Team Ranma vs. the Legendary Phoenix

Ranma ½: Super Indiscriminate Decisive Battle! Team Ranma vs. the Legendary Phoenix (らんま½ 超無差別決戦! 乱馬チームVS伝説の鳳凰) is the third and final Ranma ½ movie. It is the shortest of the three and the only one based on the manga, being adapted from the Phoenix Sword Arc. The movie is also the only one to not be released during the TV series' run, which ended in September 1992. It debuted in August 1994 during the OVA series' run, the third of six Ranma ½ animated releases to come out that year.

Unlike the two previous films, despite having a theatrical release, this film is not feature-length, as it was released together in theatres with two other short films: Ghost Sweeper Mikami and Heisei Dog Stories: Bow. The length of this feature is comparable to the length of an OVA, and it was initially released on home media packaged with the other OVAs. However, like the first two feature films, it has a widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio, rather than the 4:3 fullscreen aspect ratio of the OVAs.

Tatewaki Kuno gets ahold of a Legendary Phoenix egg in order to gain the mystical Sword of the Phoenix. But when it unexpectedly hatches on his head, it relentlessly fixates on Ranma Saotome as its enemy and proves to be one of his most implacable opponents.

The Legendary Egg
At the Antique Shop Yamatai, Tatewaki Kuno learns about the Legendary Phoenix egg. The owner tells him that it is a magic charm for martial artists and that whoever owns it can master the arcane sword attack known as the Ho’oken or Sword of the Phoenix. Kuno has a vision of himself standing with bokken held high, majestic phoenix behind him and a wall of flame in the background, although back in the shop Sasuke Sarugakure is waving a fire prop behind him. Kuno offers to buy the egg, but the owner tells him that no ordinary man can use the Ho’oken and that he will never sell it. However when Kuno slaps him with a wad of yen he immediately changes his mind.

The Phoenix Hatches
As he and Sasuke leave, Kuno is wondering what kind of attack the Sword of the Phoenix is. Sasuke however is worried about the shop owner’s warning to Kuno to never put the egg on his head. The owner himself is crouched on Kuno’s head repeating this warning through a megaphone before being knocked into the sky. Kuno scoffs at the warning before a baseball hits him in the face and he drops the egg, getting floored. However Ranma Saotome appears and catches it before it hits the ground. Kuno peels the baseball off his face and seeing Ranma with the egg, attacks him with his bokken. Ranma counters with a kick to Kuno’s face and places the egg on his head. The shop owner, who has returned, is dumbfounded at this and runs off in terror, while Sasuke blubbers in fear and Kuno is frozen. He is snapped out of his shock when Ranma tries to ask Sasuke what happens. Before Kuno can scold Ranma for what he has done the egg hatches, with a blinding light emerging from the cracking shell. Sasuke is overawed before seeing that the phoenix’s appearance is less than impressive, being an oversized chick with large eyes.

When Ranma, perched on Sasuke to take a look at the chick, takes a close look at it and comments on how ugly it is, the phoenix opens its eyes and focuses on him. It then pecks him until he falls off Sasuke and continues when he gets up. Ranma tries to attack it, but the phoenix senses danger and generates a blinding light, enabling Kuno to easily smack Ranma with his bokken and knock him out. Kuno is joyful that he has easily defeated Ranma and the power of the Sword of the Phoenix. He turns to leave while gloating at a puzzled Ranma, but is stopped by the phoenix, which begins pecking Ranma again. He boots Kuno away, but the latter falls right back down in the same place with the phoenix’s beak landing on Ranma’s head.

Stuck with The Phoenix
Back at the Tendo Dojo Akane Tendo comments that the phoenix came home with Ranma while the family eats dinner. Kuno is seated next to Ranma while the phoenix maintains its pecking. After receiving his rice from Kasumi, Soun is amazed to see the chick while she comments on how cute it is and Ryoga Hibiki, who is there as P-chan, squeals happily. However Kuno has started to tire of the chick, which is echoed by Ranma. When Nabiki gets her bowl of rice and sees that it is smaller than what she was expecting, she passes it to Sasuke, who asks why the phoenix is so focused on Ranma. Nabiki says with a deadpan expression that it must be in love with him, which leads Soun to speculate that the chick has imprinted on him. However since neither Ranma, Kuno, nor Sasuke know what imprinting is, Soun tries to try to illustrate what he means through a series of vignettes.

He starts by using a to grind in a bowl, which Kasumi points out is an implement. Next he and Genma play and Soun comments that he has an all-Pong hand, with Kasumi pointing out that his win is impending. After Nabiki wryly comments that her older sister is improvising, Akane asks again what imprinting is. Kasumi finally gives the correct definition with an example of a newly hatched chick treating what it sees first as its mother. Soun adds that in this case what the phoenix first saw is what it believes to be its enemy and will constantly attack. Sasuke realizes that the chick and its owner become one to attack a joint enemy, which is the true secret of the Sword of the Phoenix. Kuno concludes that as the phoenix has imprinted on Ranma, he can now date Akane and picks her up, which Genma reacts to by eating furiously, earning a mild rebuke from Kasumi. When Ranma protests, Kuno declares that he cannot stop him, but Akane pulls out a small mallet and knocks him out. The phoenix does not stop her and remains focused on Ranma. After Kasumi makes another pun that this was what was implied, Ranma leaps into the, intending to pay Kuno and the phoenix back by posing as the pigtailed girl.

When she calls out to Kuno he revives, happily running towards her. However when Ranma tries to attack, the phoenix freaks out and counters with a blinding electric attack before pecking her senseless. Kuno is puzzled at this, while Akane comments that the phoenix still knew that it was Ranma. Ranma gets up and bemoans how the phoenix is keeping her apart from Kuno. She blocks his attempt to embrace her with a pot lid to the face, stating that he must get rid of the phoenix. Ranma tries to force Kuno to choose between either one of them while Genma and Soun have sandwiches and sodas, with Kasumi commenting that their stakeout is imposing. Kuno appears to be choosing the phoenix over the pigtailed girl, but opts to have them both, causing Ranma’s attempt to backfire. Nabiki gives Akane a mallet to bail Ranma out.

Ranma then angrily enters the downstairs bath to return to normal, followed by P-chan. The door suddenly opens however and Kuno rushes in, causing P-chan to fall into the while Ranma halts the charging Kuno with a showerhead and uses a washbasin to block the phoenix. When she complains, Kuno claims that the phoenix forced him in there unwillingly. He then declares that as they are meant to be together, this means that they must bathe together and picks Ranma up. She cries out to Ryoga for help and he responds by using a pail to knock Kuno out. After Ranma reverts to normal, Ryoga tells him that he cannot defeat both the phoenix and Kuno. This brings the rest of the family running in and Akane asks if this is true, prompting Ryoga to sink into the furo in embarrassment as he is naked. While Akane covers her face, Kasumi remarks that Ranma always wins and Soun wonders how long the predicament will last.

The shop owner then opens the window and says that there is a way, revealing that the imprinting will stop when the phoenix leaves the nest. Ranma gets mad at him for selling the phoenix egg to Kuno in the first place, while Nabiki calmly asks how long the situation will take to resolve. When the owner reveals that it will leave in about 100 years, Ranma angrily pulls him through the window and drives him into the floor. The man then pulls out a scroll that contains the recipe for making special growth pills that will speed up the process. After asking for one million yen first, six of the characters stomp on him and he drops the price to 100 yen. Akane happily grabs the scroll and takes a crack at the recipe, but creates an orange syrup that the phoenix refuses to ingest, while Kuno is still knocked out. She forces it to have some anyway by holding its beak open, causing it to go berserk. Ranma then gets thrown out of the house and is told that he cannot return until the phoenix leaves the nest.

Sasuke goes to Okonomiyaki Ucchan's, where he asks Ukyo Kuonji to help Ranma out by making the pills and she happily agrees. Regardless, he next stops by the Cat Café, where he also solicits Shampoo’s help, again on Ranma's behalf, which is happily given. Ranma and Kuno camp in a vacant lot, with the former using a pot lid to block the phoenix from pecking him. However Kuno has vivid dreams about both male and female Ranma, talks in his sleep, and flails around.

The Following Morning
Early the next morning Akane stops by with breakfast, feeling sorry for Ranma. When she opens the tent, the phoenix awakes and sees her, imprinting on her as its new enemy and chasing her through the streets. Her screams awaken Ranma and when they return to the lot, he grabs Akane and kicks Kuno to stop him. While they wonder why the phoenix's focus has shifted, the shop owner appears while reading from a book. He reveals that the phoenix imprints on a new person every time it wakes up. Akane is flabbergasted at this, but Ranma eagerly takes the chance to get his revenge by pummeling Kuno into the air. Shampoo and Ukyo then come running up, each bearing a bag of pills. Ranma cannot explain himself to Akane, but they then see Sasuke bowing to them apologetically. The phoenix and Kuno come falling back to earth but miss when Akane jumps into Ranma’s arms. Sasuke suggests that now is a good time to use the phoenix pills that Ukyo and Shampoo made. Kuno and the phoenix support this by reviving despite their fall.

Feeding The Phoenix
A short while later Kuno faces off against Ranma, who has both bags of pills, intending to punish him for interfering with his romancing of Akane. Ranma vows that the phoenix will go, while Shampoo and Ukyo, who are watching, complain that they do not know what is going on and feel used. Sasuke, who is standing between them, tries to laugh the situation off. Ranma starts his attack by firing a single pill which Kuno destroys with his bokken, and foils a follow up volley of dozens of pills. Ranma tries to have Akane distract Kuno while he feeds the phoenix, but she refuses to play along, dousing him with a bucket of water and pitching Ranma at Kuno to have her execute the plan herself. Ranma succeeds in jamming a mass of pills into the phoenix’s mouth, causing it to grow so that it becomes as wide as Kuno's shoulders and prevents him from seeing. However when it sees Akane it tries to peck her, smashing into the ground when Ranma snatches her away. A tetsubin then hits Ranma, which was thrown by Ryoga who is running along the rooftops and yelling for him to do something. The phoenix digs itself out of the ground and begins to fly after Akane, who grabs Ranma and flees.

However the phoenix flies at the watching characters before climbing away, causing the shop owner to recall that it will become violent and attack anyone it sees. It even dives at Ryoga, who just dodges it. Soun, a now transformed Genma, and the other two Tendo sisters appear and are surprised at the turn of events. Ranma tells Akane that they need to attack the phoenix simultaneously and Ukyo and Shampoo also charge in. Ryoga backs them up by throwing his open umbrella at the phoenix in flight to force it one way, while Shampoo and Ukyo try to attack it in the air. However it generates its electric field to fend them off and dodges Ukyo’s spatula shuriken. Ranma and Akane leap into the air and fire a volley of pills into the phoenix’s mouth. However Akane is in its flight path and gets knocked down. She is unable to reorient herself to land safely, but is caught by Shampoo, who comments that she has gained weight.

The phoenix grows bigger, to the point that it is now creating powerful winds in low-level flight that are causing damage to Furinkan. This prompts Soun and Genma to vow to take a stand, but they both get taken out by a sign that flies into them. Ranma and Ryoga, who has taken over from Akane, take to the rooftops and pursue the phoenix with bags of pills in hand. It tears the roof off a sentō, creating an obstacle of jets of hot and cold water spraying through the air. Regardless, Ranma and Ryoga charge through the water and are able to fire more pills into the phoenix’s mouth, causing it to grow to the size of an aircraft. Afterwards they wonder if doing so is worth it as it continues to tear up the town.

Will It Leave?


At the end of the day, the phoenix has grown to a massive size but has stopped flying, having landed in a park. With all the pills having been used up, everyone watches it and wonders what will happen next. The shop owner has a new revelation that the phoenix now looks like a statue which he has in the shop. Akane shouts at him for this useless info. However the phoenix then begins to emit a blinding light before flying away. A worried Sasuke runs over to Kuno while Kasumi starts to wave goodbye to the departed phoenix. Kuno asks where the phoenix has gone while Sasuke notes that his head seems to be stuck between his shoulders. Ryoga then notices that the phoenix has left behind an egg. Akane comments that it was female. The shop owner picks up the egg and plans to seal it away, but Kuno slaps him with a wad of yen again and he agrees to sell it. Ranma is frustrated at their behavior. Kasumi is still waving goodbye to the phoenix and is joined by Nabiki, who gives up and joins her.

Music
Doco's "Never-Ending Summer Vacation" is the opening theme while "Liar" is the ending theme. Several instrumental pieces that are used in the movie are on the Ultra Anything-Goes Decisive Battle! Movie and OVA OST.

Releases


The movie was released on August 20, 1994 during the /Shogakukan Animation Festival along with  and Heisei Inu Monogatari Bow.

Pony Canyon first released the movie on VHS and laserdisc in April 1995. A DVD release came on December 5, 2001 on volume 3 of the OVA series.

Because of its length, Viz Media has treated the movie as the ninth OVA, creating the impression that it is an OVA. It was released on VHS as One Grew Over the Kuno's Nest on December 16, 1999 along with Oh, Cursed Tunnel of Lost Love! Let My Love Be Forever. It was later released on DVD as part of the OVA Series Box Set.

Quotes

 * "Even if you slapped me with a wad of bills...I would never sell it!" [Kuno slaps the shop owner with a wad of yen] "Sold! Sold!"
 * "What is this ugly runt?" - Ranma on seeing the phoenix for the first time.
 * "I thought those were supposed to be pill-shaped!" - Genma on Akane's syrup version of the pills.

Trivia



 * A related tie-in for the movie is the Movie + OVA Ranma ½, a manga version also covering the two part OVA The One to Carry On using stills from all three. It was released in October 1994 before the movie debuted.
 * The Viz title is a parody of the 1975 film '. This has created confusion over the film's English title as "One Flew''' Over the Kuno's Nest".
 * This is the only one of the movies to be released in widescreen. The others are full screen.
 * The movie has the least number of cast members out of the three, is the only one that does not involve leaving Furinkan, and the only one that does not involve a kidnapping.
 * Kuno either does not see Akane douse Ranma with the bucket right in front of him and transform or ignores it.
 * In this movie, Shampoo is seen saving Akane from falling on the ground after an high jump. This proves once again how they are friends, even if rivals.
 * The original manga story differs in numerous ways:
 * Kuno is alone when he visits Antique Shop Yamatai (Sasuke is an anime-only character) and the store is different.
 * The shop owner has a smaller role and does not pop up several times to offer new insights about the phoenix.
 * Ranma encounters Kuno with the egg while chasing Happosai, who bowls Kuno over. Kuno attacks him from a jump but is stopped and the egg placed on his head.
 * The hatching of the egg is much faster and no one else other than Ranma and Kuno sees it.
 * In addition to pecking, the phoenix also chews on Ranma's head more than once.
 * Soun has heard about the Phoenix Sword. He only uses one vignette, making ink with a pestle and bowl. While Kasumi also appears in this scene she has no dialogue.
 * When Kuno grabs Akane to go on their date, he is depicted wearing a tuxedo. Ranma tries to intervene but the phoenix kicks him away and Kuno follows up with a reverse bokken strike.
 * Ranma douses himself with a bucket of water instead of jumping into the koi pond.
 * Nabiki realizes from the phoenix's more violent reaction to female Ranma that it is a female.
 * Kuno attempts to pry the phoenix off his head but cannot and glomps female Ranma. Nabiki knocks him out with a mallet and Ranma vows to get it off after using a tetsubin to change back.
 * Ranma is not kicked out of the Tendo Dojo. Kuno sleeps over in the guest room between Ranma and Genma. Ranma does not a pot lid to prevent the phoenix from pecking him.
 * After returning from a morning run Akane finds Kuno in the yard practicing his kendo. When Ranma appears he claims that he evaded the phoenix in the dark and trained all night in the "Snake Attack" to confront it the following morning, but this is completely foiled.
 * The phoenix does not imprint on a new person each day and remains fixated on Ranma.
 * The shop owner appears at the Tendo Dojo and only then learns that the phoenix has hatched. When he tries to flee he is stopped by Ranma and reveals that it will take a century to leave, getting stomped on the head. He then offers growth-accelerating feed which are sold under the brand Phoenix-Gro. The initial asking price of 100,000 yen is dropped to 100 yen when he gets stomped on again.
 * Kuno is conscious when the shop owner appears and also learns about the growth-accelerating feed.
 * Ranma douses himself with a bucket right in front of Kuno to jam the feed into the phoenix's mouth. After the phoenix grows it starts to pursue Ranma.
 * Akane throws a tetsubin at Ranma to change her back when she is pursued on the roof. This allows Kuno to break the bag of Phoenix-Gro and the pills fall into a park. Ranma is able to feed the phoenix more pills by picking them off the ground and firing them into its mouth. He does not receive any help despite Kuno's attempts to stop him.
 * The phoenix's final growth stage is not as large. It does not fly around and only damages the park. When it flies away Kuno is left with his head between his shoulders in a crouching position.
 * Ryoga, Ukyo, and Shampoo do not appear.