Jusenkyo Guide



The Jusenkyo Guide is an unnamed man who works at Jusenkyo and usually warns anyone that comes there that they should not train there or they will fall under a grave curse. He knows the names of the hundreds of pools through the area, how long ago the spring became cursed, and the "tragic story" behind each of them.

Overview
The Guide dresses in a, which includes a matching tunic, pants, and cap with a star in front. Ranma Saotome also wears this outfit on occasion.

Digital Dojo
The Jusenkyo Guide welcomed the Saotomes to Jusenkyo, trying to explain the tragic nature and back stories of its many cursed ponds, but they ignored him and leapt up onto the bamboo poles scattered about the springs to train, much to his dismay. He could do nothing more than tell them which springs they had fallen into after their spar came to its inevitable conclusion.

When Genma Saotome returned to the Guide's house after finally calming Ranma Saotome down or escaping from her fury at being turned into a girl, doing so with a newly-cursed Ryoga Hibiki in hand, the Guide offered to make Canton-style Sweet 'n' Sour Pork from the pig. Boiling a great wok full of water, sharpening a cleaver to a wicked edge, he mentioned to Genma that there is a Spring of Drowned Pig in Jusenkyo, suggested that maybe Ryoga was a victim of that Spring... and then laughed it off as a joke before dropping Ryoga into the boiling water. His only comment when Ryoga leapt out in human form was that they couldn't eat this one.

After that, he brought them to the Amazon Village, making some tour guide-style introductions to the customs of the village. When Ranma and Genma ate the prize that Shampoo had just won, he translated her angry diatribe to them and translated Ranma's own challenge back to her. When Ranma won and received the Kiss of Death, he pulled the boy-turned-girl down the road, explaining just what that gesture meant.

Random Rhapsody
Pantyhose Taro would attack and mug the Guide in his own home to steal the register, in order to seek out the man who had cursed him to have such a ridiculous name: Happosai.

Ranma Forever
Finally, following predictions and certain mystical calculations, the Guide came to Japan looking for an outlet of the Jusenkyo vein - a certain pond, river or stream where, very soon, a magical ritual could be performed to make it function as any of the Jusenkyo springs a person may desire. This brought him to Nerima, specifically to the Tendo Dojo, where it was to emerge in the garden's koi pond. Under his instruction, Ranma, Ryoga and Mousse feverishly prepared for the ceremony; he would transform it into a Nanniichuan, allowing them to be cured, and Cologne brought up the possibility of him then turning it into a Nyanniichuan for her to be cured as well. However, in the stampede for all four Jusenkyo men to leap into the pond, Ryoga was knocked over and broke the sealing rope, causing the spell to be broken and the water to remain ordinary water. As the Guide then grimly explained, the ritual could not be cast at this exact place for 1000 years - that was when the exact same conditions would occur. He then unceremoniously packed up his things and went home - so caught up in their misery were the victims of Jusenkyo that they forgot all about asking if they could accompany him. Or at least get him to send some Jusenkyo water back.

Non-cannon Appearances
The Guide appeared in the roleplaying game Ranma ½: Akanekodan Teki Hihou for the Super Nintendo. Here, he kicked off the whole story by getting lost on his way home and wandering into the Gods & Demons Graveyard, where he tripped over and broke the headstone of the Ghost Cat King, allowing the evil spirit to be free once more.

Trivia

 * The Guide is an exception to the Chinese characters' names being puns of such things as fruits (e.g., Lime, Plum) and beauty products (Mousse, Shampoo, Rouge).