Ring Proposal

108-kai-me no puropozu (108回かい目めのプロポーズ) is the 209th chapter of the manga and the second and last and chapter of the New Year's Cat Spirit Arc.

Synopsis
The clock is ticking, Ranma has until the last ring to kiss Shampoo and free her of the curse.

Plot Overview
Ranma and Akane return to the temple, and Ranma has a plan to lure away the cats. He finds a catnip jacket and puts it over Akane. His plan is to have Akane be the bait and distract all the cats around the temple while Ranma goes in for the kiss.

Akane is not pleased by this plan and puts the jacket on him and throws him in the temple. The cats are immediately attracted to the jacket. Akane finds Ranma helplessly running around inside the temple. She removes the jacket from him and throws it away, along with the cats that were attached to it. Now there is only one cat that can get in the way of the kiss. Just then Mousse shows up and mistakes Akane for Shampoo and attempts to kiss her, before he is stopped by Ranma. The three storm the temple and find Shampoo.

Inside the temple, they find Shampoo in a large bird cage guarded by Maomolin. Despite his attempt to look menacing, Maomolin is easily disposed of by Mousse. However, Shampoo is unwilling to let him get close to her and will only kiss Ranma.

Akane reluctantly helps by distracting Maomolin using a cat teaser. The ghost cat is unable to help himself and starts playing with the toy allowing Ranma to pass by to Shampoo. But before he can kiss Shampoo, Ranma is pulled away by Mousse who will not allow the kiss to happen unless Ranma can beat him first. They fight briefly and Mousse is quickly defeated. However, just as Ranma is about to kiss her, he is stopped by Akane, who thought he was enjoying the moment too much.

Without Akane to distract him, Maomolin regains his senses and tries to scare the group, but they are all busy bickering with each other to take notice of him.

Suddenly, the group hears the bell ringing in the distance. With just a few rings, Shampoo suddenly grows cat ears, tails, and fangs. Maomolin tells them that if the bell rings for 108th time, she will be forever cat. With no choice left, Mousse grudgingly gives Ranma permission to kiss Shampoo. But before he can get close, he becomes paralyzed when the ghost cat licks him. He then recedes inside the bell and floats away carrying Shampoo's cage.

Maomolin goes to the bell and starts ringing it manually, speeding up Shampoo's transformation with each ring. She now has full appearance of a cat. Ranma wants to free Shampoo, but finds that he is unable to get close to her because of Maomolin, so he launches himself in her general direction and hopes for the best. Mousse believes that he is aiming to take down the bell, but only succeeds in giving the bell another ring for Shampoo's permanent change. Now at 107 rings, Maomolin prepares for the final ring as he pulls the hammer back. Shampoo is now small enough to fit through the cage and escapes. She walks to Ranma and kisses him just as the final ring is made. She instantly turns back to normal and is free of the curse. Ranma is still unable to move from having cat-Shampoo on top of him, which Shampoo tries to use to her advantage to kiss him again. Before she can do so, she is splashed with water by Akane while Mousse proceeds to stomp Ranma for kissing Shampoo. Meanwhile Maomolin wishes Happy New Year to the readers while in tears.

Cast in Order of Appearance

 * Ranma Saotome (male)
 * Akane Tendo
 * Mousse (human)
 * Maomolin
 * Shampoo (human, cat)

Quotes
To be added

Trivia

 * In Japan, at the end of the year, a bell is chimed 108 times in Buddhist temples to finish the old year and welcome the new one. Each ring represents one of 108 earthly temptations (Bonnō) a person must overcome to achieve nirvana.