General Questions mk 2

[Weebee]

No problem. I understand. There are a lot of people who somehow get the impression that Ranma destroyed saffron with his MAD MARTIAL ARTS SKILLZ, when there were a whole load of contributing factors.

All I was trying to say was that it's possible that cologne, for example, wouldn't have been able to take the physical punishment Ranma did in that battle and would have kicked the bucket.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

Just some questions about Ukyo's first "suitor", Tsubasa Kurenai.
First up: does anyone else find his introductory story confusing as hell?

Secondly, the wikipedia article on him mentions that he makes cameos in the Christmas Scramble OAV and the first movie- can anyone tell me where he shows up in these two?
On a related topic, does he ever appear in the manga after his first story?

Thirdly, the wikipedia article states that, after his first appearance in the anime, all of the other main characters develop an instant dislike of him. Does this have any basis in fact?


Now, onto another character; Tatewaki "blue blunder" Kuno.
First of all, just how crazy is this loon anyway?

Secondly, why does he seem to be unable to grasp the fact of Ranma's curse? I'd ask about how he can delude himself that Akane Tendo and "the pigtailed girl" love him, but it's pretty easy to chalk that up to his immense ego. Why he sees no problem with chasing two girls at once though escapes me, other than perhaps the line about him being Furinkan High's greatest pervert holds truth...

Third, why on earth was that stupid speech he made prior to the series, despite the fact it was given as part of a speech contest and thus it technically wasn't a proper declaration, just a way to showcase his public speaking ability, treated as gospel by the 'hentai horde'? Beyond the fact the author thought it was funny, naturally.


Finally, some more general questions.
Firstly, what skills does Ranma know besides martial arts and how good is he at them?

Secondly, while Ranma's a better cook than Akane (not that that's hard), just how good is he? In the opening part of the Bakusai Tenketsu story (the anime version at least), Genma answers Ranma's question about why he brought Akane along by telling Ranma that his (Ranma's) cooking is bad.

Third, Akane knows that her cooking is terrible- does she always react to others (or at least Ranma) commenting on this fact in a violent/aggressive/self-defensive manner?

[Weebee]

Tsubasa appears in the christmas episode, i THINK, in the poker game. He also probably appears in the crowd scene.

In the first movie, EVERY character in the series that'd been animated so far, or damned near every one anyways, appears in the first chase scene, before and during the opening credits.

Everyone hating Tsubaza isn't exactly true. He's annoying, and Ranma has a healthy dislike for him, as well as Ukyo. In the miss beach side ep, the ghost cat falls madly in love with him as a matter of fact, and Mousse doesn't seem to care one way or the other.

Also, it's quite correct. Unles he appears in crowd scenes or in little one frame camios that I wouldn't have noticed, Tsubaza only appears once in the Manga.

Kuno.

First, he's pretty nuts, but not quite as nuts as his father. He's about ten times as arogent as Ranma, if that's possible. LOL, and part of his insanity is tied in to not knowing about Ranma's curse. He's SEEN IT HAPPEN several times, and on some level he seems to know about it. Seeing two pigtailed girls, and I THINK the pigtailed girl and Ranma in the mirror copy arc of the Manga did strike him as 'wrong,' which could mean that he knows on some level but refuses to beleive that he could possibly be in love with a man.

as for the speech contest and everyone beleiving him, I think that was a matter of him writing it for the contest and then, in his Infinite Wisdom, deciding that it was a good idea. Also, remember that he was the best martial artist in the school at the time, and that meant that his decree was almost like law. So anyone who wanted to date Akane had to beat her... I guess a lot of people wanted to date akane!

Ranma's skills.

It's eluded to that he knows a LOT of strange stuff due to martial arts challanges. He's also a good cook, if not quite at Kasumi's level. Because of his martial arts he's a good all round athlete, and if you take a leap based on all those disguises he pulls outta nowhere, he could be good at making cloths.

as for Genma's comment, it's directly countered by demonstrations seen in the later Manga and Anime. If you want examples, and u only got the Anime, watch 'I'll be the one to enherret Mother's recepies!' or whatever it's called. Nodoka seems to quite like Ranko's cooking, even if she thinks she shows off a bit much. Another example, though I loath using this episode because it plays Ranma so OOC, is the anime episode 'Am I pretty?' in which Ranma makes food that Genma mistakes for Kasumi's. While the bang on the head scrambled Ranma's mind, it's doubtful that it could suddenly increase his cooking skill, as other skills, like his martial arts, seemed unchanged.

I'd say Genma was just throwing insults as per usual.

Third question... Yes, she definately does. She knows it is bad, but for some reason, every time she desperately hopes it's gotten better and feels bad that they won't trust, or hope, that it has as well. Akane's also very insecure about her ability in that area along with most areas of traditionally feminine work. Just remember her attempts at putting embroidery on Happosai's gi...

Having said that, her heart is genuinely in the right place. When she tastes the food afterward most of the time she admits it's awful. She's just always hopeful that it'll be better next time, and doesn't seem to get the idea of testing it on herself before getting others to try it.

[FriendlyEL]

First up: does anyone else find his introductory story confusing as hell?

Somewhat, but I've seen worse.

Secondly, the wikipedia article on him mentions that he makes cameos in the Christmas Scramble OAV and the first movie- can anyone tell me where he shows up in these two?

There's a random (two second) scene of him popping out of the christmas tree at the party, then you never see him again in the Christmas OAV. In the first movie part of the beginning credits with Ranma chasing Happosai and Akane chasing Ranma, and as they run across the street there's a whole bunch of his enemies in the town that see him and join in the chase. Tsubasa's one of them.

On a related topic, does he ever appear in the manga after his first story?

No.

Thirdly, the wikipedia article states that, after his first appearance in the anime, all of the other main characters develop an instant dislike of him. Does this have any basis in fact?

Ranma is the only one I think really dislikes him, but Ukyo for obvious reasons would be a close second, but she still slightly tolerates him. Akane doesn't seem to mind him, Genma and Soun don't particularly, and in one of the seasons later (the Miss Beachside Contest) the Ghost Cat sees him and chases him down, falling instantly in love.

A funny quote from that scene.

Ghost cat: Oh Tsubasa, be meiy bride! (something like that)

Tsubasa: You jerk! Don't you get it?! I'M A GUY!!!

Ghost cat: No one's perfect.

First of all, just how crazy is this loon anyway?

Kuno is delusional and is in his dream world. Really that's about the length of it. He sees himself as some sort of feudal lord. Plus, the way he keeps spouting everything as a poem makes him kind of weird.

Secondly, why does he seem to be unable to grasp the fact of Ranma's curse? I'd ask about how he can delude himself that Akane Tendo and "the pigtailed girl" love him, but it's pretty easy to chalk that up to his immense ego. Why he sees no problem with chasing two girls at once though escapes me, other than perhaps the line about him being Furinkan High's greatest pervert holds truth...

Nabiki poured water on Ranma and he suddenly saw his beloved in his place, which is the only explanation he got. Is Ranma using vile sorcery really any more bizarre than him having a curse that changes him into a girl?

Third, why on earth was that stupid speech he made prior to the series, despite the fact it was given as part of a speech contest and thus it technically wasn't a proper declaration, just a way to showcase his public speaking ability, treated as gospel by the 'hentai horde'? Beyond the fact the author thought it was funny, naturally.

I guess as it already was he had a horde of students following him beforehand, and whether it was formal or not really didn't matter.

Finally, some more general questions.
Firstly, what skills does Ranma know besides martial arts and how good is he at them?

Swimming - Good enough to swim a few hundered miles (from Japan to China)
Cooking - Adequate, but not great. As you mentioned Genma apparantly didn't like Ranma's cooking.
Sewing - Good enough to sew up a decent cloth to wear over him (before his first fight with Mousse)

Like I said, I don't think it was ever implied just how good he was at cooking, so I won't comment there.

Third, Akane knows that her cooking is terrible- does she always react to others (or at least Ranma) commenting on this fact in a violent/aggressive/self-defensive manner?

When Happosai not only cried about how horrible her cookies were that she made in home ec, but doing so after yanking them right out of her hand, she pouted and asked "what do you know about my cookies". So my opinion is she probably would.

I think it depends on her opinion of the person who commented on it. When Ryoga complained about how horrible the rice balls she made were, she apologized quickly.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

In the anime, Happosai seems to have something of a soft spot for kids. In the Bathhouse Battle story, he quickly gets a small crowd of kids who want to join him in playing with his bath toys, and he treats them with considerable friendliness. In the episode where he falls for a kindergarten teacher and tries to reform himself for her, he also spends a lot of time playing with the kids. Does he have a similar trait in the manga?

This question could technically be put into fic research, but it's so small a question that I thought I may as well slip it in here. It seems that, in the Ranmaverse, sufficiently skilled martial artists can even use their auras as physical extensions of themselves- if I recall right, in the manga version of Pantyhose Taro's introduction, giant-Happy and Taro go head to head for a while, and in the anime, after Ranma shrugs off Happosai's paralyzing aura attack in their first battle, the old letch gathers up his energy and sends it flying towards Ranma in a vaguely serpentine shape, ripping a gouge in the concrete as it goes. My question is this: given this, would it be possible for a sufficiently skilled/desperate martial artist to come up with a sort of "big bang" aura attack? Basically, concentrating their aura within themselves, then forcefully "pushing" it out in all directions, rendering them the epicenter of an explosive burst of pure force?

If yes, what sort of purpose might such an attack serve?

In either canon, Ranma tends to be more reactive when it comes to special techniques- ie, he doesn't go out and deliberately devise new special techniques for himself, he comes up with them (or modifications of existing ones) when he gets pressed by a new challenger. This is something I just started wondering: if he decided to truly become Cologne's student, given that she's the one who taught him two of his three "base" special techniques (the Amaguriken and Hiryu Shoten Ha, he learned the Moko Takabisha to counter Ryoga's Shi Shi Hokodan), would he be likely to learn more special techniques, either by her 'encouraging' him to see what he can devise or by her passing down techniques she already knows?

On a similar topic, a hypothetical situation. Say we have the "trousers of time" (to quote Pratchett) diverge at the final battle for the phoenix pill; in one leg, Ranma won, in the other, she lost. In the one she lost, she would have married Shampoo and thus been taken as Cologne's official student. Now, say time passes in both legs at the same rate, and that the legs somehow "conjoin" at some point post series (manga or anime, your choice), so you basically have two Ranmas come face to face with each other. Which one is likely to know more special techniques? And which one is likely to be stronger?

[mondu_the_fat]

In the anime, Happosai seems to have something of a soft spot for kids. In the Bathhouse Battle story, he quickly gets a small crowd of kids who want to join him in playing with his bath toys, and he treats them with considerable friendliness. In the episode where he falls for a kindergarten teacher and tries to reform himself for her, he also spends a lot of time playing with the kids. Does he have a similar trait in the manga?

Soft spot for kids, yes, but its pretty twisted, IMO. In the manga there was a story where a couple of kids thought he was santa claus. Unfortunately he tried to teach the kids how to steal underwear, generally trying to make the children more like him. I don't remember Hinako in the anime, but he does this to Hinako as a child when she was younger, too. The Butterfly Brocade arc in the manga shows Happosai having a tender spot for "Lucky" (whom he thought was a child). Again, he tries to mold Lucky into a miniature version of himself.

Nothing in the manga comes close the the kindergarten teacher story in the anime. Of all stories regarding Happosai (anime or manga), this probably is the only one I like.

[Necavit]

Ya know about the whole Kuno and the pigtailed girl.

Ill admit that Kuno isnt really in tune with reality but...

Wouldnt you be slightly confused if one second this girl is violent towards you and than the next practicaly all over you?

Ranma is constantly becoming the pigtailed girl to get what he wants from Kuno.

Wishing sword arc, Phoniex pill, Martials arts takeout race ect

So mabye theres just a bit of justification to his deleusion.

[Weebee]

While there is, i'll agree, a bit of justification there, it's not a terribly large amount.

Notice that Ranma starts using the 'pigtailed girl' trick AFTER it's made blindingly obvious that Kuno doesn't get the curse.

Ranma's shameless when it comes to using whatever he, or in this case she, can in order to get what she wants or needs, so long as it doesn't hurt anyone.

Also... When did Ranma use the pigtailed girl gimic when she was trying to get the phoenix pill?

[antimatterenergy]

...and friends running interference for him at key junctures and/or the aid of an extremely powerful countering magical artifact.

(Sorry for the nitpickiness--just a personal pet peeve of mine. Ranma's never beaten Herb in an actual straight-up one-on-one, nor could he have survived Saffron getting serious if he hadn't had the Gekkaja to counter Saffron's attacks.)

This is true but at least with Saffron Ranma may have been able to beat him with out the extra's if everything was even. Ranma was at a severe disadvantage. Didn't know of the regeneration (would have cut off the head instead of the wings). Was under a time limit. Was winning the battle until Saffron got the fire staff, and personally I don't think that Saffron could have done his biggest attack without the aid of the firestaff, etc... Truthfully I don't rate Saffron as such a big deal. Herb was in my opinion far more dangerous than Saffron. Ranma may have been in his all around weaker female form while Herb was in male form for a part of it but even though that is a handicap it is not nearly as much of one as he was under during Saffron fight (and really wouldn't have made much difference Herb was powerful and skilled enough that had Ranma been male it wouldn't have made much difference). Basically in a rematch Ranma in my opinion would defeat Saffron without much trouble but would likely either have an extremely hard time or straight up lose against Herb.

Firstly, what skills does Ranma know besides martial arts and how good is he at them?

Lots:
displayed knowledge in a large variety of fields (cooking, cleaning, repair work-see him making repairs to the house-, sewing, horse riding (akane even complimented his ability), first aid, CPR(save Miss Hinako when she is drowning), some knowledge on magic, designing (he makes his own disguises in the manga see him sewing a costume before the mousse battle for an example), tea ceremony, proper manners (Madame Saint Paul taught Ranma proper manners and posture though he rarely uses them), animals, constructed spirit wards (didn't screw them up in the manga only in the anime), etc... Worked as a waitress and at a hot spring.

In the opening part of the Bakusai Tenketsu story (the anime version at least), Genma answers Ranma's question about why he brought Akane along by telling Ranma that his (Ranma's) cooking is bad.

Pretty sure that isn't in the manga. In the manga it's pretty well established he is a good cook, how good is unknown. Every time he cooked it was good.

Third, Akane knows that her cooking is terrible- does she always react to others (or at least Ranma) commenting on this fact in a violent/aggressive/self-defensive manner?

No not always nor does Ranma alway insult her cooking. At least once he tried to just continue his training without insulting her and another time he stated he wasn't hungry. She has taken him insulting her cooking calmly in the manga for instance right before the Orachi arc.

This question could technically be put into fic research, but it's so small a question that I thought I may as well slip it in here. It seems that, in the Ranmaverse, sufficiently skilled martial artists can even use their auras as physical extensions of themselves- if I recall right, in the manga version of Pantyhose Taro's introduction, giant-Happy and Taro go head to head for a while, and in the anime, after Ranma shrugs off Happosai's paralyzing aura attack in their first battle, the old letch gathers up his energy and sends it flying towards Ranma in a vaguely serpentine shape, ripping a gouge in the concrete as it goes. My question is this: given this, would it be possible for a sufficiently skilled/desperate martial artist to come up with a sort of "big bang" aura attack? Basically, concentrating their aura within themselves, then forcefully "pushing" it out in all directions, rendering them the epicenter of an explosive burst of pure force?

If yes, what sort of purpose might such an attack serve?

Yes they could. Pushing people away from you and freeing yourself well buried come to mind as well as pointless destruction of your surroundings.

In either canon, Ranma tends to be more reactive when it comes to special techniques- ie, he doesn't go out and deliberately devise new special techniques for himself, he comes up with them (or modifications of existing ones) when he gets pressed by a new challenger.

If Ranma were to become more active rather than reactive he would quickly advance to the point that it would be harder to actually make opponents for him. It makes a better story to have him defensive/reactive. In the future he most likely will become proactive designing/reinventing/inventing techniques before he needs them instead of at the last minute. Live in the moment mind set that I think he will grow out of, but that's just my opinion.

There is more I'd like to say but I'm pressed on time at the moment.

[Necavit]

Err not phoniex pill, I meant the one where Kuno has the phoneix sitting on his head.
Just got the two confused.

Like I said its just some justification. But as for using it as long as no one gets hurt.
Id say screwing around with someone mind to weasle things out of someone is pretty bad.

You wouldnt like it if a girl used you to get somthing she wanted. Kuno dosnt seem to get hurt true, cause he never understands the truth. How bout Ryoga?

[Weebee]

No, i wouldn't... but quite fortunately, and undfortunately for us guys, it does happen quite often. Also, honestly ranma made it INCREDIBLY clear to begin with that she hated Kuno's guts, and he still deluded himself into thinking she loved him.

I'm sorry, but if he's that willing to throw himself into the situation and Ranma can use it for his/her own gain, I really couldn't blame him.

Now if Ranma were actively deceiving people like that, which I'll admit she DOES do, it's slightly different... but honestly I don't think Kuno deserves that consideration after willfully blinding himself to reality the way he does.

[claymade]

Was under a time limit.

Recall that Saffron himself was under the same "disadvantage." He even specifically associates their cases.

Didn't know of the regeneration (would have cut off the head instead of the wings)... Was winning the battle until Saffron got the fire staff...

Would have cut off the head with the ice staff that the whole point was he needed. Was winning the battle with the ice staff that the whole point was that he needed.

Not to mention that you just can't claim ignorance of the other guy's abilities before the fight as a "disadvantage" for Ranma. That's exactly how fights should be fought--the whole point of a secret technique. And if they fought again, knowing more of his capabilities, Saffron would know to take Ranma more seriously as well.

...and personally I don't think that Saffron could have done his biggest attack without the aid of the firestaff, etc...

That is never stated or implied (or very likely at all, considering Kiima's speech). I just don't see any evidence.

Pretty sure that isn't in the manga. In the manga it's pretty well established he is a good cook, how good is unknown. Every time he cooked it was good.

Beg to differ.

If Ranma were to become more active rather than reactive he would quickly advance to the point that it would be harder to actually make opponents for him.

Harder? It'd only be as hard as having his foes undergo a similar epiphany...

Besides, you're making an assumption about the degree to which the raw quantity of "special moves" known does, in fact, vastly trump the quality that they're known with. If Ranma trains for X hours a day, who's to say that all the time he (currently) spends refining (and keeping sharp) what he's already got isn't itself necessary? Or at least, that the optimal division would be such an uber-improvement from what he has now?

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

As Genma thus calls Ranma a poor cook in both versions of the Bakusai Tenketsu storyline, why do you think he worked on improving his cooking skill after that point? It's plain that he does, because I know that by the time Akane finds her mother's book of recipes, Ranma can cook well enough that his mother praises his ability (though she doesn't know it's him at the time, of course). In the anime version, at least, there's a scene of Ranma-chan assembling a salad by hurling the ingredients into the air and jumping into their midst. Knife flashes like lightning, and then she lands on the other side of the table as, behind her, the salad falls into perfect arrangement in the salad bowl. I don't remember if he cooks at any other point in the series.

Also, how serious is Principal Kuno about teaching? Does he actually want to teach, or does he take the job solely because it lets him wreak havoc with kids? In the anime, he seems to actually have some concerns about the school; he's the one who tries to teach Akane to swim, and at the end of the 7th season's first episode, he gets real upset that Tatewaki has apparently let Maomolin and Happosai into the school. The line is, as I recall... "Tachi! I be making you the substitute principal and you be letting this giant cat and this freaky old man into me school!?!"

Come to think of it, exactly how do the three Kunos tend to speak in canon? A lot of fics I've read have Tatewaki (mis)quoting Shakespear or classical Japanese poems, and Kodachi using dramatic self-references. I can't even begin to describe how the principal speaks.

Finally, what kinds of ki are usable in the Ranmaverse? The Shi Shi Hokodan and Moko Takabisha both use emotion-based ki, and the two faux Tendo girls from the anime seem to know how to wield fiery and icy ki, which I think are also used during the Saffron arc...

[antimatterenergy]

Saffron also had home field advantage (Ariel battle), knowledge on how the weapons work, and Saffron's weapon was like a warm breeze to him where as Ranma's was effecting Ranma negatively by bouncing the cold back at him (Saffron even says so). Ect... No time limit. No weapons. I think Ranma would win. In a rematch. I think Ranma would win. Unlike with Herb. I think Ranma was more disadvantaged than Saffron was and had everything been equal (no weapons) I see Ranma winning.

How does kima's comment contradict my thinking that Saffron can not do the most powerful blast without adding the power of the staff to it? It's a fire staff, most powerful attack giant fireball. Technique was done with staff. Was staff required unknown. Conjuncture Staff + own power = biggest blast. Nothing proves it but nothing counters it either.

Beg to differ.

Quoted the wrong statement. You should have quoted the statement that said not in manga for the comment by Genma. My saying everything shown to cook as being good is true. (battle vs Akane, when he made food for Ryoga in koi rod arc, when cooking at Ukyo's restaurant in volume 35, etc..)

Harder? It'd only be as hard as having his foes undergo a similar epiphany...

More difficult in that it takes longer to show training and battles would be more complex. It is simpler to write reaction than proaction (at least it is for me).

Besides, you're making an assumption about the degree to which the raw quantity of "special moves" known does, in fact, vastly trump the quality that they're known with. If Ranma trains for X hours a day, who's to say that all the time he (currently) spends refining (and keeping sharp) what he's already got isn't itself necessary? Or at least, that the optimal division would be such an uber-improvement from what he has now?

I'm of the belief that these are teenagers who live in the moment and haven't really thought about advancing the techniques instead they react. Also I don't view them as "new" techniques so much as refinement and reorganizing of existing techniques (a punch is still a punch). There are several possible variations for ki blasts Ranma could try. It is shown that Ranma generally reacts he doesn't plan ahead. Making new techniques beforehand for situations makes sense but it requires forethought that most of the cast lacks.

[FriendlyEL]

One thing about the competition Ranma and Akane are having, yes he did alot of flashy showing off while making the salad but none of it really showed in terms of cooking ability was that he was able to make a salad, althought that's still more than Akane was able to do, true.