From the Depth of Despair, Part II

Kibun Shidai no Hissatsuwaza - Kō (気分しだいの必殺技(後)) is the 124th episode of Ranma ½ Nettohen.

Things heat up in Nerima as Ryoga struggles to unlock the secret of the ultimate form of the Shishi Hokodan and Ranma struggles to find some way of making the technique his own.

Ranma's Training Begins
Determined to perfect the Shishi Hōkōdan before Ranma, Ryoga looks over the scroll he received from the Civil Engineer. After rereading how the blast is created by feelings of depression, Ryoga reads on to see what the technique should look like when perfected, but is confused when the illustration shows nothing more than an arrow pointing downwards. Unable to figure out the arrow's meaning, Ryoga continues walking...

Meanwhile, at the Tendo Dojo, Ranma is trying to get himself more depressed by depriving his body of food, although the Tendo sisters aren't convinced that this will work. At the same time Ryoga finds himself having fallen down a and into the sewer water below, leaving him to struggle retrieving his clothes from the sewage.

That evening Ranma dreams about finding the well-fed Ryoga sleeping next to a warm fire whilst he is cold, starving and sleepy. Ranma continues by imagining himself successfully using the Shishi Hōkōdan to send Ryoga flying off into the distance whilst he cackles with joy. Unfortunately Ranma's been sleep walking and the all the noise he's made has woken the whole of the Dojo, who subsequently find Ranma stuffing his face with food from the fridge.

Misery Business
Genma soon tires of all the noise and kicks his son awake. He then proceeds to remind Ranma that he isn't meant to be depriving himself of food and sleep, but adds that not everyone can master every technique; especially when Ranma is too happy-go-lucky for one such as the Shishi Hōkōdan. This infuriates Ranma who demands to know if he's just meant to give up of surpassing Ryoga, to which Genma reveals that he's just offering a technique more suited to his son's position.

Intrigued by his father's offer, Ranma and Genma head outside. Once there Genma notes that he never thought he would teach his son this technique. He continues by naming the technique as "Howl of the Demon Dog". The pair then move into a fighting stance where Genma instructs Ranma to summon all his Battle Aura; back off to a safe distance from the opponent and shout insulting phrases at them!

Ranma immediately sees the uselessness of this "technique" and hits Genma for his stupidity.

By the next morning Nabiki and Akane observe Ranma succeed in maintaining a Shishi Hōkōdan energy ball, but when Ranma tries a second time, Nabiki can't help but flip up Akane's skirt to see if that breaks Ranma's concentration. Sure enough Ranma is quickly distracted, causing the energy ball to dissipate. After hearing Genma and Nabiki discuss Ranma's failing, Ranma finds himself more depressed and releases another successful Shishi Hōkōdan blast. This, unfortunately, quickly backfires on Ranma as the blast flies around uncontrollably in the air before landing squarely on Ranma.

As Akane rushes to Ranma's side, Ranma gets back up and reaches an epiphany about that it does only matter how you use the power you have, so he can therefore use this to create an entirely new technique. With Ranma busy laughing away at his new idea, Genma and Nabiki comment how idiotic Ranma's acting, whilst Akane finds herself getting a bad feeling about how things are going.

At the same time Ryoga is busily continuing trying to decode the secret of the downwards arrow on his scroll at the local Sentō. Just then a small boy sprays some water from a nearby fountain on the back of Ryoga's head. Once the child leaves, Ryoga suddenly gets an idea from the way the water pours from the fountain. He then proceeds to drop a toy fish into the water and observes how it sinks before rising back up again. This observation finally makes the image of the arrow clear to Ryoga who loudly declares he's now mastered the Shishi Hōkōdan, much to the worry of the other confused Sentō patrons.

Ryoga's Plea
After leaving the Sentō, Ryoga is found by Akane. Akane wastes little time in questioning Ryoga about whether or not he's going to still go through with fighting Ranma. This upsets Ryoga slightly, but he manages to hold himself together in order to ask a request of Akane. He proceeds to instruct Akane to tell him that she hates him, but Akane can't see why she's got to be the one to do so.

Despite not giving her a full explanation as to why, Ryoga continues pressuring Akane to say it so that he may complete the Shishi Hōkōdan. Akane does as instructed and quietly mutters the phrase to Ryoga which leaves him devastated. Ryoga then proceeds to run off in pain as his heart is ripped to shreds, even though he knew it was coming, as Akane notes that Ryoga was the one who made he say it.

Suddenly Akane observes a large blast of energy rise from the ground before quickly disappearing again. Unsurprisingly the blast came from Ryoga's now-mastered Shishi Hōkōdan, which has left him standing in a large crater. When Akane catches up she looks on as the tearful Ryoga declares that he has now mastered the technique...

Lion vs. Tiger
Once another week after the designated date has past, Ryoga finally arrives at Furinkan High for his match against Ranma. As Ranma and Ryoga stare each other down before their fight, Cologne questions Akane about whether or not Ryoga mastered the Shishi Hōkōdan. Akane confirms that Ryoga has and is now more powerful than ever, whilst Ranma just spend his time lying around in his own self-confidence.

Back on the pitch Ryoga begin talking with Ranma about how he's given up his peronsal happiness so that he may win. Not wasting anymore time, Ryoga starts his preparation for a powerful Shishi Hōkōdan, but Ranma decides to counter by putting himself into a defiant posture. Ryoga then proceeds to launch his attack, but Ranma responds by using the new technique he developed the "Mōko Takabisha". The blasts quickly cancel each other out.

With an cloud of confusion hovering over the spectators, Ranma declares the only way to fight is with aggression, which just confuses the audience further. Ryoga, however, tells Ranma that this futile resistance is just making him more depressed and declares he has no choice but to use his perfected Shishi Hōkōdan! Almost immediately Ryoga uses his aura to create a pillar of energy which subsequently changes into a large ball in midair before it comes crashing down towards Ranma.

Fortunately for Ranma, he was able to get out the path of the blast at the very last moment. This, however, just makes Ryoga (who's standing in the center of the blast's crater) more depressed, allowing him to preform the perfected Shishi Hōkōdan once again.

Unlike moments earlier, Ranma decides to try and stand his ground with his Mōko Takabisha, but with his lowered spirit the pitiful energy ball Ranma creates is no match for Ryoga and he is soon engulfed by the attack.

Tempting the Beast
As Ranma recovers from the blast, Cologne comments on how the Shishi Hōkōdan gives rise to power which reaches it's peak before falling with the user's spirits. Cologne then begins to wonder just what could've gotten Ryoga into his current state, leaving Akane to ponder about whether it was her fault from Ryoga told her to tell him that she hated him. At the same time, Ryoga stands with a glazed-over stare as he thinks about Akane's comment plunged him into despair when suddenly Akane rushes over to the edge of the crater and asks Ryoga if he's upset about what she said to him.

Whist Ranma begins listening in to try and figure out what's going on, Akane reminds Ryoga that he forced her to say "I hate you", but Ryoga refuses to allow Akane to console him. Akane, however, continues to inform Ryoga that she likes him, not hate him. With Akane's words spinning around his head, Ryoga's world of depression is suddenly lit up, unfortunately, Ryoga is swiftly dragged back down into despair when Akane tells him that they should (just) be friends.

Now that he's full recovered, Ranma begins questioning Ryoga about him doing all this just because Akane rejected him. Ryoga, however, simple retorts that he now has nothing to lose, but not before he takes Ranma down with him. Moments after Akane backs away from the crater (more confused than ever about what's making Ryoga so upset), Ryoga launches another powerful Shishi Hōkōdan blast.

With Ranma once again lying on the floor, Ryoga decides to end the fight with a final Shishi Hōkōdan. Ranma, meanwhile, is trying to figure out why Ryoga is not getting hurt by the attacks since he's being hit by them as well when he notices a change in Ryoga's expression seconds before the Shishi Hōkōdan hits.

Seeing his opponent still lying on the floor Ryoga declares his victory, but Ranma swiftly gets back up and requests Ryoga hit him with the Shishi Hōkōdan one more time. Ryoga grants Ranma's requests and creates another energy ball, although this time around Ranma waits for Ryoga's expression to change before falsely claiming he can see Akane's panties. As Akane swiftly puts her hands in front of her skirt, Ryoga's Shishi Hōkōdan lands, this time hurting both Ranma and Ryoga. Once he's picked himself up, Ranma explains how Ryoga was able to avoid the blast by being drained of all his spirit so, by shaking him up, he gets hit by the blast too.

The pair then prepare for a final bout when suddenly Ranma comes out that he's kissed Akane, which both infuriates Akane while angering Ryoga. As Akane outrightly denies these allegations, Cologne tries to figure out just what Ranma is trying to do since making Ryoga more depressed will only make the Shishi Hōkōdan stronger. A cloud of aura then begins to swirl around Ryoga, permitting him to create his strongest Shishi Hōkōdan yet. Ranma waits for the energy to reach it's maximum height before jumping in front of the blast and telling Ryoga that he lied about kissing Akane. This immediately causes Ryoga's spirits to lift, giving Ranma an opening to punch him with the force of the Shishi Hōkōdan behind it.

Once the energy dissipates, Ranma stands victorious with the now unconscious Ryoga in his arms. As she looks on, Cologne realises that Ranma used the Shishi Hōkōdan to increase the power of his strike so that even Ryoga couldn't withstand it. But no sooner does Cologne add her surprise Ranma wasn't fazed by the blast himself, Ranma's legs give way from underneath him, leaving Akane to comment that it's must've been sheer will power that kept him standing.

That afternoon, while enjoying some tea at the Tendo Dojo, the still blushing Akane reiterates to Ryoga that she didn't kiss Ranma, news which lifts the spirits of the recovering Ryoga sat next to her...

Quotes
(Ranma) ''"I'm a genius after all!" - ''After discovering Mōko Takabisha.

(Akane) ''"Let's always be friends, okay?" - ''To Ryoga, to quell his depression.

Trivia

 * The manga counterpart gives little distinction between the ki blasts used by Ranma and Ryoga. Color distinction is only made in the anime.