Paper Dolls of Love

Paper Dolls of Love, also known as Paper People Love, is the 200th chapter of the Ranma ½ manga it is also the first and only chapter of the Paper Dolls Arc.

Gosunkugi waits all night until 6:00 AM when Akane passes by on her morning jog. He tries to catch up to her and talk, but she runs too quickly for him to keep up. A salesman notices his plight and sells him some magical paper dolls. When you write a command on the dolls and afix it to someone's back, they will do whatever you write.

Meeting the Salesman
Gosunkugi waits for Akane to run past where he's waiting for her, as it's on her usual route for her early morning jog. Gosunkugi imagines himself appearing from behind a fence and greeting Akane, and her greeting him back in return. His fantasy continues with him talking calmly to Akane about her passing here everyday and Akane saying how she looks forward to seeing him tomorrow.

This fantasy of Gosunkugi's is soon ended when the man who lives in the house who's garden Gosunkugi is hiding in and his dog come outside and the man questions Gosunkugi just what he thinks he's doing, while the dog pulls at Gosunkugi's jogging outfit. Gosunkugi says he's waiting for "her". Just then Akane does run past the house, so Gosunkugi calls out for her as part of his plan. Unfortunately, Akane doesn't hear Gosunkugi and continues running, causing Gosunkugi to chase after her.

Despite desperately trying to catch up with her, Gosunkugi can't keep up and begins to tire. In a last-ditch attempt he calls for Akane to wait and come back. Akane hears Gosunkugi this time, however, Ranma and Genma (in his panda form) appear and inadvertently knock Gosunkugi to the floor. Ranma asks Genma if they just bumped into something, but Genma holds up a sign telling Ranma it was just his imagination. Akane then asks Ranma if it was him who just called, but Ranma replies that it wasn't. This causes Akane to think that she must be hearing things, so she continues running.

Back with Gosunkugi and he decides he'll return tomorrow and try again. At that moment a Salesman appears and tells Gosunkugi he saw the whole affair and comments on how truly saddening it was. The Salesman continues by telling Gosunkugi that he has the perfect thing to cure his woes. Continuing, the Salesmen reveals that he's got special deal of a dozen paper dolls which'll cause whoever has them placed on their back to do whatever is written on them.

Gosunkugi decides to try out the dolls by taking one and writing "give them to me for free" on it. He then tries to put it on the Salesmen. The Salesmen avoids Gosunkugi and tries to put a doll saying "buy them for ¥10,000!" on Gosunkugi. The pair continue trying to stick their doll on the other, until Gosunkugi agrees to but the dolls for ¥5,000.

At Furinkan High
Later that day and Gosunkugi is having a P.E. lesson with Ranma and other male students from his class. Gosunkugi decides to see if the dolls really work by writing "fall down" on one, before placing it on Ranma's back just before he has to use a. At first Ranma seems not to be affected by the doll, until he tries to dismount, where he slips and lands on top of Gosunkugi. Ranma apologises to Gosunkugi, to which Gosunkugi tells Ranma it's alright. As Ranma talks to Hiroshi and Daisuke, who, like Ranma, can't believe he actually fell down, Gosunkugi is overjoyed that the dolls actually work.

With evidence the dolls work, Gosunkugi tries use one on Akane saying "Go on a date with me!". However, just before he can put it on Akane's back, she notices him and asks if there's anything she can do for him. Akane speaking to him after such a long time causes Gosunkugi to become overjoyed and become so self indulged by it that he forgets about the doll as Akane looks on in confusion.

Back in class and Hiroshi and Daisuke tell Ranma that Gosunkugi put something on his back just before he used the Horizontal bar. Ranma is a bit skeptical, but Hiroshi demonstrates what Gosunkugi did with the doll that Gosunkugi meant to use on Akane earlier. The doll soon takes affect and Ranma goes on a date with Gosunkugi (much to Gosunkugi's distaste). Eventually Gosunkugi is forced to put another doll on Ranma commanding him to stop. By this time Ranma has attempted to hug Gosunkugi, so when he returns to normal Ranma hits Gosunkugi for, seemingly, hugging him. Gosunkugi then clings onto another doll while thinking to himself that he won't be defeated so easily.

Ranma's Intervention
In the school library, Gosunkugi has prepared another doll for use on Akane. This time the doll's command is to exchange diaries with Gosunkugi. Gosunkugi quickly tries to put it on Akane, but Ranma grabs Akane and takes out of the reach of Gosunkugi's hand just before he makes contact. When Akane questions Ranma what he's doing, Ranma simply tells Akane not to turn her back to Gosunkugi. Meanwhile, Gosunkugi accidentally placed the doll on Kuno instead and ends up having to exchange diaries with him instead (much to Gosunkugi's embarrassment).

Gosunkugi decides to deal with Ranma first so prepares a doll which commands him to argue with Akane. He tries to put it on Ranma's back, but Ranma soon notices Gosunkugi, grabs him by the scruff and asks what he's doing this time. Akane then appears and tells Ranma not to bully the weak. While Gosunkugi is overjoyed yet again that Akane defended him, Ranma and Akane begin arguing. Gosunkugi tries to interject, saying he hasn't put the doll on Ranma yet, but is quickly pushes aside by the pair telling him they can deal with there own problems alone.

This causes Gosunkugi to try yet another doll, this time telling Ranma to injure himself. When Gosunkugi tries to put it on Ranma, he easily avoids all of Gosunkugi's attempts. Ranma eventually causes Gosunkugi to fall to the floor, where Ranma tells him that he'll never get that thing on his back in a million years. Gosunkugi just thinks to himself, telling Ranma to just wait.

Some time passes and Gosunkugi places a doll on the teacher which commands him to seat him behind Ranma. The teacher moves the whole class around, and sure enough Gosunkugi ends up behind Ranma. Initially Gosunkugi thinks to himself about how Ranma has no escape now, but just then Akane sits next to Ranma (as per where the teacher moved her). Gosunkugi begins cursing Ranma for turning his plan against him so he could sit next to Akane. Gosunkugi then suddenly realises he only has one paper doll left and screams at the thought, causing everyone to turn and look what's going on.

Akane notes that Gosunkugi is acting very strange, to which Ranma adds that he's been telling her all along that Gosunkugi's crazy. This causes Gosunkugi to panic and write "Please don't hate me!" on his last doll, which he finally manages to place on Akane's back. Akane quickly turns to Gosunkugi and tells him not to be silly as she has no reason to hate him. As Akane returns to doing work, Gosunkugi is delighted at this comment. A few minutes later, Gosunkugi realises his mistake as he should've written "Love me" on his last doll instead...

Cast in Order of Appearance

 * Akane Tendo
 * Hikaru Gosunkugi
 * Ranma Saotome (male)
 * Genma Saotome (panda)
 * Paper Doll Salesman (debut)
 * Hiroshi and Daisuke
 * Tatewaki Kuno