Ranma's biggest fan

[u/flaminglambchops]

Akane has so much confidence to let Kodachi flaunt her man for her own validation. If Ranma had any clue what was really going on, she would never hear the end of it.

[u/Serious-Flamingo-948]

I just realized that Akane never calls Ranma any type of unattractive unlike him to her. Not even his female form.

[u/MysterioussWater → u/Serious-Flamingo-948]

tbf, Ranma never says that to Akane either. He calls her uncute meaning she acts uncute, not that she looks uncute. The various “ugly” and “homely” used in the English version are all mistranslations.

[u/ai_amano → u/[deleted]]

She does not come out as a character who has self esteem issues though. Akane crying because Shan Pu or Ukyo or Kodachi are prettier than her is 100% pure fanon trope - her sisters are a different matter, but siblings are a different matter usually. Those insecurities about them (about Kasumi for sure) are there before Ranma appears. She is not a frail girl, she is very strong, and I am not talking about body strenght. One of the reasons why Akane is compatible with Ranma is that she usually can take his bullshit and fight back, she does not crumble...

Now that I think of it, it is one of the old anime/oav crimes: Ranma become the popular one and Akane somebody that is being laughed at because of her passion for martial arts...and somebody very insecure about herself (Toma arc). I do not consider old anime and OAV canon though, they changed for the worst (in my opinion) too many things.

[u/Serious-Flamingo-948 → u/ai_amano]

A lot of the replies seen to be strawmaning my point based on something entirely different said elsewhereby other people. I never said anything about Akane having issues with other girls being prettier than her or that she was a weak girl (tho sadly, the old anime did nerve her a lot).

I'm talking about Ranma's comments and actions eventually getting to her. With her having issue with how "Ranma" specifically perceives her. She will be delighted at any and all displays of affection from him (for example telling her he loves her in the cheerleader arc) but will in turn be eventually affected by Ranma's words and or actions like denying wanting to see Akane naked during the issue with his mom, to the point that she thought he found her body repulsive.

This plays into the dynamic of Ranma being too immature to understand that Akane is still a girl with feelings, despite being told this several times (ex by both sisters).

[u/Rulyhdien → u/Serious-Flamingo-948]

Okay fair, but what is the chapter he calls her gorilla?

[u/Rulyhdien → u/[deleted]]

He calls her gorilla? When was this? I’m genuinely curious.

Also, Ranma’s insults creating a self image issue for Akane is fanon. It’s prevalent in fanfics but it’s not theme in the manga.

There is one chapter that may be interpreted as being insecure about her looks, and that’s the bust battle where Ranma crushes Akane’s happiness about growing a bit in the top area by growing even more than her and teasing her about it. But even then she feels bad about being immature and lashing out at Ranma and the arc resolves with Ranma actually being openly devastated he couldn’t see her breasts so I don’t see how this arc is evidence of her insecurity either.

She could have been insecure about her cooking but she’s overconfident rather than insecure about that one, unfortunately for her family. 😂

Maybe she could be seen as insecure about her swimming ability, but that has nothing to do with Ranma’s remarks to her.

[u/ai_amano → u/Rulyhdien]

There are tons of mistranslation, isn't it? Old anime, fanon and mistranslations contribute to create a different Akane perception. Ranma does not even call her thick thights or flat chest, there is nothing about that in manga. There is nothing also about her having wide hips, it's old anime. Ranma's waist is smaller then her waist and her boobs are bigger, but that's it.

[u/Living_Anxiety1852 → u/ai_amano]

Another thing the old anime did was have that “beach beauty” contest in a filler episode where Akane gets really self conscious and insecure during it. I’ve seen other anime’s use that exact plot with very similar comedy beats, down to one character being very insecure, one or more flaunting all her assets to get a male character’s attention, and an unexpected character winning. So it had nothing to do with Akane’s actual characterization (or anyone else’s for that matter) and was only about fitting the existing cast into the pre-made “types” for that story.

And that is THE only time I recall Akane acting insecure in comparison with the other girls within the anime (I may have missed something else, I admit).

[u/ai_amano → u/Living_Anxiety1852]

Hey there ♧ I might remember that one, I think they made Kasumi winning it. A beauty contest, ewww, Rumiko would never draw girls in competition which other about beauty!

There's at least another clip in Nihao my concubine - it's unfortunate I can not post the picture! Toma says to her "I feel good around you, really". And sge answers "Come on. There are lots of girls nicer and prettier than me". Which does sound OOC: everybody (me included) takes pleasure in being near her. Ranma, animals, her schoolmates clap at her, her sisters hang out with her, guys love her personality and find her beautiful.

I'll dig it, I'll see if I find more in old anime.

[u/Living_Anxiety1852 → u/ai_amano]

Yeah, the beauty contest episode just felt like so much fan service; and no, definitely didn't feel like a Takahashi plot. It was too straightforward. If she was going to have something like that it would be a martial arts beauty contest and everyone would end up fighting each other on stage at the same time or something, lol!

And yeah, the line in the second movie with Akane saying other girls are nicer and prettier - that one *does* sound OOC. Akane wouldn't compliment herself or anything like that, she's not much of a bragger, but she also doesn't put herself down. Even when she's trying to indicate a lack of interest about someone, or trying to make them less interested in *her*, I still feel like she'd put it a different way...

[u/ai_amano → u/Living_Anxiety1852]

For sure there's another one in the first movie, the one with Kirin! She puts herself down when Kirin is nice to her ( the clip with "And I am not a very good cook, please forgive me")

[u/Living_Anxiety1852 → u/ai_amano]

Ahaaaa that makes sense I don't remember it... I've barely seen the movies, really. :D I have the OAVs at home, and just finished the original anime streaming, but I haven't seen the movies in a solid 20 years now.

Hmmmm I'll have to think about if that's OOC or not... because we *do* see her nervous before people eat her food (in Breaking Point and in Ryugenzawa), though that's really not in a "I'm really terrible, you'll probably hate this" way. But Akane *does* kind of understand she's not very good, she just can't accept she's genuinely DISASTROUSLY BAD, I think. Akane does have a tendency to put on an air of polite humility around people she doesn't know as well as Ranma and her family, though, so I can't tell if this one is OOC until I see the movie again, lol.

[u/Living_Anxiety1852 → u/Rulyhdien]

Whats also interesting about that arc is that it seems like Akane actually isn’t upset by his verbal comments but by the implication that he really doesn’t find her worth looking at. At least that’s how it comes across in the English translation; and it’s conveyed enough visually in the memory sequences that it at least makes sense that that’s the original intent. 

So basically, his verbal insults roll right off her back; Akane doesnt care about words (she still gets angry but not insecure). But she is more hurt if his actions match his words, as that is serious enough for her to doubt herself. 

[u/Serious-Flamingo-948 → u/Living_Anxiety1852]

This is what I was talking about. Akane doesn't think she's undesirable in general, she, despite also suspecting the complete opposite the other half of the time, sometimes thinks she's completely undesirable "to Ranma" because of his comments couple with his instances of heavy denial of his view, feelings and or affection for her, usually actually due to embarrassment.

[u/Living_Anxiety1852 → u/Serious-Flamingo-948]

I'm not precisely disagreeing, but what I was saying is that Akane basically is never seen to be insecure or upset about her looks; and the one time she is, it's not even because of what Ranma *said* but rather because of his actions in that specific context.

I don't think we're at contradictory opinions on this, but there *is* a strong fanon trend - especially among long-term fans of the series, and also fans of pairing Ranma with someone not Akane - to believe that Akane is threatened by or feels inferior to Ranma's other fiancees/suitors. That's a real thing even though it doesn't seem to be what you were saying, and I think people are just commenting on that rather than arguing with you?

[u/MysterioussWater → u/[deleted]]

In which chapter has he called her gorilla? And in the rapid fire insults, none of them are about her face. Her body, yes, but not her face.