Shotgun Beans!!

Setsubun!! teppo mame (節分!!鉄砲豆) is the 356th chapter of the manga it is also the first and only chapter of the Shotgun Bean Plant Arc.

A monstrous looking businessman entrusts Soun with his odd Shotgun Bean Plant, which has taken to spitting at anyone who gets angry, and anger is one thing that is plentiful in the Tendo home. As everyone gets on one another's nerves, the plant becomes more and more active, spitting beans at anyone who so much as frowns.

The Bean Plant
Soun is presented with the legendary Shotgun Bean Plant by the Bean Plant Salesman who has a strange resemblance to an. He explains that the bean gun was used to deter demons, but nowadays demons seldom roam around, so the bean gun became obsolete. When Soun asks why he's giving away such a valuable plant, the salesman replies that it's because each year around, the plant shoots endless beans in the salesman's direction. Soun notes that it must be because the plant mistakes the salesman's face to be that of an oni and takes the plant.

Ranma and Genma return to the dojo shivering after they fell in the nearby river (as depicted in the cover page). Ranma goes to the table to get warmer, but Genma shoves her out of the way and Ranma angrily hits Genma in the head for doing so. The Shotgun Bean Plant notices this and open fires. When Ranma hits the plant for shooting the beans, she is hit by another volley.

Just then Akane arrives, holding a prize she won from a game from the Setsubun festival. The prize has an oni face attached to it, which the bean plant viciously attacks. Ranma then figures that it attacks anyone who appears angry, not just onis. They assume that by appearing happy the plant will leave them alone. The plan fails almost immediately as Nabiki walks in holding presents that she bought with all the money that the family had left. This time Soun is bombarded by beans.

Endless Beans
Ranma and Genma take a bath together, but soon break out into arguments yet again. Before they start fighting they are hit by the bean plant, who was flying around the room by flapping its bean pods. With the knowledge of the plant's mobility, the tension builds up in the Tendo Dojo as the bean plant flies around looking for any sign of anger.

Nabiki takes this forced joy as an opportunity to tell Akane that she accidentally got a stain on the dress she borrowed. Akane's anger is immediately subdued by the bean assault. Ranma chimes in and asks if she's been shot as well, laughing as he does it. Akane takes offense at this and hits him with a mallet and the two start arguing. This has the effect of the bean plant blasting the couple with a particularly devastating volley of beans. As they flee the room, Nabiki mocks them for their poor self-control.

Akane and Ranma attempt to get back at Nabiki by destroying something that she values. They find a jar of 1 yen and Ranma drops it right in front of her, breaking it open. When the jar is shattered, Ranma finds pictures of his girl form with a price tag of 1000 yen. Ranma ends up getting assaulted by the beans instead. This time, however, Ranma spits the beans back at the plant then takes cover, assuming that the plant will return fire. He then realizes that the plant is physically unable to attack when the opponent is happy. With this knowledge, Soun and Genma join in and start attacking the plant with a smile. But things quickly turn sour again when Ranma accidentally hits his father in the head with a dumbbell. Miraculously, Genma is able to retain his temper, and instead of getting angry holds Ranma down using his Cradle from Hell technique.

Watching from the next room, Nabiki and Akane try a different strategy. They blow up several balloons filled with pepper and throw it in the direction of the bean plant, which is happy to unleash its volley upon it. Genma, Soun and Ranma see this as an opportunity to capture it, but were unaware that the balloons were filled with peppers. They begin sneezing and in their irritation the bean plant strikes them. They have all become too fatigued and beaten to continue, but just when they are about to give up, Kasumi calmly walks in and grabs the Shotgun Bean Plant, then tosses it in the trash as Ranma and Soun look on in amazement. She then grabs a box and asks for the beans to be picked up, while the weary residents sit around their destroyed house.

Cast in Order of Appearance

 * Shotgun Bean Plant
 * Bean Plant Salesman
 * Kasumi Tendo
 * Soun Tendo
 * Ranma Saotome (female)
 * Genma Saotome (Panda)
 * Akane Tendo
 * Nabiki Tendo
 * Genma Saotome (human)
 * Ranma Saotome (male)

Trivia

 * The events of this chapter were influenced in part by the festival, a Japanese traditional festival celebrated a day before the beginning of spring.
 * One of the traditional ritual performed is known as mamemaki, where roasted soybeans (called "fortune beans" (福豆 fuku mame)) are thrown either out the door or at a member of the family wearing an Oni (demon or ogre) mask, while the people say "Demons out! Luck in!" (鬼は外! 福は内! Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!) and slam the door.