List of Ranma ½ characters

List of Ranma ½ characters

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The Ranma½ cast

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 from early childhood in martial arts. 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.
Contents
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* 1 Creation and conception
* 2 Characters
o 2.1 Saotome Family
+ 2.1.1 Ranma Saotome
+ 2.1.2 Genma Saotome
+ 2.1.3 Nodoka Saotome
o 2.2 Tendo Family
+ 2.2.1 Akane Tendo
+ 2.2.2 Soun Tendo
+ 2.2.3 Nabiki Tendo
+ 2.2.4 Kasumi Tendo
o 2.3 The Chinese
+ 2.3.1 Shampoo
+ 2.3.2 Cologne
+ 2.3.3 Mousse
+ 2.3.4 Jusenkyo Guide
o 2.4 Kuno Family
+ 2.4.1 Tatewaki Kuno
+ 2.4.2 Kodachi Kuno
+ 2.4.3 Principal Kuno
+ 2.4.4 Sasuke Sarugakure
o 2.5 Other Nerima Residents
+ 2.5.1 Ukyo Kuonji
+ 2.5.2 Hikaru Gosunkugi
+ 2.5.3 Tofu Ono
+ 2.5.4 Hinako Ninomiya
+ 2.5.5 Happosai
+ 2.5.6 Konatsu
+ 2.5.7 Mariko Konjo
+ 2.5.8 Akari Unryu
+ 2.5.9 Tsubasa Kurenai
+ 2.5.10 The Golden Pair
o 2.6 Other
+ 2.6.1 Ryoga Hibiki
+ 2.6.2 Pantyhose Taro
+ 2.6.3 Shinnosuke
+ 2.6.4 Rouge
+ 2.6.5 Ryu Kumon
+ 2.6.6 Saffron
+ 2.6.7 Herb
* 3 Merchandise
* 4 Reception
* 5 External links
* 6 References

[edit] Creation and conception
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[edit] Characters
[edit] Saotome Family
[edit] Ranma Saotome
Main article: Ranma Saotome

Ranma Saotome (早乙女 乱馬, Saotome Ranma?) is the series main protagonist. He spent most of his youth on training trips with his father. The last of these trips led them to Jusenkyo, China. There he fell into a cursed spring and ever since, when he is doused with cold water, changes into a female version of himself. His male half is voiced by Kappei Yamaguchi in the Japanese anime and by Sarah Strange and Richard Ian Cox in the English dub. His female half is voiced by Megumi Hayashibara in the Japanese anime and by Brigitta Dau and Venus Terzo in the English dub.[1]
[edit] Genma Saotome

Genma Saotome (早乙女 玄馬, Saotome Genma?) is Ranma's father and the sensei of the Saotome Dojo of "Anything Goes Martial Arts." He trained with Soun under Happosai, but due to being treated like slaves, they eventually sealed him within a cave and opened their own schools. He takes Ranma on a continuous training trip to perfect his skills, and his wife, Nodoka, makes him promise to turn Ranma into a "man-among-men" under the threat of forcing them to commit seppuku. During their training, Genma falls into a cursed spring, which gives him a giant panda curse. 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 Anything Goes Martial Arts code, which isn't exactly all that virtuous itself to begin with. 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 is very open with his panda form, and regularly uses it to avoid people. He speaks by writing on wooden signs in that form. Genma is an extremely proficient martial artist. He is extremely strong and agile despite his size, and his panda form increases his abililities even further. He is voiced by Kenichi Ogata in the Japanese anime and by Robert O. Smith in the English dub.[2]
[edit] Nodoka Saotome

Nodoka Saotome (早乙女 のどか, Saotome Nodoka?) is Ranma's mother. She allowed Genma to take him away from her at an early age under the condition that Genma raise him to become a "man among men" or both of them would commit seppuku. She always has a katana with her for that purpose. When she is around, Ranma tries to remain in female form and pretends to be Akane's cousin from the countryside by the name of Ranko. Genma, who is particularly terrified of her, stays in panda form and pretends to be Ranko's pet. Towards the end of the manga, Nodoka learns the truth and decides not to force them to commit seppuku so long as Ranma stays interested in girls and continues to fight like a "man among men."

She is voiced by Masako Ikeda in the Japanese anime and by Lisa Bunting in the English dub.[3]
[edit] Tendo Family
[edit] Akane Tendo
Main article: Akane Tendo

Akane Tendo (天道 あかね, Tendō Akane?) is the second main character of the series. She is chosen by her family to be engaged to Ranma to carry on the Tendo family dojo, an arrangement neither of them is happy with, though, as the series progresses they slowly fall in love with each other. She is a capable martial artist and quite popular with the boys, though she would prefer a little less attention. She is voiced by Noriko Hidaka in the Japanese anime and by Myriam Sirois in the English dub.[4]
[edit] Soun Tendo

Soun Tendo (天道 早雲, Tendō Sōun?) is the current master of the "Anything Goes Martial Arts" Tendo Dojo. 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 an arranged marriage between his daughter, Akane, and Ranma in order to have some one succeed the style, and despite protests from both parties, they believe the two will eventually grow to love each other. Soun is very emotional, often brought to tears just by thinking of a sad thought. He is very respectful to his deceased wife, whose grave he visits regularly and he constantly mourns her. 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.

Soun frequently fights clad fully in traditional samurai armor. He is skilled in both hand to hand combat and handling a wide variety of archaic weaponry. He is voiced by Ryūsuke Ōbayashi in the Japanese anime and by David Kaye in the English dub.[5]
[edit] Nabiki Tendo

Nabiki Tendo (天道 なびき, Tendō Nabiki?) is Akane's older sister. She is extremely ruthless when it comes to making money. She is voiced by Minami Takayama in the Japanese anime and by Angela Costain in the English dub.[6]
[edit] Kasumi Tendo

Kasumi Tendo (天道 かすみ, Tendō Kasumi?) is the eldest daughter of the Tendo family. She acts as the family matriarch following the death of her mother, and she does most of the housework. She has no interest in younger men, and Tofu Ono is deeply in love with her, though she has no idea about it and simply considers him to be odd. She is invariably shown as cheerful and pleasant, seldom seeming fazed by the wild events that surround her. She amiably helps to clean up any destruction, and generally seems content in working hard to take care of her family, the household, and make any guests feel at home. She is voiced by Kikuko Inoue in the Japanese anime and by Willow Johnson in the English dub.[7]
[edit] The Chinese
[edit] Shampoo

Shampoo (珊璞, Shānpú?, or シャンプー Shanpū) is the village champion of the Chinese Amazons, who is defeated by Ranma in his male and female forms. The laws of her village force her to attempt to kill Ranma's female form and marry his male form. She eventually learns that he is cursed, and focuses on marrying him. She trains under her great-grandmother, Cologne, and eventually obtains a curse that turns her into a cat, which doesn't help with Ranma, who has a phobia of them. She helps run the Cate Cafe with Cologne, and often delivers food. She is actively pursued by Mousse, but she generally shows nothing but disdain for him. She is voiced by Rei Sakuma in the Japanese anime and by Cathy Weseluck in the English dub.[8]

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 also being very devious and forceful, willing to force Ranma into loving her. She is very vengeful as well, and she is willing to kill anyone to further her goals or remove obstacles. She has very little modesty, and attempts to use nudity to seduce Ranma in public places. Shampoo is highly skilled in unarmed combat, particularly involving speed and acrobatics, and is strong enough to casually walk through stone walls on a regular basis. She uses a pair of "chúi" as her primary weapons.
[edit] Cologne

Cologne (可崘, Ke Lun?, or コロン Koron) is the great-grandmother of Shampoo. She accompanies Shampoo on her return to Japan, and opens the Cat Café in Furinkan. She is a contemporary of Happosai, and well over one hundred years old. She calls Ranma "bride-groom" and "son-in-law" due to her attempts to have him marry Shampoo, and just to watch him become enraged. She is a grand master of martial arts, and occasionally teaches Ranma and his rivals new techniques. She gets around by pogoing on a gnarled wooden staff that she sometimes uses as a weapon. She is voiced by Miyoko Aso in the anime adaptation, Elan Ross Gibson and Lynda Boyd in the English adaptation, and by Kathleen Barr in the English adaptation of the OVAs and movies.[9]

She is the grand master of the Chinese Amazon martial arts, allowing her to manipulate water and ice, create whirlwinds using an opponent's aura against them, shatter inanimate objects with a simple touch, and touch pressure points to make a person feel like they are burning with even the slightest amount of heat. Cologne is knowledgeable in several other disciplines such as arcane lore, cooking, Chinese mythology, and magic artifacts.
[edit] Mousse

Mousse (沐絲, Mùsī?, or ムース Mūsu) male Chinese Amazon, who is in an unrequited love with his childhood friend, Shampoo. 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. He has extremely bad eyesight, which requires him to wear coke-bottle 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 walks into a cursed spring, which turns him into a duck.

Mousse fights using hidden weapons, which includes roped hooks, rope darts, iron balls, hidden knives, bombs, and even training toilets, all hidden in his long sleeves and robe. He calls this ability "dark magic" simply because he is hiding objects in a dark place. He can hide weapons in the feathers of his duck form and use them proficiently while flying. He is also skilled in the Joketsuzoku style used by other Amazons. He is voiced by Toshihiko Seki in the Japanese anime and by Brad Swaile in the English dub.[10]
[edit] Jusenkyo Guide

The Jusenkyo Guide is a tourist guide at the training groud 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. 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 fall on to 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 in the English dub.[11]
[edit] Kuno Family
[edit] Tatewaki Kuno

Tatewaki Kuno (九能 帯刀, Kunō Tatewaki?) is a senior at Furinkan High School and the older brother of Kodachi Kuno. He is very interested in Akane, but after seeing Ranma in his female form, he also falls for the "Pigtailed Girl." He has a huge ego, creating the nickname "The Blue Thunder of Furinkan High," a moniker used by no one else. Despite constant defeats by Ranma, he is always confident in his abilities, and despite being told and even shown Ranma's transformation, he refuses to believe that Ranma is the girl that he desires. He has a strong rivalry with Kodachi, who similarly has a crush on Ranma and refuses to believe that the girl is the same person, often leading to confrontations. He is voiced by Hirotaka Suzuoki in the Japanese anime and by Ted Cole in the English dub.[12]

As captain of the kendo team at Furinkan High School, Tatewaki is the school's most powerful warrior before Ranma's arrival. Though he is initially no match for Ranma, after losing his memory for a time, he shows the potential to become far stronger. He is powerful while using Kendo, 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 very weak compared to the other characters while unarmed, so he carries several Bokken in case one breaks.
[edit] Kodachi Kuno

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 "The Black Rose." She attacks other people during competitions in order to win by default, though she calls it "fighting in all fairness before the match." She becomes enamored with Ranma, 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 hates the male form. 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.

Kodachi 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 is voiced by Saeko Shimazu in the Japanese anime and by Teryl Rothery and Sylvia Zaradic in the English dub.[13]
[edit] Principal Kuno

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 fake Hawaiian accent. 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.

He is voiced by Tatsuyuki Jinnai in the Japanese anime and by Scott McNeil in the English dub.[14]
[edit] Sasuke Sarugakure

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.
[edit] Other Nerima Residents
[edit] Ukyo Kuonji

Ukyo Kuonji (久遠寺 右京, Kuonji Ukyō?) an okonomiyaki chef and a childhood friend of Ranma. He meets her during his training with Genma, though he doesn't realize she is a girl, and her father proposes an arranged marriage with his okonomiyaki cart acting as the dowry. Genma ends up stealing the cart and breaking the engagement. She is mocked by other girls for not being feminine enough to keep her fiance, so she gives it up and learns how to act like a boy. She spends ten years learning martial arts to prepare for revenge. Ranma eventually learns that she is female and calls her "cute", which causes her to attempt to reestablish their engagement. She is voiced by Hiromi Tsuru in the Japanese anime and by Kelly Sheridan in the English dub.[15]

Ukyo's style of fighting is a legacy style from her father based on their food preparation, and vaguely reminiscent of ninja patterns. She uses food-based techniques to stun, restrain or confuse opponents. She also uses a large spatula as a two handed weapon and has a bandolier of smaller spatulas she uses as thrown projectiles. She is strong, agile, and has a versatile range of attacks.
[edit] Hikaru Gosunkugi

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 the English dub.[16]
[edit] Tofu Ono

Dr. Tofu Ono (小乃東風, Ono Tōfū?) is a chiropractor who runs a moxibustion and acupuncture clinic in Furinkan. 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, he becomes nervous, loses his ability to focus on what he is doing, his glasses become non-transpararent with moisture, and he acts strangely. Kasumi is completely oblivious to the effect she has on him, dismissing any of his unusual actions. In a similar manner, Dr. Tofu is unaware of the crush Akane has on him at the series' beginning. For a time, he employs both Genma and Shampoo as assistants. He is voiced by Yuji Mitsuya in the Japanese anime and by Ian Corlett and Kirby Morrow in the English dub..[17]
[edit] Hinako Ninomiya

Hinako Ninomiya (二ノ宮 ひな子, Ninomiya Hinako?) is a teacher hired by Principal Kuno for the purpose of disciplining Furinkan'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, and while 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. She is voiced by Yumi Tōma in the anime adaptation, and by Janyse Jaud in the English adaptation.[18]

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 very spastic, childish and immature, and in her adult form, she acts like an elegant, confident, and somewhat vain adult woman, though either form always enjoys sweets, attractions, and video games, eats like a slob, and doesn't properly take care of her apartment.

Hinako is obsessed with enforcing discipline and justice at Furinkan, 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, she is always in pursuit to marry him.
[edit] Happosai

Happosai (八宝斎, Happōsai?) is the founder and grandmaster of Anything Goes Martial Arts (無差別格闘流, Musabetsu Kakutō Ryū?, School of Indiscriminate Grappling). He is a very hedonistic short, old man, who thrives on perverse activities, such as groping, watching women bathe or undress, and stealing lingerie. 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 and have displayed abilities similar to Happosai coupled with Happosai going to the Tendo Dojo solely to train either Soun or Genma to be the heir to the Anything Goes Martial Arts seems to hint that Happosai did train Soun and Genma in advanced Martial Arts (though evidently no-where near enough to outweigh all the injustices he delt them).

Despite his small stature and age, Happosai is one of the most powerful martial artists in the world. He can easily overpower others with his massive battle-aura, and 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. 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. He is voiced by Ichirō Nagai in the Japanese anime and by Paul Dobson in the English dub.[19]
[edit] Konatsu

Konatsu is a male ninja raised as a female kunoichi to live up to his family standard of a genius female being born 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. His face and body are indistinguishable from a female when fully clothed, 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 smoke bombs, a whirlwind of paper bills, and the "Duplicating Body Technique", which allows him to create up to four doubles, though he doesn't generally use it in battle.
[edit] Mariko Konjo

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. She uses her cheerleading tools to attack opponents, such as using batons as bludgeons, or throwing them with great stealth and accuracy, to knock out an opposing team without notice. She creates various "attacks" with the theme of "love" in the name, such as Love Confession Pom-Pom Fireworks, Love Boomerang an Innocent Girl Love Letter Blast. She is voiced by Yuko Kobayashi in the anime adaptation, and by Jocelyn Loewen in the English adaptation.
[edit] Akari Unryu

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 .
[edit] Tsubasa Kurenai

Tsubasa Kurenai (紅 つばさ, Kurenai Tsubasa?) is a master of disguise, who enjoys dressing as a female, which causes confusion for others, and various inanimate objects. He is in love with Ukyo Kuonji, and is 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 can still cause trouble with his ridiculous tactics and unpredictability. He most commonly disuses 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 the English adaptations.
[edit] The Golden Pair

Azusa Shiratori and Mikado Sanzenin 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 don't 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.
[edit] Other
[edit] Ryoga Hibiki

Ryoga Hibiki (響 良牙, Hibiki Ryōga?) is Ranma's long time rival. He has no sense of direction. Chasing Ranma to China, he got knocked into a cursed spring. Ever since he turns into a black piglet when doused with cold water. Akane, not knowing the pig's true identity, adopts him as her pet and names him P-chan. She even takes him to bed with her, and generally beats him severely with her sleep-movements. He is voiced by Kōichi Yamadera in the Japanese anime and by Michael Donovan in the English dub.[20]
[edit] Pantyhose Taro

Pantyhose Taro (パンスト太郎, Pansuto-Tarō?) is 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 has the unique appearance of a 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, 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. Taro despises his name, wishing to take the name "Awesome Taro", but the only way to change it is to have Happosai agree, though he refuses.

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". 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. He is voiced by Shinnosuke Furumoto in the Japanese anime and by Matt Hill in the English dub.
[edit] Shinnosuke

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, Shinnosuke was near death by his grandfather, who 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 byTakeshi Kusao in the Japanese anime and Jason Gray-Stanford in English.
[edit] Rouge

Rouge is a girl from China, who holds a grudge against Pantyhose Taro for stealing the "source of her power." She is vain, shy, melodramatic, sensitive to the point of easily fainting when mentally exhausted, and fond of traditionally "girlish" superstitions like astrology and blood groups. She is violently vengeful when upset, and mostly disregards any damage she causes.

She is able to transform into into the Hindu god, Asura, which grants her six arms, three faces with independent minds, and great strength. The form can create lightning and small flaming rocks from her hands, create fire around her body and create a turbulent revolving inferno, and emit a blinding flash of light. She is susceptible to physical attacks, and her three minds make it hard to think quickly. She later learns that her power source is actually common magnetic disks used to prevent stiffening in one's back, which is a problem for her cursed form.
[edit] Ryu Kumon

Ryu Kumon (リュウ, Kumon Ryu?) is a wandering martial artist and expert 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 deadly Umisenken technique from his father in order to counter Ryu's Yamasenken. Once Ranma mastered the Umisenken, he finally managed to defeat Ryu after a harsh and difficult battle. He is voiced by Mitsuru Miyamoto.
[edit] Saffron

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 becoman 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.

He has mastery over fire, allowing him to use a number of attacks related to it. He can fly and he is skilled with the Kinjakan, a 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.
[edit] Herb

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 them.

Herb is an immensely skilled and ruthless martial artist. He believes himself to be a complete master of manipulating chi, though he is easily surprised by unknown attacks. He has the ability to use supersonic strikes, large chi blasts, a sword made from chi, and flying blades of chi. He is voiced by Katsuaki Arima.
[edit] Merchandise
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[edit] Reception
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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."[21] 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".[22] 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".[23] 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".[24]