Ranma ½ What if Akane was NOT Ranma's fiancÚe?

[Dumbledork]

I've yet again read a story where another Tendo girl becomes Ranma's fiancÚe and just like in most other similar stories Akane is constantly accusing Ranma of being a pervert and Akane's only mission seems to be to make sure Ranma does nothing perverted to her sisters.

Now I've been wondering. Would Akane really react like that? If Ranma didn't have to deal with her wouldn't she just mind her own business?

I think this might be true for any Ranma/Nabiki pairings since I got the impression she doesn't reall hold her sister in high regard.

 

[foesjoe]

I'd say it depends on how their first meeting goes.

In canon, Akane's initial attitude and hostility was heavily coloured by Ranma showing up as a girl and "deceiving" them and her walking in on him while he's naked as he gets out of the bathtub.

It also wasn't just Akane who had a very negative reaction towards Ranma, it were all three Tendo sisters. Neither of them liked him. Neither of them was comfortable being engaged to him. Kasumi and Nabiki were just quicker and more cruel in bowing out of the engagement.

However, those circumstances were necessary to keep the engagement from going anywhere. They created conflict, and conflict is what makes a story.

If the initial events were to happen like they did in canon, with the only exception being that Akane is quicker to foist Ranma off on her sisters than the others are, her attitude towards him likely wouldn't change. I think, however, that her hostility towards him would evaporate a lot quicker if that were the case, since she wouldn't have any reason to continue antagonising him to avoid getting married to him, which in turn wouldn't give Ranma any reason to retaliate against her. Even in canon, their relationship went from "two strangers who can't stand each other" to "reluctant friends" to "best friends" pretty quickly.

If Ranma showed up as a guy and was upfront with them about his curse, her attitude would probably be different. Despite her tendency to overract and resort to violence, Akane is essentially a kind-hearted and empathetic girl. She could see Ranma as a lonely boy who was a victim of his father's idiocy and decide to befriend him. Her sisters would probably react pretty similarly to how they reacted in canon, i.e. "He's a sex-changing freak. No way am I going to marry him!", which would prompt Akane to jump to Ranma's defence, resulting in her getting saddled with the engagement again.

Or something else could happen that would give her an entirely different impression of him.

 

[byakuryuu]

Ranma/Kasumi was my personal ship growing up in the late 90s, so I really cannot say my piece without being extra harsh. Although I would wonder how Kasumi would realistically react, barring all fantasies of them pairing up, considering all the chaos the young man comes essentially packed with. And I'm not talking about the "Oh my" reaction every time something of interest/discord occurs.

 

[mgsaintz]

The problem with figuring out Kasumi is that there's actually very little known about her, we know she's more or less the house wife of the house and she may be absent minded though that can be debatable. It has been shown that she may have a mischievous streak when she hanged those cats on Ranma and commenting how Shampoo was Ranma's girlfriend when she first showed up. Other than that there's really little on the character mostly because she becomes a cardboard cut out at some point in the manga like many of the characters. A lot of what we have on Kasumi is fanon interpretations of her character.

 

[Capito Celcior]

Her agressiveness towards Ranma stem from two things other than her being "stuck" with him.

The fact that she was beaten by him (and rather easily at that), and the fact that she walked in on him while being naked herself. These two facts are linked in that she did not know he was a guy, and thus thinks (and later on denies any evidence of innocence on his behalf) he did so on purpose.

Then her sisters forced her to be the fiancee, and this left the impression that being the fiancee of Ranma is a bad position to be in, considering both girls tried to escape.

Akane is enormously agraphobic; afraid of anything sexual. And considers herself the marital artist of the three sisters, hence she is their protector in her mind.

So if one of her sisters is "forced" into being Ranma's fiancee, then she will most likely see it as her sister also being forced into a depraved lifestyle. So yes, she will hate Ranma and try to attack him.

Should Akane be kept out of the loop (initialy at least), and after a few days/weeks long trial run between Ranma and Kasumi or Ranma and Nabiki, and the couple find out that they could work, if Ranma was then introduced to Akane by her own sister I think she would be more accepting. After all, her sister aproves. Of course this depends on HOW her sister introduces her partner.

One thing that doesnt' change is that, with the VERY RARE exception of Ryouga and those few that flatter her enough that she mistakingly trusts them, is that she will always think the worst of any man's actions. If he has been talking to another girl than his girlfriend (unless it's his sister/mother and she knows this fact) then he WILL have cheated on his girl. If he has dissapeared and left behind his girlfriend, he WILL have gone out with some other girl. If he bumps into any girl (be it his girlfriend or someone random on the street) it WILL be an attempt to feel up the girl.

 

[varth]

Yet another thing is her family and school situation. Fannon that all three Tendo sisters went at least in some way mental after loss of their mother, well, parents actually, is one of more logical and solid there are. Add Kuno and his hentai horde... It's not pretty.

Akane as bratty princess with tunnel vision, constantly yelling for attention might not be 100% fair (RT went a long to give her a lot of rose framed moments, after all), but IT IS a side of her character.

Take a standard fic: Tendo mother dead, Soun dotting on his Akane, Kasumi taking care of her, Kuno pursuing her, and horde challenging her... It is fanfiction, and unlike some people I realize how little of solid canon (as opposed to conjecture and interpretation) is there in Ranma 1/2. So, I'm NOT saying such Akane being calm, not minding her sister being engaged to Ranma (and presumably inheriting), and not attacking him at the drop of hat CANNOT be done. But I would find it EXTREMLY hard to believe. You can't just have Akane after all of her canon traumas and not showing it in any way.

I could accept Akane with her mother alive not attacking Ranma.
I could accept Akane with her mother dead being bent some other way than her canon skew. For example like this: <a href='http://www.fanfiction.net/s/916018/1/Akane_the_Suicidal' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>http://www.fanfiction.net/s/916018/1/Akane_the_Suicidal</a>
Sheltered 3/4 orphan Akane with Kuno and horde after her, not caring about Ranma and giving him benefit of doubt... Sorry, not buying. Not without EPIC explanation.

 

[Dark Knight Gafgar]

I'd say it depends on how their first meeting goes.

In canon, Akane's initial attitude and hostility was heavily coloured by Ranma showing up as a girl and "deceiving" them and her walking in on him while he's naked as he gets out of the bathtub.

And when you change that, you get <a href='http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5953631/1/The_Key_to_a_Successful_Interview' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>Keyverse</a>.

 

[Muphrid]

I think if all else in canon up to that point happens the same way except for Akane managing to dodge the engagement bullet, she'll still have it out for him in some way, though she'll probably have less opportunity to snipe at him. He's offended her pride and dignity, after all. Even if not forced to interact with him, it's still something not easily forgotten.

But at that point, you can consider cases. If Ranma's engaged to Nabiki instead, she'll wear on him pretty quick with her petty money games, and despite Akane's efforts to badmouth Ranma, she may realize that Nabiki's worse than he is. Conversely, if Ranma's engaged to Kasumi instead, I can't imagine Ranma being too coarse with her, and if Akane were to watch them from afar (thinking to protect her older sister), it could change her mind about the kind of person Ranma is, giving her a more positive view of him.

Conversely, though Ranma wouldn't be forced to interact with Akane on the one hand, she would still be one of the few people in town who know of his curse and who he could ask for help in a pinch.

It's an interesting question. One idea I've sometimes thought about writing is if Ranma pulled a "Ranko" on everyone from the time he set foot in Nerima--pretending that, whenever he's seen as a girl, he's a different person, so he can avoid the curse stuff altogether. I think Akane would have a much friendlier relationship with Ranma the girl while still being hostile or combative with Ranma the boy. And since it's Ranma either way, he would get some insight that he'd otherwise be lacking.

But such seems almost too neat and pretty. It's like saying "what if there were world peace?" or "what if it really did only take two licks to get to the Tootsie-Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?"

At any rate, I can see that Akane could view Ranma neutrally or favorably in a shorter timespan not having to be engaged to him, but I think her immediate behavior toward him would still be tainted by their first encounter.

Would that be the case, though? Alas, the world may never know.

 

[byakuryuu]

"what if there were world peace?"

Our reason to eat bread butter side-up would be gone. DUH.

Sheesh, it so obvious.

 

[Prince Charon]

Let's say, for whatever reason, that Kasumi and Akane think Nabiki is a lesbian. Why they think this, and how accurate or not their assessment is, can be thought up later, but they at least think its likely. So, Akane and Kasumi foist the engagement on the 'lesbian' sister, so she can have what she wants, without 'bringing shame on the family' (this may have been Kasumi and/or Nabiki's reasoning in canon, depending on how close the translation that had them saying 'You don't like boys, right? This one's half girl.' was).

Akane already thinks Nabiki is a pervert, and so doesn't think that Ranma will be dragging her into a perverse lifestyle, and thus might not try to hard to 'protect' her. Depending on how homophobic (or not) Kasumi and Akane are in theis AU, they might even encourage Ranma to engage in improper behavior with Nabiki, in his male form... though if so, the author should be careful, as that can very easily get into bashing territory.

 

[Oni_kawaii]

"what if there were world peace?"

Our reason to eat bread butter side-up would be gone. DUH.

Sheesh, it so obvious.

and here I went and already made a weapon that would blast them all the way to Kalamazoo.


heres one for a laugh, take those two girls form the OVA who thought soun was their father and that they were supposed to get the dojo.

have nabiki point out to them that it is a dowry and that one of them would have to marry ranma.

either it makes the girls leave or causes more grief for ranma. either way nabiki wins.

 

[foesjoe]

"what if there were world peace?"

Our reason to eat bread butter side-up would be gone. DUH.

Sheesh, it so obvious.

and here I went and already made a weapon that would blast them all the way to Kalamazoo.


heres one for a laugh, take those two girls form the OVA who thought soun was their father and that they were supposed to get the dojo.

have nabiki point out to them that it is a dowry and that one of them would have to marry ranma.

either it makes the girls leave or causes more grief for ranma. either way nabiki wins.

Hmm. A threesome with two hot sisters, a tsundere type and a loli type.

I think it's Ranma that wins.

 

[windstorm]

I think it might be reasonable to assume Akane would still act in a similar negative way towards Ranma if the initial meeting circumstances remained the same besides the engagement getting foisted on her. My personal idea on why Akane is always so angry towards Ranma is a large part of her own personal insecurities. There is some of the original stigma from the bad meeting and the 'I hate boys' attitude but to me her personal insecurities are greatly amplified by Ranma. Akane doesn't have any particular thing she excels at except martial arts, she also fails abysmally at the more traditional things girls are supposed to be good at. Ranma tends to fuel both insecurities. He is massively better at martial arts and throughout the series is also better in most 'traditional' areas girls are supposed to be good at (ie good looks, cooking and so on).

 

[jwdr04]

"what if there were world peace?"

Our reason to eat bread butter side-up would be gone. DUH.

Sheesh, it so obvious.

and here I went and already made a weapon that would blast them all the way to Kalamazoo.


heres one for a laugh, take those two girls form the OVA who thought soun was their father and that they were supposed to get the dojo.

have nabiki point out to them that it is a dowry and that one of them would have to marry ranma.

either it makes the girls leave or causes more grief for ranma. either way nabiki wins.

or as pointed out by foesjoe It could be one hell of a win.


Far as Kalamazoo goes, NO thats just to damn close to home for me

 

[FlashofGenius]

One thing Akane pursues throughout Ranma 1/2 is recognition as a martial artist. She never gains it, but she doesn't give up, either. Windstorm makes a point in that Ranma inadvertently aggravates her insecurities, and this doesn't change because she isn't engaged. However, Akane's relationship with him may be better than in canon, or it could very well be worse. On the "better" side is that nobody is trying to push them together, allowing any attraction that does appear to grow more naturally. Whether romance does grow between them relies directly on if Ranma or Akane have other viable romantic interests. In the original Ranma 1/2, Ranma ended up attracted to akane partly because she was the only girl (and only person period) who wasn't constantly trying to get something out of him. Likewise, outside of Dr. Tofu Ranma was the only guy in Akane's life that treated her like a person and displayed genuine concern for her. They got along horribly, but Ranma didn't have anyone else he could trust, and Akane didn't really have any other options, romantically speaking- she gave up on Dr. Tofu, and Ryoga isn't around enough. Without romance being rammed down their throats, a more healthy relationship could easily develop, especially if the have to work together to rescue the engaged sister.

On the other hand, if there is other romantic interests on either side, things could end up a lot worse. Akane spends a lot of the time on the wrong end of gender roles- it's one of the major reasons she can't get anybody to take her seriously. It's also the reason all the challenges for her hand and the Tendo Dojo go to Ranma. If they are not engaged, Akane isn't the target of random suitors. Being foced leave the defense of her sister up to "that boy" will grate on her, but she could accept it. Being forced to defer all challenges against the Tendo dojo to Ranma will quickly make her bitter. Without an engagement to Ranma to deter the hentai horde, they'll just keep coming throughout the entire series. Without the cover of the engagement and the balm of mutual attraction, what was "Ranma defending her" becomes dismissal, disregard, and a cruel deconstruction of feminine gender roles. Akane desires to be both a woman and a martial artist. Realizing that the people around her considers these mutually exclusive is going to hard for her, and will likely be make her very bitter indeed. Ranma will end up being a focus for that bitterness and anger, simply because the only other two people she could blame are Kuno and her father. She already hates Kuno, and it's going to take time and serious insensitivity on Soun's to overcome Akane's love for her father. She's quite likely to try and cosy up to Shampoo and the Amazons, simply to get training and sparring partners who won't hold back on her.

Another possibility is that she discards her femininity completely, instead aiming for an androgynous, asexual look. However, it would be more fun if She decided pull a Ukyo and pretend to be a guy. While this seems absurdly out of character for Akane, she might do it to spite Kuno, Ranma, and her father- especially if they make it clear there's a connection between her not being treated as a martial artist and her being a girl. She might very well decide that the only way to be taken seriously as a martial artist is to stop being a girl. More importantly, it allows her to one-up Ranma, Kuno/the Hentai horde, and Soun all in one go. Against Soun, it's a shocking, nasty act that shatters his peception of Akane as his little princess. In other words, classic teenage rebellion. Against Kuno and the hentai horde, if it doesn't get them to stop she might feel it's worth it merely for the looks on their faces. In addition, if she can excel as a guy it's the ultimate insult- "You boys are so pathetic, that I can be a better guy than you. Easily." Since Ranma's curse makes him insecure about his masculinity, he'll won't be able to ignore or dismiss that challenge- which works out very well for Akane, as she finds a way to get Ranma fight her and not hold back. If cross-dressing gets both the hentai horde to leave her alone and Ranma to take her seriously all in one go, she might very well decide to keep doing it. In addition, since Akane is a girl, it's more or less impossible for her to cross-dress as a guy and not look bishonen. Throw in the fact that Akane has a kinder and more pleasant personality than either Ranma, Kuno, or pretty much any other guy in Ranma 1/2, and you end up with the fact that a cross-dressing Akane will likely attract more girls than the rest of the cast combined. From a literary perspective, this is hilarious and full of potential. From Akane's persepctive, it's something she can lord over Ranma.

 

[Liam-don]

Akane spends a lot of the time on the wrong end of gender roles- it's one of the major reasons she can't get anybody to take her seriously.

Huh, does anyone doubt that Shampoo's a feminine girl? Azuza? Kodachi? The other dozen of very girly female martial artists that show up over the course of the manga?

 

[FlashofGenius]

Akane spends a lot of the time on the wrong end of gender roles- it's one of the major reasons she can't get anybody to take her seriously.

Huh, does anyone doubt that Shampoo's a feminine girl? Azuza? Kodachi? The other dozen of very girly female martial artists that show up over the course of the manga?

Shampoo is foreign, and has cultural license to run roughshod over Japanese gender boundaries. Kodachi and Azuza are both feminine, but nobody keeps them out of fights, kidnaps them, or insists that they be protected with anything approaching regularity, as often happens to Akane. Likewise, Ukyo plays merry hell with gender roles, but nobody forces or pressures her to conform in either direction. There is also an element of compliance- or at least resignation- on Akane's part.

From a literary/cultural standpoint, Soun, Ranma, and possibly Kuno view Akane as a Princess. Or, as Revolutionary Girl Utena called it, the Rose Bride. Elements of the Princess archetype permeate feminine gender roles across many cultures, including the Japanese. She's entirely capable of being feminine, but she clashes horribly with the aspect of the Princess and femininity the requires vulnerability and submissiveness. However, Soun, Ranma, Kuno, along with some of the other characters, treat Akane as though she were helpless and vulnerable.

This eventually becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy- Akane started somewhat behind the others in terms of skill, and due to being treated like a helpless damsel Akane is unable to find the opportunity or the motivation to keep pace with Ranma or the other martial artists of Nerima. While many characters in Ranma 1/2 are feminine, Akane is the only one treated as though she was vulnerable and helpless, and had her demands to be treated otherwise ignored. Well, ignored is the wrong word. Given the spectacular cluelessness that most inhabitants of Nerima possess, it's more likely they just didn't notice, or pay attention. So yeah, It's not that Akane is the only feminine girl in Ranma 1/2. It's that she the only girl in Ranma 1/2 for whom feminine gender roles- specifically, the elements of vulnerability associated with the Princess archetype- preclude being a martial artist, and the only girl in a position where the Princess archetype can be imposed upon her with any success.

 

[goldenarms]

I've yet again read a story where another Tendo girl becomes Ranma's fiancÚe and just like in most other similar stories Akane is constantly accusing Ranma of being a pervert and Akane's only mission seems to be to make sure Ranma does nothing perverted to her sisters.

Now I've been wondering. Would Akane really react like that? If Ranma didn't have to deal with her wouldn't she just mind her own business?

I think this might be true for any Ranma/Nabiki pairings since I got the impression she doesn't reall hold her sister in high regard.

I think it depends more on which sister it is that he's engaged to.

If it's Nabiki, she'd probably pity him after a while because Nabiki is a freaking shark.

If it's Kasumi, she's be watching him like a hawk watching a field mouse.

Of course, Akane would most likely be highly suspicious of Ranma anyway you slice it because he's a boy and from her own experience, all boys want to date her, no matter how much it annoys her. Had Rama shown up as male, she would have rejected him out of hand.

The problem with figuring out Kasumi is that there's actually very little known about her, we know she's more or less the house wife of the house and she may be absent minded though that can be debatable.? It has been shown that she may have a mischievous streak when she hanged those cats on Ranma and commenting how Shampoo was Ranma's girlfriend when she first showed up.? Other than that there's really little on the character mostly because she becomes a cardboard cut out at some point in the manga like many of the characters.? A lot of what we have on Kasumi is fanon interpretations of her character.

Don't forget, when Genma revealed that he had taken Ranma to Jusenkyo and thus how they got their curses, Kasumi was livid with him, and did not hesitate to openly chew his ass out for being such an idiotic man, which is probably the only real place we get character development for Kasumi.

Personally, the manga could have been hella more fun if Rumiko wasn't so insistent on making Ranma/Akane the "only" viable Ship. Imagine Kasumi developing a soft spot for Ranma, despite age differences. Outside of like mealtimes and two arcs where everyone was scared to mess with Kasumi for one reason or other, I can't think of any time the two ever really interacted with one another.

 

[Dumbledork]

Outside of like mealtimes and two arcs where everyone was scared to mess with Kasumi for one reason or other

Lol. Just like Maria from Hayate the Combat Butler.

 

[Satori]

I can't imagine having to live with Ranma would be anything but stressful and overall a pain in the ass.

Akane not being engaged to him would lessen the burden on her and probably make her more mellow, and certainly less moody and more cheerful - Akane's early forced cheerfulness gets notably thinner as the series progresses... as does her social life. I'd say Akane would be happier and healthier if she had never been shackled to Ranma.

But still, if he is living in the house with her, she's bound to find him annoying at least some of the time, even if less so, since she's not as directly involved in his antics. So sure, she'd probably tell him off/kick him a few times when he inevitable sticks his foot in his mouth and offends her sister(s).

I don't know why people get so hung up on the "I hate boys" line. Actions speak louder than words, and during the first day of school, Akane is repeatedly trying to help Ranma. "Akane immediately got a negative impression of Ranma and treated him with adversity" is fanon.

 

[varth]

I have always interpreted Akane differently. IMO it's not martial arts supremacy that she craves, its just being hailed as such, with any relation to reality being completly irrelevant. I don't remeber if it's just anime, but perfect example would be her sewing. She doesnt mind if someone parades all over, wearing fugly blob that was her work, she only gets mad if fugliness is called such.

Like in Andersen's fairy tale about naked emperor, I believe Akane was always told she is perect, then enters Ranma, who is too unpolished to get a clue, and wrecks the pretense. Unlike everone else in her life, he cuts her no slack, so he is a freak (and curse helps here).

That means even if he wasn't engaged to her, he would still get brained every time he comments on anything about her.

I never seen any proof that Akane actually cares about her "power level" other than purely societal implications of it.

 

[Satori]

Like in Andersen's fairy tale about naked emperor, I believe Akane was always told she is perect, then enters Ranma, who is too unpolished to get a clue, and wrecks the pretense. Unlike everone else in her life, he cuts her no slack, so he is a freak (and curse helps here).

Sounds like complete fanon to me. Where are you even getting this from?

 

[varth]

Do you even know what that word means? I have never read any story that stated such approach.