Enter Shampoo, the Gung-Ho Girl! I Put My Life in Your Hands

'''Enter Shampoo, The Gung-Ho Girl! I Put My Life In Your Hands' (Gekiretsu Shōjo Shanpū Tōjō! Watashi Inochi Azukemasu 激烈少女シャンプー登場!ワタシ命あずけます'') is the 15h episode in the first season Digital Dojo of Ranma ½.

Relation to the Previous Episode
This episode is not related to the previous episode; it marks the beginning of its own story arc and is continued by Shampoo's Revenge! The Shiatsu Technique That Steals Heart and Soul before being concluded by I Love You, Ranma! Please Don't Say Goodbye.

Plot Summary
At a small icecream parlor, a clerk deposits an elaborate icecream sundae in front of Ranma's female form, Ranma eagerly explaining to Akane that she's always wanted to eat something like this before. Akane incredulously asks if Ranma is saying she's never tasted icecream before, to which Ranma "explains" that it'd be embarassing for a guy to be seen eating a sundae, even as she takes her first bite, brightens with delight, and then starts wolfing it down. When Akane asks if Ranma is not embarassed to be seen eating it now, Ranma explains it "doesn't count" due to being girl form, and Akane points out that a real girl wouldn't eat like such a slob. To this, Ranma angrily declares she'll eat it however she wants, finishes scarfing it down, then asks for a chocolate sundae next. Akane ignores her and delicately gives P-chan a scoop of her sundae, which outrages Ranma who declares she shouldn't "waste it" on a pig.

Before the two can start arguing, a television playing in the shop begins showing a documentary about a mysterious village in China, which Ranma recognizes. Before it can get too far, or Ranma can explain how she knows it, the wall suddenly explodes and a blue-haired teenage girl wielding twin chui stands in the hole. Ranma is panic-stricken and stutteringly identifies her as "Shampoo". Akane asks if Ranma knows the Chinese girl, but before she can explain, Shampoo declares Ranma must die and attacks her. Dodging her strikes without getting up from her seat, Ranma angrily tells Shampoo to give it up and get over it already before blinding her with a wall hanging from nearby. By the time Shampoo has thrown it off, Ranma has vanished, and Akane points out that she went out the impromptu door Shampoo came in by. Angrily declaring Ranma to be "running again", Shampoo leaps over and bounces off of a tossed aside safe to set off after Ranma.

Once she is safely gone, Akane walks over to the now-dented safe and knocks on the top, telling Ranma it's safe to come out. The door falls off and reveals a petrified-looking Ranma, who promptly falls out onto her stomach. As Akane asks how Ranma knows Shampoo, she says it's tough to explain. While Akane snarkily points out that Shampoo was pretty cute, Ranma getting angry at her implications, the proprietor promptly grabs Ranma and starts shouting at her about his restaurant being destroyed and demands Ranma pay for the damages. Ranma angrily explains Shampoo is trying to kill her and that she's not going to pay for the damage she inflicted.

On the way home, now male again, Ranma explains that he and Genma wandered into Shampoo's village not too long after leaving Jusenkyo, accompanied by the Jusenkyo Guide and in cursed form. Unwittingly, they devoured the feast that had been laid out for the winner of the fighting tournament being held that day, a tournament that Shampoo had just won, and dishonored her. Seeking to make amends, Ranma offered to challenge Shampoo so that they could legitimately claim the prize as their own. and was accepted. After she won, though, Shampoo kissed Ranma on the cheek.

Akane interrupts at this point, Ranma angrily telling her to let him finish. He goes on to explain that what Shampoo had given his female form was the "Kiss of Death", a symbol of a vow to track 'her' down to the ends of the earth if neccessary in order to kill Ranma. And that was indeed what she did; the reason they left China when they did was because Shampoo followed them everywhere they went in China, constantly attempting to kill Ranma for her defeat.

Having reached the Tendo Dojo, Akane concludes that now Shampoo has caught up with Ranma in Japan, but displays no sympathy, instead telling P-chan in a childish tone that it's all Ranma's fault (to which the pig agrees) and telling Ranma that at least the girl trying to kill him is a cute one. Ranma's angry retort is cut off in mid-sentence as he walks into the living room and finds Shampoo there, drinking tea. When Kasumi describes her as a "visitor" that Genma brought home, Ranma approaches the panda, currently hiding under the table, and asks if he's gone crazy.

Shampoo chooses that moment to notice Ranma and calls him by name, but is plainly surprised to discover that "this Ranma" is a male, groping his chest repeatedly to confirm the absence of breasts. As Ranma relievedly confirms his masculinity, Ryoga pops into the living room and angrily asks if Ranma has never shown her his manly side before. When Ranma menaces Ryoga with the whispered "P-chan", Ryoga menaces him right back with a bucket of cold water, threatening to splash him before Shampoo suddenly lashes out at Akane. Having recognized Akane from the icecream parlor, Shampoo threatens her to make her reveal where the "girl-type Ranma" is. When Akane narrowly dodges a swipe that tears a hole in the door, Ranma leaps to Akane's defense and breaks the chui she's wielding with a kick. Unfortunately, the head falls onto Shampoo's own head and knocks her out cold. This means, as everyone promptly realises, that Shampoo is going to be after the male Ranma as well.

When she wakes up, Ranma frantically backs away from her and tries to explain it was just an accident, Shampoo wordlessly stalking him, until he backs into Ryoga. The eternally lost boy tells Ranma to take his kiss of death like a man and shoves him into Shampoo's arms, but she instead embraces him softly, tells him "wo ai ni" (which Kasumi translates as "it's you I love"), and then kisses him passionately on the lips. Everyone else watches in shock for several moments before Akane loses her temper and knocks Ranma out cold by hurling the broken chui head squarely at Ranma's own. When Ranma comes to, he finds himself lying on the floor between Akane and Shampoo, having an angry staring contest before Akane sticks her nose in the air and walks off in a huff.

At that point, Soun bursts onto the scene and asks what's going on, with Kasumi claiming that Shampoo is Ranma's girlfriend. Ranma protests this, pointing out to Ryoga that he has never met Shampoo in male form before, but Soun declares he can't help but see the two as close, as Shampoo is currently nuzzling Ranma in a very affectionate manner. Akane chooses this moment to to step in, icily declare that the engagement never happened as far as she is concerned, then storm back out.

While she is gone, Soun demands Ranma explain the situation, and when Ranma reveals he has no idea what is going on, Shampoo provides a handbook copy of her tribal laws. It is eventually discovered that a Joketsuzoku woman who loses a fight to man must marry that man, to everyone's shock.

Outside, Akane angrily beats on a dummy crudely modified to resemble Ranma, then breaks down and starts sulking. She tries to convince herself that the engagement was their fathers' idea and they weren't in love, as all they ever seemed to do was fight, but is unable to help but remember Ranma declaring their engagement during the battle with Mikado and Azusa. She is startled back to her senses when she overhears Ranma talking to Shampoo, and eavesdrops on him as he tries to explain that she should not follow her laws here in Japan. Kasumi and Nabiki also choose this moment to pop up behind Akane and try and persuade her, in their own different ways, to go and make up with Ranma. However, the sight of Ranma growing increasingly flustered by Shampoo's unabashed affection quickly puts all thought of that out of her head.

Later that night, Ranma sits on the roof and admits to himself that Shampoo is pretty cute, particularly when she's not trying to kill him, and wishes that Akane was that nice. Ryoga takes this opportunity to splash Ranma from behind, declares it makes him sick to see Akane getting upset over Ranma, and knocks her off the roof by pelting her in the face with a bucket. When Ranma angrily declares it's Akane's business if she's upset and not Ranma's, Akane reveals herself to be standing right behind her and angrily storms off, telling Ranma s/he can stay with Shampoo. When Ranma tries to apologize, Akane flings a large boulder at her, and Shampoo's chui promptly glances off of it while Ranma is admonishing Akane for flinging such dangerous things around.

What follows is a brief, but unpleasant, chase around the Tendo complex, seeing Ranma changing back and forth between forms several times courtesy of Ryoga and Nabiki before she finally kicks Ryoga into the pond and runs off into the night, Shampoo hot on her heels with dao and chui. In their wake, they leave a demolished living room, several broken walls, and a weeping Soun Tendo.

Trivia

 * This episode canonically occurs after P-Chan Explodes! The Icy Fountain of Love!, but it was aired out of order as the original studio was running near the end of its production and wanted to try and boost ratings by introducing the popular character Shampoo. Consequently, in both air date and on DVD, the "Martial Arts Figure Skating" arc is treated as the first three episodes of "Anything-Goes Martial Arts" (the name for the second season), while the "Shampoo's Introduction" arc is treated as the last three episodes of Digital Dojo.


 * This created two continuity errors in the series: First, Ranma's kiss from Mikado Sanzenin is frequently referred to as his first kiss, but in this episode, he is kissed by Shampoo, making this his first kiss. Second, this episode contains a flashback to the important "I'll kill you" line from Close Call! The Dance of Death... On Ice!, but with this episode aired first, that scene has yet to take place.


 * This episode gives Ryoga a new outfit that he will on multiple occasions throughout the series: a sleeveless, battered-looking, faded yellow shirt.


 * This is the first episode in which Nabiki blackmails Ranma himself.


 * Ranma declares that this is the first time she has eaten "one of these" (referring to her just purchased sundae), which prompts Akane to ask if she really never has had icecream before, yet Ranma is seen eating an icecream cone at the start of Kodachi's introductory episode. She may mean that she has never been allowed to eat a fancy confectionary like this before, rather than never having tasted icecream before.


 * This episode introduces Shampoo to the anime.