Ranma Gains Yet Another Suitor

Ranma Gains Yet Another Suitor (Mata Hitori Ranma wo Aishita Yatsu また一人乱馬を愛したヤツ) is the first episode in the third season of Ranma ½, known as "Hard Battle", and is the 41st episode overall.

Relation to the Previous Episode
None.

Plot Summary
In one of the many vacant lots of Nerima, under a sky thick with black storm clouds and lightning flashes, Genma Saotome faces off against a mysterious teenage figure wielding a gargantuan spatula. Genma wonders why the figure seems so familiar, prompting them to angrily declare that they are the child Genma left behind, leaping at him in a rage.

Akane Tendo is passing by as this happens, not too happy at having to come home alone in a lightning storm, Ranma having left school early. This means that she is able to hear the fight and is drawn to investigate.

Back at the Tendo Dojo, Ranma Saotome has just arrived and is told that his father has left to pursue a challenge. Strangely, the challenge was delivered in the form of an okonomiyaki with the requisite kanji painted in sauce. Curiosity piqued, Ranma goes to investigate - discovering the worried Akane trying to bring Genma back to consciousness. Ranma promptly tries his own take on doing this - much to Akane's verbal disapproval, it consists of violently shaking his father back and forth while shouting at him to wake up. This does get Genma back amongst the living, but he thumps Ranma fiercely on the head for such abuse of a person in shock.

At that moment, a giant spatula comes flying through the air, Genma easily leaping to safety while Ranma dives at Akane, shoving her to safety mere moments ahead of the weapon slicing into the earth where they had been standing. Both are dazed when they hit the ground, but Akane is first to regain consciousness, whereupon she fiercely slaps Ranma in the face and complains about how rough he was. Ranma bluntly declares he'll just let her get cut in half the next time if that's the way she's going to be, but is disrupted when the stranger from before reveals their presence, declaring they will come for Ranma next, before fleeing. Ranma is all set to pursue them, but Genma trips him up, much to Ranma's surprise, and then declares he should stay away, for his own good.

That night, Ranma sits in the dojo, meditating, wondering why that okonomiyaki stranger seems so familiar, then darkly asks just what it is that Genma isn't telling him. Genma mysteriously asks Ranma to promise he won't be shocked, then insists he is serious when Ranma replies with skepticism at the idea of being shocked by something Genma did. Dramatically he builds up to whispering the secret... only to scream in Ranma's ear, causing him to fall over, before dramatically proclaiming he mustn't burden Ranma with this knowledge. Ranma promptly drenches him with the contents of a fire bucket and snaps at him to shut up in that case, which causes the two to start fighting as Ranma declares he's no longer interested in hearing it. Akane, eavesdropping on all of this, sighs to herself that while she didn't want to tell Ranma this, it looks like she'll have to. Though she forgets about that for a moment when Ranma is sent smashing through the glass and ends up accidentally embracing her in the process, slapping him fiercely across the face.

She does remember her initial plan, though, and Ranma follows her out into the garden, perching on a stone birdfeeder and impatiently asking what she wants to talk about. Hesitantly, she brings up the fact Ranma is an only child, then asks Ranma... what if he weren't? Ranma bites at her to cut it off with the dramatic buildup, whereupon she insists that it was only an accident she heard what she did. The stranger, who gave his name as "Ukyo", declared that he was the child that Genma had abandoned while attacking Genma, who tried to excuse himself with the claim he had enough hardship feeding the child he already had. Ranma promptly falls off of his perch in shock with an inarticulate burble, Akane disbelievingly asking if that's all he can say to the news that he has an illegitimate half-brother. Ranma weakly babbles about who could have guessed somebody like Genma could actually get some, then grabs the birdfeeder and runs up to his room, knocking Genma (still in panda form) to the floor with it and angrily demanding to know what's going on and if he has any other siblings that Genma has "forgotten" to tell him about. Genma protests that he has no illegitimate children, but otherwise refuses to explain what the deal is with Ukyo, instead insisting that it's for Ranma's own good that he doesn't know, even as Ranma finally calms down.

The next day, as they head to school, Ranma reports to Akane that his efforts to get the truth out of Genma were a bust; he just rolled over and faked going to sleep. Still, he insists, he'll get the truth out of his father one way or another, and that his opinion of Genma is so low that the idea he may have a half-brother he never knew about isn't really that big a deal to him. He and Akane forget about this, though, when they get to class; there's a new transfer student, who introduces himself as Ukyo Kuonji, dishing up okonomiyaki on a portable mini-hotplate and serving them to all his new classmates. Akane recognizes him as the boy who attacked Genma, but Ranma can't hear her; he is too caught up in the strange feeling that he knows this stranger somehow. When he gets to taste the okonomiyaki the newcomer's serving up, then he finally remembers him; casually evading a flurry of spatulas sent flying at him like shuriken, he leaps to the front of the class, excitedly asking if he's not "Okonomiyaki Ucchan".

He confirms hesitantly that he is, much to Ranma's pleasure and Akane's confusion. Ranma explains that he and Ukyo were friends while growing up, explaining how they had a game where Ranma would challenge him to a duel each day, and if he won, was given a free okonomiyaki. Akane is a bit skeptical of whether things were so rosy as Ranma seems to recall, but Ranma insists they were good friends, recalling how Ukyo chased him and Genma down the road crying when they left. Ukyo sarcastically reminds Ranma of his parting words - a plea for them to wait and take him along like they were supposed to - and how Ranma was riding away on the family cart which Genma was pulling along. Ranma wonders in nervous confusion just what his father was doing with it, Akane making the not-unreasonable statement that he must have stolen it.

Almost as if by magic, Genma appears, fiercely declaring that Mr. Kuonji gave it to him in exchange for taking Ukyo off of his hands. Ranma stamps Genma to the ground, angrily demanding to know why that would happen and disgustedly asking if Ukyo's just a litter of kittens to Genma. Ukyo growls to himself about how Genma broke his promise and left him behind, but Akane points out that this doesn't make sense, something that Ranma agrees with, asking why Ukyo would want to come with them, friends or not. Ukyo starts, asking in shock, maybe even horror if Ranma really doesn't know, but Ranma brushes his words aside and puts a friendly hand on each of Ukyo's shoulders, declaring it's not important and they can just let bygones be bygones. Ukyo seems hurt at this, knocking away Ranma's hands and turning back to the hotplate on the teacher's desk. Ranma hesitantly asks if he said something wrong, whereupon Ukyo, sounding on the verge of tears, declares that now he understands Ranma perfectly and flings two okonomiyaki at Ranma - a normal one that he catches (and which Genma promptly steals), and one adorned with the same sort of challenge letter as was delivered to Genma the previous day. Storming out of the classroom, he declares he was a fool to believe in Ranma, and warns Ranma that he's not through with him yet. After confirming the fight is to take place near the gym after school, Ranma angrily asks why it is that he keeps having to pay for the crimes that Genma has committed, his father clasping his hands in a prayer for forgiveness at his tone.

The news spreads like wildfire, naturally, and schoolkids gather to the appointed time to see the fight. Ukyo has already set up a large, square fighting arena - strangely, the "outer" half of it is a dull black color, while the inner half is the off-white of canvass. As they gawk at this and the various other odd tools he has, the hostile boy brusquely warns them away, vowing to himself that Ranma is going to pay for what he has done. He starts at a friendly call of "Ucchan", looking in its direction to see Ranma perched casually atop one of the ring posts, beaming widely and waving. This friendly attitude just makes Ukyo all the more furious, and she charges him, swinging wildly and snapping at him in rage as he continually dodges his blows and tries to talk him into calming down, pointing out it was Genma's idea to steal Ukyo's cart and he had nothing to do with it. The "sparring" ends with Ranma seated on the flat of Ukyo's giant spatula, commenting that he's starting to think that Ukyo may actually be mad at him for some reason. Eye twitching in fury, Ukyo flips Ranma through the air by swinging the spatula, using three projectile spatulas to drive Ranma out onto the black half of the ring... which is when Ranma painfully learns that the black portion is a giant hotplate, which is now burning fiercely.

Ukyo now starts fighting much more fiercely, dipping his spatula into one of the metal buckets he brought into the arena to send a great glob of brownish goo flying through the air at Ranma. The heir to the Saotome School dodges it with a leap through the air, but Ukyo slides the bucket along the arena floor so that Ranma ends up landing squarely in what he is told is rubber cement batter. He then entangles Ranma with rubber yakisoba noodles, using Ranma's own struggles to get him to fall over and trying to pulverize him with vertical swats of the spatula, causing Ranma to roll desperately to evade until he ends up rolling straight onto the hotplate portion.

Genma comments that he, personally, prefers his okonomiyaki without yakisoba noodles, whereupon Ranma smashes the bucket into his face, bellowing for Genma to stop thinking of his stomach and to start thinking of a way to get Ranma out of this mess. At that, Ukyo deploys a giant oilbrush, sending it spinning along the ring towards Ranma, who leaps over it (causing it to knock Genma away when it crashes into the ropes) but ends up landing right in the greasy path it left behind. When it comes boomeranging back, he is knocked flat on his backside, whereupon Ukyo envelops him in a great cloud of tempura flakes and gunpowder - which touches the hotplate and promptly engulfs Ranma in myriad explosions. Ukyo smirks that now there is nothing left to do but cleanup, but then some of the giant noodles come lashing out of the smoke and entangle him. Scorched and severely ticked off, Ranma emerges from the dying vapor and declares that he was going easy on Ukyo due to their past friendship, but now he's gone too far. With a mighty tug he pulls Ukyo from his feet, spinning around and around before throwing the noodle-wrapped fighter out of the arena, following after with a fierce leap.

Genma dramatically cries out, questioning why friends from early childhood must fight like this, prompting Akane to sarcastically ask just why they are fighting. Genma promptly covers his face with a panda mask on a handle, then laughs nervously as Akane angrily asks him again to explain why Ranma and Ukyo are fighting.

Frightened at this display of skill and power, Ukyo tries to run off, realising he's outmatched, Ranma fiercely following and demanding he fight like a man, asking how he can call himself a guy like this. Ranma's words strangely enrage Ukyo, who turns on Ranma and tries to fight, only for Ranma to disarm him and then slice his shirt open with it. As Ukyo deseperately tries to hold his shirt closed, fear and embarrassment warring for his features, Ranma growls about being treated wrong and unfairly by somebody who used to be his friend, twisting the spatula into uselessness with his bare fingers and then attacking Ukyo. Now on the defensive, the transfer student backs away in leaps and skips, dodging Ranma's strikes and begging Ranma to wait, even calling him by the name "Ranchan". Now it's Ranma's turn to tell Ukyo not to call him that, as their fight leaps up to a treebranch. Angrily, Ukyo throws a packet of flour into Ranma's face as a makeshift smokescreen. But while blind, Ranma slips, grabbing Ukyo by the waist and carrying them both off the branch and down into a storage shed through the roof. During the fall, Ranma gets seperated from Ukyo, but spots her through the murk and, presuming he's trying to escape, leaps at him, knocking him to the ground and wrapping his arms around Ukyo's chest... which is when he feels something very soft and unmasculine squidging beneath his fingers, barely a second before Ukyo fiercely slaps him across the face and knocks him away.

Racing to the shed, having heard the commotion, Genma finally comes clean to Akane about one key detail of Ukyo: he is in fact a she. Akane realises that there's more to this than a mere matter of thievery, to which Genma's answer is to hold both a sign with the kanji for "Bingo!" and a panda mask on a handle. Disgusted, Akane thinks to herself that maybe they should just sell Genma to the circus already.

Sitting in the darkness, neither Ranma nor Ukyo can speak, until Ranma finally asks in a hesitant tone, unable to complete the question, when Ukyo became a girl. Confused and distraught, Ukyo doesn't question his odd question but merely replies that she's been one all her life. Ranma promptly pulls out a kettle and drenches her with it, Ukyo squealing in pain and slapping him for dousing her in boiling hot water, demanding to know what his problem is. When Ranma feebly protests that she hasn't turned back into a guy, she fiercely asks just what he means by that, insisting that she is 100% woman.

At that point, Genma and the students appear, Genma introducing himself by kicking Ranma in the head and declaring that Ukyo Kuonji is not only a girl... she's Ranma's betrothed. Ranma knees Genma in the chin while Akane smacks Genma on the head with a wooden horse, then grabs him by the collar and demands to know what's going on. Genma explains that, shortly before they parted ways, Mr. Kuonji brought up the fact his daughter seemed to have fallen for Ranma and asking what Genma would think about betrothing the two. Genma mentioned that Ranma was already betrothed, but upon hearing that Ukyo's dowry was to be the family cart, immediately offered to engage Ranma to her.

As Ukyo bitterly adds, Genma then betrayed their promise and stole the cart, abandoning Ukyo. Between this humiliation and the taunting of the other children about how she was a poor excuse for a woman, Ukyo vowed to abandon her womanhood and become the greatest okonomiyaki chef in Japan, training for years against the raging seas.

As the pity of the other students rings out, Genma expresses his own sympathies, then holds Ranma forward and declares Ukyo now has the chance to get even with him. When Ranma indignantly asks how Genma figures that, seeing as how he was the one who made and broke the promise to Ukyo, Genma claims that he actually decided which course of action to take by asking Ranma to choose which he liked better; Ukyo or okinomiyaki. When Ranma said "okinomiyaki", Genma took that as a reason to take the cart but leave Ukyo behind; hearing this causes Ukyo to belt both Saotomes across the head with a wooden horse. Genma sagely tells her to let her anger out, while Ranma protests that Genma is the only one who should be held at fault for this whole mess, especially seeing as how he was just a little kid. Several of the female students grab cleaning implements and sport tools, angrily closing in on the Saotomes for their abuse of Ukyo, ignoring Ranma's protests that he had nothing to do with it and wasn't even aware that Ukyo was a girl until today.

Akane remains right where she is as her fellows vent their spleens on father and son, flatly declaring Ranma probably deserves it anyway. She only moves when they realise that Ranma has somehow vanished, as has Ukyo, even though Genma has been left unconscious on the floor.

Returning to the spot where Ranma discarded the twisted-up spatula, he unbends it and gives it back to the suspicious Ukyo, declaring he will take his medicine like a man, as his father said... when he sees just how worked up Ukyo is, ferociously declaring she's going to make him pay for turning each and every day of her life into a living hell, he changes his mind. He dodges and ducks frantically, even as Ukyo shouts at him to stay still, blaming him for ruining her chance of womanhood and cursing her to forever be alone. When she gets her weapon stuck, though, Ranma takes advantage of the lull in combat to declare it a waste for someone as cute as she is to be alone, declaring she grew up to be a real looker and would make a great wife. Ukyo's eyes widen in disbelief, embarrassment, residual anger and maybe a little hope, slugging Ranma in the face and meekly telling him not to lie, as she's not cute. Ranma insists that she is, earning several slaps and more denials that she is, right before Akane makes her presence know.

Sarcastically, she congratulates Ranma on finally having a cute fiancee; to answer Ukyo's question, Ranma admits that Akane is indeed the original fiancee about which Genma lied about dropping. Seeing how the two go from coldly reminding each other that it was their parents idea to engage them to trying to hit each other, Ukyo can't help but ask if they really do fail to get along. When Akane's answer makes it clear that this isn't a once-off thing, Ukyo promptly pulls out a barbeque and whips up an okonomiyaki that she gives to Ranma. Smiling and flashing a V-sign, she suggests that they let bygones be gygones at last, commenting, almost to herself, that such would be the thing a "cute girl" would say. With that, she giggles and runs off, Ranma staring in disbelief. Akane, on the other hand, realises what's happened and her cold comment about Ranma now being on Ukyo's good sign again means he swiftly realises what's happened. Laughing weakly, spotting the heart pattern drawn on his okonomiyaki in sauce, he tries offering it to Akane as a peace offering, and she promptly splats it on his face and walks off.

Trivia

 * This episode introduces Ukyo Kuonji to the series.
 * In the manga version, Ukyo used to doodle little smily faces on the okonomiyaki she made for Ranma when they were kids, and it is the sight of this pattern that reminds Ranma of who she is.
 * This is the second time Ranma can be seen meditating in an upside down version of the traditional pose; the first time it happened was in A Sudden Storm of Love. Ranma seems to have progressed in skill since then, though, as he doesn't need to use his hands to support himself while balancing on his head.
 * Genma's comment "a long time ago, in a prefecture far, far away" may be a shout-out to the opening of Star Wars Episode IV.
 * In the manga, Ukyo explicitly compares Genma's breaking the promise to take her along to his breaking the promise to engage Ranma to Akane in order to "claim" Ukyo's dowry. One of Ranma's female classmates also asks if he really chose Akane over Ukyo at such a young age after Genma claims it was Ranma's decision to keep the original engagement to the Tendos.
 * Genma claims that he asked Ranma which he liked better; Ukyo, or okinomiyaki, after first making the bargain. Ranma claims that he remembers no such discussion. It is uncertain whether Ranma simply does not remember it, due to how long ago and seemingly insignificant it was (on the other hand, he can remember almost perfectly every last item of food that Genma stole from him while he was a child), or if Genma is lying to try and shunt the blame from himself to Ranma.