Ranko's Honor

Review

This is a really good story, especially from the psychological angle it takes. It's along the lines of a future "what-if" type of story. Akane's violence is expected. That Ranma has totally repressed his feminine side is also logical. The way that Ranma is able to come to terms with that side is done in a manner that is interesting, intelligent, logical and very funny at times.

It's also nice the way the author ties up plot threads, making sure each character is dealt with in one way or another. Ranma/Ukyou, Ranma/Shampoo, Ranma/Moose, Ranma/Ryouga and Ranma/Kuno and Kodachi are all settled once and for all. The level of power that Ranma/Ranko attains is not surprising, either, considering Ranma's ability in male form alone.

The story should also ring true with people in that each person has a part of the opposite gender in them to some degree. There are no "pure" males and no "pure" females, and the person that can integrate the two gender halves of their mental/spiritual makeup is a person who has made a very great step forward in their lives.

I also like the way the story ends; it's happy, neat and funny all at the same time.

Synopsis

The story starts off with Kasumi and Nabiki talking about Ranma and how his Akane still ends up malleting him all the time. Kasumi tells Nabiki that Akane's abuse of Ranma has "...killed Ranma's love and maybe his spirit as well." She says that he has just been going through the motions, no longer really "in" his life.

Ranma had again been malleted by Akane and in his "dream" he is at Jyousenko and sees Ranko, a female version of himself, come out of one of the pools. She tells Ranma that she is the female side of him that had been repressed and put down for all this time.

She then tells him that his subconscious had somehow summoned the both of them because he was getting desperate and suicidal. As they are talking another spirit comes from the pools, this one being Kikuko, the spirit of the drowned girl. She also tells him that the pools draw people towards them, either for punishment for their actions or for healing, and that Ranma's was for healing of his fractured ultra-macho personality.

Kikuko tells Ranma that he has rejected one half of his being (the female part) and that is killing his spirit. Ranko says that she once tried to help him herself (in the episode Pretty Womanhood), but it didn't work. In order for Ranma's curse to be unlocked he needs to integrate both his male and his female sides.

Kikuko also tells Ranma that it will take some months for him to die with him remaining in a coma during that time. She leaves, telling Ranko and Ranma that they must work out a solution themselves. Ranma could end up dying, wake up insane, wake up with things going the same way or maybe they can find a way for him/her to find happiness.

Both Ranma and Ranko can create things in their dreamscape. At the hospital, Nodoka is furious with Akane. Nabiki tries to come to Akane's defense, but Nodoka tells her that she can have her prosecuted for some of the things she had done to Ranma-chan (the pictures, etc). Nodoka has also cancelled the engagement between Ranma and Akane.

Back at the hospital Ryouga is about to attack Ranma but is stopped by Nodoka and her katana. She tells him that he has no honor at all; that Ranma had risked his life to save him and he needed to leave.

Shampoo, Ukyou and Kodachi are talking to Akane and Nabiki. Akane is her normal hot-tempered self and calls Ranma a pervert and that she never wanted him in the first place. Nabiki loses her temper and slaps Akane, telling her that she could end up being tried for manslaughter if Ranma dies.

Meanwhile, Ranma is still having trouble with accepting his girl side and Ranko turns herself into Ranma's male physical self. Genma, in the physical world, is talking to Nodoka and suggests that Ranma be engaged to Nabiki or Kasumi.

Cologne examines Ranma and says that he his losing his battle to live and apparently doesn't care that he is losing. A week has passed and Ranma is finally beginning to accept his feminine side and changes into his female self so she and Ranko can talk about "girl things." Ranma told Ranko that he had missed his girl side (Ranko had remained in male form for the entire week).

At the Tendo home Akane is soaking in the furo when P-chan jumps in. Not the best thing for P-chan to do.

In the dreamscape Ranko has assumed male form and Ranma female form since they are going to go out on a date. At the Cat Café Shampoo tells Cologne that Mousse is becoming worse and putting more and more pressure on Shampoo. Cologne tells her that she will deal with that problem herself.

Ranma and Ranko arrive at a bar. Inside, spirits of both animals and people who had died in the pools were partying. They are met by Kikuko who explains that they are here to help Ranma with his training (and also just to party.)

At the Cat Café Cologne is holding a disciplinary hearing of Mousse. She gives him two choices. He can either sign a paper saying he will leave Shampoo alone or Cologne will sign the other paper. That one is an order of banishment, throwing Mousse out of the Amazon tribe and setting a requirement that if any other Amazons find him they are to slay him.

Ranma and Ranko are still going to the bar and Ranma is accepting his girl side more and more. (The bar scene descriptions are hilarious!) . Ranma, meanwhile, has been moved back to the Tendo home. Kodachi had tried to kidnap him and Ukyou is watching over him. In the dreamscape the animals in the bar work on trying to help Ranma while a tiger is teaching Ranma and Ranko about the Neko-ken. An Amazon teacher instructs Ranma on Amazon law and lore.

At the Pooling Place (the bar), Ranma is being schooled in a wide variety of things like math, magic and history. Ranma originally was actually a genius but because he spent so much energy denying and putting down his female side his effective IQ had been lowered.

At Ranma's home Tofu and Nodoka are watching him. After three months in bed it appears that Ranma is going to awaken soon.

In the dreamscape Ranma is given a chance to end his curse and remain a male forever but he turns down the cure. Ranma wakes up and finds out that he can change genders by snapping his finger. He doesn't need cold or hot water to do that anymore.

Ranma shows Nodoka about her ability to change genders and admits that, if in her female form she finds the right guy she would be willing to marry and have a child.

Ranma returns to school. Later he is hugging Ukyou and Akane yet again attacks him, failing to connect. Nabiki dumps cold water on him trying to get him into his girl form and the two fathers are trying to pair Ranma with Kasumi, who has agreed to marry him.

He talks to her and she tells him that she doesn't want to get married to him. Ranma then beats up both fathers to get them to stop trying to force Kasumi to marry him against her will.

Nodoka begins to give bridal training to Ranko and they get along very, very well.

Ranma begins to do very well in school. He ignores Akane and hospitalizes both Kuno and Kodachi when they continue to attack him. Ranma and Nodoka meet with Ukyou and Nodoka will end up adopting Ukyou to settle that problem of honor.

Nabiki again tries one of her schemes on Ranma but it also backfires on her. Ranma wants to work with Cologne to restore Shampoo's honor but she gets angry at him. Cologne backs down, though, when Ranma is able to burn the plants to ash and melt the ground around him using his battle aura without even breaking a sweat.

Ranma tells Cologne that he was trained by an Amazon teacher who turns out to be Cologne's great aunt. He also tells her that he will challenge Moose for Shampoo's hand in marriage, but only if she seriously trains Moose so he stands a chance of beating Ranma.

Ranma gets Moose to agree to train him in his hidden-weapons techniques. Ranma shifts from working at Ukyou's to working at Shampoo's restaurant while Akane, Nabiki and Kasumi all end up working at Ukyou's. Ranma and Moose slowly begin to become friends.

Shortly later the three sisters move to working at Shampoo's restaurant. Akane yet again gets made at Ranma and throws a pitcher of water at him. Ranma fires her from the job and tells her that she is now out of his life.

Ranma, Moose and Shampoo go on a picnic but Ryouga attacks. Ranma uses his cat-aura to slice a bolder without touching it and tells Ryouga that he will kill him if he doesn't stop attacking him.

Moose admits that he has grown to like Ranma. In Ranko form she issues a marriage challenge to Moose that could lead to her marrying him. In male form he issues the challenge to Shampoo, and Ranma states that he want to marry both of them (which can be done under Amazon tribal laws.)

Ranko defeats Moose and when Moose wakes up he calls her his wife and tells her that he loves her. Cologne marries them and Ranma (boy form) and Shampoo. Ranko then tells her that she is now the matriarch of her own clan and will establish an Amazon village in Japan, a village that treats the males as equals.

Everyone ends up becoming friends again. At a sleepover Shampoo tells them that she is three months pregnant. She also tells them that Ranko is two months pregnant.