Temple of Ranma's Sailor Senshi Seifuku

I remember an argument about this subject some odd years ago. I figured I could get a better idea of what people think about it this way, rather than just arguing. Why would I need to know? Oh, just curious... It's not like I have an ulterior motive or anything.

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When the Nekoken is first revealed, the 'straw that broke the camel's back' was a tiger. He'd managed to hold on, barely, until then. We might argue that anyone would be afraid of a loose tiger, but I think Takahashi's intent was that it was a big CAT that sent him into the Nekoken.

But it's not the tiger he was paying attention to when he finally snapped, but the cats on and around him. He only focuses on the tiger once he's in the neko-ken state of mind, since the cats are no longer a "threat" as a result. Besides which, it's been made clear that Ranma doesn't need a large feline to push him into the neko-ken, and if that were the case then the tiger would have done so immediately; but it didn't, and despite the tiger being right in front of him it's the cats we see him looking at (when he's not staring into space).

There's also the fact that he got on a tiger without reacting adversely to it in any way.

Also, I'd point out that his fear is only clearly illustrated with felines that look and sound like domesticated house cats. Tigers and lions do not look or sound like them.

Oh, you're right. Why did I think it was the tiger that did it? Akane reacted to the tiger more than Ranma did; he barely seemed to notice it except when it roared, and even then it was just his hair standing on end and that could be just from the volume.*

And looking at it, doesn't it seem that it's the combination of cats and no way out that really breaks his control? He's backed into the corner by a tiger, a corner filled with cats just a scared as he is. He seemed to be holding on, kind of, until that point.



*I really need to go back and reread the series. I haven't done a straight reread in almost 10 years.

Come to think of it, a lot of my stuff is closer to two decades old rather than one.

Hm? I don't remember that being the case with the ghost cat...

Uldihaa wrote:Oh, you're right. Why did I think it was the tiger that did it? Akane reacted to the tiger more than Ranma did; he barely seemed to notice it except when it roared, and even then it was just his hair standing on end and that could be just from the volume.*

And looking at it, doesn't it seem that it's the combination of cats and no way out that really breaks his control? He's backed into the corner by a tiger, a corner filled with cats just a scared as he is. He seemed to be holding on, kind of, until that point.



*I really need to go back and reread the series. I haven't done a straight reread in almost 10 years.

Come to think of it, a lot of my stuff is closer to two decades old rather than one.

That's... a long time. ^^;

The anime's a bit more complicated than the manga, though. While one could say that the tiger pushed him over the edge (and that does seem to be the case), I wouldn't say that it was due to ailurophobia. He had even asked a perfectly sane question to the tiger before snapping. But tiger's are dangerous carnivores to begin with, and the cats were severely incapacitating his ability to defend himself and the others, so it's no surprise that the fear of actual serious injury or death didn't push him into a state where he could deal with it. That's my take on the anime version of it, anyway.

Crescent Pulsar R wrote:That's... a long time. ^^;

Yes, I KNOW! I'm looking at the top shelf of my anime collection: Rahxephon wasn't THAT long ago, right? Wrong, 2001. Gasaraki is older. Gundam SEED is 2002. Full Metal Panic is 2002. Escaflowne is 1996. Evangelion, 1995. I've got ADV's first DVD-only release, Princess Nine at 2001.

I'm old.


But not too old to no longer enjoy anime though.

Big cats really do not seem to bother the manga version of Ranma, besides riding one with Shampoo in one arc in another arc, weavers festival, he has a tiger literally chewing on his head that he pays no attention to. Similarly cat statues, pictures, televised cats (he watches a cartoon about a robotic cat at Miss Hinako's), also do not bother him and he has no trouble saying cat (doesn't stutter).

I'd forgotten about that part of the Tanabata story. That's a rather conclusive example.

I wonder if anyone else finds it annoying when (in fan-fiction) Ranma can't even say the word "cat." And it turns out to be something like this: "c... c... c... them things."