Am I... Pretty? Ranma's Declaration of Womanhood

Am I... Pretty? Ranma's Declaration of Womanhood (Watashi Kirei? Ranma Onna Sengen 私ってきれい?乱馬女宣言) is the nineth episode in the third season of Ranma ½, known as "Hard Battle", and is the 49th episode overall.

Relation to the Previous Episode
None

Plot Summary
In the darkness of early dawn, Ranma and Genma Saotome, wielding quarterstaves, perch dramatically atop the roof of the Tendo Dojo. After exchanging some banter, they attack, Ranma not only dodging Genma's staff thrust, but showing off by perching his own staff on Genma's extended one and then sitting atop it. Kasumi chooses that moment to stick her head out of the window and tell them that breakfast will be ready soon. Genma is the first to recover from this and attacks Ranma, slamming him into the tiles so hard that they crack and shatter where they hit. The impact is so great that Kasumi can feel it in the kitchen, wincing sympathetically before asking Akane if maybe she shouldn't go and check on her fiance. Akane absently barks at Kasumi not to distract her, then resumes desperately stirring the mass of... something... that she has in the frying pan, terrified it will burn.

While Ranma and Genma continue running around the Tendo's home like idiots, shouting and fighting, Akane finishes cooking and presents it to an understandably nervous Soun Tendo. This, she decrees proudly, is her own special recipe; Japanese omlette. Salvation comes to Soun in one of the oddest forms; for reasons known only to himself, Genma comes racing through the main room to escape Ranma, who fails to pull off a sharp turn and ends up using Akane's head as a ricochet point. Ranma corners Genma against the pond, then turns Genma's own favorite sort of trick against him; shouting that he sees a 100 yen coin, Ranma then kicks Genma into the pond. He doesn't have long to bask in his victory, though. Shoving Akane's face into her own food and then running off with an absent-minded sorry, understandably makes Akane angry - but she takes things a little too far by running out and swinging at Ranma with a frying pan, screaming about how he has just ruined her hard work. Though she never touches him with it, in his efforts to avoid being hit, Ranma trips over the edge of the pond and falls in, the back of his head striking a rock with a sickening "crack" before he bounces off of it and splashes into the pond. Initially, Akane's reaction is satisfied smugness, until she replays what just happened and becomes concerned, especially when the unconscious Ranma floats to the surface.

The boy-turned-girl is ensconced in her futon, Kasumi dutifully playing nursemaid to the unconscious Saotome. When Ranma finally regains consciousness, Kasumi expresses her sympathy for Ranma's pain, then insists that when Akane gets mad, she just can't control herself, asking if Ranma can please forgive her. Ranma gently says that it's alright, as it was an accident. Kasumi is pleased by this at first, then starts in shock; that was most certainly not the sort of thing Ranma would normally say, and even the voice was off - softer, gentler, more... feminine. She nervously asks if Ranma is alright, whereupon, in the same strangely girlish manner, Ranma declares that she feels better than alright - for the first time ever, she feels at peace, like having awoken from a very long dream. Evidently, her voice carries, as Akane, Happosai, Genma and Soun promptly come racing in to her room. At the sight of them, Ranma pulls the covers up to her chest and squeals at them to not look, all three men quickly turning their backs and apologising as Ranma points out that she could have been unclothed; they must remember to knock in future. Once they realise what just happened, the men share incredulous expressions; Ranma is notorious in the Tendo household for his utter indifference to them seeing his naked breasts while in his female form until someone points it out.

Akane suspiciously notes that Ranma really is acting weirder than usual, to which Ranma uncertainly asks if that's true and then apologises. Concerned, Kasumi holds up some fingers for Ranma to count ("three"), and then points to Soun ("Dear Uncle Tendo"), Genma ("Octopus Face") and Happosai ("an Oompa-Loompa") before giggling that Ranma seems perfectly normal, blushing at how cheeky that was even as Soun declares there is nothing wrong with Ranma, Genma and Happosai angrily asking what he's talking about. Akane snaps at Ranma to stop talking in that ridiculous voice he's using, blushing in a mixture of anger, guilt and embarrassment when Ranma comments that she thought all real girls talked like this. When Akane warns Ranma that she's starting to make her mad, Ranma demurely holds a hand in front of her mouth and giggles that she can't help talking or acting like this; she's a woman. Needless to say, Genma, Akane and Soun collapse incredulously at hearing this.

Happosai, on the other hand, smirks; he sees potential in this...

A short time later, Ranma, clad in some more feminine clothes, is happily pottering about amidst the flowers, Akane, Genma and Soun watching from behind some bushes. Genma is distraught at seeing Ranma acting so differently to his normal self, weeping in sorrow that he can't bear to see her like this. Seeing Kasumi has to hang some things up on the washing line, Ranma eagerly asks if she can help, an offer that Kasumi is happy to accept. To Kasumi's great shock, when Ranma ends up pulling out a set of her own boxers, she squeals in dismay, flinging them aside like they are red-hot and then squealling in digust how perverted they are, wriggling in her dismay. Temper flaring, Akane storms up, taunting Ranma that these are Ranma's underwear, grabbing Ranma by the head and trying to force her to look at them, which gets to the point that Kasumi actually tells Akane to stop, as in this occasion Akane is the one who's being perverted. Akane is incredulous that Kasumi could say something like that to her, but seeing that Ranma is starting to actually cry about it makes her temper flare even worse. Scornfully, she casts the underwear aside and drags Ranma off to the dojo by the pigtail, snarling at her to stop with the crying.

Pulling on her gi, Akane challenges Ranma to fight, the teary-eyed gender-bender protesting that she is against violence. Disdainful of this, Akane attacks Ranma anyway, only for Ranma to continually dodge and evade, protesting that she doesn't want to fight all the while. The "match" ends only when Akane is too exhausted to keep on fighting, asking in a mixture of fury and despair why Ranma didn't fight back. Ranma sadly admits she's good at martial arts, which has Akane ask in an incredulous fury if Ranma isn't supposed to be the heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes. To her absolute disbelief, Ranma sadly declares that she wants to quit, asking if Akane thinks her father will be disappointed and declaring she'd much rather take up tea ceremony, flower arranging and cooking - not just for her future husband's sake, but for her own enjoyment as well. Numb, Akane gets up and walks off, heading up to her room where she strips off down to her underwear and falls blankly onto her bed.

Ranma nervously follows Akane, then heads down the steps, depressed. Happosai meets her at the foot of the stairs and, privately amused over how Ranma is acting, puts on an act of being sympathetic to Ranma, who explains she's worried that she's made Akane really mad at her. Happosai offers up a bunch of empty sympathies, and then tries to trick Ranma into agreeing to model lingerie for him while she's so weak-willed and pliable. His effort is cut off when Genma comes furiously stampeding into the hall, catching Ranma up against the wall and demanding to know if he really has heard truly that Ranma wants to give up being a martial artist. Apocalyptically furious when Ranma confirms that she does indeed want to do that, even going to the extent of instinctively punching him and insisting that she is a girl when Genma keeps calling her "boy", Genma starts slinging hot water at Ranma, desperate to change her back to her true body in hopes that this will change his mind back to normal as well. Ranma evades Genma, but then gets doused by Soun, who snuck up on her... whereupon Ranma runs off crying like a baby to the bathroom, screaming in anguish when "she" sees that her body is now that of a boy.

By the time the Tendo household sits down to lunch, Ranma is no longer freaking out, but is still acting just like he was before. After the meal is finished, Akane makes the offer for Ranma to accompany her to go shopping, an offer he eagerly accepts. Firstly, though, he drops by Akane's room to change clothes, much to Akane's confusion. The sound of a male voice imitating female distress brings her running; Ranma weeps to Akane that he can't be seen in public like this; not one of "his" dresses or skirts will fit. Akane clumsily tries to reassure Ranma that he will look just fine, growing rather irked when Ranma actually declares that he's a joke and will never become a bride.

If she was beginning to think that Ranma mightn't be such a good companion on the way to the stores, given how he nervously presses himself against her for comfort, then the way he starts acting in a bra shop, running around and acting for all the world like an excited girl despite appearing very much male cements it. Face burning red with embarrassment, she grabs Ranma and drags him bodily from the store, desperate to try and salve some of her reputation. Once she is a safe distance away, she ferociously turns to the bemused boy/girl and angrily barks that he has to get it through his head that he is a boy, not a girl, not a girl in a boy's body, a genuine boy, and he'd better start acting like one if he hopes to avoid getting a reputation as some kind of pervert. Her lecture has little impact on Ranma, though; he's far too concerned with the pressing issues of his overful bladder. This results in another embarrassing scene; the same mindset that means Ranma can't bear to look at his own boxers naturally means he can't bear to use the men's toilets. Finally, Akane realises that there's no hope for it and drenches Ranma in cold water so "she" can use the toilet the way she feels she's supposed to. Ranma thanks Akane for this and, cooling down, Akane guiltily tells her it's alright - she then suggests that Ranma needs to get some new clothes, as her old ones are soaked.

To little surprise, Ranma picks out a frilly white dress, utterly delighted with it and ecstatically grateful for Akane's generosity - to the tune of 35600 yen. Once the cashier has taken Akane's money and left to get her receipt, Ranma wraps her arms around Akane with thankful joy. Heading to a nearby icecream parlor, Akane asks if Ranma has really forgotten all about being a boy, to which Ranma replies that it's not like it's a total blank; it's more like a dream. Her memories prior to the pond feel more like something that she watched somebody else living than anything that happened to her, and she then thanks Akane for causing the accident and setting her "free". She then goes on to declare that there's something she wants to tell Akane... while Akane initially gets flustered, thinking that maybe this will be some sort of romantic declaration that remains even in Ranma's altered mentality, she quiets down quickly when it turns out to be a gentle rebuke that Akane's a real tomboy type.

That evening, Ranma happily works in the kitchen to set up an exquisite Sunday dinner for the household. Kasumi compliments Ranma on her skill, and comments that if Akane was actually a boy, they'd balance each other out just perfectly - this is the last sort of thing that Akane wants to hear, and so it's understandable that it makes her slip and cut her finger. Ranma falls to her hands and knees in a near faint at the mere sight of the blood.

Dinner is met with disbelief when they are told that Ranma cooked it all, Genma complaining that Ranma is becoming more girlish by the minute... though he forgets about that, somewhat, when he discovers just how delicious his "daughter's" cooking is. After dinner, when the rest of the household is getting to sleep, Akane is still having problems sleeping, confused and puzzled over what to do about Ranma. To her great surprise, Ranma timidly knocks on her door and begs to be allowed to sleep in Akane's bedroom, declaring she's too afraid to sleep in her room, what with Genma refusing to be there and all. Reluctantly, Akane agrees, insisting that it's just for this night.

As Ranma sets herself up in a futon on Akane's floor, Soun and Genma slip up onto a branch outside of Akane's window. Noting that it's definately not perfect and still needs some kinks work out, this does mean that the two are no longer trying to kill each other, and that means that they may have, if anything, a better chance of pulling off the wedding than before. The branch promptly gives way under them, the sound bringing Akane running to the window and forcing them to make a half-baked excuse and run off. Returning to her bed, Akane notes that at least the "new Ranma" is too polite and demure to make a nuisance of herself and starts drifting off to sleep, unaware that a foreign presence has slipped into her room.

Happosai leaps at Ranma, planning once again to force her into a bra for his own degenerate viewing pleasures, only for Ranma to instinctively punch him away and then hide behind Akane, who realises what Happosai has planned and, disgusted, demands he leave. Happosai refuses, and tries to attack Akane to get to Ranma, only for Ranma to come to Akane's defense on auto-pilot again and punch him away. Happosai promptly starts throwing a tantrum, waving his arms and legs around like an upset baby and wailing and shouting about how Ranma is being so "mean" to him. Distressed, Ranma offers to give Happosai what he wants if that will make him feel better - to Akane's horror, she starts to disrobe herself. Immediately, Akane grabs the old pervert and hurls him away through the window. Turning back to the terrified Ranma, Akane places her hands on Ranma's shoulders and, teary-eyed, begs Ranma to change back to who he's supposed to be. On the verge of crying, she admits that while his true personality is rude, insensitive and inconsiderate, and that she complains a lot about it, sweet and innocent just isn't who Ranma is. She falls to her knees before Ranma, asking what she's going to do if Ranma doesn't change back. To this, Ranma gently tells her that while she understands what Akane is saying, she is a woman and "male Ranma" no longer exists.

At this, Akane's emotions come to a boil; she grabs her shinai again and, screaming that this stranger isn't really Ranma, attacks her, driving her out into the garden while shouting how she can just be a girl forever and unintentionally repeating the exact same accident as that morning. However, Ranma isn't knocked out cold - instead, she surfaces rubbing her sore head and cursing Akane for her actions. Akane starts in shock; could it be? Is it possible? Experimentally, she punches Ranma in the cheeks and is met with Ranma's usual barks of rage; delighted, she goes running off shouting for their fathers and Kasumi to come quickly. To Ranma's confusion, as she evidently remembers nothing of what happened while she was "girlified", everyone is ecstatic to see Ranma has regained his senses. Genma actually starts weeping in joy when an experimental slap to Ranma's face results in an immediate reply of a tooth-rattling punch, only to get so carried away that he slaps Ranma again - straight back against the rocks and into the pond!

Everyone is terrified that Genma has just re-girlified Ranma, but, fortunately, all it seems to have done is given Ranma a dazing; she surfaces with a goofy expression, asks if anyone caught the number of that truck, then laughs "which way did he go? I'm Ranma!"

Trivia

 * This is the first time that Ranma and Genma have been depicted wielding weapons while engaging in their early morning spar.
 * In the subtitles, Girlified Ranma calls Genma "Octopus-Priest" and Happosai a "Water Lizard".
 * Precisely why Akane took Ranma shopping in his male form, despite seeing his mindset was still that of "Girlified Ranma", is never explained. Perhaps it was hoped that continuously being in male form would bring his mindset back to normal?