Ranma 1/2: One Page Per Volume, Part Seven
Dec. 8th, 2018 08:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rainsometimesArt reads right to left for this seventh installment of my reposted series on Ranma 1/2 manga pages. Taken from the new omnibus translations.
This is the last page of the “Happosai as P-chan” story, featuring the first time that Ryoga and Ranma teams up to battle a common enemy. In vain this time, as they're both defeated by Happosai, but Happosai doesn't get anything out of it. One of the many things I love about Ranma ½ is that, while Akane does have to play the motivating-damsel-in-distress many times, this is often subverted sooner or later. Sometimes it's just a comical subversion, sometimes it's a heroic one: not infrequently it's both at the same time. Here it's firmly on the comical side, as she’s fast asleep and has no idea what's going on. But she can take care of herself all the same.
This story and its ending are also notable for what happens in the series after this point: in the manga, it's the last time we see Akane take P-chan to bed with her. Possibly indicating that Ryoga's started to avoid that situation, or that Akane learned about Happosai's plot in the morning and changed her behaviour herself... Or perhaps it went on at times after all, but as it didn't generate as much conflict anymore there was no point to put it in the story. Because another thing that happens is that Ranma seems more relaxed about the P-chan thing after he's witnessed this very energetic part of Akane’s sleep cycle.
For another out-of-universe explanation, it could also just be that Takahashi decided she wanted Ryoga to look more sympathetic, but stayed off having him make a clear decision to modify his behaviour in pet pig form. Either because she didn't think he'd get to that point in his development yet, or because - and I think this one's more likely - it wouldn't be funny enough.)
Personally I could go on about the issue a lot, and have done so. Since Ryoga and Akane are my two favourite characters, the P-chan thing was something I had a Lot! Of! Opinions! About! back in the day. To sum it up briefly, I have always felt that Ryoga's "pet pig disguise" is a despicable deception which is an inexcusable violation of privacy, and which Akane would have every right to be furious over to the point of cutting off their friendship completely. But I do think the deception stops short of being molestation/sexual assault. Relatedly, I suspect it's more motivated by loneliness/touch starvation/a need for maternal tenderness than more lustful intentions; the series strongly implies he doesn't look at her when undressing, for one thing. Ryoga certainly has plenty of teenage hormones and finds Akane very attractive, but when he's in the form of a piglet, he seems to have a more childlike demeanour, in the manga.
This is the last page of the “Happosai as P-chan” story, featuring the first time that Ryoga and Ranma teams up to battle a common enemy. In vain this time, as they're both defeated by Happosai, but Happosai doesn't get anything out of it. One of the many things I love about Ranma ½ is that, while Akane does have to play the motivating-damsel-in-distress many times, this is often subverted sooner or later. Sometimes it's just a comical subversion, sometimes it's a heroic one: not infrequently it's both at the same time. Here it's firmly on the comical side, as she’s fast asleep and has no idea what's going on. But she can take care of herself all the same.
This story and its ending are also notable for what happens in the series after this point: in the manga, it's the last time we see Akane take P-chan to bed with her. Possibly indicating that Ryoga's started to avoid that situation, or that Akane learned about Happosai's plot in the morning and changed her behaviour herself... Or perhaps it went on at times after all, but as it didn't generate as much conflict anymore there was no point to put it in the story. Because another thing that happens is that Ranma seems more relaxed about the P-chan thing after he's witnessed this very energetic part of Akane’s sleep cycle.
For another out-of-universe explanation, it could also just be that Takahashi decided she wanted Ryoga to look more sympathetic, but stayed off having him make a clear decision to modify his behaviour in pet pig form. Either because she didn't think he'd get to that point in his development yet, or because - and I think this one's more likely - it wouldn't be funny enough.)
Personally I could go on about the issue a lot, and have done so. Since Ryoga and Akane are my two favourite characters, the P-chan thing was something I had a Lot! Of! Opinions! About! back in the day. To sum it up briefly, I have always felt that Ryoga's "pet pig disguise" is a despicable deception which is an inexcusable violation of privacy, and which Akane would have every right to be furious over to the point of cutting off their friendship completely. But I do think the deception stops short of being molestation/sexual assault. Relatedly, I suspect it's more motivated by loneliness/touch starvation/a need for maternal tenderness than more lustful intentions; the series strongly implies he doesn't look at her when undressing, for one thing. Ryoga certainly has plenty of teenage hormones and finds Akane very attractive, but when he's in the form of a piglet, he seems to have a more childlike demeanour, in the manga.
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Date: 2018-12-09 05:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-09 04:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-10 02:25 am (UTC)Good commentary about Ryoga as snuggly P-chan. It seems to track with my memory of that storyline. Takashi kept it going long enough for it to serve its purpose and then retired it.
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Date: 2018-12-10 07:52 am (UTC)There were a few other things with P-chan as Akane's pet that happened later on, like when Ryoga got the Mark of the Battle God on his stomach (the stupid-looking doodle that made him invincible but he just wanted to get rid of it) - but nothing to do with bedtime shenanigans after the "Happosai as P-chan" story.
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Date: 2018-12-10 08:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-10 09:13 am (UTC)And now years later I actually appreciate that okay, his harassment is usually played for laughs - but compared to a lot of other similar characters in manga, at least he's never played up as "basically sympathetic and lovable, he just has this one little quirk you have to overlook". Nah, the narrative is insistent that he's evil and it's A-OK to loathe him.