Enter Ryoga! The Eternal "Lost Boy"

'Enter Ryoga! The Eternal 'Lost Boy (Tōjō! Eien no Mayoigo - Ryōga 登場!永遠の迷い子·良牙) is the 7th episode in the first season of Ranma ½.

Relation to the Previous Episode
This episode marks the beginning of the "Ryoga's Introduction" anime arc, which will conclude three episodes later.

Somewhere in Japan
A mysterious stranger wanders inland from the coast, finally coming to a village somewhere in forested mountains. Noting to himself that he's not sure if this is the place he's after, but he may as well check, he leaps down, using a traditional umbrella as a parachute. However, the village isn't as peaceful as it looks; to the great distress of the residents, a massive boar is ploughing through the streets and buildings, ripping the place to pieces. While the residents have all scrambled to higher ground, the boar is coming up right behind the seemingly oblivious stranger -- who promptly catches it, almost disdainfully, in the center of the snout with his outstretched umbrella, holding the porcine titan back seemingly effortlessly with only one hand. Then, to the even greater shock of the villagers, he withdraws the umbrella, then catches the charging boar under the belly and flings it through the air to land on its head.

Amidst speculations amongst the villagers as to his nature as a human being and his practicing martial arts, one of the village leaders approaches him, worried by his silence. The stranger holds up a map and asks where Furinkan High School is, the village headman cautiously telling the stranger that the map he's holding is of Tokyo and he's currently in Shikoku. Clearly embarrassed, the stranger departs, much to the confusion of the villagers.

Standing on a coastal cliff, the stranger notes that this is a matter between men and he declares that he will not rest until he has settled things with Ranma Saotome, screaming to the heavens that Ranma had just better wait for him to find him.

At the Tendo's
Meanwhile, in Nerima, Ranma, currently female and naked from the waist up, is running away from Nabiki and Kasumi, frantically protesting that she is really a guy and angrily refusing to wear female clothes as the two elder Tendos corner her at last, pointing out that Ranma can't keep running around half-naked and all of his real clothes are in the wash. When Nabiki points out that Ranma is a guest at the Tendo household and the hot water Ranma and Genma constantly need is really boosting up the Tendos' gas bills, Ranma finally submits.

The elder Tendo girls decide to try and use Akane's clothes, Akane being the closest match for Ranma's female form in height, though Akane is not happy about the decision and Ranma angrily refuses to wear a skirt or anything like that. Kasumi gets quite into the idea of dressing Ranma up, with Nabiki having to delicately point her away from the especially feminine clothes the eldest girl is picking. Finally, they settle on some coveralls... only to discover that similar heights does not negate the problems of different builds. As Ranma bluntly tells Nabiki when she asks how it fits, the chest area is painfully tight and pinches, while the waist is annoyingly baggy. This incenses Akane, who grabs a shinai and starts attacking the outraged Ranma.

The Stranger's Travels Continue
The stranger, meanwhile, finds himself on a farm in Hokkaido. Fortunately, as the kindly farmer he asks for directions explains, the road nearby goes straight to the Seikan Tunnel, which is the fastest way to Tokyo from their present point. As he races down the road, the stranger wonders in embarrassed anger why he can never get to where he's going. Part of the reason why presents itself when the road comes to a turn off; the stranger takes his directions literally and keeps going dead straight, smashing through the barriers and plunging headfirst through a forest and totally ignoring the sign that notes the road leads another 12km to the Seikan Tunnel. For the rest of the day, all of the next night, and part of the next day, the stranger keeps running in the same direction, no matter how badly he gets battered by tree branches and the like. When he finds himself still not at Tokyo, the stranger turns right back the way he came, exasperatedly yelling at Ranma to wait.

At the Tendos, meanwhile, Akane's assault in Ranma has led to her and Nabiki chasing the ticked off boy-turned-girl through the household, Ranma now wanting nothing more to do with either of them for the day. As Soun and Genma watches, the trio passes through the living room three times, with Ranma in a different and elaborately female outfit each time, leading Soun unable to think of anything to say but to ask whose crackpot idea that was.

As the sun sets, the stranger finds himself in civilisation again and decides to ask for directions. To his shock, he finds himself at a Village Revitalization Meeting in Shikoku, the giant boar he felled now part of the council. They greet him warmly, but he excuses himself politely as possible and returns to his search, one of the villagers commenting that they have a feeling he'll be back.

The Stranger Finally Arrives
Once more the stranger resumes running, undaunted by the fact he is doing so by the light of the moon, declaring once again his insistence that he will find Ranma no matter what it takes before plunging recklessly into yet more undergrowth. Finally, the stranger makes it to Tokyo -- what's more, he manages to make it to Furinkan High School as the students are being let out for the day, though he is forced to grab a student and interrogate him to confirm that he has finally made it.

Ranma, unaware of the stranger's existence, is currently running from Akane, who is trying to attack him in anger yet again. As he leaps into the air to get away from her, he becomes aware of an approaching figure: the stranger is diving at him from above, umbrella clutched in both hands and intending to slam it into Ranma's head, with a cry of "Ranma, prepare to die!". Ranma twists so that the umbrella strikes the cement below them bare inches from Ranma's head, Ranma himself landing on one hand and with his body twisted to evade the strike. Ranma throws himself away from the stranger, even as the concrete on which he landed is smashed into a large crater centered around himself.

The stranger triumphantly declares he's found Ranma at last, though triumph quickly gives way to anger and then disbelief when it becomes quite evident from Akane's questioning that Ranma doesn't have the faintest clue who the stranger is. It is only when the stranger at last demands to know why Ranma never came to their fight that he remembers they were Junior High Students together, and the stranger still has to tell Ranma his name is Ryoga Hibiki.

Ryoga's Revenge
Ranma is overjoyed to see Ryoga, but his friendly gestures are angrily brushed off as Ryoga repeats his demand to know why Ranma broke their promise and ran out on their fight. Ranma points out to Ryoga that he waited at the spot for three days, much to Akane's disbelief, and when Ryoga angrily retorts Ranma had fled by the fourth day, Ranma then asks why he should have been expected to wait three days in the first place when the sight of their fight was the vacant lot directly behind Ryoga's house.

Ryoga furiously bellows at Ranma to stop patronizing him, asking if he thinks Ryoga was just strolling around for his health, and then explains how his broken sense of direction led him to such places as Enoshima, Asakusa and Yokohama before he finally managed to find the lot. When Ranma calmly asks if Ryoga has tracked him down for so long to finish the fight, Ryoga screams that he doesn't want to finish it as it's only just begun, and this is revenge, spreading his umbrella and throwing it at Ranma like a boomerang weapon.

Ranma nonchalantly dodges it both going and returning, and tells Akane he has no idea why Ryoga is so mad as his fiancee points out that this can't be any old grudge match, as Ryoga is furious. As Ranma tries to think, Ryoga finally blows his stack and charges Ranma like a beast, even as Ranma suddenly recalls why they were going to fight in the first place and unflinchingly stops Ryoga cold in his tracks, to Akane's admiration. Telling Ryoga to wait, he runs off.

Genma, sweeping outside of Tofu's clinic in panda guise, watches as Ranma runs past, then runs back with his arms loaded with various types of sandwiches and flavored breads. One falls out near Genma's foot and he picks it up, just as Dr. Tofu comes out to congratulate Genma on being a hard worker and chooses the opportunity to make a bad joke about Genma having bread and being the breadwinner (in the dub, the original Japanese is a cheesy pun on "panda", Genma's present form, and "pan da", the type of bread he's holding).

Ryoga is surprised when Ranma gives him a packet of curry bread, and accuses Ranma of mocking him when the heir to the Saotome School asks if they can just forgive and forget. Ranma calls him greedy and then hands over the rest of the breads he's holding, including seaweed bread, egg bread, chow mein bread, croquet bread, meat bread and cutlet sandwiches. Finally, he asks if Ryoga is happy now and he's sure he hasn't forgotten anything. Ryoga, on the verge of exploding, asks what Ranma takes him for, a sentiment that Akane echoes.

How the Feud Began
Ranma turns to her and explains that the Junior High School he and Ryoga attended was an all-boy's one with a terribly rowdy band of students; every lunch time, rather then letting students buy their meals, the staff simply threw out what they had and let the kids who wanted them fight for them, it was simpler. Ranma and Ryoga met when Ryoga leapt to grab a curry bread, only for Ranma to use Ryoga's head as a stepping stone and snag it out of the air first. By now seated on the ground and starting to eat the bread Ranma bought, Ranma recalls how Ryoga declared he would never forgive Ranma for taking the curry bread and called him a thief, scornfully noting that Ryoga was "blubbering over a piece of bread, for crying out loud". To this, Ryoga can only weakly tell Ranma to shut up.

Akane, trying to be reasonable, asks how things went that far, as one piece of bread isn't such a big deal. Ranma explains that it became a kind of personal contest between them to compete for the same type of bread or sandwich at each lunch, a contest that Ranma always won, prompting Akane to sarcastically point out that she's not so surprised that Ryoga eventually challenged Ranma to a fist fight.

At that, Ryoga interjects and tells Ranma that this goes beyond mere bread, responding to Ranma's somewhat sarcastic query by angrily attacking Ranma again. Though Ranma tries to continue his diplomatic efforts, insisting he wishes Ryoga would just talk this over and demanding Ryoga explain just why he is so mad, Ryoga refuses to cooperate. When he loses sight of Ranma, Ryoga charges straight ahead, running right past Ranma without knowing it and slamming into Furinkan High School like a runaway wrecking ball, ploughing through walls until he has punched a trail of ruin straight through the school building and out the other side, ending up running the streets of Nerima at random. He slows down only after an accidental run in with Genma, but soon resumes his wanderings.

Later On
By sunset, Ranma and Akane are the only ones still at Furinkan, everyone else having gone home, and the two of them have accepted that Ryoga is lost again and will not be returning.

Ryoga, meanwhile, finds himself in Shikoku once again, where the kindly villages give him some food and suggest that he just give up on Tokyo and stay there with them. Ryoga refuses, apologizes for bothering them, and then runs off into the night, one villager noting after he has gone that Ryoga may end up the village's first tourist attraction. Ryoga, meanwhile, races through the moonlit forests, accusing Ranma of having fled from him again and swearing that he'll catch him by next week.

Trivia

 * The English dub of this episode marks the debut of Venus Terzo as the voice actor of Ranma Saotome's female/cursed form, replacing Brigitta Dau after only six episodes.