The Breaking Point!? Ryoga's Great Revenge

Bakusai Tenketsu to wa? Ryōga Daigyakushū (爆砕点穴とは? 良牙大逆襲) is the 12th episode of Ranma ½ Nettohen, and the 30th episode overall.

Ranma has the fight of his life on his hands when Shampoo's great grandmother decides to train his arch-rival Ryoga in the deadly Breaking Point, which allows him to destroy what faces him with a mere touch of the finger! Can Ranma hope to overcome so dangerous a technique?

Relation to the Previous Episode
This episode continues from the ending of the previous episode and concludes the "Bakusai Tenketsu" story arc. The opening is a direct copy of the final scene from the last episode.

Plot Overview
Morning, a day or so after Cologne declared her intent to train Ryoga to challenge Ranma. To the younger Saotome's surprise and mild disdain, there is no sign of Genma and he comes to the conclusion that his father has run off, perhaps heading back to civilisation. Unbeknownst to him, Genma is in panda form and spying on Ryoga's training with Cologne. There, he sees Ryoga has been suspended in a seating position by an elaborate array of ropes, his right hand bandaged so that, save for his index finger, it is sealed into a fist. A massive boulder on the end of another rope-suspended basket is swung at Ryoga, who jabs at it with his index finger... and simply gets smacked in the face for it. Cologne leaps up onto the boulder and berates Ryoga for failing, demonstrating the Bakusai Tenketsu and causing Ryoga to get battered by the explosion and the debris. The boulder is replaced and Ryoga beats himself against it over and over, Cologne lambasting him to look with his mind and not his eyes and declaring he has no chance of defeating Ranma if he cannot master as simple a technique as this.

Genma, by this point, has seen enough and heads back to his own camp... after an embarrassing wrong turn causes him to walk through Ryoga's camp, where Akane is getting things ready to make a meal that night. He returns to find Ranma practicing his punches and kicks against a rope-bound pole, his son mocking Genma's absence. When Genma proclaims he was on reconaissance, Ranma sarcastically notes that this means he was off spying on Ryoga and confidently declares Genma has no need to worry about what he can do. Genma promptly turns Ranma's attitude around by sarcastically declaring his confidence, then starting to dig Ranma's grave, as it may be the last thing he can do for Ranma. Spooked by Genma's willingness to invoke such a sign of bad luck, Ranma listens as Genma warns him that Ryoga is learning the Bakusai Tenketsu. According to Genma, this will allow Ryoga to kill Ranma with a single touch of the finger, by hitting the "breaking point" of the human body. Ranma notes this with some concern, then suggests that if he can just build on his already formidable speed, then Ryoga will be unable to touch him and so his move useless. Genma decides to test the theory and flings a hive of wild bees at Ranma, who panics at first, then sees the logic (twisted as it is) in Genma's declaration: if Ranma can swat the entire swarm without being stung once, then he should be fast enough that Ryoga will never be able to touch him. However, Ranma swiftly learns that he is nowhere near that good yet, and is painfully stung into submission before the swarm flies away.

Presumably that very night, Cologne finally calls an end to Ryoga's training for the day, cutting him down and letting the unconscious, heavily battered boy fall onto the unforgiving earth - to Akane's dismay. When Akane asks the disdainful elder Joketsuzoku to give Ryoga rest, if only for today, Cologne asks why Akane doesn't give up on Ranma and become Ryoga's girlfriend instead. At this, Ryoga stirs and angrily tells Cologne not to interfere where she's not wanted, insisting that all he's thinking about right now is defeating Ranma.

Lunchtime some day afterwards, Genma casually cooks up some soup for lunch as Ranma undergoes yet another agonizing sparring round with a swarm of bees. As Genma tells him not to overdo it, Ranma picks himself up off of the ground as the swarm disperses - while still swollen with stings, he has received less than the last time, and he viciously thinks a curse to Akane that he is not going to lose this fight, no matter what.

Meanwhile, Ryoga is undergoing another session with the boulder. This time, his finger-jabs bury themselves to the knuckle in the solid stone, Ryoga "riding" a rapid-fire volley of such jabs and robbing the boulder of its momentum so that he takes no damage. Ryoga is irritated that he still hasn't succeeded in destroying the boulder, swearing that he felt the Bakusai Tenketsu this time, while Cologne coldly repeats that he needs to clear his mind of all distractions. Ryoga's angry protest that he's thinking of nothing save victory are rendered a lie when Cologne's staff points out the pattern of his punctures forms the kanji for "Akane Tendo". Akane chooses that moment to arrive, calling them both to dinner, and Ryoga's hasty attempt to cover the kanji and his nervously hysterical laugh make Akane worried; she leaps to the conclusion that Ryoga has made serious progress towards mastering the Bakusai Tenketsu or even mastered it, which makes her afraid for Ranma's safety.

On the sixth evening since the challenge was issued, with the match scheduled for the next day, Akane notes to herself that Ryoga's been training from dawn to dusk since this was arranged, then wonders if Ranma has been alright since she left. She is distracted from her thoughts when Cologne asks how her stew is coming, taking a sample and then promptly spitting it out, wondering in dismay where she made this latest mistake. She then laughs it off, noting that the only thing that matters is that Ryoga will eat her cooking and actually seems to like it. At that comment, Cologne once again asks why Akane doesn't just break up with Ranma and hook up with Ryoga if she seems to like the latter so much better, stating that doing so would let Ranma and Shampoo get married and then everyone would be happy. Akane insists that as much as it would make Cologne happy for her to do so, it wouldn't make her happy, then insists that's not what she meant when Cologne asks if she just wants to keep Ranma for herself. Anywhere else the conversation may have gone is cut off when Cologne suddenly stiffens up; she senses a powerful display of fighting spirit, drawing her and Akane to Ryoga at his "training field". Once more he is attempting to use the Breaking Point... and this time, he succeeds, to Cologne's elation and his own triumph.

Meanwhile, at the Saotome camp, Ranma has finally succeed in defeating the entire swarm barehanded and without taking so much as one sting.

The next morning the two combatants meet under a tree... from which Akane has been suspended by a rope bound around her waist and holding her hands behind her back, to her very verbal disapproval. Casually, Cologne declares that this match will determine who gets to date Akane, stating that if Ryoga wins, he and Akane will become a couple, which means Ranma will be free to marry Shampoo and then everyone will be happy and there will be peace at last. Ranma is irked when he realises that this has all been a scheme by Cologne to set him up with Shampoo, while Ryoga simply declares that all he's here for is the chance to defeat Ranma.

The fight begins, with Ryoga immediately trying to tag Ranma with the Bakusai Tenketsu - however, with Ranma's newly enhanced speed, he can not only evade Ryoga's strikes, but catch every last piece of debris that might fly in his direction, taking no damage whatsoever. Ryoga perservers in his efforts to use his new move on Ranma, but Akane can plainly see that Ryoga is the only one that's taking any damage from it, wondering why he bothered learning it at all if it would be so useless, and what Cologne could be planning.

Cologne, meanwhile, merely mentally smirks to herself that they are about to see the true terror of the Bakusai Tenketsu.

Finally, Ranma maneuvers around one of Ryoga's strikes and delivers a cross-kick so powerful it sends Ryoga flying into a nearby rock outcropping, shattering the face he impacts on and burying him in the rubble. While Ranma is immediately smug that he has won, to his shock, cracks suddenly stretch along the ground from the rubble to his feet, forcing him to leap up and support himself on the rope Akane is hanging from as the earth explodes and Ryoga emerges, laughing like a maniac. He taunts Ranma that Ranma's strike felt as weak as a baby's kick, even as Ranma desperately protests he kicked Ryoga hard enough to crack his skull open. Akane realises that the training Ryoga has undergone has made him super tough as a counter to Ranma's super swift strikes, whereupon Cologne taunts Ranma if he's still so confident of victory.

Ranma feebly tries to claim that he has plenty of tricks left, but Akane sees right through him and sarcastically calls him on the fact he spent the entire week practicing evasion and speed. Ranma has to admit to himself that she's right, but is distracted when she coldly tells him to make sure he wins, as she's the prize and will have to become Ryoga's girlfriend if he loses. Ranma promptly mocks her, asking why she thinks he cares and if she wouldn't be happy going out with Ryoga anyway. Before the argument can get any further, Cologne cuts the rope; Ranma instinctively twists in midair so that he is holding Akane in his arms and ready to place her safely on the ground when he lands... when, in a fight of pique, Akane shouts out that she hates him and kicks him in the face so hard he is sent flying straight at Ryoga.

Ryoga promptly tries to capitalize on this by jabbing out in another Bakusai Tenketsu - but Ranma seizes it between index and middle fingers, then repeats the trick when Ryoga tries to use his other hand. Holding both of Ryoga's fingers captive, Ranma taunts the Eternally Lost Boy about how he can't use the move without them, and delivers a rapidfire volley of kicks to his abdomen. This winds Ryoga... slightly, and for an instant, before he recovers effortlessly and, boasting that Ranma can't hurt him, sends him flying with a powerful headbutt. In desperation, Ranma puts Ryoga off balance by declaring his intent to use the "Saotome Final Attack"... which turns out to be fleeing the field while Ryoga is off-guard. Confusion quickly gives way to rage and Ryoga gives chase, even as Genma explains to Akane that the technique is founded on "Speed, Strategy and Seperation", defending that it's harder than you might think when she angrily points out that's just a fancy way of saying "run away to think up a better plan".

Ryoga catches up to Ranma in a tree-thick clearing near the edge of a cliff, where Ranma is bounding from treetrunk to treetrunk before hurling himself straight at Ryoga. The Eternally Lost Boy, confident in his newfound invulnerability, smugly allows Ranma to land his punch and then sends him flying with a savage counterpunch, mocking his efforts... only to then bend over in pain, to the shock of Akane, Cologne and Genma. Cologne notes that merely rebounding off of the tree shouldn't have given Ranma the sheer force needed to punch through Ryoga's armor. When Ryoga goes charging at Ranma, only to be brought to a halt by Ranma's punch, Akane notes that this time Ranma didn't even need the recoil, and then realises that Ranma is using his technique variant of the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken to "drill" through Ryoga's defenses, punching the exact same spot hundreds of times in the span of a second in order to penetrate Ryoga's superhuman toughness. But between his sheer toughness, and his monstrous levels of stamina, Ryoga continues to come at Ranma, even as Ranma burns up his own energy in his volley attacks. Finally, Ranma hits on a desperate gambit; deliberately allowing Ryoga to overpower him, knocking him to the ground, and then twisting aside at the last second so that the Bakusai Tenketsu aimed at his head instead hits the ground beside his neck, the explosion blowing them both into the air. Using his left arm and his legs to pin Ryoga's arms, Ranma then begins volley-punching Ryoga without stop as they fall back onto the ground, using the very last of his strength to deliver one last massive blow to Ryoga's midriff that finally leaves him unconscious. Ranma has won, if only by the skin of his teeth... and that's when the cliff edge they landed on gives way, dumping them both into a river far below.

It is sundown by the time the boneweary Ranma struggles ashore, weakly tossing the still unconscious P-chan aside and feebly insulting him for putting them through this. At that moment, Cologne manages to find them, cheerily writing off her failure at having Ryoga take Akane away from Ranma and congratulating Ranma on winning despite the odds. Ranma furiously demands to know what Cologne was thinking teaching a move as deadly as the Bakusai Tenketsu to somebody as unstable as Ryoga, whereupon Cologne playfully pokes her in the forehead. Ranma promptly falls onto her back, wailing in sheer terror as Cologne calmly tells her the Bakusai Tenketsu actually has no direct combat uses at all - it was created by quarry workers and civil engineers to help break up rocks, and has no effect on living beings whatsoever. To her mild annoyance, Ranma is still so freaked out that her head is about to explode that she doesn't hear this first explanation... while Ryoga has regained consciousness and is squealing in fury that Cologne didn't tell him that part sooner.

Cologne provides Ryoga with his belongings and hot water to restore both combatants, whereupon Ryoga declares Ranma is lucky that he isn't the sort to hold a grudge before walking off into the sunset, Cologne commenting as he goes that it's Bushido for a defeated warrior to leave, and Ryoga isn't likely to be seen for some time. That night, back at the Tendo dojo, Ranma and Genma eagerly wolf down Kasumi's cooking, but Ranma finds his pleasure evaporating when Akane blithely brings P-chan in to eat, hissing to the disguised Ryoga that he thought Ryoga was going to make himself scarce. Akane, as usual, reprimands Ranma that she won't tolerate him bullying her precious pet, which prompts P-chan to mock Ranma by rubbing his head against Akane's breast and poking his tongue at Ranma - for which Ranma promptly punches him in the top of the head, Akane's wrath be damned.

Trivia

 * When Genma proclaims the existence of Breaking Points for living creatures, it may be a reference to the manga Fist of the North Star, in which the titular school (and it's rival, the Fist of the South Star) wields pressure points that cause living victims to explode.
 * Ranma actually thinks "Akane no baka" while doing his speed training, which the dub translates as "stupid, stupid, stupid Akane" and the sub as "Akane, you jerk" - the latter of which is how Akane's usage of baka towards Ranma is typically translated in the dub.
 * In the manga, the scene in which Ryoga unthinkingly "pokes" Akane's name into the boulder actually directly presages his fight with Ranma, and occurs at night while Akane is sleeping.
 * If Akane has been cooking for herself and Ryoga alike, and she is shown as being incapable of stomaching her own creations, then how has she managed to stay fed? Ryoga at least has the endurance to force it down and the motivation to do so - to keep Akane's spirits up.
 * In the subbing, the Saotome Final Attack is translated as "Panicked Flight From The Enemy!" while the dubbed version goes "Ready, Set, Run Away!"