The Killer From Jusenkyo

The Killer From Jusenkyo (Jusenkyō kara Kita Koroshiya 呪泉郷から来た殺し屋) is the eighth episode in the third season of Ranma ½, known as "Hard Battle", and is the 48th episode overall.

Plot Summary
Deep in the Byankala Mountains, near Jusenkyo, the mysterious group known as the Jusenkyo Preservation Society is holding a meeting. As it draws to a close, the vice-chairman makes his report on a particular band of Jusenkyo victims who have been breaking the Society's laws regarding the use and abuse of Jusenkyo's transformation curses. Namely, the residents of Nerima.

Ranma Saotome is guilty of breaking the code of modesty; abusing his ability to transform and then wantonly exposing him/herself at the slightest opportunity.

Genma Saotome is guilty of breaking the code of public safety; threatening the health and welbeing of innocent bystanders.

Shampoo is guilty of breaking the code of self gratification; abusing her alternate form as a means of personal retribution.

Ryoga Hibiki is guilty of breaking the code of duplicitous conduct thanks to his using his curse to sneak into Akane's bedchambers.

Mousse is guilty of breaking the code of fair play with his unsportsmanlike behavior and murderous intent.

Passionately, the vice-chairman insists that they must make an example of these five, or else they will no longer be able to bring about discipline; they must never forget their sacred duty! The other members of the Society chant in agreement, ceremoniously draining their tea cups and then hurling them at the image of Ranma Saotome... which suddenly comes apart into a flurry of shredded paper, as do all the others, courtesy of the largest, most physically imposing of the Society's members, whose name is revealed to be Kin'nee. This ferocious character, wielding a massive dao, demands that he be allowed to punish these transgressors; his superiors declare that they were hoping he would take on this job, and declare that the method is left to his discretion, but he must make them stop abusing their Jusenkyo transformation powers. As Kin'nee laughs that he will teach them the error of their ways, spinning his sword around his head like a helicopter blade, the chairman notes that he's almost perfect for the job; there's just the matter of that one weakness... Having been reminded of that, the vice-chairman suggests that he accompany Kin'nee to ensure that this flaw is covered.

In Nerima, sometime later, Shampoo is riding her bike to make a delivery even as Mousse, in duck form, races along behind her, quacking frantically and making kissing gestures. Shampoo turns back over her shoulder to tell him that she has no time to play with him, and as she heads into an alley, that is when Kin'nee makes his strike - literally. A vertical slash impacts the road and a crack shoots forth, swallowing the startled Shampoo and her bike and even Mousse. Before the indignant Joketsuzoku can get her bearings, the vice-chairman steps forward and douses her with cold water. As she yowls angrily up at him, Kin'nee steps forward with a net, the vice-chairman noting that's two down and three to go.

As night falls, Ryoga is feeling a little glummer than usual; he's gotten himself stuck in roughly the center of a large maze. Still, he resolves to make the best of it and starts boiling some water for instant ramen - in fact, he's so fixated on getting something to eat that when Kin'nee cuts the wall nearby to pieces, trapping Ryoga under the wood, he begs them to at least allow him to have his dinner first. The vice-chairman instead declares that hot water's not going to solve Ryoga's problems, then douses him with cold water.

Not long after, as he heads through the darkened streets, Genma suddenly tenses up; he feels something tickling his senses, something that isn't right. He then takes off running, the thought that he is being followed ringing in his mind. He stops only when he approaches the gate to the Tendo Dojo, whereupon he looks back... and sees nobody. His comment of that being funny causes Ranma, sitting on the wall, to ask why he doesn't laugh if that's the case, whereupon Genma does give a hysterical laugh before screaming at Ranma that he didn't mean that kind of funny. As the two head inside, the vice-chairman notes that these two criminals may be harder to subdue than they expected.

At dinner, Genma displays no appetite, something that Ranma comments on. Genma declares that he's convinced that somebody is planning on killing him, an attitude that gets nothing but idle curiosity from Happosai about what he's done this time, which prompts Soun to warn Genma that he better not have been out deceiving young girls. At this, Nabiki comments that the only "young girls" Genma could fool would be the ones who take their false teeth out at night, something which Kasumi chastises her for. False teeth, she adds, are not something to joke about, a punchline that Soun finds hilarious. Genma begs Ranma to act as his bodyguard, to which Ranma exasperatedly tells Genma to grow up, asking why Akane doesn't volunteer when she suggests Ranma should at least try it. Genma, seeing he clearly has no allies even amongst his own family, sadly notes it's a lost cause and slinks over to the door to make a stealthy reconaissance - whereupon Happosai frightens the life out of him for his own amusement. Tiredly declaring he's going to bed from his position on the floor, when he sees a shadow approaching the sliding door, Genma races upstairs to his bedroom, hollering at the top of his lungs. To the surprise of the others, though, the shadow turns out to be Cologne.

Upstairs, Genma finishes barricading himself in his room and then hides in the cupboard.

Downstairs, Cologne finishes explaining that Shampoo and Mousse haven't returned from a delivery that happened hours ago, so she came here to investigate. She was kind of hoping that Ranma and Shampoo had eloped, a statement that prompts an emotional "you wish!" from Ranma. Happosai dryly notes that being Genma's son makes Ranma capable of almost anything, and the suspicious stares he is subjected to further cheese Ranma off. The sound of Genma crying out in fear sends them racing upstairs, but Genma's barricades delay them; in the few moments it takes Ranma and Akane to smash through the door, Kin'nee has carried Genma off, using his sword in one hand like a helicopter to fly away.

Cologne watches him do so, notes the perfectly smooth circular hole cut in the wall that the strangers used to enter and exit, and declares that Kin'nee must be a member of the Cult of the Muscle Sword, a high-powered sword-style that involves treating the sword as an extension of their heavily developed bodies and which is considered by many to be almost invincible. When Akane finds a red armband left behind, Cologne identifies that it belongs to the infamous secret organization known as the Jusenkyo Preservation Society; though nobody really knows anything about it, it is known that if you violate their so-called "laws of conduct", then the members will come after you, even kill you. Once the Tendo girls and Happosai have finished expressing sympathies for or taunting Ranma, as appropriate, Cologne notes that if the JPS is involved, then they're almost certainly the ones who caused Shampoo and Mousse to disappear. Ranma naturally expresses his desire to get his father back, whereupon Happosai tells him to shut up and come along; he knows just what to do. Akane, naturally, won't hear of being left behind.

Minutes later, both of them are feeling very skeptical. The three of them are at Furinkan High School, with Ranma female and removing gym shorts and underwear from the girls' lockers. Naturally, both Ranma and Akane accuse Happosai of just wanting to trick them into helping him do some pilfering, but he insists that the JPS will come after anybody who violates their idea of decency, morality and dignity. Moments later, Kin'nee comes slicing through the wall, and Happosai pauses only long enough to gloat before grabbing all of the loot and hightailing it, trusting to Kin'nee's assault to keep Ranma too distracted to stop him. Indeed, that is what happens, when Ranma accidentally stumbles upon Kin'nee's one weakness. Why she did it will remain a mystery; perhaps knowing that he came from Jusenkyo planted the suspicion of his having a curse in her mind. Whatever the reason, Ranma douses Kin'nee with cold water, and then stares dumbfounded as Kin'nee shrinks into a tiny, weak-looking little man, swamped in his clothes, barely taller than Akane or female Ranma, and far too underdeveloped to heft his huge sword.

Kin'nee's strange new form looks at the devastated lockeroom and asks who did it; upon being reminded that he did it, he groans in guilt and starts praying for the trees that were sacrificed to make the wood that has been broken. Confused, Ranma turns to the vice-chairman of the JPS, who explains that some time ago, while training at Jusenkyo, Kin'nee fell into the 999-year-old Fushaniichuan, the Spring of Drowned Priest. Now, whenever doused with cold water, he takes on a form that abhors violence, doesn't recall what his original form did, and is too weak to fight. Ranma blinks as something comes to mind, than angrily confronts the vice-chairman on the hypocrisy of coming after her and her friends & family for having Jusenkyo curses, but tolerating Kin'nee's curse. Without his overmuscled ally to back him up, the vice-chairman has no spine and flees into the darkness, leaving Priest-Kin'nee behind to Ranma. When Ranma confronts him about having kidnapped her father, he immediately starts bewailing the "dreadful things" he has done, and begs Ranma to let him show her how to save him; Genma isn't in China, as Ranma had feared, but he is in a cave far out in the wilderness. Undaunted, Ranma returns to his true form and sets out with Priest-Kin'nee.

The vice-chairman heads back to the cave himself, where he discovers Genma sleeping. Using a machine he has set up, he delivers a powerful punch through the bars of the cage, jolting Genma awake. When Genma tries to go straight back to sleep, he beats Genma up, but to no avail; Genma's training and general nature allows him to return to sleep swiftly no matter what punishments are dished out. He then taunts Genma by holding up some bamboo, swiftly pulling it out of Genma's reach as he immediately springs awake and lunges for it. The vice-chairman tells Genma that suppressing the body's natural instincts is part of the training he is to undergo... whereupon a powerful fist lands on his head. Looking around and up, he meets the cold stare of Ranma, who icily asks him what he means by "training". Squeaking an excuse that he needs to use the facilities, the vice-chairman beats a swift retreat. Kin'nee, spotting Genma, swiftly goes to open the lock, with Genma leaping out and embracing Ranma in joy at being set free. Hearing the sounds of Shampoo, Mousse and Ryoga's cursed forms from further down the tunnel, Ranma heads deeper in, dragging Genma along.

Once they are gone, though, the vice-chairman springs out of hiding and douses Kin'nee with hot water, returning him to his true form - and unlike Priest-Kin'nee, the real thing remembers what happens in his other state. Murder in his eye, he makes plans to deal with Ranma and the others.

Though his ailurophobia makes him hesitate, Ranma manages to open all of the cages, starting with Shampoo. Not one to waste time in escaping, Genma runs off while Ranma is setting his friends free, only for Kin'nee to open a fissure under his feet and trap him. The vice-chairman turns Genma back into his human form, but even though Genma cries out in warning, Ranma, Shampoo, Mousse and Ryoga are unable to escape; Kin'nee swings his sword over his head and creates a flurry of cutting winds that collapse the cave mouth, trapping them inside. Once they are stuck, he joins the vice-chairman in setting Genma up for "training". Tying him up, they hook him to a block and tackle set up on a tree on a nearby river; his training, they tell him, will be to not transform into a panda even when he gets splashed, with the vice-chairman insisting that the trick is all in Genma's mind. Genma is unceremoniously dumped into the drink, hoisted aloft, doused with hot water, and then dumped again repeatedly before the two members of the JPS finally get tired of it and decide to try some of the other "criminals".

When Kin'nee comes smashing in through the caved in cavern mouth, Ranma distracts him by kicking a rock at him, exhorting the others to run for it. Disdainfully noting that he'll just catch them again later, Kin'nee forstalls any further attempts at defiance by Ranma by threatening Genma's life. Taken to the river, Ranma is given the spiel and thrown in. Once she has been dunked for the second time, though, she tries a gambit; kicking water into Kin'nee's face, she then begs the Priest-Kin'nee to save her... but no sooner has he pulled her to the top when the vice-chairman returns him to his original form. Back Ranma goes into the drink, and this time Kin'nee hoists both Saotomes aloft, declaring it'll save time to train the two of them at once. Ranma protests that they can't just play with their bodies like this, but the two members of the JPS won't pay any attention to her.

However, unebeknownst to any of them, Shampoo, Mousse and Ryoga are all watching from a nearby ledge. While Mousse and Ryoga promptly hide themselves, Shampoo leaps down to try and help her fiance, springing onto Kin'nee's arms and biting and clawing at his neck, shoulders, arms, hands and face. In the struggle before she is finally forced to flee, Ranma and Genma shake the branch they are being suspended on so much that the vice-chairman is thrown into the river himself. Kin'nee hurls himself at Ranma and Genma, slashing with his sword, but they evade and the only effect it has is to cut Ranma free, allowing her to in turn Genma loose. Both Saotomes take up fighting stances on opposite sides of Kin'nee, now perched in the tree, but Genma betrays Ranma and runs for it. Kin'nee, furious, turns on Ranma, unleashing his spinning attack in the most powerful assault yet, boasting that this 3000-year-old move is so powerful that it can destroy even the Great Wall of China. Undaunted, Ranma evades the falling debris sliced off and sucked up by Kin'nee's vortex, rebounding from a cliff face and hurling herself straight at Kin'nee, who leaps forward in an effort to skewer her. But Ranma has tricked his perceptions, moving in mid-air so that she dives past Kin'nee, grabs hold of a tree branch, and then flips up to latch onto him from behind, digging her fingers into pressure points on Kin'nee's chest so his arms are paralyzed and sending them both plunging into the drink. Though the vice-chairman pops up and tries to start the fight all over again, to Ranma's relief, the water in his kettle has gone cold.

Genma returns, in human form, and with the assistance of the still-beast teens, begins the work of hauling his son/daughter and the two sodden JPS members from the river. Kin'nee and the vice-chairman are first onto the cliff, and when he sees the devastation his special technique caused, the distraught cursed swordsman throws his weapon over the cliff into the river, where it sinks out of sight. Ranma, still waiting to be pulled up, starts as she hears Genma beg her for her forgiveness; none of this would have happened if he hadn't been so foolish as to take them to Jusenkyo in the first place. At first, Ranma says that she doesn't hold it against him, a declaration that has Genma's eyes well up with joyous tears... then she asks who she's trying to kid and snarls that yes she does, as this whole mess that's been making her life a misery is all Genma's responsibility. Genma, in one of his typical displays of immaturity, promptly snarls in rage himself and then drops Ranma right back into the drink, Ranma cursing him out all the while and Priest-Kin'nee begging them not to fight.

Trivia

 * According to the Jusenkyo Preservation Society's reports, 144 people have fallen into Jusenkyo by the time this episode takes place. It's uncertain if that means total registered visitors since their founding or if it means this year; given the comment about the "heavy season" being just around the corner, it seems to be most likely that it's a yearly accounting.


 * The scenes used for examples of Genma and Ranma's crimes are from the episodes Rub-a-Dub-Dub! There's a Pervert in the Tub and Bathhouse Battle! We're in Some Hot Water Now respectively.


 * In the subtitled version, the Jusekyo Preservation Society is called the Jusenkyo Morals Committee.


 * According to the subtitled version, the Jusenkyo Morals Committee has only three rules. 1 - A cursed person must not transform for selfish reasons. 2 - A cursed person must not endanger others. 3 - A cursed person who breaks laws one and two is no longer allowed to transform.


 * The subbed name for Kin'nee's style is "Blue Dragon Sword Muscle Martial Arts School". The Blue Dragon Sword, the massive dao that Kin'nee wields, is said to weight 25 pounds.
 * Kin'nee has a very strong physical resemblance to the character M. Bison, from the Street Fighter game series.


 * When Kin'nee asks for the right to punish the Nerimites, it is the JPS Vice-Chairman who speaks, but somebody else's voice is used.


 * Kin'nee's special attack is only named in the subtitles, where it is given the name "Earthquake Break Dance".