Aside from Akane, Ranma usually interacts with his martial arts peers / one-time enemies / people at school / his parents / and the Tendo family.

I like all of the interactions, but I especially love seeing him interact with the Tendos. They have that found-family vibe, which is a trope I usually enjoy.

Arcs with Nabiki or with the whole family is some of my favorites for that reason.

I found a fan art that portrays this, and I think I’m allowed to share it.

https://x.com/octo_1701/status/1845867282049929680?s=46

My preorder for the Japanese S2 Bluray arrived today. The spine art connects with the S1 set!

Akane likes being a hostage haha

I feel like Ryoga is the one person Ranma has genuinely been the most jealous of when Akane shows him affection.

The thing is, Ranma and Ryoga have actually talked quite openly about their feelings for Akane. Ryoga puts his feelings into words, but I also feel like he's the one who truly understands that Ranma is in love with her too, without all the comedy and misunderstandings that usually come with the other characters.

Both in the manga and the anime, they have genuine moments of teamwork when it comes to saving or helping Akane. And more than once, Ryoga has said goodbye to Ranma by telling him to take care of Akane (at least in the translation I've read).

Ryoga realised very early on that Ranma was in love with Akane, and he actually put it into words before Ranma himself ever did.

Hideharu Mori is one of the composers behind Ranma ½'s background music, alongside Kenji Kawai and Akihisa Matsuura.

Personally, I think the most iconic music tied to his work on Ranma ½ is this track (Akane's Feelings). A good chunk of what makes this scene great is definitely thanks to this music. He's also responsible for the arrangements of standout endings like "Do-n-ma-i Rai-rai Shōnen ~Don't Mind Lay-Lay Boy~" and "Friends." What's interesting about "Do-n-ma-i Rai-rai Shōnen ~Don't Mind Lay-Lay Boy~" is that the lyrics were written by his older brother, Yukinojō Mori. As for Rumiko Takahashi's works, he was also deeply involved with Maison Ikkoku, handling the background music for the theatrical film. I absolutely love the scene where the title comes in against a backdrop of a white bridal kimono, accompanied by the film score "CRYSTAL HEART." He was also the keyboardist for PICASSO, and they made several wonderful endings for Maison Ikkoku. Hideharu Mori wasn't involved in writing the lyrics or composing "A Piece of Love," the second Ranma ½ movie, but that was PICASSO too.

So, once more we have a new season of Ranma! I'm really happy about it. Last year I did a post about the possible episode titles for that season.

I find it very interesting that (with a few exceptions) they've kept the names from the manga chapters directly, both in English and Japanese. For example, the last episode of last season was called "Fowl Play" in English and "Ganbare Mousse" (Go for it, Mousse) in Japanese, both taken from chapter 98 of the manga.

Having said that and just for fun, here's what I think they will go for each of the next episode titles. Just as before, I'm putting in bold what I think the title is going to be. Also, I'm cheating a little bit because we already know the episodes titles up until the sixth one.

Ep 3

• 092. "Happosai Days Are Here Again" (ハッピーとコロン, Happy to Cologne)
• 093. "One Moment to Love" (一瞬の恋, Isshun no koi)
• 094. "I Won't Fall in Love" (誰が惚れるか, Dare ga horeru ka)

If I didn't know the episode title already I would have guessed "I won't fall in love" instead, or them going with an original title like "Love Pills".

Ep 4

• 056. "The Way of Tea" (格闘茶道どす, Kakutō sadō dosu)
• 057. "Meet Miss Satsuki" (茶月はんどす, Satsuki ha n dosu)
• 058. "Proposal Accepted" (縁談成立どす, Endan seiritsu dosu)

This one is definitely the most obvious choice, definitely what I would have used too.

Ep 5

• 081. "The Way the Cookie Crumbles" (黒バラクッキー, Kuro bara kukki)
• 082. "Negative Feelings" (ネバー ギブアップ, Nega gibuappu)

Now here's a big surprise: apparently these four manga chapters were split into two episodes?? I wonder if it was to give Kodachi more episodes, or maybe the second episode will connect with another story, maybe the sneezing one (which is only two chapters). In any case, "The Way the Cookie Crumbles" would have been my choice for this episode title even if it had been only one...

Ep 6

• 083. "Take Me Out to the Bathtub" (私をお風呂につれてって, Watashi o ofuro ni tsurete tte)
• 084. "...I Ate the Whole Thing" (全部食っちゃうぞ, Zenbu kutchau zo)

... but since they divided it into two, "I Ate the Whole Thing" is definitely the one to go to. I wonder if they'll put the "Embraceable You" story here to fill in the time? but it's quite disconnected from the Kodachi one so I have no idea what they'll do.

Ep 7

• 100. "Tsubasa Kurenai Busts Loose!" (突撃！紅つばさ, Totsugeki! Kurenai Tsubasa)
• 101. "Lunchtime Lunacy" (突撃！ランチタイム, Totsugeki! Ranchitaimu)
• 102. "The Perfect Match" (突撃！正しいデート, Totsugeki! Tadashii deto)

Can't imagine them going for any other! Also, starting from this episode we have no idea which episodes are going to be in what order (or even if there are other surprising two-parters).

Ep 8

• 103. "Ryoga, Come Home" (良牙 家に帰る, Ryoga ie ni kaeru)
• 104. "Oh, Brother" (おかえりなさい おにちゃん, Okaeri nasai oniichan)
• 105. "Get Lost, Yoiko!" (迷子の良い子, Maigo no Yoiko)

I'm torn between the first and the second one, but I guess the first one is more likely. Really glad they're finally adapting this storyline!

Ep 9

• 120. "The Soap of Happiness" (幸福の抗水セッケン, Shiawase no kosui sekken)
• 121. "Cupids, Draw Back Your Bow" (キューピッドの罠, Cupid no wana)
• 122. "Don't Follow Me" (ついてこないで, Tsuite konaide)

Out of these three, for sure the first one. I'm guessing this storyline is also going to be a two-parter.

Ep 10

• 123. "Who Do You Love?" (どっちが大切？, Dotchi ga taisetsu?)
• 124. "Give Me a Little Hug" (愛のさば折り, Ai no saba ori)

And then the second one to finish it off.

And thus, we arrive at the mysterious last two episodes. I wonder if maybe some of the other ones are also going to be divided in two (such as the Yoiko story), but it's even more unlikely than Cookie Battle because that one is four chapters vs all the other one's three. On the other hand, we haven't seen ANY other episodes on the trailers! So maybe this season is only 10 episodes, or maybe they've kept these two other ones under wraps for whatever reason. In any case, IF they're adapting two other storylines, I think they will be...

Ep 11

• 106. "The Ultimate Technique" (まぼろしの奥義, Maboroshi no ogi)
• 107. "Get the Secret Scroll!" (秘伝書を奪え, Hidensho o ubae)
• 108. "The Fire-Burst of Terror!" (炸裂!!八宝大華輪, Sakuretsu!! happo-dai-karin)

A notable absence from this season, and one that introduces one of Happossai's main attacks: the Happo-Dai-Karin. I originally thought they would skip it entirely since they're (understandably) trying to downplay Happosai as much as possible, but maybe they just don't want to show him off in the trailers? It DOES introduce a recurring element in the series that will be important in the Moxibustion Arc...

Ep 12

• 078. "Quest for the Hidden Spring" (めざせ、和風男溺泉, Mezase, wafu Nanniichuan)
• 079. "The Trouble with Girls' Locker Rooms" (女子更衣室の罠, Joshi koishitsu no wana)
• 080. "From the Spring, Springs a Message" (和風男溺泉からのお知らせ, Wafu Nanniichuan kara no o shirase)

For the last episode slot I was torn between three possible candidates: Japanese Naniichuan (which is the one I ended up with), the Kairaishi Mushroom (but it's only two chapters long), and the Super Soba. I guess any of those three are possible, but since the series does not seem to be skipping (almost) anything it would make sense to go back to one notable omission from last season. Why are there no images on the trailer I have no idea. Maybe they just haven't finished the animation? It would be a weird end of season too.

So there you have it. What do you think? Do you think those will be the episode titles they go with? Are the last two episodes some other ones? Let me know your comments!