Hot Springs Battle Royale!

Zekkyō! Onsen Batoru (絶叫! 温泉バトル) is the 77th episode of Ranma ½ Nettohen.

Relation to the Previous Episode
None.

Who to Take?...
After winning a ticket to the "Zekkyo Hot Spring Village Festival Obstacle Race", Akane notices that the pair who win can travel to any hot or cold spring of their choice anywhere in the world; which prompts Kasumi to comment that this would mean that Ranma could visit Jusenkyo to get rid of his curse.

On her return to the Tendo Dojo Akane asks Ranma if he wants to enter. Unfortunately, before Akane can explain that Ranma could visit Jusenkyo, Soun bursts on the scene exclaiming that he gives Ranma his permission to take Akane to a hot spring. This leads to Soun to imagine the pair sharing a room on a dark, snowy, night where their love can finally blossom. Irritated by her father's idiocy, Akane tries to explain that it won't be a pleasure trip but Ranma blurts out that he won't want to go with a tomboy with Akane anyway, which infuriates Akane to the point where she decides to knock Ranma into the Koi pond before telling him to no bother accepting her offer.

With Soun wondering just what happened, Kasumi lets out a sigh at how well things were going before he interfered...

Meanwhile, at the Cat Café, Mousse (who's also won a Zekkyo ticket) explains to Shampoo that if they both enter and win they can travel to Jusenkyo. After checking the ticket herself, Shampoo agrees to Mousse's offer, but swiftly turns the tables by racing off on her bike with the ticket; leaving Mousse (now in his cursed form) to quack in frustration.

At that same time Ryoga wins yet another of the Zekkyo tickets but shortly decides to throw it into the wind as he has desire to go to some rustic not spring. Not a moment after throwing the ticket, however, Ryoga realises he could bring Akane with him and finally confess his feelings to her. Without another seconds hesitation, Ryoga quickly rushes and reclaims his ticket before it flies away in the wind.

Late that afternoon Akane thinks to herself about how much of a jerk Ranma was for refusing to hear her out, she then attempts to rip up the ticket but can't bring herself to do it.

Unable to rip up the ticket, Akane heads down to the training hall where she finds Ranma and tries to explain that by winning he can visit Jusenkyo, however, Shampoo storms in on her bike with her own offer to participate in the race. Understandably Ranma is still against the idea until Shampoo informs him about the possibility of visiting Jusenkyo. As the overjoy pair rejoice at being able to get rid of their curses, Akane, meanwhile, is infuriated at Ranma's behaviour so gets her revenge by splashing cold water over the pair before walking off.

Some time passes and Ryoga hides in the Dojo garden as Akane breaks some bricks; waiting for the perfect moment to ask her to partner with him. Unfortunately by the time Ryoga decides how he'll make his offer to Akane she has already started to walk back inside. Just then the short-sighted Mousse arrives and demands Akane pair up with him (mistaking her for Shampoo).

Once he puts back on his glasses, Mousse explains to Akane just what's going on. Hearing this Akane offers to pair up with Mousse as it would be a waste to just throw the ticket away. Mousse is overjoyed by the offer and accepts it graciously.

That evening the devastated Ryoga wanders the empty streets of Furinkan, wondering why he can't bring himself to ask Akane such a simple thing. He then practices, not noticing until it's too late that Ukyo who thinks he's making the offer to her. Ukyo quickly proceeds to kick Ryoga to the ground and demands to know what he thinks he's doing. Before Ryoga can explains himself, Ukyo reads the ticket and decides to enter as a large crowd will attract lots of business.

Meanwhile, Akane enjoys some noodles at the Cat Café as all the other contestants begin preparing for the obstacle race.

The Race Begins
The next day Ranma prepares for the race to begin when he hears Mousse's voice behind him. Ranma quickly turns around and is surprised to see Mousse with his partner Akane also waiting for the race to start. Confused, Ranma questions Akane as to why she's with Mousse, although Akane refuses to reply. Just then Ukyo shouts out for customers, attracting the attention of the group. Seeing Ryoga with Ukyo, Ranma enquires if he wants to visit Jusenkyo as well, a fact Ryoga hadn't realises himself.

Some time passes and one of the judges explains that the only rule to the race is that both partners must tied together as if they were in a. As Ranma thinks how easily he's going to win, Ryoga becomes obsessed about finally ridding himself of his pig form, much to Ukyo's concern.

Once the race begins Mousse with Akane and Ranma with Shampoo take an early lead. The groups soon arrive at the first obstacle where they must remain atop some floating logs as they go down some rapids. With the other contests falling into the water in swift succession, Shampoo comments on how easily their victory will be when Mousse appears with Akane and launches a succession of attacks.

Whilst Akane holds onto Mousse for dear life, Shampoo asks Ranma if he's jealous of how tightly Akane's holding Mousse which leaves the slightly irritated Ranma to bluntly ask who would be jealous of Akane. Infuriated, Akane succeeds in landing a kick cleanly on Ranma's face as revenge.

Meanwhile, back at the starting line, Ukyo (who fell over before being trampled on by the other contestants) demands Ryoga explain why he was going in the opposite direction; although Ryoga exclaims that this is only the beginning....

At the same time news reaches the three judges that there are still some contestants in the race. Worried that someone winning a trip to any hot spring in the world would bankrupt the village, one judge reassures the others that he'll make sure every contestant fails!

Switching Sides
After passing the second obstacle with ease, the group arrive at the third, which consists of a lake infested with alligators. As Mousse and Akane take an early lead, Akane turns to Ranma narrowly behind them, thinking about how, had they partnered together, they would've won for sure. At that moment Akane trips, giving Ranma and Shampoo a chance to take the lead as Mousse does his best to stop an alligator from biting them.

Understandably irritated, Mousse tells Akane that he stubby legs are slowing them, only for Ryoga to appear and jump up on Mousse's face for his insult.

Moments later Ukyo and Ryoga attempt to overtake Ranma and Shampoo, only for Mousse and Akane to return and attack once more. With Shampoo, Ukyo, Ryoga and Mousse busy fighting each other, the unimpressed Ranma decides to take Akane as his new partner whilst the other's continue squabbling.

As the pair move onto the next obstacle, Akane can't believe how selfish Ranma is, given how he doesn't care who his partner is so long as he winds the trip to Jusenkyo. At that moment, however, Ranma tells Akane that he should've partnered with her from the start as she's the best partner for him... Unfortunately, Ranma destroys the mood by commenting on how useful a macho chick like Akane is in this kind of race. Infuriated Akane elbows Ranma into a small stone sticking out of the lake before heading off on her own; leaving Ranma to fend off the hoards of alligators that surround him.

Some time passes as Akane reaches the fourth obstacle, Ranma decides to change out of his alligator-bitten clothes with a which is oddly made of  along with several other heavy items of clothing. Suddenly, Ranma hears Akane scream and heads over to find her sinking in some quick sand. Ranma awkwardly tries to make his way over to her, but Akane angrily tells Ranma to stay away and go have Shampoo be his partner. This, in turn, prompts Ranma to declare to Akane that she's all he has left which just irritates Akane further as she was the one who invited him first.

With Ranma struggling to recall Akane's invitation, Akane continues to walk through the sand as Ranma does his best to keep up. All of a sudden the pair find themselves sinking further into the sand until they ultimately stop in a large hole. Once the sand settles Akane apologises to Ranma for slowing him down, although he attempts to reassure her that isn't the case before angering Akane once more by saying that she would mess things up anyway. Finally had enough of his arrogance, Akane throws Ranma out of the hole. During his time in the air, Ranma successfully recalls Akane's invitation.

Believing that she's alone, Akane begins muttering about Ranma and how he only cares about winning, before realising that Ranma is back in the hole with her. After asking Akane why she has to get mad at him all the time, Ranma proceeds to apologise for forgetting her invitation. Although Akane is still slightly frustrated at Ranma, the appearance of Shampoo and Mousse who proceed to take the lead returns Ranma's mind to race. He then lifts Akane out of the sand, with the intention of throwing her to safety but when Ranma's head skins beneath the sand Akane swiftly jumps down to drag him back up.

Having learnt from Ranma that his Yukata is made of chain-mail, Akane wastes no time in tying one of the chains to Ranma's iron sandals which she uses as a rope to help them finally get out of the sand.

A Goal Too Far
With all the obstacles having been passed, Mousse and Shampoo rush towards the goal as Ranma and Akane try their best to catch up. Luckily the desperate judges begin running away with the goal, giving Ranma and Akane the chance they needed to overtake the other pair.

As Mousse and Shampoo's attempts to overtake just leads them to trip over each other, Ranma and Akane continue to head to the goal. Unfortunately, at the last minute, Ukyo and Ryoga emerge from the bushes to find themselves under the final goal, as Ranma and Akane stand in a stunned silence.

Later that day, back at the Tendo Dojo, Akane discusses how close they were to winning before recalling how happy Ryoga was at winning, prompting her to think that there must've been a hot spring he really wanted to visit.

Unbeknownst to both Ranma and Akane, a very depressed Ryoga finds himself in as Ukyo happily enjoys the vast amount of business she's getting.

Quotes

 * (Mousse) "Akane! Your stubby legs are slowing us down!"
 * (Ryoga) "Nobody insults Akane's legs!"

Trivia

 * Due to a coloring error, after Akane kicks Ranma during the first obstacle, Shampoo's hair is several shades lighter than normal.