Ranma ½ (らんま½ Ranma Nibun no Ichi, pronounced Ranma one-half) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi which was also adapted into an anime series. The story revolves around a 16-year old boy named Ranma Saotome who was trained in martial arts from early childhood. As a result of an accident during a training journey, he is cursed to become a girl when splashed with cold water, but hot water will change him back into a boy.
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Ranma Saotome (早乙女 乱馬 Saotome Ranma) is the series' main protagonist. A proficient martial artist, he spent most of his youth on training trips with his father. The last of these trips led them to Jusenkyo, China, where he fell into the Spring of Drowned Girl. Since then, he changes into a red headed, well built girl when splashed with cold water. When splashed with hot water, he changes back into a man, but only until the next time he is hit with cold water. Thanks to an agreement between his father and Soun Tendo, he is engaged to Soun's daughter Akane. Due to a series of other entanglements, he has several additional love interests, most notably the Chinese Amazon Shampoo, okonomiyaki chef and childhood friend Ukyo Kuonji, and Kodachi Kuno, the younger sister of rival Tatewaki Kuno. However, he expresses more interest in Akane although he is too stubborn to admit it. When other men shows general interest in her, he can't help but grow jealous leading him to depression, scheming something to separate them, or grow worried.
Martial arts is the 16-year-old hero's life. Whenever his pride is damaged, Ranma will go to great lengths to rectify the situation. He can come across as petty, overconfident, insensitive and arrogant, as he is prone to cheat or give insults, often acts out of unthinking selfishness, and is a frequent braggart. However, much of the above is caused by awkward immaturity. Ranma has an extreme fear of cats resulting from when his father trained him in the misconcepted 'Cat Fu' (猫拳 Neko Ken) technique. If he is isolated with a cat in a very small space, or when he can no longer cope with his fear of cats, he begins behaving like a cat himself and becomes a master of the 'Cat Fu', and only Akane can calm him down. He and Akane drift closer throughout the series, each going to great lengths to save the other when in trouble.
Rumiko Takahashi herself has described Ranma's personality as a mixture of nice, clean-cut, frank, energetic, indecisive, stubborn, picky, stingy and sly,[1] and has stated that she finds flawless characters rather boring.[2] She addressed the origins of the character as: "With Ranma ½, I had thought a lot of doing a series with a male/female like protagonist, and since in the greater part of my previous stories the main character had been a woman, I planned to use a man this time. I was worried about writing a male main character because of the hundreds and hundreds of male readers, therefore I decided on the character being half man and half woman."[3]
His male half is voiced by Kappei Yamaguchi in the Japanese anime and by Sarah Strange (Seasons 1-3, Movies and OVAs) and Richard Ian Cox (Seasons 4-7) in English. His female half is voiced by Megumi Hayashibara in the Japanese anime and by Brigitta Dau (Episodes 1-6, OVAs 1-2) and Venus Terzo (Episodes 7-161, OVAs 3-12, Movies) in English.[4] In the Live Action Special, Ranma Saotome's male half is played by Kento Kaku while his female half is played by Natsuna Watanabe.
Genma Saotome (早乙女 玄馬 Saotome Genma) is Ranma's father and the sensei of the Musabetsu Kakutō Saotome Ryū (無差別格闘早乙女流, "Indiscriminate Grappling Saotome Style"). He trained with Soun under Happosai. Because they were treated like slaves, they eventually sealed him within a cave and opened their own schools. Starting from a young age, Genma took Ranma on a continuous training trip to perfect his skills. So his wife Nodoka would agree to this plan, he promised to turn Ranma into a "man-among-men" under the threat of them both committing seppuku if he failed. He originally took Ranma to Jusenkyo because he had heard about it in a Chinese brochure even though he cannot read a word of Chinese. During their training there, Genma fell into a cursed spring, which gave him a giant panda curse. Unlike Ranma, he doesn't have much trouble with his curse, especially because he can get away from his problems in his panda form. He and Ranma eventually return to Japan to fulfill an arranged marriage between Ranma and Akane to keep the school going. He hides from his wife by staying as a panda while she is around, and she simply believes Ranko, Ranma's female form, has "Mr. Panda" as a pet.
Genma follows his own interpretation of the "Indiscriminate Grappling" code, which is not exactly all that virtuous itself to begin with. He frequently preaches duty and honor as a martial artist, but seems to be a poor example by which to set those standards. Though he himself claims to be a model martial artist, and makes a point of telling Ranma about the right thing to do, he is not above acting cowardly, stealing a dowry, or only looking out for his own well being. He usually tries to flee from any problems he has caused or is entangled in, foisting the matter on Ranma if he cannot. His love of food regularly overpowers his love of his son, once trading him for a bowl of ramen, and in another, he traded the infant Ranma for a meal of fish. He is very open with his panda form, and regularly uses it to avoid questions as pandas cannot speak. In panda form, he communicates by writing on wooden signs which he seems to pull out of a type of hammer space in that form.
While he's usually either too lazy or scared to show it, Genma is an extremely proficient martial artist. He is extremely strong and agile despite his size, and his panda form increases his abilities even further. He very seldom uses his special techniques, which include the Umisenken that allows him to hide his aura and execute ambush attacks from behind; the Yamasenken that allows him to make opponents lose focus, create powerful vacuum-slice barrages, or strike deadly, piercing blows; and his most powerful technique, a gigantic battle-aura similar to Happosai's, but he can only use it for very brief periods (possibly just half a minute) before collapsing from overexertion. Genma actually invented the Yamasenken and Umisenken, a pair of martial arts schools designed to aid in thievery.
He is voiced by Kenichi Ogata in the Japanese anime and by the late Robert O. Smith in English.[5] In the Live Action Special, he is played by Arata Furuta.
Nodoka Saotome (早乙女 のどか Saotome Nodoka) is Ranma's mother and Genma's wife. She hasn't seen them in over a decade though, when they left on their training trip. Stating that a doting mother would hinder Ranma's training, Genma made a contract with her to raise Ranma as a "man amongst men". If he failed, he and Ranma were to commit seppuku, a ritual suicide common among the samurai. She always has a katana with her for that purpose. But because Ranma's curse made him a woman half the time, they spent most of Nodoka's appearances hiding from her as Akane's cousin "Ranko" and her pet, Mr. Panda. Nodoka's heart was constantly broken by knowing that she wanted nothing more than to see her son again.
Near the end of the manga series, Nodoka finally discovered Ranma and Genma's dual identities and curses. She was more accepting than they had ever expected, mostly because she eventually began to suspect that Ranma and Ranko were, in fact, the same person. Once she learned the truth, she decided not to force them to commit seppuku so long as Ranma stayed interested in girls and continued to fight like a "man among men." She later moved in with them, allowing the three of them to be a "normal" family again.
She is voiced by Masako Ikeda in the Japanese anime and by Lisa Bunting in English.[6]
Akane Tendo (天道 あかね Tendō Akane) is the female protagonist of the series and Soun's youngest daughter at age 16. She is a very insecure, awkward and sensitive girl with a hot temper and a big heart. She first encountered Ranma's male form as a naked stranger in the bathroom, as she originally believed him to be a girl. Her family chose her to be engaged to him and carry on the Tendo family dojo. After becoming further upset by his insults, their engagement was not off to a good start. With time, both Akane and her relationship with Ranma mellow out.
Akane regularly feels inferior to Kasumi in beauty and feminine pursuits, to Ranma and his other fiancées in cooking, martial arts ability or gymnastics, and to other students in swimming. She is trying hard to excel in everything, but is either clumsy or completely inept at all except for schoolwork and certain sports activities, like volleyball. She is also a capable martial artist and quite popular with the boys at school, though she would prefer a little less attention from them, especially Tatewaki Kuno. When someone, frequently Ranma, belittles her lack of success, or calls her uncute, ugly, over-muscled, unfeminine and tomboyish, she often feels upset. She is shown to be very friendly to people who are polite and do not insult her and has consistently risked herself to aid or save Ranma. She usually gets extremely jealous when one of Ranma's other fiances show physical affection torwards him although she says she isn't affected. She also loves Ranma deeply, though she does not want to show it.
She is voiced by Noriko Hidaka in the Japanese anime and by Myriam Sirois in English.[7] In the Live Action Special, she is played by Yui Aragaki.
Soun Tendo (天道 早雲 Tendō Sōun) the head of the Tendo family, one of two that practices Anything Goes Martial Arts. He has a large house that is occasionally in need of repairs due to the fights that take place there. While he owns the Musabetsu Kakutō Ryū Tendo Dojo and is its current master, it has not been explicitly shown to have students, making the source of his income uncertain. Community representatives frequently approach him when they have problems with unusual phenomena, so this may provide some of it, and he has rented out the dojo for social meetings. He is shown to be quite careful with the expenses and gets upset when his daughter Nabiki spends his savings on expensive gifts, or when Ranma throws dinner on the floor.
He studied under the founder of the style, Happosai, with Genma, who is a close friend. Their training was nothing short of abuse and slave labor, so they eventually managed to get away from him. He and Genma set up an arranged marriage between his daughter, Akane, and Ranma in order to unite the Tendo and Saotome Schools and continue its legacy. Despite protests from both parties, they believe the two will eventually grow to love each other. Soun is eager for his daughter to say she loves Ranma or vice-versa. He'll start announcing wedding plans if Ranma and Akane seem romantically involved.
Soun is very emotional, often brought to tears just by thinking of a sad thought. He is also a widower, left to single-handedly take care of his three daughters. He is very respectful to his deceased wife, whose grave he visits regularly, and he constantly mourns her. He's extremely protective of his children, especially Kasumi, and becomes sad if their affection is in doubt. Perhaps for this reason, he tends to become very angry whenever he suspects that Ranma is 'cheating' on Akane or otherwise is treating her badly, being intensely paranoid in this regard. He generally assumes that most incidents are Ranma's fault, and he often manifest himself as a ghostly, floating oni head to scare or intimidate Ranma in such a situation. In combat, Soun frequently fights clad fully in traditional samurai armor and he is skilled in both hand to hand combat and the use of a wide variety of archaic weaponry. In the anime, he spends most of his time playing shogi with his old training partner Genma.
He is voiced by Ryūsuke Ōbayashi in the Japanese anime and by David Kaye in English.[8] In the Live Action Special, he is played by Katsuhisa Namase.
Nabiki Tendo (天道 なびき Tendō Nabiki) is Soun's middle daughter, age 17, and a sharp contrast to her older sister. She is a completely amoral, egotistical, and opportunistic businesswoman who loves money above all else and is willing to sacrifice anyone to gain more of it. She regularly turns extremely ruthless, callous, dishonourable, petty, sadistic, and manipulative for the cause of profit and entertainment. There are no apparent limits to how low she will stoop, and she is completely at peace with, easygoing, flippant, and happy about being this way, being comparatively very sane and balanced, and as such considerably more genuinely evil than virtually any other character in the series. She is recurrently used as a satire of excessive materialism, with her extreme greed and sociopathic, or psychopathic, nature highlighted for comedic effect.
Nabiki also tends to sell useful or nonworking items others have need of, and ships images of Ranma's girl form to admirers or as prints around the world. Although a hedonist who wants to actually enjoy life, and generally takes a laid-back amused approach to the regular chaos, she has keen sarcastic observation skills and a very mean-spirited sense of humour. She is also a flexible and efficient strategist, an expert actress who is capable of ventriloquism, lying or faking sentiments without the slightest twinge of guilt, and is almost completely unflappable when she feels like it.
In some translations, she has been outright stated to have "no maidenly feelings" or be "completely heartless", but she isn't above using her classy and highly attractive appearance as a lure for potential suitors/victims. In the "Bean-Gun Plant" story from the Manga, Nabiki was stated to invest at least some of her earnings in personal stocks, but is extremely unwilling to spend her own money. She would rather steal Akane's wardrobe, get spoiled by an admirer, or empty Soun's savings to buy expensive gifts for herself. She secretly takes pictures of Ranma (in female form) and Akane, selling the results to her schoolmates (Kuno being her biggest customer), and sells prints internationally. She was briefly engaged to Ranma after Akane got frustrated with it, and rented him out as slave labour, but also played a role in bringing the two back together, when Ranma seemed to turn into more work than her profits warranted.
Some of her more extreme acts include ruining her family to win a bet, blackmailing anybody with a crush on her for everything she can get, destroying Nodoka's house for entertainment value, her sister's wedding for the chance of gifts, engineering the death of a rival swindler while feigning affection, and framing Ranma himself for attempted rape, or selling his female side as a slave to a criminal casino with less than a shrug, despite that he had saved her life in the past.
She is voiced by Minami Takayama in the Japanese anime and by Angela Costain in English, although Costain's sister, Elaina Wotten Costain, filled in during Season 6.[9] In the Live Action Special, she is played by Maki Nishiyama.
Kasumi Tendo (天道 かすみ Tendō Kasumi) is the eldest daughter of the Tendo family, age 19. And the most traditional in the Japanese sense, being very kind, nurturing, and sweet-natured. She has graduated from high school and spends most of her day looking after the Tendo household, acting as the family's substitute "matriarch" by cooking, cleaning, and helping her family since her mother's untimely death. She has no interest in younger men, and Dr. Tofu Ono, the family physician, is deeply in love with her, though she has no idea about it. She just considers him to be a good friend and finds his antics amusing. Sweet, innocent, caring and seemingly unaffected by the lunacy that is surrounding her, Kasumi is one of the few characters who never gets hurt at any point in the series, notwithstanding her temporary possession by a mischievous oni. She's also occasionally shown as wiser and more perceptive than readily apparent, and can see through Nabiki's schemes. Beyond taking care of the household, she's been shown to go out to meet friends and has borrowed a pressure point book from Dr. Tofu. She is also one of the only female characters who Happosai has never groped, though he has flirted with her.
She is voiced by Kikuko Inoue in the Japanese anime and by Willow Johnson in English.[10] In the Live Action Special, she is played by Kyōko Hasegawa.
The Joketsuzoku are better known by Via Media's translation of "Chinese Amazons" though the name more accurately translates as Chinese Village of Woman Heroes (中国・女傑族（ニィチェズゥ） Chūgoku Nyichezwu, pinyin: Nǚjiézú). Via Media's translation has resulted in many fanfics adding in concepts (men being second class citizens or having no rights at all) pulled from the stories of the Greeks rather than anything actually told in the manga or anime.
Shampoo (シャンプー Shanpū, Chinese: 珊璞; pinyin: Shānpú) is the champion of the Nyucheizu village. She came to Japan to kill the female Ranma after he defeated her in an annual martial arts contest since he and Genma had hungrily devoured the prize, a well-stocked banquet table, while coming upon and watching the contest. Shampoo gave Ranma the "Kiss of Death", a promise to track her down and eventually kill her. Later, after male Ranma accidentally defeated her, she gave him the "Kiss of Marriage", since the laws of her village force her to kill any female defeaters and marry male ones. Once she learned of his curse, she returned home, heartbroken.
As punishment for her failure to kill female Ranma or marry male Ranma, her great-grandmother Cologne brought her to Jusenkyo for retraining. During this training, she fell into the "Spring of Drowned Cat," making her cursed to turn into a cat, the one thing Ranma fears most, and she blames him for this status. Despite this, Shampoo is no longer fixated on wanting to kill Ranma, and now just wants to marry him. Having returned to Nerima, Tokyo, Japan, she waits tables at the Cat Cafe (Nekō Hanten), her great-grandmother's restaurant. She also sometimes delivers ramen by bicycle, occasionally running down people — particularly Ranma — on the streets and rooftops. She is actively pursued by Mousse, a childhood friend for whom she generally shows nothing but disdain.
Shampoo speaks with a simplified mode of speech, most notably rapidly switching between ignoring and using personal pronouns, because of having a limited amount of time to learn the Japanese language. She is described as "innocent and aggressive", being very affectionate and cheerful, while simultaneously being devious and forceful. Her personal motto is "obstacle is for killing," and she is more than willing to assassinate any "obstacle" in the path of a goal or just for the sake of convenience. For instance she has attempted to brainwash Ranma into loving her. She will also relentlessly bully people, or to put others, including her "groom", through sadistic and sometimes painful games for her own amusement. She has very little modesty, and attempts to use nudity to seduce Ranma in public places. She is sometimes compared to Lum Invader from Takahashi's earlier Urusei Yatsura due to the similarities in their character designs and openly clingy personalities
She has shown that she is not past hurting Ranma's other fiancees. Her plans to woo Ranma are generally more violent and devious than his other suitors.
She is highly skilled in unarmed combat, possessing considerable speed and agility. Shampoo is strong enough to casually walk through reinforced stone walls on a regular basis; in the anime she says she does this because the door takes too long. She can also efficiently use certain supernatural acupressure techniques for instant unconsciousness, temporary mind-control, or even selective memory-removal. Her weakness is her lack of durability, as she is recurrently defeated by single forceful attacks. She uses a pair of "chúi" as her primary weapons.
Her bald, bespectacled, and moustachioed, "stereotypically Chinese" father has only appeared occasionally as a background character in the manga or anime, when watching her supposed training/punishment against Cologne at Jusenkyo, or working as a cook in the restaurant. However, he did appear as the final opponent of an early 90s video game, wherein he challenged Ranma due to the perceived bad treatment of his daughter.
Shampoo is voiced by Rei Sakuma in the Japanese anime and by Cathy Weseluck in English.[11]
Cologne (コロン Koron, Chinese: 可崘; pinyin: Kě Lún) is the great-grandmother of Shampoo. She accompanies Shampoo on her return to Japan to see what this “future son-in-law” was made of, but she ended up staying so that she could aid Shampoo in winning Ranma's heart. She also opens the Cat Café in Nerima, where Shampoo and Mousse both work. She is a contemporary of Happosai, and well over three hundred years old, according to the anime. She calls Ranma "bride-groom" and "son-in-law" due to her attempts to have him marry Shampoo, just to watch him become enraged. Unlike the rest of the cast, Cologne seems to prefer to sit in the background and watch the madness unfold. If she has a motive, whether it is to help Shampoo in her efforts or to aid Ranma in his battles, only then will she step into the fray. She gets around by pogoing on a gnarled wooden staff that she sometimes uses as a weapon.
She is a grand master of the Chinese Amazon martial arts, and occasionally teaches Ranma and his rivals new techniques, such as the Kachū Tenshin Amaguriken and Hiryū Shōten Ha. She is the only martial artist in the series whose skill rivals that of Happosai, enabling her to, for example, casually defeat either Ranma or Taro's chimaera form. In addition to Cologne's immense skill, she is able to manipulate water and ice, create whirlwinds by using an opponent's aura against them, shatter inanimate objects with a simple touch, fire chi-blasts, and touch pressure points to make a person feel like they are burning with even the slightest amount of heat. She is also knowledgeable in several other disciplines such as arcane lore, cooking, Chinese mythology, and magic artifacts.
She is voiced by Miyoko Aso in the Japanese anime, and by Elan Ross Gibson, Lynda Boyd, and Kathleen Barr in English.[12]
Mousse (ムース Mūsu, Chinese: 沐絲; pinyin: Mùsī) is a male Chinese Amazon, whose love for his childhood friend Shampoo has been unrequited. He has been in love with her for most of his life, but she finds him annoying at best, rebuking his advances ever since they were children. He comes to Nerima in search of this "new fiancé" that Shampoo has, and he stays to attempt to woo his sweetheart. He is extremely jealous of Ranma, who is the target of Shampoo's affection, and he believes he needs to defeat or kill Ranma in order to have her care for him. She states that she will reject him even in such a case, and often attacks him because of his obsessiveness. Despite his becoming a far more dangerous fighter than Shampoo, she almost never affords him any measure of respect. He works in the Cat Cafè (Nekō Hanten) with Shampoo and Cologne.
Mousse has extremely bad eyesight, which requires him to wear thick glasses, but he usually has them concealed within his robes or propped up on his forehead, leading him to sometimes mistake people and inanimate objects for other people. Due to his bad eyesight, he walked into a cursed spring, which turns him into a duck. Although Mousse's view is blurry without his glasses and below average even with them, he has apparently learned to compensate for it in combat, as this has not hindered him from maintaining high accuracy entirely without assistance.
Mousse is an extremely skilled, swift, strong, and dangerous martial artist, who fights by using hidden weapons. His arsenal includes chains, blades, darts, iron balls, hidden knives, bombs, tear gas, and even yo-yos and various silly household appliances, manifesting quantities far beyond what he is realistically able to carry in his long sleeves and robe. He calls this ability "dark magic" simply because he is hiding objects in a dark place. He can also hide weapons in the feathers of his duck form and is able use them proficiently while flying. He is also extremely skilled in the unarmed Joketsuzoku style used by other Amazons. He is technically almost, but not quite, in the same league as Ranma and Ryoga, apparently at least as strong as the former, and likely deadlier than either. So far, he has never managed to prevail during confrontations, despite fighting unarmed combatants, whether his defeat be due to a disadvantage in skill, speed, reflexes, flexibility, or combinations thereof.
He is voiced by Toshihiko Seki in the Japanese anime and by Brad Swaile in English.[13]
Tatewaki Kuno (九能 帯刀 Kunō Tatewaki) is an upperclassman at Furinkan High School and the older brother of Kodachi Kuno. Hailing from a very wealthy family, he wields both his fortune and his sword with equal ease. He has a huge ego, creating the nickname "The Blue Thunder of Furinkan High," a moniker used by no one else, for himself. His ego is further apparent in that he is unable to conceive of Akane or female-form Ranma NOT being in love with him, and frequently assumes their actions are geared toward winning his affections. When speaking, he uses a regal tone and has a tendency to spout off Confucian philosophy (Shakespearesque poetry in the English version).
At the show's start, he has been madly in love with Akane for some time. After being defeated by Ranma in his female form, he also falls for the "Pigtailed Girl" as he calls her. After briefly wrestling with his competing desires, Tatewaki decides he wants to be with them both and, in keeping with his ego, assumes that they are so in love with him that they will accept this. Tatewaki never realizes that the Pigtailed Girl is really his mortal enemy in a female body, despite witnessing Ranma's transformation several times—he merely believes that Ranma has switched places with her in some manner. He once hears her called by Ranma's name, and attempts to write it down for future reference. Despite this, he never makes a connection and continues to refer to her as his "goddess in pigtails", or "the pigtailed girl" for the entire series. Akane's sister Nabiki often sells him photographs of "the pigtailed girl" in various states of undress. He also has a strong rivalry with Kodachi, who similarly has a crush on male Ranma (and much like her brother refuses to believe that Ranma and the pigtailed girl are the same person), often leading to confrontations between the siblings.
As captain of the kendo team, Tatewaki was the school's most powerful warrior (and greatest pervert) before Ranma's arrival. Despite constant defeats at Ranma's hands (and feet), he is always confident in his abilities, believing himself to be incapable of losing. Though he is initially no match for Ranma, after losing his memory for a time, he shows the potential to become far stronger. With his sword, he is very powerful, able to create "air pressure strikes" easily capable of destroying a stone pillar, and he later becomes able to spin rapidly, which creates a constant barrage of the strikes and makes his defense nearly impenetrable. He is weak while unarmed, so he carries several Bokken just in case one of them breaks. The cheerleader Mariko Konjo has a rather large crush on him, and calls Kuno her "first love".
He is voiced by Hirotaka Suzuoki in the Japanese anime but voiced by Kōji Tsujitani in the Ranma ½ OVA 13 and by Ted Cole in English.[14] In the Live Action Special, he is played by Kento Nagayama.
Kodachi Kuno (九能 小太刀 Kunō Kodachi) is the captain of the gymnastics team of the St. Bacchus School for Girls, who is referred to as "The Black Rose" (in Japanese, Kurobara no Kodachi), apparently due to her signature theatrical style of exiting a scene by leaving behind a swirling trail of black roses accompanied by high-octave laughter. She is an expert in Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics, making her skilled in acrobatics and the use of balls, clubs, hoops, ribbons, and ropes as weapons. She is very agile, and she is not averse to using unorthodox methods in combat such as rigged weapons, explosives and various poisons. She attacks other people prior to competitions in order to win by default, which she calls "fighting in all fairness before the match." She becomes enamored with Ranma after he saved her from a fall, and attempts to make him hers at any cost. She also hates Ranma's female form, believing "her" to be a rival for Ranma, while her brother Tatewaki hates the male form, which is a frequent source of conflict between them. She is a good cook who prepares elaborate meals, and she often uses culinary expertise to her advantage by placing poisons, toxins, serums, and other strange substances in her victims' food to attain something she wants from them.
She is voiced by Saeko Shimazu in the Japanese anime and by Teryl Rothery (Seasons 1-4), Erin Fitzgerald (Season 5), and Sylvia Zaradic (Seasons 6-7) in the English dub.[15]
Principal Kuno (九能 校長 Kunō-kōchō) is the Kuno siblings' long lost father and the principal at Akane and Ranma's school. He is obsessed with Hawaiian culture, and speaks with a Hawaiian accent. His disappearance and subsequent return is explained in the manga as being part of a study trip to learn the teaching methods used in America. On his return from Hawaii, his first action is to attempt to force standard haircuts on all students (buzz cuts for boys, bowl cuts for girls), which begins a rivalry between the Principal and Ranma Saotome. Principal Kuno is the only person to ever appear in Ranma 1/2 wearing a baseball uniform.
He is voiced by Tatsuyuki Jinnai in the Japanese anime and by Scott McNeil in English, who voices the character in the style of Sebastian from Disney's The Little Mermaid.[16]
Sasuke Sarugakure (猿隠 佐助 Sarugakure Sasuke) is the Kuno family's house ninja. Sasuke is a loyal servant and often tries to help Tatewaki defeat Ranma and steal Akane away from him. Despite his loyalty, Sasuke sometimes receives harsh treatment by Tatewaki. He has to live in poor conditions with minimal food and very little shelter or comforts.
Sasuke is exclusive to the anime, and takes over many of Hikaru Gosunkugi's parts before that character is introduced to the anime. He is voiced by Shigeru Chiba in Japanese and Robert O. Smith in English.
Ryoga Hibiki (響 良牙 Hibiki Ryōga) is Ranma's long time, primary rival, the only one the latter has stated to truly consider as such. He has no sense of direction and is always lost on long strenuous journeys - traits he inherited from his parents. This caused him to be four days late for a duel he and Ranma had planned to fight, and Ranma left on the third day. After spending months looking for male Ranma to have the belated duel, Ryoga finally ends up at Jusenkyo in China, but is pushed into a cursed spring by female Ranma (while chasing Genma and not looking where she was going). Ever since then Ryoga turns into a black piglet when doused with cold water, which makes his constant wanderings much more dangerous from hungry hunters and predators, and he initially carries a large grudge at Ranma for that once he learned the truth.
(For perspective, the traumatising Nekoken training that Ranma went through, never forgave and took plenty of revenge for after learning that he was stronger than his father, is a commonplace occurrence by Ryoga's standards.)
Ryoga is the first major challenge to Ranma in Nerima. Their first fight showcases their strengths, and it is a close match. Akane accidentally discovers Ryoga in cursed form, and not knowing the pig's true identity, adopts him as her pet and names him P-chan. She is the first person to show him real kindness, and Ryoga falls head-over-heels in love with her, and consistently acts as a fierce protector from both real and imagined threats, whether in normal or cursed form. She even takes him to bed with her, and generally beats him severely with her sleep-movements.
Ryoga accepts training from Cologne because he feels that he can use it to best Ranma, and win Akane's interest. Cologne is equally using Ryoga, hoping to remove Akane from the picture, which would in turn free Ranma to wed Shampoo. His training under Cologne makes Ryoga's body very durable. He toughens to the point that great impacts, such as being buried in a rockslide, or being struck with large boulders, cause no damage. Engaging Ranma for a second time, he forces Ranma to also rely on training from Cologne, used in an inventive manner, to counter his newly toughened constitution.
When not upset Ryoga is usually shy, humble, helpful, well-intended, and polite, especially around women. He tends to stock up on an assortments of gifts and local food specialties from the highly diverse locations where he ends up during his travels. Ryoga also has strong chivalrous streaks, and consistently protects any maidens in distress, or victims of bullies, monsters, or bandits that he comes across, and is overemotional enough to be brought to tears from compassion, including for Ranma. However, he also recurrently tends to be led more by impulse and emotions than common sense, is prone to anger and misunderstandings, and although he is generally more considerate and naive than Ranma, and needs considerably stronger reasons to turn petty and spiteful, when sufficiently pressed he has displayed a few rare more ruthless moments than his rival seems capable of.
Ryoga's grudge towards Ranma for causing his second curse eventually disappears, and is replaced with a mixture of romantic, as well as professional, rivalry. This morphs into something of a mutual respect in the later story arcs, and Ryoga comes to save Ranma's and/or Akane's lives more times than the reverse. However, he remains annoyed with Ranma for recurrently making fun of or manipulating him, and their mutual battle prowess competition will likely persist forever. In the late part of the series Ryoga's affection for Akane starts to shift towards the sumo-pig breeder Akari, who becomes his girlfriend.
Ryoga is one of the first characters to use Ki-projection as a means to combat Ranma. His ki attack is named the "Shi Shi Hokodan", or "Lion's Roar Shot", which in the anime is inconsistently displayed as either a green or red globe, alternately a beam, of energy. He taps into his reservoirs through the weight of feelings of depression, loneliness, frustration, pain, anger, hopelessness, and likely determination, to blasts an opponent with a vertical ray of pent up personal energy. Although Ranma does learn the same technique, his personality is much more suited to using emotions of confidence and arrogance. Ryoga further refines the technique, but the "Shin Shi Shi Hokodan" or complete form of the attack requires extreme levels of despair and projects Ki in a towering pillar, which then crashes down, pulverizing his opponent. Ryoga uses the final version of this technique while being strangled by Lime. His sorrow at the prospect of dying without being loved by Akane causes him to produce a powerful chi-attack that defeats Lime in a single strike, and causes the Musk dragon-prince Herb to wake up (due to the energy output) and feel awed by the display.
In terms of raw power, Ryoga seems to be a few times stronger than Ranma, as he has performed such feats as throwing a 400-tonne ice boulder across the length of an ice rink with a single arm (which, by comparing energy-output, would at least place him around the 20,000 tonnes "bench-press" area at this point in the series), unconsciously destroyed a 7m-diameter solid bedrockrock platform without trying (compared to female Ranma needing time to focus to split a 3m version with a full force strike), in the anime has hit Genma hard enough to cause a small earthquake across Nerima, was paired against Lime, the strongest of the Musk Dynasty, effortlessly threw male Ranma to the ground when the latter attempted to grapple (in the "new dojo student" anime episode), and on one occasion literally repeatedly handled female Ranma like a small baby, including toppling her to the ground and almost knocking her unconscious with a playful single finger tap (traditionally used to admonish small children). He has also demonstrated vastly greater chi-generation, considerably higher durability, and nearly comparable speed and skill. However, he has a clear disadvantage in terms of self-control, adaptability, underhanded strategy, and likely acrobatics.
Regardless, Ryoga has triumphed roughly twice as many times as the reverse if smaller and off-screen battles are included, but usually loses the final round of "event"-themed confrontations through superior strategy or distractions. The two rivals remain a roughly even match throughout most of the series with greatest strengths in different areas. Near the end, the author spoofs their relationship by turning them into two constantly feuding and in sum total completely evenly matched children.
Beyond exceptional self-trained skill, physical abilities, and chi-blasts, Ryoga is able to cause inert matter to explode with the touch of a finger, and, similarly to Kodachi, can cause textiles to easily cut through steel, and manifest a much larger amount of throwing-bandanas than he is able to carry through natural means. He also possesses a strong version of the "warning sense" that allows the martial artists to sense presence/auras, and incoming danger (or in Akane's case occasional premonitions).
By the end of the series Ryoga spends his time wandering through the wilderness, attempting to find, and go on innocent dates with, his pig-breeding girlfriend, while striving to get over his old crush on Akane, and as usual, likely training and amassing new techniques to exceed Ranma — if he can ever find his friend and nemesis.
Ryoga is voiced by Kōichi Yamadera in the Japanese anime and by Michael Donovan in English.[17]
Ukyo Kuonji (久遠寺 右京 Kuonji Ukyō) an okonomiyaki chef and a childhood friend of Ranma. Ten years before prior to the manga's beginning, he met her during a training voyage to the country with Genma. Her father proposed an arranged marriage to Ranma, who was unaware that she was a girl, with his okonomiyaki cart acting as the dowry, to which Genma agreed. But when an oblivious Ranma said he liked okonomiyaki more than Ukyo, Genma stole the cart, breaking the engagement and leaving her behind. Shamed and ridiculed by her peers for not being feminine enough to keep her fiance, she gave up her femininity decided she wouldn't like boys. She dressed and lived as one, even attending an all-boys school at one point. During this time, she devoted herself to okonomiyaki-style martial arts to prepare to exact revenge on the Saotomes.
She later resurfaces at Ranma's school, and after a heated battle, he discovers her true gender. He calls her "cute", and she learns that he does not seem to get along with his "uncute" fiancée Akane. As a result, she reconciles with Ranma and attempts to reestablish their engagement. She calls him "Ran-chan" (occasionally dubbed as "Ranma-honey" in the English version), while he calls her "Ucchan". Ranma still treats her only as an old friend, but unlike those of his other suitors, her plots to win him over have been mostly non-violent. Despite this, she can turn underhanded and occasionally ambushes those she believes to be her romantic rivals. She has been willing to give up her house and restaurant, or rescind her craft for Ranma's sake, if it would mean that they could be together.
Ukyo's style of fighting is a legacy style from her father based on their food preparation, and reminiscent of ninja patterns. She uses food-based techniques to stun, restrain or confuse opponents, as well as a chi-infused "batter dragon", which fuses her techniques into one. She also uses a large spatula as a two handed weapon and has a bandolier of smaller spatulas she uses as projectiles. She is strong, swift, skilled, agile, and has a versatile range of attacks. As a combatant, Ukyo has been shown to be exactly equal to Shampoo in terms of ability. Shampoo appears to have a stronger offense, while Ukyo has a stronger defense, which has enabled her to stall Ranma or Ryoga for longer than her rival. Ukyo also has more and stronger special attacks, whereas Shampoo is more devious and can use various mind-control techniques.
She is voiced by Hiromi Tsuru in the Japanese anime and by Kelly Sheridan in English.[18]
Happosai (八宝斎 Happōsai) is the founder and grandmaster of Musabetsu Kakutō Ryū (無差別格闘流, School of Indiscriminate Grappling). He often alternates comically between his role as an evil grandmaster and a more playful role as a sexual pervert. As a very hedonistic short, old man, he openly makes perverse activities his proud hobbies (much to the shame of his own disciples), committing indecencies willfully such as groping women, peeping at women bathing or undressing, and stealing lingerie (he is often found carrying a big sack of lingerie leaping from house to house). He goes into withdrawals if he is unable to participate in such activities, which causes him to almost die at one point. He attempts to model himself as former ladykiller, but in reality, he was turned down by every woman in the Amazon village, including Cologne, during his youth. He is very sadistic and vengeful, using his two students, Genma and Soun, as slaves and attempting to cripple Ranma for life by taking away his strength. Nevertheless, considering that both Soun and Genma have shown themselves to be powerful Martial Artists, have displayed abilities similar to Happosai, coupled with that their master returned to the Tendo Dojo to train either of them as an official heir to his school, this implies that Happosai did afford Soun and Genma at least some advanced training (though evidently nowhere near enough to outweigh all the injustices he dealt them).
Despite his small stature and age, Happosai is arguably the, by far, most powerful known martial artist in the entire series. Even without employing special techniques, he is able to effortlessly defeat Ranma, Ryoga, Genma and Soun combined within seconds, or overpower Taro's monster form with a single finger. His defining and most often employed weapons are cannonball-like fuse bombs, ranging from regular to small house-sized, which he can seemingly instantly conjure out of nowhere when needed. He possesses knowledge in ancient martial arts techniques, near-forgotten pressure points on a human body, recipes for alchemical concoctions with various effects, and knowledge of many Chinese and Japanese magical artifacts. Other techniques include turning his body substance similar to air for invisibility, chi-blasts, momentum negation or redirection, and crippling fear generation. He has an enormously powerful large skyscraper-sized battle-aura (looking like a giant version of himself), which allows him to increase the scale of his fighting to great kaiju proportions for prolonged periods of time, and pushes him far out of the league of virtually any other character. Ranma and his fellow fighters have wisely optioned to simply stay out of sight and run for their lives on the rare occasion when the grandmaster has been in this mode. His main weaknesses are that he is seldom remotely serious and he is susceptible to sucker-attacks while he is distracted by lingerie and women.
Happosai is voiced by Ichirō Nagai in the Japanese anime and by Paul Dobson in English.[19]
Hinako Ninomiya (二ノ宮 ひな子 Ninomiya Hinako) is a teacher hired by Principal Kuno for the purpose of disciplining Furinkan High's many delinquent students, particularly Ranma. She has a reputation for being a very successful reformer, though her child-like body causes surprise. She was very sickly as a child. While she was in the hospital, Happosai rearranged her metabolism to allow her to absorb the auras of others to increase her health, though his reason for doing so was to allow him to escape enraged nurses, whose panties he had stolen, by having her absorb their auras. Her body ages much more slowly than other people due to the altered metabolism, so she still has the body of a child despite being an adult.
After absorbing a person's aura, her body becomes that of an adult, and she can then fire the energy back at her opponent, though she also returns to her actual form. The ability can be countered by pressing five specific pressure points, and it can be removed by doing so every day for a month, though the action makes the attacker look like a molester, as it forces them to grab her left breast, so Ranma gives up on the idea. While in her child form, she generally acts immature, and in her adult form, she acts as an elegant, somewhat vain adult woman, though either form always enjoys sweets, attractions, and video games, eats like a slob, and does not take care of her apartment.
Hinako is obsessed with enforcing discipline at Furinkan High, and she will do so at any moment if she feels someone is being a delinquent. Her primary target in this endeavor has been Ranma, whom she wishes to take care of so that everyone else will fall in line. Even so, her dedication to teaching also means she wants him to succeed in her classes, and has made an effort to help him with his studies. She is in love with Soun Tendo, and, despite his rejection, is always in pursuit to marry him.
She is voiced by Yumi Tōma in the Japanese anime, and by Janyse Jaud in English.[20] Hinako's only anime appearances, however, have been in one episode of the 1990s OVA series and in the 2008 Nightmare! Incense of Spring Sleep OVA.
Hikaru Gosunkugi (五寸釘 光 Gosunkugi Hikaru) is an unpopular student in Akane and Ranma's class. He is desperately in love with Akane, and tries to get rid of Ranma by using extraordinary items, or his non-existent voodoo abilities. Hikaru has a much larger part in the manga than in the anime, where he does not appear until the sixth season. The character of Sasuke Sarugakure, the Kuno family ninja, was invented to take most of the parts that Hikaru originally performed. He is voiced by Issei Futamata in the Japanese anime and by Michael Benyaer in English.[21] In the Live Action Special, he is played by Yuta Kanai.
Dr. Tofu Ono (小乃東風 Ono Tōfū) is a chiropractor who runs a moxibustion and acupuncture clinic in Nerima. His office is located near the Tendo dojo. He has known their family for a long time. In addition to his medical skills, he is very knowledgeable about martial arts techniques. He uses his knowledge of pressure points and other medicine to help Ranma and the others. He is hopelessly in love with Kasumi. Whenever he sees her, his glasses fog up and he becomes nervous, losing the ability to focus on what he is doing, which can prove dangerous for any patient he may be treating at the moment. Kasumi is completely oblivious to the effect she has on him, dismissing any of his unusual actions, presumably because she has never seen him act differently. In a similar manner, Dr. Tofu was unaware of the crush Akane had on him at the series' beginning; he was the reason she grew her hair long. She gave up on him after her hair was cut short in a freak accident. For a time, he employed both Genma and Shampoo as assistants.
He is voiced by Yūji Mitsuya in the Japanese anime and by Ian Corlett (Seasons 1-5) and Kirby Morrow (Seasons 6-7) in English.[22] In the Live Action Special, he is played by Shōsuke Tanihara.
Konatsu (小夏 Konatsu) is a male ninja raised as a female kunoichi, and in this respect is described as a genius that is born only once every one hundred years. He was raised by his cruel stepmother and stepsisters, who treated him like a slave after the death of his father. Like Ukyo's other suitor Tsubasa Kurenai, his face and body are indistinguishable from a female when fully clothed. He generally wears female battle attire and casual clothing, speaks and acts like humble and subservient Japanese woman, and he is generally quite shy. He has feelings for Ukyo Kuonji, though they go unanswered, and he is often happy to dress in male clothing to help attract customers to her restaurant, though the outfits are generally overly decorated.
He uses trickery and traps in battle, and often utilizes shuriken, smoke bombs, in his hands lethal (cheap) paper swords, a whirlwind of paper bills, and the "Duplicating Body Technique", which allows him to create up to four doubles, though he has not used it in battle. When Konatsu is fighting full force he is more than Ranma can handle while holding back in the no-damage manner used to incapacitate most female fighters, but he does not appear to be as formidable as Ranma, Ryoga, Ryu, or Mousse when they are trying hard. Konatsu does not appear in the anime version.
Akari Unryu (雲竜 あかり Unryū Akari) comes from a long line of trainers who raise and train pigs for sumo-type fighting. Akari loves pigs, and their potential strength as warriors. Her favorite, Katsunishiki, is one of the best in the country and her grandfather states that only someone who can defeat it in battle is worthy to marry Akari. Ryoga defeats it, which causes Akari to fall in love with him, and she falls for him even more after finding out that he his curse transforms him into a small pig. She attempts to learn to hate pigs to appease him, but she is unable to do so. She understands his poor sense of direction and provides him with a map to his destination before their dates.
Tsubasa Kurenai (紅 つばさ Kurenai Tsubasa) is a master of disguise, who often dresses up as various inanimate objects or plants. He also constantly dresses up like a girl and has a feminine personality to match, which causes confusion to anyone he meets. He has been in love with Ukyo Kuonji since they went to school together, and is thus jealous of Ranma, who he believes to have stolen Ukyo. He later attempts to date Ranma's female form, but Ranma, thinking Tsubasa to be female, attempts to set him up with his male form because he feels sorry for Tsubasa. Ranma eventually learns that Tsubasa is a male, which leads to violence. Tsubasa is not a trained martial artist, but he has proven to possess strength ample enough to roughhouse Ranma, and he can still cause trouble with his ridiculous tactics and unpredictability. He most commonly disguises himself as a mailbox, but also often poses as Ucchan's Okonomiyaki sign in order to watch Ukyo, a tree, a trash can, a barrel, and various other objects. He is voiced by Eiko Yamada in the anime adaptation, Saffron Henderson and Kathleen Barr in English.
Azusa Shiratori (白鳥 あずさ Shiratori Azusa) and Mikado Sanzenin (三千院 帝 Sanzenin Mikado) are a pair of martial-arts-ice-skaters known as The Golden Pair. Azusa is very immature. Often, when she finds cute things, she gives them equally cute names and takes them home, even if they clearly do not belong to her. She meets any person attempting to stop her from doing so with violence. Mikado, her partner and classic playboy, in particular is often to target of her assaults with blunt objects.
Azusa comes into conflict with Akane by apprehending the latter's pet piglet P-chan, and renaming it to "Charlotte". When Akane wants it back, Azusa challenges her to a match to determine the rightful owner. Mikado earnes a corresponding challenge from Ranma by trying to steal a kiss from Akane's lips, and later earnes his full fury, by kissing Ranma's female form. Despite Ranma's lack of skating skill, Mikado is narrowly bested in personal combat during a fight on skates. The official showdown, called the Charlotte Cup, turnes into a long, hard, three-way battle between The Golden Pair and their frequently distracted and shifting opponents Ranma, Akane and Ryoga.
In the manga, they only appear once, but they have a cameo appearance in the first movie. And Azusa has an additional appearance in an episode of the TV series. There she takes Tatewaki and Sasuke as two of her cute playthings.
Azusa is voiced by Naoko Matsui in Japanese and Cathy Weseluck (also the voice actress for Shampoo) in English; Mikado's voice actors are Kazuhiko Inoue (Japanese) and Ian James Corlett (English).
Ryu Kumon (公紋 竜 Kumon Ryu) is a wandering martial artist and master of the Yamasenken. When he was 6 years old, he and his father were a very poor family that owned the shoddy Kumon Dojo. One day Ryu's father had an encounter with Genma Saotome. After Genma found out about the Kumons' financial problems, he gave Ryu's father a scroll containing the techniques of the deadly secret art of Yamasenken, a.k.a. Fist of One Thousand Mountains. This led Ryu's father to believe he could use the Yamasenken to restore his dojo, but when he practiced its attacks indoors he ended up destroying the building, causing it to fall on top of him which led to his death. With his last moments of life, he gave Ryu the scroll and told him to find the scroll containing the companion Umisenken. Since then Ryu has traveled alone without any family or friends which led to his harsh and untrusting nature.
Ten years later, he comes across Genma's wife Nodoka, when saving her from a rampaging bear, she tells him that he is her long lost son, Ranma, since the scroll he is carrying has Ranma's name written on it. While somewhat surprised by his coincidental good fortune in encountering the wife of Genma, Ryu immediately takes the opportunity to play along, in order to find the Umisenken scroll, and takes up residence within her house. Ranma discovers that Ryu is misleading his mother, and after being beaten and threatened to be exposed if he interfered, decides to learn the stealthy Umisenken technique from his father, which is developed as a direct counter to the brutal and powerful Yamasenken. Once Ranma mastered the Umisenken, he finally managed to defeat Ryu after a harsh and difficult battle. He is voiced by Mitsuru Miyamoto.
Shinnosuke (真之介 Shinnosuke) and his Grandfather both live in the forest of Ryugenzawa, where they protect the local villagers from the giant animals that they once kept as pets. Years ago when Akane was vacationing with her family in Ryugenzawa, she got lost in the forest and was attacked by a giant platypus. However she was saved by Shinnosuke. Some time later,when Shinnosuke was near death after being scratched by the platypus's venomous claws, his grandfather took some of the Water of Life and fed it to Shinnosuke. Shinnosuke survived, but developed a dependency on the Water of Life.
Years later, in the present, Akane once again hears about the forest of Ryugenzawa in a television advertisement asking for help in combating the increasing numbers of monsters and remembers Shinnosuke saving her. In an attempt to pay back Shinnosuke, Akane travels to Ryugenzawa to find him. In the process, Akane is attacked by a giant creature, and is saved, just like when she was young, by Shinnosuke, who still bears the marks on his back. Although he is now very forgetful, Shinnosuke invites Akane to stay with him and his grandfather. Akane later cures Shinnosuke of his dependancy on the water of life by applying a special moss to his back. Shinnosuke is voiced by Takeshi Kusao in the Japanese anime and Jason Gray-Stanford in English. He later develops a crush on Akane.
Mariko Konjo (今条 マリ子 Konjo Mariko) is the captain of the Seisyun High School cheerleading team. They assault opposing teams by throwing their cheerleading materials. She instantly develops feelings for Kuno after he lands on her, and she believes that Ranma is trying to steal him away. She often speaks in rhymes or spells out words in normal conversation. Mariko uses "Martial Arts Cheerleading", which is meant to interfere with other teams, and make her team feel invincible.
Like several other characters virtually everything Mariko does is a gag or parody, in her case with Valley Girl speak and cheerleading motifs. She creates various extravagant displays with the theme of "love" in the name, such as Love Confession Pom-Pom Fireworks, Love Boomerang an Innocent Girl Love Letter Blast, but also has surprisingly efficient oddball special attacks and fighting-skills.
She uses her cheerleading tools to attack opponents, such as using batons as bludgeons, or throwing them with incredible stealth and accuracy, to knock out an opposing team without notice, whether directly or through ricochets. She also has a version that can extend to many times its original length. Other attacks include multiple shredding 'razor-pom-poms', and strong (miniskirt-wearing) flying kicks. She proved to be a stronger opponent than either Shampoo or Ukyo, and actually managed to momentarily defeat Ranma with a unexpected staff strike to the jugular. She is voiced by Yuko Kobayashi in the anime adaptation, and by Jocelyn Loewen in English.
Pantyhose Taro (パンスト太郎 Pansuto-Tarō) is portrayed as a Villain and a young martial artist, who is born in Jusenkyo. Happosai helps his mother with the birth, and accidentally bathes him in the most accursed spring in the area, and because of the customs of the village, Happosai also names him. His cursed form is a chimera resembling either a stereotypical demon or minotaur, with small crane wings which allow him to fly great distances despite his enormous size, and an eel sticking out of his lower back which works as a second set of eyes for Taro during combat. He later integrates an octopus curse to gain a set of tentacles, as well as an ink-blast, which he uses to constrict or confuse his enemies. While others hate their cursed forms, he takes pride in the form's strength and durability in battle, which both considerably exceed that of Ranma himself. However, Taro intensely despises and feels ashamed of his name, wishing to take the name "Awesome Taro", or something similarly impressive-sounding, but the only way to change it by local custom is to have Happosai agree, although he refuses unless it is something other lingerie-related.
Taro is sadistic, ruthless, and power-hungry. He's completely dishonorable and finds it amusing to repeatedly cheat and betray during confrontations, but will help beautiful women who are in trouble. He's not used to being helped, and generally gives disdainful insults as thanks for offered aid. Taro is especially intolerant of Ranma, whom he hates because Ranma calls him "Pantyhose-guy", and tends to call him "faggot/okama", "crossdressing/transgender freak", or similar derogatory epitets. Perhaps to remind himself of the shame his moniker brings, he wears a pair of pantyhose around his waist like a belt. He has also stated a goal to "take over the world", but seems very clueless in this endeavor.
In human form Taro had a certain disadvantage to Ranma during their first confrontation, but his similar tendency to provoke and fight dirty enabled him to gain an edge during their second fight. However, he has not displayed any repertoire of special techniques, has recently been more interested in finding ways to enhance his cursed form than training to increase his skill, and does not appear to be as cunning as a chimaera. He is voiced by Shinnosuke Furumoto in the Japanese anime and by Matt Hill in English.
The Jusenkyo Guide is a tourist guide at the training ground of cursed springs at Jusenkyo. He usually warns anyone that comes there that they should not train there or they will fall under a grave curse but never actually interferes with their decisions. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of the hundreds of pools throughout the area, knowing their names, when they became cursed, and the "tragic story" behind each of them. He is also in charge of the guest registry that Pantyhose Taro later uses to track down all the victims of the Jusenkyo curses. He is always very helpful to anyone who visits and tries to offer whatever help he can. Unfortunately, he is not very efficacious, and usually informs the unfortunate cursed victim too late about the curse that has fallen on them. Despite his efforts, nearly every character who comes to the springs ends up cursed. The Guide is also an expert on the local area, being knowledgeable about the Chinese Amazons and their customs. The Guide has a young daughter named Plum. He also mentioned having a wife, but she is never seen. He is voiced by Kōichi Yamadera in the Japanese anime and by Ian James Corlett (Seasons 1-5) and Michael Donovan (Seasons 6-7) in English.[23]
Rouge is a girl from Shanghai, China, who holds a grudge against Pantyhose Taro for stealing the "source of her power." She is presented as generally "overfeminine", being vain, shy, melodramatic, sensitive to the point of easily fainting when mentally exhausted, and fond of superstitions, such as astrology and blood groups. However, she is also violently vengeful when upset, and mostly disregards any damage she causes as a "bad omen".
She is able to transform into an Asura, which grants her six arms, three faces with independent minds, and great strength. In this state her personality is rather turned "overmasculine", loving to eat, fight, blow things up, and apparently possessing few other interests.
The "Asura" form can create lightning storms, or small flaming rocks from her hands, sheathe her body in protective fire, and manifest a turbulent revolving inferno (literal "fire storm"), as well as emit a blinding flash of light. She is susceptible to physical attacks, and her mind is split in three parts that recurrently have different ideas of what to do, but her tendency to hover far away and attack from a distance makes her a difficult opponent. She later learns that her "power sources" are actually magnetic disks used to prevent stiffening in one's back, which is a problem for her cursed form.
Herb (ハーブ Hābu) is a member of the Musk Dynasty, an ancient community of Chinese martial arts devoted to transforming animals into humans using a cursed spring and breeding with them in order to produce heirs with bolstered genetic fighting potential. Herb is part of the royal line, which is descended from dragons, granting him chi-mastery. He is raised without female contact, as is every other male, and before being married, he attempts to use a spring to familiarize himself with women by transforming a monkey. Distracted by breasts, he accidentally falls into the spring and becomes trapped in a female form. He and his two servants, Mint and Lime, attempt to find an artifact to reverse the effect. Herb is callous, sadistic, and irate, showing little respect for the worth of anyone beyond himself. Due to his experience with the monkey that cursed him, Herb possesses an irrational hatred towards female breasts, and he is easily distracted and enraged by the sight of them.
Herb is an immensely skilled and ruthless martial artist, who consistently outmatched Ranma in direct combat. He believes himself to be a complete master of manipulating chi, though he is easily surprised by unknown attacks. He has the ability to fly, use supersonic strikes, multiple flexible chi blasts, a sword made from chi, and flying blades of chi, as well as the Amazon Hiryu Shoten Ha techique, which uses the power of an opponent to fuel a tornado. He is voiced by Katsuaki Arima.
Herb's two main, fearsome and bloodthirsty, but gullible and inexperienced, bodyguards are named Lime (Rimu) and Mint (Minte). Lime is of the tiger-clan, a massive master warrior dressed in animal skins, and the physically strongest and most durable character in the series, dwarfing even Ryoga in these areas, with an upper maximum of over 100,000 tonnes. Mint looks like a short young man, but is part wolf, wears the skin of one over his head, is a master swordsman, and the swiftest character in the series, more than a match for Mousse even when the latter goes all out, and utilises a limited number of throwing knives, but is easily distracted. However, although physically superior to Herb they have not displayed any special techniques.
Saffron is a humanoid phoenix, ruling over a tribe of bird-human hybrids transformed from the waters of the cursed springs. He attempts to use the waters to become an adult and provide heat and light for his people, but the process strangles the flow of the springs, which means that others cursed by the springs have no means to cure themselves. He is selfish and territorial, and only cares for his own people. He tends to be cold and condescending even towards those who treat him with kindness and loyalty.
Saffron has mastery over fire, allowing him to use a number of attacks related to it, up to a gigantic fireball capable of vaporising several mountaintops in its path, making it the most powerful attack in the series. Saffron is able to fly, and is skilled with the Kinjakan, an ancient weapon of his people. He can rapidly heal missing limbs, and he is reborn as an infant after violent deaths, but can be beaten unconscious by severe blunt impacts, and his physical defenses are very low due to being pampered since birth.
Saffron's main servants, beyond his chamberlain, are Kiima, Koruma, and Masala (like himself given pun names sounding identical to spices or spicy dishes, similar to the Musk being named after herbs, and other rural Chinese from female beauty accessories).
Kiima is part seabird, the loyal, crafty, proud, haughty, and petty captain of his guard, as well as an expert swordswoman, spy, and seductress. She is capable of flight; using an extremely lethal, mystically enforced metal-slicing, multiple "razor-feather" discharge; communicating with birds or commanding large throngs to perform complex tasks across continents, such as information-gathering, retrievals, or abductions; using surikomi/imprinting eggs to ambush, brainwash, and enslave opponents to turn on their own; or various Jusenkyo water to transform into female human disguises. Her latest being a copy of Akane Tendo. Her weaknesses are that she has limited unarmed combat skills, turns human from cold water, and cannot fly in times of rain. Shampoo intensely hates her due to the humiliation of enslavement.
Koruma and Masala are Kiima's loyal, dedicated, and easily impressed part crow young bodyguards and handymen. They are stronger and apparently much more dangerous hand-to-hand fighters than herself, are similarly capable of flight as long as they avoid cold water, and can use weaker versions of her feather attack, but are easily confused and dependent on her guidance. Kiima enjoys keeping them around for flattery.
Writing for Anime News Network (ANN), Bamboo Dong compliments Takahashi's character designs as being "easily recognizable", but laments that "everyone looks largely the same", with polar facial expressions and eyebrows, which "seem to always be in a state of unnatural anguish", while "the different age groups are lumped under the same stature and facial types."[24] Also writing for ANN, Carlo Santos disagrees, praising the series' "iconic character designs" for their "great facial expressions" and "distinctive features", which "always make it easy to tell who's who".[25] In an interview with Justin Sevakis for ANN, Anna Exter, a professional anime translator, said that, when she was first introduced to anime, she found the series' characters were "absolutely the cutest things" that she "had ever seen".[26] Writing for THEM Anime Reviews, Raphael See praises the cast of the anime series' first season, saying that they are both "hilarious" and "cute" and that they "help make the series more than just another teenage sitcom".[27]
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