kessyathena

[kessyathena]

The Piglet, the Witch, and the Okonomiyaki Grill: Chp 7

The next chapter of my Ranma fanfic is up on AO3. Gosunkugi does something stupid. Reika is Not Pleased. The solution she comes up with makes everyone else go O_o.

[kessyathena]

Ask and ye shall receive. ^_^

If you don't mind me asking, how is this related to cosplay? I'm guessing you're not going to cosplay Ranma the way he's dressed in these photos?

Ranma fandom, please help a girl out

Asking here because asking on the server didn’t prove successful, but does anyone have pictures of Nabiki’s photographs of Ranma? The ones she’s selling to the boys at school.

I’d love to use some of those for my cosplay this weekend 😅

[kessyathena]

Is this what you're looking for?

Because autocorrect is just plain evil, obviously. And because Rama is a major Hindu deity.

Ranma fandom, please help a girl out

Asking here because asking on the server didn’t prove successful, but does anyone have pictures of Nabiki’s photographs of Ranma? The ones she’s selling to the boys at school.

I’d love to use some of those for my cosplay this weekend 😅

[kessyathena]

New chapter of The Piglet, the Witch, and the Okonomiyaki Grill

So Reika the witch has enrolled at Furinkan High. Surely her first day at her new school will be completely normal and ordinary. And after school there can be shopping!

-----------

Akane was standing a little way down the aisle, looking thoughtfully at something on the shelf. "Hey Reika? Actually, both of you. The red hair, it's natural, right?" "Sure is," Reika replied proudly, "It's a freak Saotome gene mutation, apparently." Ranma chuckled, "You think I'd dye my hair that color?" "Actually..." Ranma and Reika had gotten close enough to realize that Akane was looking at a selection of hair dyes as she answered, "Have either of you thought of that? Dying it, I mean?" Akane asked with an impish grin. Reika rolled her eyes, "What? You have a sudden desire to know what I'd look like as a brunette?" "How about a bleach blond?" Ranma countered with a mischievous glint in his eyes. Sticking her tongue out at him, Reika shot back, "What you're suggesting for me, you're suggesting for yourself, big bro." Akane turned to them with an ear to ear grin, holding a bottle of dye, "Actually, I was thinking hot pink. You two would look great like that!" There was a pair of clunks as both Saotomes' jaws hit the floor. "You're joking!!" Reika exclaimed with a look of utter horror on her face. "No way! No way! No way!" Ranma exclaimed vehemently, waving his hands for emphasis. Akane laughed merrily at their reaction, "Of course I'm joking. What idiot would give Ranma pink hair? That's like something you'd see in a bad anime remake."

[kessyathena]

The Piglet, the Witch, and the Okonomiyaki Grill

I just posted a short Ranma 1/2 fanfic on AO3. In it, Akane arrives at school one morning to find the place abuzz. The Pigtailed Girl had put in an appearance and actually kissed Kuno. Ranma swears up and down that he's innocent. What could be going on?

As it stands, this is a finished one shot story. But if people like it I may decide to continue it.

The Piglet, the Witch, and the Okonomiyaki Grill

[kessyathena]

When you say that anime Ranma needs to be helped in situations where he should never need help, you are trying to apply logic to something that simply doesn't have any. How much challenge or danger a particular opponent or situation poses to Ranma is 100% determined by the plot (or the rule of funny) and has absolutely no internal logic to it of any kind. Look at all the times Ranma has fought Ryoga. Ryoga can be a strong opponent that Ranma struggles to overcome or a complete pushover or anywhere in between, determined entirely by the needs of the story at that particular moment.

Ranma learning not to let his hyper-competitive egotistical side rule him (and asking for help when he needs it is a part of that) is a big part of Ranma's character development over the course of the story, and it's in both the manga and the anime. Look at the Phoenix Pill arc. When he first meets her Ranma is completely outclassed by Cologne and he knows it, even if he won't admit it. He has to swallow his pride and accept her help to overcome the challenge she's set for him. Or look at Step Outside. Ranma starts getting competitive with a little kid, realizes the ridiculousness of it, comments on that out loud, and changes what he's doing. That's Ranma growing up, not having his character subverted.

Ranma is not meant to be some sort of invincible paragon of martial arts. When he develops a habit of claiming to have never lost at anything martial arts later on, it's funny because we've seen him loose so often.

It's not that girl Ranma is particularly sexualized in the anime, it's that Ranma over time becomes more comfortable with his girl half in general and in using his femininity to get what he wants. And that's also in both the anime and the manga. Take the Shishi Hokodan Arc. Ranma disguises himself as a random girl to try to learn the secrets of Ryoga's technique and introduces himself as, "Oh just someone who's been in love with you for a long time." That's going a lot further than the random compliments Ranma uses to butter up Ryoga in the waterproof soap episode. In point of fact female Ranma flirting with Ryoga in order to manipulate him is a constant throughout the story in both manga and anime. Or to look at a more admirable aspect of Ranma becoming more comfortable with his girl half, look at the Picolet arc. Ranma volunteers without any prompting from anyone to go to the Chardin chateaux in order to protect not just Akane but all the Tendos even knowing full well he'd have to live as a girl (and put up with Picolet's advances) for an extended period of time. Now *that* is something Ranma would have done a backflip into a volcano to avoid at the beginning of the story.

I find myself cringing (like foaming in the mouth and full-body twitching) when female Ranma asked screamed for Ryoga to help him. LIKE URGH—Ranma will absolutely do a somersault and a backflip going to the volcano's pit instead of asking Ryoga's help! Man, the old version is so goddamn weird.

the old anime is indeed weird as fuck.

I haven't seen what you mention, but in general: anime Ranma is generally just a fraud. He constantly has to be saved or helped in situations he would neveeerrr need any help. They often make him look like a common clown. There's a filler where he has a fight with a child and he LOSES (and this is somehow no big deal for him. Manga Ranma would never let this shit stand) whenever I watch anime original content (don't get me started on the movies)... i have yet to see anything that truly underscores that bro is built different. They even change manga content to make him look more useless like

it's even worse with girl Ranma because girl, which means male fantasies. Part of this is this thing where they give girl Ranma weirdly sexualized lines or behavior to sell her as "available" for a male audience, sometimes they use Ryoga to deliver them ("she says it to him" but it's actually for you) (there's this WEIRD scene in the soap arc where the anime has Ranma washing Ryoga's back while calling him a hunk the ladies die for, which is part of the fantasy for the audience... in the manga, Ranma simply knocks him out with a blow and runs. He would kill himself before saying or doing some of the shit they have him doing in that show) I don't eve going to take screenshots of the tweets where I show examples, I might start foaming myself. So let's focus on the next fantasy: the damsel.

Girls' gotta be fragile, so they do this in the pantyhose episodes: instead of Ranma protective Akane with his body and looking fierce, they do a "scared girl" closeup

they also omit Ranma making it clear he's angry cuz Akane almost got hurt btw, so you might think part of his anger was bro (feminine) just being afraid of the big bad boulder

speaking of damsels

however, because this is indeed a very strange show, in the shinnosuke ova they do the opposite (an ova where they remove practically all of Ranma's vulnerability and the depth of his feelings for Akane... they have bro SNORING when they reveal Akane is MISSING and no, I'm not making it up or exaggerating, but anyway...)

in moments where girl Ranma is meant to look vulnerable, they show her like an action hero

(why the fuck is Ranma saying this to Akane after saving her is beyond me. makes it seem like Ranma can't help but put her down, even when it's dead serious, which he also does in the movies)

bro is meant to be heartbroken </3 (they also ommit all the instances of boy Ranma looking like he lost his will to live, god forbid that motherfucker shows how bad he has it for her)

[kessyathena]

What is your favorite Little Witch Academia episode and why?

My favorite episode of Little Witch Academia? That's actually a pretty tough question because one of the striking things about the series is that it maintains a pretty remarkable consistency in story telling quality across its run. It's hard to pick out any one episode as especially good. So I guess I'll talk about a few episodes that I particularly like for different reasons.

Firstly, if you tie me down and force me to pick one I'll have to go with the boring choice that everyone seems to mention, Cavendish #19 and Intelligence and Sensibility #20. I identify very strongly with Diana. She's pretty much exactly how I was in school. Well, except I wasn't pretty or popular, but meh. This is unquestionably her episode and the evolution of her relationship with Akko is really sweet and cute.

My favorite Amanda episode is Luna Nova and the White Dragon #5. Although this isn't the first time we meet her, I think it is where her character gets well developed for the first time. And it's this episode that first explores her relationship with Akko and where they first become friends. Also, Fafnir's a riot. I know it will probably surprise people that I didn't pick Amanda O'Neill and the Holy Grail #17 for an Amanda episode. The thing with that one is that although Amanda and Akko go on a fun adventure together, they don't actually interact with each other that much. For much of the episode they're each kind of doing their own thing.

I also have to talk about Don't Stop Me Now #3. First, Sucy's methods of trying to teach Akko to fly are just hilarious and for me one of the more memorable comedic scenes. Also, this episode is the first time Akko and Diana interact other than as simply the Honor Student lecturing the School Dunce. I think this is where Diana starts to see Akko as the complete person she is rather than just the role she's playing in the school.

And my last favorite I'm going to mention is Blue Moon #11. I think it has one of the most moving moments in the series when Akko confronts the spirit and refuses to give up her memories. That scene always makes me cry every time I watch it.

[kessyathena]

When I say that Ukyo is gender fluid, that's my take from a modern perspective. It's also more influenced by the anime than the manga. Obviously the manga is from the '80's and I don't know that the term "gender fluid" had even been coined yet. Ukyo's certainly not described that way anywhere in canon.

So the first thing is that Ukyo does explicitly say that she had been living as a guy before coming to Furinkan. "From that moment on I gave up being a girl." She's also shown using "ore" in some flashbacks. (Although she uses "uchi," an uncommon feminine pronoun, in the present even before her sex is revealed.)

Then there's her presentation. She most often wears her okinomiyaki chef outfit, which is only a little different in the anime from the manga.

She does come across as pretty feminine in this to me. But in universe characters seem to treat her as being pretty androgynous. No one seemed surprised to see her like this when everyone thought she was a guy.

I'm *very* unsure about this point, so if anyone has better information please chime in. I think that this costume is based on a real chef's outfit that has a masculine connotation in Japanese culture. In any case we see her father wearing something very similar in flashbacks.

Aaaaaaand then there was the time that Akane felt the need to demonstrate that Ukyo is actually a girl to another character while she was wearing this. What this says about Akane is another topic entirely.

We also see a lot of Ukyo wearing a boy's school uniform.

(This isn't actually a Furinkan uniform, but one from her old school.) This is what she usually wears to school all through the story. We see more of her in it in the anime than the manga.

Although we also see her on a few occasions wearing a girl's uniform. This causes quite a stir at school the first time she does it.

And then there's Akane's thoughts on the subject.

So I think that Ukyo is best described as gender fluid because even though to me she seems to land overall on the feminine side of things her presentation does vary quite a bit and is subject to interpretation.

oh!!!! i was right!!! ukyo is a girl!!!!

[kessyathena]

Yup, Ukyo is a girl. Well, she's kind of gender fluid, but definitely AFAB. I've been looking forward to your reaction to her because her gender has always bugged me a little. At Ukyo's first appearance in the anime she looks like this:

The first time I watched this, many years ago, between the hair, the hairbow, the tights and her voice it never even occurred to me that she might be anything other than a girl. So when the characters started talking about her as a guy it completely baffled me. Ever since it's bothered me a little and made me wonder if my perceptions were different than most people's.

When I started reading the manga for the first time recently I was surprised when I got to Ukyo's introduction. She actually looked like a guy! So I've been trying to decide if I'd have taken Ukyo for a boy if I'd read the manga first.

I've never had okonomiyaki, but my understanding is that it's more akin to a savory pancake with various ingredients added in.

oh!!!! i was right!!! ukyo is a girl!!!!

[kessyathena]

Ryoga isn't stupid. He has developmental topographical disorientation (DTD) with a comorbidity of prosopagnosia. I'd always assumed that Ryoga's problems were purely dictated by the rule of funny, but believe it or not these are real conditions. To quote Wikipedia,

"DTD is the inability to orient from childhood despite the absence of any apparent brain damage, neurological condition or general cognitive defects. Individuals affected by DTD are unable to generate a mental representation of the environment (i.e. a cognitive map) and therefore unable to make use of it while orienting (a process that usually people go through while orienting). Not to be confused with healthy individuals who have a poor sense of direction, individuals affected by DTD get lost in very familiar surroundings, such as their house or neighborhood, daily."

DTD often occurs alongside prosopagnosia, also called face blindness. It's an impairment of the ability to recognize familiar faces that leaves other aspects of visual processing and intellectual functioning intact. This is why Ryoga can't see through Ranma's most paper thin disguises. Or other people's disguises, such as Shampoo. Or you know how Ryoga has a tendency to start on a soliloquy about his feelings for Akane only to have Akane herself pop up next to him? I think that's because he has trouble recognizing that it's Akane from a distance.

So not only is Ranma a rat bastard for constantly messing with Ryoga's feelings, he's even more of a rat bastard for taking advantage of his friend's disability.

To all new Ranma fans: Kuno isn't the stupidest character in the series, that would be Gosunkugi (you'll see why). Nor he's the second, or the third. In fact he's actually quite smart, once his delusions align with the facts, as proven by how he's the ONLY character to have ever defeated the Cat Fist (you'll see). On the other hand, while the second stupidest still has to show up, Ryoga is the third.

Why him? Well, how many times can Ranma fool him with disguises? I'll now give you some space before revealing one of Ryoga's lowest hits.

Ranma actually convinced him he was his SISTER. For the record, Ryoga is an only child. That's how stupid Ryoga is.

[kessyathena]

Ranma tries many times to find a cure for his curse, and involves various others in the attempts. They all fail miserably.

i’m kinda idly curious at what point anyone? everyone? starts looking for a cure for their curses, but at the same time, slightly under an eighth of the manga, ig it makes sense that these bozos don’t think such a thing is possible and are content to live with the curse for the rest of their lives???

like they’re so unbothered by it tbh??? like it’s a bit inconvenient, sure, but it’s… surprisingly not life-changing? life ruining? for them tbh??? so you change gender or species from time to time based on the water temperature! so what? it’s an easy fix to switch back to your original form!

makes me laugh tbh

[kessyathena]

Mousse was created as an alternate love interest for Shampoo, and he's unfailingly devoted to her even though she treats him horribly, sometimes to the point of sadism. Although given Shampoo's personality that doesn't exclude the possibility that she does have feelings for him, and there are some hints to that effect.

A full explanation of the love polygon requires a large chart and extensive footnotes, and that's just the canonical part. It also involves several characters you haven't met yet.

mm i kinda want to know if i’m jumping the gun with wanting to ship shampoo/mousse (shampoo/ranma is cute tho ngl), but then it is early days tbh… might feel differently later on tbh…

don’t know what the popular ships are for ranma but it’s fine, might find out afterwards tbh…

[kessyathena]

Coffee Party is a dual-lingual manga project, so I always like to take the opportunity to practice sound effects in Japanese. Far more expressive than latin letters I feel :)

#internationalmanga #manga #coffeeparty

[kessyathena]

Well, there are a few things at play here. First you have to remember that even though Ranma 1/2 is progressive for its time, it's still from the 1980's. It was a common cultural trope then to see all men as borderline sexual predators, so if physical affection happened then obviously the man must have wanted it because what man wouldn't?

It's also just part of the comedic logic of the series that Ranma gets blamed for absolutely *everything* that happens, whether he had anything to do with it or not. Ryoga blaming Ranma for his curse even before Ryoga knew that the weird girl at Jusenkyo was Ranma is an early example of this.

And it's part of Akane's tsundere-ness that she automatically blames Ranma for anything that upsets her. In an exchange from a later chapter, Akane says, "You should have explained yourself!" To which Ranma replies, "Akane, have you ever heard me out before you clobbered me?"

ngl it does kinda suck that if a girl kisses a boy (shampoo/ranma, godai/kozue)… it must be the boy’s fault never mind that it’s pretty clear that it’s the girl who instigated the kiss

it just… doesn’t make sense to me tbh

[kessyathena]

O_o Straight? In the Ranma fandom? Some people seriously need to get a grip. I mean, they all but explicitly say that Akane likes women in the first few episodes.

And then consider episode 73. (Blow Wind! To Be Young is to be Gung-Ho) A hot new teacher arrives at school:

The straight female reaction:

And then there's these dorks:

So many Ranma 1/2 fans are sooooooooooooooooo straight given the circumstances