Here's Ranma (chapter)

Here's Ranma (らんまが来た) is the first chapter of the first volume of the manga and the first chapter of the Introduction Arc.

Synopsis
Soun Tendo receives a postcard from his long time friend Genma Saotome telling him that he and his son Ranma are coming to see him, much to Soun's delight. But little does Soun know Genma and Ranma have a big surprise in store for him and his family.

Plot Overview
Mr. Tendo receives a postcard from his long time friend Saotome telling him that he'll be bringing Ranma from China to see them. This news brings Mr. Tendo to tears; after he has stopped crying, he calls his daughters: Kasumi, Nabiki, and Akane.

Meanwhile, a young girl is running along and shouts that she's home; she changes from her jogging clothes into a Karate gi and breaks a pile of wood on some bricks, into several pieces. Nabiki then appears and upon seeing the wreckage, she states that it's no wonder the boys think Akane is weird. Akane responds by saying that not everybody thinks the world revolves around boys. This leads Nabiki to say that her younger sister consequently won't be interested in what's happening and begins to walk off.

Akane, Nabiki and Kasumi are all in the family room as it is starts to rain. Soun begins to explain that one of them will become the fiancée to the son of one of his closest friends. Soun also explains that the boy's name is Ranma Saotome, and that by marrying him the Tendo family legacy would be secure and thus, the training center can continue.

Akane is very shocked and angered upon hearing this and demands why they don't have any say in this. Kasumi agrees with this, saying that they've never actually met Ranma. Soun replies by saying that that is easily fixed and holds up a picture he had in his hand.

A young girl running in the rain is seen being chased by a very large panda. The girl dodges the panda's attacks and tells the panda to cut it out while kicking it in the face, sending said panda flying backwards. The panda stands back up on its hind legs, unharmed from the powerful kick; the sight of a panda surprises multiple people on the street witnessing the fight.

The panda throws multiple punches at the girl, who in turn dodges every one of them, and grabs the panda by one of it's paws and throws it over her head. As she does this the girl screams at the panda that it sucks it chose a fiancée for her without even asking. With the panda seemingly out cold the girl tells the panda to "suck on that" and that she's going back to China; she then turns around and begins to walk away. Behind her the panda rises gets up again and picks up a road sign that had fallen over in the fight. It hits the girl in the back of the head with the sign and knocks her out, then carries the girl on its shoulder and begins walking off. The crowd that witnessed the fight begin commenting on the size of the panda, much to the its annoyance; it growls at the crowd, who quickly walk away.

Soun has explained to his daughters that Ranma and his father have just been on a training voyage, and that they have both recently crossed into China; which impresses Nabiki. After listening to what their father has to say, Nabiki and Kasumi begin asking him questions, with Nabiki asking whether Ranma's cute while Kasumi asks how old he is as she finds younger men boring; while this is going on Akane is pouting and wondering what the big deal is about walking to China.

Kasumi and Nabiki then ask in unison what kind of guy Ranma is. Soun laughs, clears his throat and explains that he doesn't know as he as never met Ranma, much to Nabiki's disbelief. Suddenly a person shouting outside gets everyone's attention, resulting in the belief that it is Ranma and his father. Soun and Nabiki run to greet them, while Kasumi fixes up her hair and hopes Ranma is older, and Akane saying to herself how depressing boys are. When Kasumi and Akane get to the porch they see Nabiki and Soun running back towards them, followed by a panda and a girl -- the ones who were seen fighting each other earlier. Upon the sight of the panda, Kasumi asks if this is Soun's friend, while Nabiki sarcastically shouts that a pandas' visiting them happens all the time.

After a little contemplation Soun asks the girl if she is who he thinks she is, to which the girl replies that she is Ranma Saotome and is sorry about the mess. Soun then hugs Ranma but quickly realizes that there is something wrong. Nabiki pokes Ranma's breast, much to Ranma's annoyance, Nabiki then says that this "boy" is a she.

Soun can be seen to be lying on the floor in his bed crying at the realization that Ranma is a girl. Kasumi is making some medicine for Soun while Nabiki begins shouting at him for not checking whether Ranma was actually a boy. Soun angrily replies that his friend had told him he had a son, to which Nabiki responds to by grabbing Ranma's breasts and asking Soun if he sees a son; Ranma says that she wishes Nabiki would stop doing that.

Akane then stands up and introduces herself to Ranma,and asks if she and Ranma can be friends, and if Ranma will join her in the practice hall. When they reach the practice hall Akane asks Ranma is she knows any karate, to which Ranma replies that she knows a little. Akane then asks if she can have a little match with Ranma and reassures her that she'll not hurt Ranma; Ranma agrees with an "if you say so." Akane then attacks Ranma with a furry of kicks and punches, all of which Ranma avoids with ease.

Akane gets very annoyed with Ranma dodging all her attacks so decides that her next punch will be for real. She throws her final punch; however Ranma jumps into the air and dodges the attack with ease once again, resulting in Akane punching a massive hole in the practice hall's wall. Ranma then lands behind Akane and pokes her in the back of the head; the two of them then laugh for a bit and Akane then says that Ranma's pretty good and starts walking off, but not before saying to Ranma that she's glad that she's a girl as she would hate to lose to a boy. Ranma doesn't reply but gives a slightly concerned look as Akane walks away. The panda is then seen in the bathroom taking a hot bath.

Soun is then seen in the family room again sitting across from another man, both of them crying while looking at each other. Nabiki then walks into the kitchen and asks Kasumi who the old guy is, to which Kasumi replies that she has no idea. Kasumi then shouts to Ranma, who is sitting on the porch, if she would like a bath, Ranma refuses at first but Kasumi persists, and Ranma agrees to take a bath. Ranma then goes to the bathroom and throws a tub of cold water over herself, asks herself what she should do now.

Meanwhile, Nabiki tells Akane that her bath is ready. Akane runs up to the bathroom and undresses, while a boy who looks similar to Ranma is speaking to himself, saying that he better come out as he is, since the others will "find out" to find out sooner or later. He decides to get out of the bath. As he does so, Akane slides opens the door to the bathroom with nothing but a towel, and they look at each other in surprise and embarrassment. Akane then shuts the door, (much to the confusion to the boy who just came out of the bath), changes back into her clothes and shuts the outer door to the bathroom.

After standing quietly outside the door for a few seconds, Akane screams at the top of her voice and runs back to the porch. She then picks up the top of the stone lantern in the garden and says that she'll use it to drown the boy in the bathtub. Nabiki and Kasumi arrive because of the commotion, and Nabiki asks what Akane plans to do with the top of the stone lantern and Akane replies that it is for the pervert in the bathroom. This leads Nabiki to ask why she just doesn't kill him with her bare hands; Akane replies that the aforementioned pervert panicked her. Kasumi then says to herself how odd that is, as Ranma was just in the bathroom. The girls then turn to see a boy standing next to them and they ask him who he is. The boy replies that he is Ranma Saotome, and he apologizes for the situation.

Cast in Order of Appearance

 * 1) Soun Tendo (debut)
 * 2) Kasumi Tendo (debut)
 * 3) Nabiki Tendo (debut)
 * 4) Akane Tendo (debut)
 * 5) Ranma Saotome (female, debut)
 * 6) Genma Saotome (panda, debut)
 * 7) Genma Saotome (human, debut)
 * 8) Ranma Saotome (male, debut)

Quotes

 * What's so great about walking to China? - Akane Tendo after hearing about Ranma Saotome's exploits during his training voyage.
 * Ranma Saotome. Sorry 'bout this. - Ranma introducing him/herself to others.
 * I'm Akane.... You wanna be friends? - Akane asking if Ranma (when in female form) would like to be friends.
 * Well, I'm just glad you're a girl. - Akane to the female Ranma after losing the sparring match.

Trivia

 * The postage stamp and the postcard, sent from Genma to Soun informing him that they were coming, both featured pandas on them.
 * Genma is shown sitting in a hot bath while a panda when he should have changed back into human form when he came in contact with the hot water.
 * Kasumi acts much more outspoken and emotional in this chapter than later in the manga.
 * The manga clearly shows Akane looking down at Ranma when she walks in on him coming out of the furo.