranma will learn to be less of a jerk, that Akane will learn to control her temper and will learn to cook (at least passably). But it's just as easy to imagine how Ranma or Akane might wind up marrying someone completely different.