A Cold Day in Furinkan

A Cold Day in Furinkan (雪ん子冬物語) is the 14th episode in the sixth season, Random Rhapsody, of Ranma ½ and the 126th episode overall.

Relation to the Previous Episode
None.

The Furinkan Snowstorm
After sending a night inside a tent whilst in the middle of a fierce snowstorm, Ryoga awakes to find himself in the centre of a snow-covered wasteland. As he admires the sunrise, Ryoga comments on how he'd always wanted to see a morning like this with Akane, before embarrassingly realising this would require he spend the night with her. He then proceeds to call out her name when the snow beneath his feet begin to give way and Ryoga is shocked to see he's ended up atop a multi-story building. As he looks around, Ryoga sees that he's in the middle of Furinkan and wonders what happened. Suddenly, a strong icy wind blows past and Ryoga notices a flute fall from the sky, however, when he goes to pick it up a large shadow is cast over him, causing Ryoga to scream in terror...

A little while later at the Tendo Dojo, Ranma has just finished shovelling some snow and is now freezing cold, but can't stop himself from using his cold hands to tease/prank Akane a little. Kasumi offers Ranma some tea, as Nabiki notes her surprise to hear Ranma's activities. Akane then pipes up and sarcastically comments on how unusual it is for Ranma to do something for the family, prompting Kasumi to tell her not to say things like that.

Moving on, Nabiki reads a quote from her magazine which talks about the unexpected snowfall and how it's the worse for decades, although Ranma thanks whoever made it snow. Just then, Ranma notices his father is lying happily underneath the. Ranma proceeds to compares his father to a lazy cat for staying in the warm all day and not helping him shovel the snow, Genma's fine with this description and even pretends to be a cat, much to Ranma's distaste.

Meanwhile, Ryoga has managed to drag himself to the Dojo, but gets covered in snow before he can get through the entrance.

In from the Cold
Some time passes and Ryoga is taken inside, where Ranma and Akane sit next to him whilst trying to warm him up. Ranma then begins to note his doubt that a little bit of snow would affect Ryoga this badly, but, when Akane asks what could've possibly happened, Ranma tells her they'll just have to wait until Ryoga wakes up. No sooner does Ranma say this than Ryoga mutters something about a "horrible snow monster", which makes Ranma try to get more information out of Ryoga, but Akane stops him as Ryoga loses consciousness again.

Just then Kasumi walks in and notices the flute Ryoga was carrying with him. However, when she goes to remove it from it's case, Kasumi immediately drops the flute because of how cold it is. The trio then observe as the flute begins to glow an eerie blue...

Later that day, Ranma and Akane head out across the snow-covered Furinkan when Ranma accidentally slips down a large snow drift. After Akane shouts down to ask if Ranma's alright, she sees that Ranma has ended up on the edge of a giant footprint in the snow. Once Akane careful slides down to where Ranma is, the pair decide that it must be from the snow monster Ryoga mentioned earlier.

Suddenly some mist roles past the pair and Akane notices a girl lying in the snow. The two of them quickly rush over and Ranma notes the girl must be foreign given her unusual clothing whilst Akane feels her temperature and is horrified to see the girl's stone cold. Ranma and Akane then waste no time in taking the girl back to Tendo Dojo as the snow monster returns and looks at their footprints.

When the pair return, Soun, Genma and Nabiki comment on how much colder it's become suddenly. Nabiki then turns to Kasumi to ask if the water's boiled for some tea, but Kasumi explains that it's still cold, despite being on the stove for over an hour. Hearing this, Nabiki decides she should have a nice hot bath, but Kasumi tells her she'll have to wait a while as Ranma's just it at the moment.

At that moment, Ranma screams and runs downstairs (now in his female form) and declares that the water's freezing, which confuses Kasumi who notes that water was hot when Ranma came home. After Soun and Genma joke to each other about freezing to death, Ranma asks if Ryoga's regained conscious. Kasumi tells her that Ryoga is still sleeping, but adds that the little girl is doing much better and has Akane putting her to bed right now.

Akane, meanwhile, sits by the girl's side and tries getting her to talk by asking simple questions like where she lives; where did she come from; is she alone and what her name is, but receives no reply. Ranma then walks in and tells Akane that the girl can't answer all her questions at once. Suddenly the girl turns her head and asks what happened to Ryoga. Ranma and Akane explain about Ryoga being buried in snow and now being feverish from being half-frozen.

Fighting Mu
After Akane tells the girl she should rest, the girl declares that Mu is here and adds that if nothing's done then the whole town will freeze and everyone will die! Hearing this, Ranma decides that she'll have to defeat this Mu before everyone freezes to death. Once the pair leave, the Snow Girl's eyes begin glowing the same blue that the flute did earlier. She then observes as Ryoga dreams about being attacked by Mu before seeing her with a whistle and passing out.

Outside, Ranma and Akane search for Mu's footprints, but instead Akane finds a large structure which the pair assume must be Mu's lair. As the pair get closer to the structure they see just how large the whole thing is. Concerned with Akane's wellbeing, Ranma tells her to head back to the Dojo and tell everyone else what's going on. Akane retorts by asking Ranma if she's sure she can manage on her own, to which Ranma replies that she's only get in her way. Akane is slightly annoyed by this comment, but quickly puts it aside and agrees to get their fathers to help. The pair then head their separate ways.

Back at the Dojo and everyone is suffering from the cold even more than before. Just then Ryoga walks in and asks about the girl who's sleeping next to him. The group explain that she was found in the snow like he was. After Ryoga admits he doesn't know he girl, he asks where Ranma and Akane are, to which Genma explains that they went out to fight a monster called "Mu".

Meanwhile, as Ranma walks through the ice building, she comes across a large cave inside with Mu's footprints all over the floor. Suddenly the floor begins to break and Mu, a giant snow creature with one large red eye, emerges. At the same time, Ryoga tells the Tendos and Genma about Mu and how, despite it's large body, it can move with lightning fast speed before adding that his Bakusai Tenketsu didn't even faze it. Soun and Genma then demand that Ryoga tell them more about it.

Ranma, meanwhile, watches carefully as Mu raises it's arms and begins glowing slightly. A snowstorm then engulfs the surrounding area and Ranma has to cover her face to stop the snow getting into her eyes. Ranma then proceeds to jump up and kick Mu, which first seems to do a fair amount of damage, but Mu recovers from the hit almost immediately. As Ranma is blasted by a stream of snow from Mu, Ryoga tells the others that Mu's body is made of powdered snow so will break up and reform very quickly. Mu then proceeds to large a flurry of snow projectiles at Ranma, which she counters with her Kachū Tenshin Amaguriken.

The Passing of the Snow Girl
At that moment, Akane runs in and explains about Ranma running into a cave, which Ryoga helps identify as Mu's lair. Ryoga then demands that he goes with Akane to the cave as otherwise Ranma might be killed. As Soun and Genma prepare to join Ryoga and Akane in helping Ranma, Nabiki offers Ryoga her snow coat. Whilst everyone busily prepares, the Snow Girl listens in from behind the partitioning door and looks around the room when she sees Ryoga's backpack. The Girl's eyes then begin to glow blue and the flute from Ryoga's backpack floats towards her.

Whilst Ranma continues to struggle against Mu, Ryoga and Akane make their way towards the cave. As the pair walk, Ryoga apologises to Akane for shouting at her earlier as he didn't want Ranma being killed by anyone but himself. At that same time, Kasumi discovers that the Snow Girl has disappeared, causing Soun and Genma to let Ryoga and Akane help Ranma whilst they start searching for the girl. When the others go out to begin their search, Kasumi notices the casing to the flute lying on the floor...

Elsewhere, Akane can see the outline of Mu's lair in the distance, but only then does she realise that she's been separated from Ryoga. Ryoga, meanwhile, tries looking for Akane when he sees a shadowy figure in the distance. He calls out to the figure, but when they start disappearing he gives chase and finds himself outside the entrance to Mu's lair. Inside the lair, Ranma is starting to struggle fighting Mu as her body's so cold it's getting difficult to move. With no energy left, Ranma braces herself as Mu launches another snow attack against her, however, Ryoga appears and rescues Ranma in the nick of time.

Once Ryoga tells Ranma to pull herself together, Ranma informs him that she thinks she's found Mu's weak spot. Ranma explains that whenever Mu regenerates, his eye remains intact. Mu then launches another attack and the pair split up. As Ranma draws Mu's attention, Ryoga moves in and uses his Bakusai Tenketsu on Mu's eye, which makes the monster disintegrate instantly. Suddenly the ice building begins to collapse and the pair narrowly manage to escape.

As the pair note their gratitude for surviving, Akane appears and tells them how happy she is to see their still alive. After Akane tells Ryoga how she searched desperately for him, the trio her music coming from behind them. Akane then sees that it's the Snow Girl playing the flute Ryoga found. The group then observe as Mu reappears behind the Snow Girl, only this time Mu has a calm, blue, eye. Ranma immediately panics and tries to attack Mu, but Ryoga holds him back.

The Snow Girl then apologises to the trio and explains that she comes from a snowy mountain far away before explaining the Mu is another being that lives on the same mountain. She then proceeds to reveal that she ran away from the mountain and Mu followed her in order to protect her. Continuing, the Girl notes how regretful she is that all this happened because she ran away. As the Girl holds Ryoga's hand a tear drops, however, when Ryoga looks back up he sees that the Girl has suddenly matured. After thanking Ryoga for finding her Snow Flute, the Snow Girl begins to float away so that she can return to the mountain, but not before thanking everyone for the kindness they showed her.

Mu then disintegrates into a flurry of snow, and once it subsides, both Mu and the Snow Girl have disappeared. After Ryoga comments on how warm the Snow Girl's tears were compared to her hands, the sky begins to clear and everyone in Furinkan happily looks on as the Sun begins to shine through the clouds. Ranma then notes how the whole thing seemed like a dream whilst Akane asks Ryoga if he thought the Snow Girl cared for him, to which Ryoga simply replies "who knows"...

Trivia

 * The Snow Girl bares a slight resemblance to Oyuki from Urusei Yatsura.
 * When Ranma kicks Mu, a girl bearing some resemblance to Ryoko Hakubi from Tenchi Muyo flashes across the screen.