Happosai
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| Happosai 八宝斎 |
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|---|---|
 Happosai |
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| Alias: | Happy, by Cologne Old Freak, by Ranma Master, by Soun and Genma |
| Gender: | Male |
| Age: | 100ish (Manga)/300ish (Anime) |
| Family: | Pantyhose Taro, godson |
| Love Interest: | Young Cologne Midori (anime only) Any attractive young female Lingerie |
| Rivals: | Ranma Saotome Pantyhose Taro Soun Tendo Genma Saotome Hinako Ninomiya Lukkosai |
| Occupation: | Martial Arts Grandmaster Lingerie Thief |
| Residence: | Tendo Dojo, Furinkan |
| Fighting Style: | Anything Goes Martial Arts |
| Attacks: | Happo-Fire Burst (Happo Daikarin) Battle Aura Happo-Mold Burst |
| Seiyū: | Ichirō Nagai |
| Voice Actor: | Paul Dobson |
| 1st Appearance (Manga): |
Volume 6 |
| 1st Appearance (Anime): |
TV Series, Season 2, "Enter Happosai, the Lustful Lecher!" |
Happosai (八宝斎 Happōsai) is a fictional character in Rumiko Takahashi's anime and manga series Ranma ½.
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[edit] History
Genma's and Soun's tiny master, he is the founder and Grandmaster of Musabetsu Kakutō Ryu karate ("School of Indiscriminate Grappling", more commonly known in the West as "Anything Goes Martial Arts"); he is assumed to be about the same age as Cologne, either one hundred years old (manga) or approximately three hundred (anime). The "training" that he put Soun and Genma through, though, was cleaning up his messes, having to "take the fall" for him, and basically making life a living hell for the two. One day, though, Soun and Genma finally got away from Happosai's control. While Happosai was passed out drunk from the sake (rice wine) that they brought to him, Soun and Genma took Happosai, trapped him inside a box with lit dynamite, threw the box in a cave, rolled a boulder over the entrance, and draped spirit wards over the boulder. Thinking they were finally free of the old lech, Soun and Genma left to continue their training.
After many years, though, Happosai managed to escape from the prison created by Soun and Genma and made his way to the Tendo dojo. Fearing that Happosai was out for revenge, Soun and Genma immediately groveled before his feet. Even though he's a massive pervert, Genma and Soun don't have the backbone to stand up to him and try to force Ranma Saotome to apologize when Ranma stands up to him. Ranma manages to defeat Happosai, and Happosai moves in with the Tendos, much to everyone's dismay.
The only things he cares about are martial arts, groping young women, stealing their lingerie, and satisfying his own hedonism.
[edit] Character
Happosai typically likes to attempt to grope, spy on, or steal underwear from Akane, Ranma, and others. While Ranma owns no lingerie, Happosai attempts to get him (in female form) to model for him in women's panties.
Strangely, Nabiki and Kasumi Tendo seem to be exempt from Happosai's actions (in one anime episode, however, Kasumi has a battle aura surrounding her because of Happosai's actions, while Nabiki simply punches him away).
Happosai is addicted to his perversion; not being able to touch a woman is like not being able to breathe for him. He goes through withdrawal at one point, becoming very weak and crawling along the ground, repeatedly muttering "pretty ladies." In this episode of the anime and manga, Happosai was cursed with a stinky odor that repels women. Not able to touch any women, he nearly ends up dying in Ranma's arms until a storm comes and changes Ranma into his female form, allowing Happosai to regain his strength.
Happosai has extremely rare "good" moods, when he shows a more benevolent side, such as when he assisted the mother of Pantyhose Taro in giving birth. Also, the old man does have a soft spot for little children whom he helps at times. In the anime, Happosai tried to give up on his bad habits when he fell in love with a young teacher named Midori. But ultimately, his perversion won him over and he lost her favor after revealing himself to be the neighborhood panty thief, whom she despised.
[edit] Martial Arts Techniques
As the founder and grandmaster of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts, Happosai is one of the most powerful martial artists of his world, often much to Ranma's chagrin. There is no indication of the limits of Happosai's power and knowledge, which includes ancient martial arts techniques, almost-forgotten pressure points on a human body, recipes for alchemical concoctions with various effects, and knowledge of many Chinese and Japanese magical artifacts.
Happosai is able to adapt to new situations in combat and proficient enough to create new techniques. He has personally trained Soun and Genma, who are both strong fighters in their own right. He also taught Hinako Ninomiya the unique ability to drain the auras of others, using a combination of pressure points to change her metabolism and partial martial art exercises, and some fans think he can do it too. Though short, old, and perverted, Happosai is not someone to be taken lightly.
- Happo Throw: A simple technique that Happosai uses on attacking opponents. He hooks their arm or leg with his pipe, then uses their own momentum to throw them a great distance. He can also do it without the pipe.
- Finger Block: Happosai can use this move to stop huge objects or powerful punches aimed at him with only his index finger. It is unknown if he uses his own strength, channels his ki to stop the attack or if this is a special technique that disables the attack's (or object's) momentum. Either way, it is one of Happosai's best defensive moves.
- Happo-Fire Burst (八宝大華輪 Happo Daikarin): Happosai's ultimate technique, and his favorite. He sealed it away because it damaged a bra—one of his many "silky darlings"—once many years ago, but after Ranma pushed him too far he rediscovered his long lost technique. In reality it is just throwing large fireworks at people. They are infused with ki, however, and can cause massive damage. Happosai can also create these bombs in different sizes—some even as big as a small house—to increase their power.
- Battle Aura: as the grandmaster of Anything Goes Martial Arts, Happosai is exceptionally skilled at manipulating his battle aura. In his first appearance in the manga and anime, he uses it to paralyze Ranma with terror. In the anime, he is shown to fire it as a serpentine blast resembling a demonic Chinese Dragon. Several times in both the anime and the manga, he uses this technique to transform into a giant version of himself, and he can keep this up for quite a long time. In the anime, Genma and Soun are also shown to be capable of doing this, but they are not as durable.
- Happo-Mold Burst: a modification of the Happo-Fire Burst used only in the anime, where Happosai's bombs create clouds of paralytic mold instead of explosions. This mold grosses out and immobilizes his opponents.
- Silky Storm: A distraction technique that involves Happosai spinning his pipe and creating a blizzard of bras/panties to cover his escape.
- Extra-Dimensional Warp: Using his Ki, Happosai becomes invisible, the only downside is he can't attack without becoming visible. Used primarily to spy on girls.
- Beanjam Blowout (Anime only): Using his Ki, Happosai creates a large blast of wind to blow his enemies away. This move is named as he created to steal Beanjam from Soun and Genma.
- Fist of the Hermit Crab: Happosai throws several buckets into the air towards his target, then uses his extra-dimensional warp to hide in one. Afterwards he attacks from his bucket as he bypasses his target. In the anime, this technique is part of an entire sub-discipline of the Anything Goes School known as Bathhouse-Fu. He probably devised it to protect himself from the girls he peeped on in public baths.
- Ultimate Weakness Moxibustion: A stolen technique. By burning a mark in a certain spot on his opponent's body, he reduces their strength to that of a baby, reversible only with a counter-moxibustion on another point. Happosai used this on Ranma after the pigtailed youth stopped him on one of his panty raids.
[edit] Trivia
- Latin American Spanish Voice Actor: Daniel Abundis
- "Happōsai" has the same sound as "八宝菜," or "eight treasures dish," a popular Chinese seafood dish in Japan. The 斎 character that 菜 has been replaced with is a common ending for martial arts masters' names in old times.
- In the anime episode "Case of the Missing Takoyaki!", Happosai's age is given as being estimated at four-hundred and fifty (450) years old. This is most likely a continuity goof.
- In one of the OVAs, it is revealed that Happosai trained Natsume and Kurumi Tendo for a while.
- In the manga, anytime Happosai remembers or explains something from the distant past, he would describe himself as tall, blonde and incredibly handsome; which he of course was not. In the anime episode dealing with the Nanban Mirror, a teenaged Happosai appears, showing that he was, indeed, short and not very attractive even when he was a young man.
[edit] References
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Ranma ½ Characters
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| Saotome Family | |
|---|---|
| Ranma Saotome | Genma Saotome | Nodoka Saotome | |
| Tendo Family | |
| Soun Tendo | Kasumi Tendo | Nabiki Tendo | Akane Tendo | Mrs. Tendo | |
| Chinese | |
| Shampoo | Mousse | Cologne | Jusenkyo Guide | Pantyhose Taro | |
| Kuno Family | |
| Tatewaki Kuno | Kodachi Kuno | Principal Kuno | Sasuke Sarugakure | |
| Notable Furinkan Residents | |
| Ukyo Kuonji | Hikaru Gosunkugi | Dr. Tofu Ono | Hinako Ninomiya | Konatsu | |
| Major Adversaries | |
| Ryoga Hibiki | Happosai | Mariko Konjo | Herb | Ryu Kumon | Saffron | |
| Recurring / Other Characters | |
| Akari Unryu | Tsubasa Kurenai | Shinnosuke | Ranma ½ minor characters | |
| Other Articles | |
| Locations in Ranma ½ | Anything Goes Martial Arts | Chinese Amazons | |
