What would you do in Soun's shoes?

[Goldarmy]

What would you have done if you were Soun on that fateful first night when Saotomes finished their tale of Jusenkyo. What sort of action would you take?

As an off topic in this story Idiotic Duo handles the first meeting, enjoy and please vote

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/276602/1/Smile

[FriendlyEL]

I would have just done what he did in the beginning myself, just let him choose one of them or have the girls decide which one would marry him. I'm aware though that his girl curse could be a turnoff to the daughters though, so I figure it would probably be best to let him just stay there without mentioning the engagement then maybe later push the engagement on the girl I think is getting along with him the best.

It's still by no means a perfect decision since the pressure of the engagement even then would probably ruin the friendship they have, but it still seems the best in this situation to let it flow between them and just let the choice of who he marries be entirely up to him and the girls.

[Comartemis]

I chose all three using the same reasoning El is using; let them work it out for themselves later on once they find out who Ranma's most compatible with. There's any number of ways the meeting could've gone that would paint Ranma in a more or less sympathetic light to any one of the Tendo girls, like the way Ranma introduced herself in "One Half a Wing and a Prayer".

[Daniel Jess Gibson]

What would you have done if you were Soun on that fateful first night when Saotomes finished their tale of Jusenkyo. What sort of action would you take?

Hold off the actual engagement so the kids could get to know each other, honor would hold Ranma. Then I'd roast Genma over a spit until he reveals all the other engagements and hidden events (Ukyo and Shampoo).

[mondu_the_fat]

I would engage him to Kasumi, simply because she is the oldest.

If I were the type of person who would make such an agreement in the first place, then tradition would be very important to me and my family. I would insist that the eldest take up the marriage. It would be inappropriate (and insulting to the eldest) for a younger sister to get married first.

What I _wouldn't_ do is pressure them into marriage immediately, as what Suon obviously wanted. I'd give them a year or two to get to become used to each other (not "know each other" -- this implies that there's a chance that the marriage won't push through if they found themselves to be "incompatible" or some such, and that's unacceptable).

[Southern Cross]

Actually,if I'm remembering the events correctly,both the elder sisters (Kasumi & Nabiki)basically pushed Akane as the obvious choice,as both of them were weirded out by Ranma's curse.
From what I remember,the whole reason for the engagement on Soun's part was to ensure the future of the family dojo.While it's true that Akane is the youngest Tendo,she is also the only one of the Tendo daughters who is currently practicing their family martial arts style.

[mondu_the_fat]

Actually,if I'm remembering the events correctly,both the elder sisters (Kasumi & Nabiki)basically pushed Akane as the obvious choice,as both of them were weirded out by Ranma's curse.
From what I remember,the whole reason for the engagement on Soun's part was to ensure the future of the family dojo.While it's true that Akane is the youngest Tendo,she is also the only one of the Tendo daughters who is currently practicing their family martial arts style.

Yes, you are remembering correct. But this is what I would do in Suon's shoes, not what the daughters did (or think). Suon also said that it didn't matter which daughter gets married to Ranma (as shown when Nabiki took the engagement from Akane).

Suon probably knew the problems with Akane being married first (as opposed to Nabiki and Kasumi), but since it didn't _really_ matter to him who married Ranma, he was willing to hand off the responsibility of choosing to his daughters. Maybe one of them would accept/be coerced by the other sisters and thus lead to less friction in the family.

[ToastedPine]

His future is rather dim. There's evidence that the finances aren't in good shape. Ranma's not that great an option. He may be a good martial artist, but he also seems outwardly undisciplined, which is tough to sell for any upstanding citizen who wants to practice the art. Additionally, Anything Goes is a no name art that originated from a perverted loser. If word got out that Happosai was the Grand Master, then Anything Goes is doomed in terms of prorogation to the masses.

Honor isn't that big of a deal. Soun could easily push back the pact a few years or more if he really wanted. What he does have going for him, is the Tendo compound. It's huge, and can be reasonably presentable with a little extra work (I'm assuming Kasumi keeps things in almost pristine condition). The dojo itself can be rented out as a venue for weddings and other events at quite good rates, considering he seems to be in a good neighborhood. The house can also be turned into a non-professional daycare facility. Kasumi to do any outside work, and somehow, I don't think she'd mind caring for children. Genma can also be useful. You have a real live panda whose safe to have kids around (Genma has played with children in his panda form, and shows no interest in training them), I think that's one hell of an attraction.

The daycare can be a stepping stone for child martial arts classes. Ranma trains some children as part of daycare activities as an experiment to see if he can handle it.

Summing things up, I wouldn't engage Ranma to anyone. The Saotome father and son not gonna go away in either case, so they may as well be made useful.

[antimatterenergy]

The Saotome father and son not gonna go away in either case, so they may as well be made useful.

I'm not so sure about that, them going away is a very real worry since they have little reason besides the engagement to stay. It should also be taken into account that Ranma has expressed interest in leaving at least at first and he spends nearly as much time away from Nermia as he does in Nermia (left for battle with Herb and with Saffron, went on many training trips during the manga such as the time Genma stayed at the house with the kid whose mom fed him delicacies, the time Ranma spent at the hot spring island that the spring was blocked, time Ranma and Genma went to place where Genma went on honeymoon with Ranma's mom, etc... not counting the many trips he has taken away from Nermia with Akane or Soun (like trip to get monster in a village that ended up being Happosai or going to the forest with the Water of life) also moved out of the Tendo's and lived with mom for short time.

The dojo itself can be rented out as a venue for weddings and other events at quite good rates

The dojo is rented out in the Manga. We see that it was rented out during the mark of the gods storyline.

The daycare can be a stepping stone for child martial arts classes. Ranma trains some children as part of daycare activities as an experiment to see if he can handle it.

I don't think this would be a good idea. Teaching little children is harder than adults in many ways and it would probably be better for Ranma to teach people closer to his age for starters.

As to who I'd engage him to it would be all three and let them pick who marries him like Soun did in the Manga.

[lwf58]

The girls weren't supposed to choose. Soun's words were "Pick the one you want. She's your fiancee." I'd have stuck to my guns enough to honor that, and not let the girls make the choice for Ranma. He was supposed to decide which one he wanted.

[nuriko]

It didn't help that it ended up as "pick right now on first impressions," nobody had a chance to see what they might truly be getting.

[whatever]

Personally I would have given him time to know the girls better instead of making him choose the first day he arrives, like 7 to 12 months then after that period of time he would pick the girl he thinks he can gets along the best and something very important I would not tolerate any insults or beatings from both side towards each other (If I were Soun I will never let my daughter hits Ranma for no reason or let him insult her or whatever disrespectful things they do)

Who would I choose to engage him??? probably between Kasumi or Akane

But I suppose that if it had happened like that the manga/anime wouldn’t be so great

[Ahye]

This is something of a tough call on my part. I've always been a fan of Nabiki, so my first impulse would be to pick her. However, if I view it from the standpoint of Soun, as the question was asked, then I have to pick Kasumi. She is the eldest, so as a matter of honor it should be her. The other two possible choices shouldn't hold that much possibility in Soun's mind. Nabiki, while a bright independant young woman is still the middle daughter and not all that traditional after all. Akane might seem like a logical choice at first being the same age, but in matters of honor, what age she is shouldn't matter. In matters of love, it might, but not in an honor agreement. Additionally, if you argue that the agreement is for joining the two branches of Anything Goes, then Akane is still not acceptable as a choice because if that was the reasoning, Soun would still be training her. He isn't, so in his viewpoint Akane is not a real martial artist. Consider how many times he yells at people to stop hurting his little girl, who he obviously thinks can't take care of herself. As for Kasumi being acceptable for the joining of the schools part of the agreement, Soun might feel that any children Ranma and Kasumi had would be taught by himself and either Genma or Ranma.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

On the subject of the Saotomes needing a reason to stick around...

(This is from the anime, I don't think similar moments happen at all in the manga.)

Genma clearly wants the Tendo dojo. In "A Formidable New Disciple Appears", he tries to convince Ranma to start acting more like Heida so that they don't end up homeless. He claims that "if we had our own dojo, we'd never need to worry about money problems again" in "Genma Takes A Walk"... which kind of ignores reality, though I'll get to that in a moment. This means that the Tendo Dojo, to him, promises a real home and the key to an easy living/money.

Ranma, on the other hand, is more grounded. When Genma points out that Heida is making them look like good-for-nothing freeloaders, his reaction is to point out that they are and that the Tendos would get on just fine without them. In "Kodachi The Black Rose, The Beeline to True Love" he tells Kodachi, Soun, Genma and Happosai that the Saotome Style is Anything Goes and thus he does't need a dojo to teach it.

Agreed, Soun's future -in the anime at least- looks pretty dim. It's a fact that he has no students (see "The Beeline to True Love"), and they'd also struggle to actually get any, as the average Joe on the street isn't interested (see that same episode and how much trouble Ranma & Akane had passing out flyers for the school). That episode also has Akane mention that the house has only one breadwinner, whereupon Kasumi mentions that source of income is irregular, a fact Soun backs up in the "Akane Vs. Ranma" OAV. In fact, given the whole basis of the style is "fight & win anywhere, anywhen, anyhow", a static and predictable environment like a dojo is probably the last thing any real teacher of Anything Goes needs. And, as was pointed out, Anything Goes is a relatively unknown style practised solely by the Tendo & Saotome families, and if word got out that the notorious Underwear Thief of Nerima is not only residing at the Tendo Dojo but also the Grandmaster...