Sakura Mochi Arc

The  is the 52nd story arc of the Ranma ½ manga, spanning three chapters. It was included as part of Volume 21 of the  and volume 19 of the Viz Media tankōbon.

Plot Summary
Kasumi sends Akane to buy some groceries, but she cannot buy the mochi because the shop is closed. A travelling pedlar overhears her disappointment and sells her supplies to make love-fortune-telling sakura (cherry blossom) mochi. According to the pedlar, anyone who eats them will develop marks that will show whether they are meant to be together.

Everyone initially resists trying them because of Akane's legendarily bad cooking skills. Eventually, several people try the sakura mochi, and they taste so bad that anyone who eats it ends up smacking their own faces to distract themselves from the taste. This leaves a mark on their faces that Akane (and most other characters) interpret as an X (meaning that she is not meant to be with them).

Ranma refuses to try the sakura mochi, and Akane throws some at him. Ranma uses P-chan (Ryoga in piglet form) as a shield, causing him to accidentally eat some. He also hits himself in the face, but because he has hooves, the marks look different. When he returns to human form, the marks are still there, and Akane interprets them as cherry blossom marks, and must consider whether he is meant to be with Rygoa.

Finally, Ranma agrees to try one, and also hits himself in the face. At the last second before revealing the resulting mark, Akane panics, deciding she doesn't want to know, and punts Ranma out of the yard. He lands in a nearby empty lot where Ryoga is writing a love letter to Akane; he lands face down in the ink, obscuring whatever marks might have been on his face and also ruining Ryoga's letter. He washes the ink off, but ends up in a fight with P-chan, who hits him in the face many times. The resulting marks look the same as the ones that had been on Ryoga's face that Akane had taken for cherry blossom marks. When she sees so many more marks on Ranma's face, she concludes that she is truly meant to be with Ranma. Ranma is the only one who has figured out where the marks really came from, but he decides not to tell Akane.

Major Events
None

Changes in anime

 * When Ranma agrees to eat the rice cake, anime skips his inner monologue, when he fears it might actually work.
 * The marks on Ryoga face appear as Ranma and Akare are watching, which makes little sense. They should already be there.
 * When Ranma tries to eat the rice cake, he gets interrupted by his dad, Soun and Nabiki.
 * Nabiki buys more Sakura Mochi rice cakes and tests them on cats. She also advises Akane to no take the rice cakes so seriously.
 * After Ranma finally eats Sakura Mochi rice cake and is about to turn, Akane has a flashback to the first day they met.
 * Anime never points out that Akane can't be destined for two different men at once.
 * However, it does point out that Ryoga's face mark should disappear when he used water to change from pig to human.

Characters Introduced
None