Heart of Ranma trilogy

Review

The story is based on Ranma's being permanently transformed into a woman. Eventually Akane becomes a man and the two marry, and Ranma ends up pregnant.

The story has a very different approach to how Ranma ends up becoming permanently female. I find the miscarriage that Ranko suffers early on to be quite moving, and the entire way that the Akane/Ranko romance is handled is done extremely well.

The first two parts are the best, with the third part, in my opinion, not being quite equal to the first in quality. The "Nabiki wants revenge/Nabiki wants to help" thing is a little confusing. Ranko's running into Ryoga seems to be a little too convenient a solution to one problem. I'm also not sure that Ranko, once the Ranma-memories were brought back and she thought she was really a man, would have chosen to keep the child once she realized that she was pregnant. Since Ranma thinks he is so manly, and being manly is so incredibly important, I think that finding out that "he" was pregnant would be a little to much, and Ranma would try to end that pregnancy as quickly as "he" could.

Even with those relatively minor problems, though, I still rank this as one of the better Ranma-chan/Ranko stories.

Detailed synopsis

Book One

Ranma, in Ranma form, once again has booted Happosai skyward after being groped by him. This time, though, Happosai lands at a place where a demon resides, a demon he tricks into taking vengeance on Ranma.

He makes the demon think that Ranma's fiancee problems are his only doing, and that he mistreats him horribly. The demon confronts Ranma when he is with Akane and hits him with a flask of water that permanently binds him as a female.

Ranma then takes another flask that the demon had given him and throws it at Akane who ends up with a Jusenkyo-type curse herself. In response, Akane, now in boy form, brutally beats Ranma-chan who was made no attempt to defend herself.

Ranma-chan then attempts suicide but is stopped by Akane. Akane, in male form, makes love to Ranma, hoping that this will convince the girl to keep living.

Afterwards, though, Ranma-chan uses some powder and special water to return Akane to her female self permanently.

Ranma goes to Nodoka's house for a while. Nodoka starts teaching Ranko, the name Ranma is now using, how to be a girl.

That night, the demon visits Ranma during her sleep and finds out that Ranma/Ranko was not the evil being that Happosai had led her to believe that she was. The demon realizes that she had made a terrible mistake in cursing Ranko to remain female forever.

Nodoka and a doctor are tending to Ranko's injuries when the demon appears and tells Nodoka to take good care of her daughter. The demon then causes Ranko to grow into a more mature woman.

Nodoka arranges for Ranko to attend the same all-girls school that Kodachi does. On the very first day Ranko ends up having to battle Kodachi and defeats her.

Ranko begins getting sick in the mornings and goes to Dr. Tofu who tells her that she is pregnant. She is later attacked by Moose, Ryouga and Pantyhose Taro, all at the same time. During the fight she suffers a miscarriage.

Nabiki had been partially responsible for the fight taking place. Ranko later meets Shampoo, kisses her in front of Akane, and Akane breaks off the engagement. Akane rushes home, but the spirit that cursed Ranko comes to her and causes her to remember everything that happened between her and Ranko when she temporarily became male.

Although Ranko runs away, the spirit comes to Akane and takes her to where Ranko is hiding. The spirit apologies deeply. Ranko and Akane get married, then Akane allows herself to be cursed again and stay in male form, permanently.

Book Two

The spirit that cursed Ranko is told by a higher spirit that she cannot take revenge against Genma or Happosai.

Blocking revenge, though, did not prevent the spirit from giving Genma-Panda a problem with itching while in his panda form.

Ranko helps Akane learn how to do things that a normal man would do, including walking a certain way.

There's a good section then on just why Ranko put up with Akane's hitting him so often; it involved being so desperate for attention and affection that even abuse would be welcomed.

While walking together (very romantically!), Kodachi appears. Ranko catches a rose she throws and is poisoned.

Dr. Tofu is able to treat Ranko. Ryoga appears in his P-chan form. Akane takes a bath and P-chan ends up transforming into Ryoga. Akane gets mad and ends up slapping Ranko hard and leaving.

Ranko nearly kills Ryoga, who flees. Ranko then leaves to see her mother, telling Dr. Tofu that she no longer has a husband.

Ranko talks to her mother but her mother does not believe that the girl is the person who was her son and attacks her with the katana, injuring Ranko.

Ranko tries to talk to Ukyou but even she turns on her and throws Ranko out.

So Ranko is left with a husband, mother, family, her best friend, money or prospects. Suddenly Ranko becomes violently ill.

Akane finally manages to convince Nodoka that Ranko is her child. Akane finally finds Ranko, but Ranko is almost dead from the effects of the poison. Akane takes Ranko and runs to Dr. Tofu's clinic.

Ranko-chan recovers, although she has to be kept as stress-free as possible for some days. Nodoka makes up with Ranko-chan and Akane and Ranko-chan plan to go on a trip.

Book Three

Ranko holds a meeting with the Tendos and announces that she is now female permanently. Akane, in her new male form, then enters the meeting. Ranko doesn't tell them that the new male is Akane, though, but does say that they are married.

Genma disowns Ranko, causing her to become extremely angry, so she basically flambes her father's panda form.

There is a really loving, warm scene between Akane and Ranko as they lay together in bed later that night and Ranko tells Akane that she is pregnant. This is one of the best scenes in the story, showing that the two of them could totally switch genders, with everything that implies, physical, psychological and social, and still be wonderfully happy and satisfied.

One problem becomes apparent, though. Since Ranko is pregnant, the cat-fist training she had ties in with her maternal instincts to create a very unstable personality in her.

The story takes a dark turn when we see that Nabiki is plotting against Ranko, and helps Shampoo to use a magic dust to cause Akane to forget all about Ranko while Shampoo abducts Ranko.

Ranko, also affected by the dust, forgets everything that happened to her after she had entered the Amazon village.

Nabiki, Nodoka, Akane, Ukyou, Soun and Genma all go to the Amazon village to see if Ranko is there.

At the village, Shampoo is captured and put on trial by the other Amazons for endangering the life of an unborn child.

Shampoo is told she must help care for Ranko's child. Eventually, Akane and Ranko are reunited.