This episode begins with the homoerotic dreams of Ranma, in which Kuno appears confessing his love to male Ranma in the dojo, in the bath, and finally in the pool where Kuno first laid eyes on the pigtailed girl. It is here, in the pool where Ranma uselessly screams, “I’m a guy!” only to look down and find himself changed into girl form as naked Kuno’s swim around him repeating, “I want to date with you”. These dreams bring out Ranma’s anxieties of losing his male self to his girl half, as his female half takes on its own identity in the eyes of the students at Furinkan High. Waking up in this frustration, Ranma, as usual, begins to fight with his father Satome. During these fights, they always inevitably splash each other with cold water, in what seems like an effort to ridicule and demasculinize each other. Tendo, annoyed with their constant bickering, attempts to break them up, accidently grabbing Ranma’s breast in the process to his and Ranma’s humiliation, scandalizing his daughters. Unlike the other female characters, Ranma’s lady parts are in almost every episode either exposed or grabbed. Sometimes, Ranma responds with the modesty and shame of a girl, yet sometimes, being unaffected by the male gaze and consequently restraints of nudity as a man, does not even realize when he is exposed. However, because he is generally considered as a man, his mishaps are seen as humorous, yet had the female characters been so often objectified, the tone would drastically change. Eventually, we are diverted back to Kuno, as he lies in the nurse’s office with Nubiki at his side. Kuno like Ranma in the beginning of the episode, is shown dreaming of Ranma. Talking in his sleep, he switches back in forth confessing his love for the pigtailed girl and Akane. It is this scene where the wheels in Nubiki’s head start to move, as she realizes the potential of Kuno’ lechery. Sneaking into Ranma’s room, she splashes him with cold water and takes incriminating pictures of him, then sneakily takes pictures of Akane while she works out. As Kuno’s only connection to the pig-tailed girl, Kuno contacts Nubiki by letter and arranges to meet with her at the local diner. Finding Kuno with a little blonde dolly, Nubiki is asked to hand deliver it to the pigtailed girl, to which Nubiki (at Ranma’s expense) replies that the quickest way to get the doll in the hands of the pigtailed girl is to give it to Ranma. However, this is not before she weasels an appetizer, meal, and dessert out of Kuno, and sells off the incriminating pictures for a thousand yen apiece. It is in this episode where Nubikis character is first revealed as the quintessential “man eater” who, combined with her cunning and knowledge of men’s weaknesses, can manipulate any situation to her advantage. Although Nubiki’s plots are almost always discovered, she never faces any consequences for her actions, always making off with a profit. This situation is no different, as Ranma again duels Kuno, the pictures of him and Akane flying all around them, Ranma instantly knowing the culprit. Although Ranma’s pictures are much more incriminating then Akanes (him being half dressed in most of them) Akane is much more upset, to which Ranma responds, “You better start working on making yourself half as sexy as me, or you’ll never find a husband!” an insult that will linger in Akane’s mind for the next two episodes.
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