Final Reflection

Collectively, all of these episodes question identity and the consistencies of categorization that make it increasingly harder to live outside of the conventional roles of society. The first episode, as the title indicates, immediately introduces Chinese influence as the driving force behind the chaos at the Tendo residence, and the overall theme of otherness that takes shape both through the curse, and through the character of Shampoo. As Soun Tendo points out at the end of the fifteenth episode, since the Satome's arrival there is never a dull moment in the Tendo household,their curse being the cause of many adventures to come. Shampoo is the first character to follow Ranma from China as a result of this curse, and as such, she represents what is foreign, operating by a different culture's codes throughout the series. This image of what is foreign is often a subject of mystery and intrigue, as seen not only in the news brief which depicts China as wild and filled with secrecy, but also in Shampoos abnormal customs, artifacts, and techniques, which bring nothing but chaos to the Tendo household. In addition to the stigmas that surround what is foreign, Ranma, Kuno, and the three Tendo girls extreme characters all give insight into what it means to be male and inversely what it means to be female. Femininity is embodied throughout the series by Kasumi, who is skilled domestically, being a fantastic cook and caregiver, while also being indiscriminately sweet, and soft spoken. Throughout the series, Ranma’s many suitors, including Akane, and Shampoo, will compete for Ranma’s affections through challenges that test these domestic skills that Kasumi has mastered. Nubiki, on the other hand, operates outside of this old fashioned view of femininity, exemplifying today’s modern women through her assertive, independent, and resourceful attitude. Manliness however, is defined by strength, bravery, and arrogance, all characteristics, which Ranma and Akane share. These same traits however, are condemned for Akane and his female half, who are ridiculed for being manly, while they are praised when Ranma is in male form. Kuno, although clearly influenced by these conventions, is demasculinized and generally seen as a buffoon, unable to back his arrogance up with merit as Ranma always defeats him effortlessly. In addition, despite his lofty and superior way of quoting men of integrity, his actions contradict the famous lines he quotes, his behavior being lecherous, and nonsensical as his vanity keeps him in a constant state of ignorance. However, although Ranma is the quintessential male and hero of the series, ironically he is the one who is cursed to periodically take the shape of the opposite sex, proving that gender has taken form outside of the physicality of genitalia, but through the characteristics that we as individuals are able to manipulate. Overall, Ranma 1/2 shows us that the changeable and impermanent characteristics that mold us in the course of our lives are what form the categories to which we succumb.

Episode 15: Enter Shampoo, the Gung-Ho Girl! I put my Life in your Hands!

Our team has found a tribe of Amazon women in China's interior...
Beginning with a news broadcast of a mystery found deep in the wilds of China, this episode revolves around the introduction of the series first Chinese character, Shampoo. As the news brief plays in the background, Ranma (while in girl form) and Akane converse on parfaits, Ranma confessing he’s always wanted to eat one. However, in the midst of Ranma explaining to Akane that men can’t be seen eating the girly desert, the beautiful Amazon Shampoo barges through the wall, intent on killing Ranma and nearly destroying the ice cream parlor in the process. Narrowly escaping her wrath, Ranma begins explaining himself to a confused Akane, flashing back to China where he first met Shampoo. Walking back from Jusenkyo, Ranma and his father are starving when they come across a large banquet of food, which is to be given to the winner of an Amazon battle tournament. As reason is overcome by appetite, they feast on Shampoo’s grand prize. In an effort to win the prize fair and square, Ranma battles with Shampoo for the title, quickly defeating the best of the Amazon tribe. Upon winning Ranma is presented with the kiss of death, finding out that the Amazons will not be defeated by outsiders without vengeance. And so- it becomes Shampoos mission to chase Ranma to the ends of the earth until she finally defeats him. After dodging Shampoo at the ice cream parlor, Ranma returns home luckily in male form, to find Shampoo sitting at the table with Kasumi having a pot of tea. However, spotting Akane, Shampoo attacks, rembering her association with female Ranma. Coming to Akane’s rescue, Ranma kicks Shampoo’s weapon out from her hands, it accidently landing smack dab on Shampoo’s head, knocking her out. When Shampoo comes to, Ranma is convinced Shampoo will now be after his male half, when, in a comedic twist, Shampoo falls head over heals for him. In the same aggressive manner she showed to his female half, Shampoo instantly goes right in for a kiss, referring to Ranma as “wo da airen” or my beloved husband in Chinese. To this, an embarrassed and confused Ranma is completely taken aback, while an enraged and jealous Akane throws Shampoos weapon at Ranma knocking him out. Eventually, Shampoo hands the Tendo’s a copy of Amazon law, which states that if a man should defeat an Amazon, she must marry him. The rest of this episode is complete pandemonium, as Shampoo alternates between wanting to kill Ranma, and just wanting him. Ranma attempts to coax Shampoo out of this disposition, stating, "That Amazon stuff is okay when your in China, but this is Japan, forget about that kill the girls and marry the guys rule." Between a jealous Akane, who splashes Ranma with cold water whenever she sees him coincidentally in an incriminating position with shampoo, and the conniving Nubiki, who splashes Ranma with cold water only to sell him hot water, Ranma spends the rest of the episode running from girls. Just as in the first episode, the new stranger from China brings chaos to the Tendo household, bringing with her not only the odd traditions of the Amazons, but mysterious memory loosing potions, ghost cats, and several other magical products throughout the series. Unlike the Tendo girls, Shampoos character is sexually aggressive, scantily clad, and overtly ethnic, speaking in a mix of Chinese and broken Japanese. Despite the fact that Ranma himself is succumbing to tradition in his arranged marriage with Akane, this episode seems to point out that what is different is distinguished by what is foreign.

Episode 6: “Akane’s Lost Love… These Things Happen, You know”

In a nutshell, this episode is about Akane’s unrequited love for Dr. Tofu, a family physician who is madly in love with her oldest sister Kasumi. However, as rejection often does, heartbreak leads to inner reflection for Akane, as she futilely tries to connect the person she is with who conventions tell her she should be as a woman, always falling short of Kasumi. The episode takes off with Akane and Ranma sitting in Dr. Tofu’s office as a result of Ranma taking a softball to the face, compliments of Akane. Unknowingly making a crack that Ranma’s injury looks like Akane’s work, Akane instantly starts defending her self, thoroughly ashamed of the strength that makes her a formidable opponent on the battlefield but less then successful when it comes to love. Before we know it, Ranma and Akane are at each other throats, both throwing out their usual quips. However, in front of Dr. Tofu, Akane is hurt more then usual when Ranma accuses her of being an aggressive tomboy. In the midst of their fight, Kasumi walks in, and like a typical mother, comes with a plate of candies. Seeing the usually collected Dr. Tofu stumble in Kasumi’s presence, Akane leaves the office completely defeated. Ranma noticing Akane’s reaction follows her, finding her near a pond, where she is sadly skipping pebbles. The pebbles become increasingly bigger until she is throwing huge boulders in a scene that serves both to indicate her bizarre strength and distinguish her even further from the delicate Kasumi. Eventually cheering up Akane, (although not without a punch to the face) Ranma is treated by Akane to lunch. However, as Akane eats burger after burger, Ranma, in his immature manner teases Akane for her big appetite, to which a hurt Akane confesses, “So I’m not all dainty and delicate like Kasumi,” for the first time acknowledging that she is not conventionally feminine like her sister. Preceded by a flashback of Akane at Dr. Tofu’s office, where Dr. Tofu asserts, “Akane if you put all your time into practicing kenpo you'll never have the time to get married,” it is made clear that Akane, despite her tough exterior, is insecure about her tomboyish demeanor. Unlike Ranma, whose devotion to martial arts is not only respected but essential to carry on The Anything Goes School of Martial Arts, Akane’s devotion seems to always put her femininity and consequently her ability to attract the opposite sex in question. In a following episode, entitled "True Confessions, a Girls Hair is her Life!" Akane gets mixed up in one of Ranma's fights, resulting in her long hair being cropped short. After the initial shock, Akane reveals that she only grew her hair long so that she can be like Kasumi, in the hopes that this would gain Dr. Tofu's affection. However, with the aid and immaturity of Ranma to keep her distracted, Akane inevitably gets over these insecurities, the cutting of her hair symbolizing her acceptance of her differences.

Episode 4: "Ranma and... Ranma? If It's Not One Thing, It's Another"

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.

Episode 3: "A Sudden Storm of Love"

This episode revolves around upperclassman Tatewaki Kuno, or as he likes to refer to himself, "The Blue Thunder of Furinkan High,” a highly delusional and egotistical character who is prone to spouting off Shakespeare at any given moment. Like many of the other young men at Furinkan High, Kuno is smitten with Akane, and declares that whoever wishes to take the worthy competitor out on a date would have to first defeat her in battle, consequently leading to Akane’s constant struggle to get to class on time as she battle’s with half of the men at Furinkan High every morning before school. However, upon the knowledge of Ranma’s engagement to his beloved, Kuno comes barging down the hallway after Ranma, who like Kuno and Akane, was kicked out of class and standing out in the hallway with a bucket of cold water as punishment. Narrowly managing to maneuver around the spilling buckets of water, Ranma leads the way outside for the fight. Taking a shortcut through an open window on the third floor, Ranma is shocked to find he is falling straight into a pool, and as far as he knows, straight to his mortification as everyone discovers his secret. Trying to remain under the water and out of sight, he is accosted by Kuno, who unknowingly reaches for Ranma and grabs his very female chest. A violated and now enraged Ranma responds by knocking out Kuno and flies out of the pool, heading straight for the cover of trees. Interestingly enough, although Ranma has only been a woman for a short period of time, he is still shamed by Kuno grabbing his chest, knowing the sexual connotations of such an act, even as an accident. Luckily, Akane comes to Ranma’s rescue throwing Ranma a kettle of hot water, as she tries to distract Kuno by challenging to him to a duel. In a funny twist of events, a kick from Akane sends Kuno straight into the tree, where Ranma sits in girl form pantsless. Although Ranma is under the impression Kuno has discovered his secret, he soon finds the very dense Kuno is completely in the dark, assuming Ranma has ran away leaving a women in his place. Upon seeing the strange pigtailed girl from the pool, Kuno audaciously exclaims, “Have you seen a strange man with a pigtail, cowards die so many more times before their deaths, no doubt he feared my prowess, THAT MAN IS NO MAN! HE IS NOT A MAN!" Ironically, Kuno has no idea of the literal nature of his assertion as he questions the transformed Ranma on his own whereabouts. Unbeknownst to Kuno the extent of his rightness, Ranma’s physical transformations indeed render him periodically “not a man”, however, his declaration insinuates that there is more to a man then physicality, but that a man is only a man if he carries the correct virtues, as he states that Ranma’s cowardice is what removes his manhood. At this insult, Ranma completely forgets that he is in his transformed state, and jumps to fight and quickly conquer Kuno, being one of the many instances where Ranma shows he too believes in what it means to be “manly” which is characterized by violence and honor. Afterwards Kuno obsesses over the pigtailed girl who so easily defeated him, when Nubiki sensing an opportunity, lays across his desk and asserts she knows how to get a hold of the strange girl in Chinese dress. Sending Nubiki home with a letter addressed, “to the tree born kettle girl” Kuno proposes a meeting between Kuno and Ranma’s girl half before school. Ranma, in true hot head fashion shows up ready to fight, when Kuno in a surprising and gender bending moment throws Ranma a bouquet of flowers stating “I love you pigtailed girl”.

Episode 1: "The Strange Stranger from China"

The first episode entitled, “The Stranger from China,” sets up a few things, including the curse, the arranged marriage between Akane and Ranma, and the roles of our characters. Beginning the episode with a feud between a young redheaded girl and a cutesy panda, the viewer is introduced to the main characters in their sub-form, and it is not until the end of the episode that there true forms are revealed. Thus, when Ranma encounters the Tendo family for the first time, he is in girl form, setting Ranma up for an extremely awkward bathing scene with an unsuspecting Akane. Before this encounter however, the audience is given a preview of the personalities of each of Soun Tendo's daughters, each of them shown in the setting most suited to their personalities. Nubiki, who will be the most self absorbed and cunning character, is found in her room reading a magazine. Kasumi, the oldest and most responsible character, is found in the kitchen washing dishes, and finally Akane, the designated tomboy, is found in the dojo practicing her martial arts. In correspondence with these roles, when they are told by their father that one of them will be engaged to Ranma (whom they’ve never met) Kasumi submits, giving no opinion at all, Nubiki asks about her prospects, and Akane throws a fit. Yet, despite Akane's initial outrage, once she is under the opinion Ranma is a girl, she immediately befriends him. This friendship is short lived however, when, under the assumption Ranma is a girl, Akane walks in to join Ranma just as Ranma (in male form) is getting out of the bath. Infuriated, Akane and Ranma begin their love-hate relationship. However, upon the revelation that Ranma is indeed a boy, the sisters then nominate Akane as his fiancé, saying that since she hates boys and Ranma is only a man half the time, that they would be perfect for each other. This bath scene is particularly gender bending, as Ranma, a boy who suddenly finds himself periodically in the body of girl, is no stranger to a sixteen year old girl’s body, yet he is still struck cold upon seeing Akane’s naked figure. Furthermore, this isn’t the only time they will run into each other naked in this episode, however, the second time they are both girls, and as a result Nubiki deems this situation okay. Because of his changing form, whether or not to treat Ranma as a boy or a girl is often questioned in this way. This curse, which continually disrupts and confuses everyone who is involved with Ranma, is inflicted on a training journey in China, where Ranma and his father Genma fall into the cursed springs at Jusenkyo. Unknown to Ranma and his father, if a person is unlucky enough to fall into these springs, they take on the physical form of anything that has drowned there in the past. Ever after, whenever they come into contact with cold water they change into their new form and inversely, when in contact with hot water, they revert to their old selves, that is, until their next cold water exposure. Thus, Ranma takes the form of a woman when splashed with cold water, while Genma takes the form of a panda. These conversions immediately bring gender and nationality into the picture, Ranma literally gaining both a male and female identity, while his father takes on the identity of an animal that is only found in China. It seems Ranma and his father have been infiltrated by the Chinese, not only through the metamorphosis that happens at Jusenkyo and consequently the Chinese entourage that follows them back to Japan, but in culture, as both are clad in traditional Chinese dress. Inevitably, as the title suggests, they bring this Chinese influence into the Tendo household, who for the rest of the series will always be battling against the magical forces, such as Ranma’s curse, coming from China.

Before I begin...

Approaching Ranma 1/2 for the first time two years ago, I was both compelled and skeptical. The seemingly ridiculous plot of a cursed spring with the power to turn a 16 year old Japanese boy into an anamorphic redheaded girl had the potential to be either completely ludicrous, or just plain stereotypical. As it turns out, it was both. However, despite the absurdity of the plot, Ranma's very literal struggle with gender reflects the female sub characters internal struggles, who each represent different conventions of femininity. Now, as a viewer driven with the ongoing discourse of identity that we have been reflecting on in class, I will attempt to discover the underlying themes (whether or not intentional) not only with regards to gender, but nationality through the Japanese mindset, in this construction of both Chinese and Japanese identity.