ranma 1/2 ova 11.. The Two Akanes! "Ranma, Look at Me!"?

Question

ahh.. just saw this ova today.. it's so nice.. there were a lot of romantic scenes.. although it wasn't really akane.. first saw those scenes in a amv.. i was really wondering why akane was so romantic to ranma.. now i know.. wanna know your opinion on this ova.. of course, best answer gets 10 points..

Answer 1

As you know, Akane acts romantic, because for about half of the episode she is possessed by a vengeful spirit. The spirit is trying to use Akane's "wiles" to catch Ranma off guard.

I think it's one of the better anime episodes because it's taken directly from the manga -- the story appears in Japanese vol. 31, English vol. 29. (Viz printed the first several English issues with more chapters than the Japanese ones, and as a result they fit the first 10 Japanese volumes into 8 English ones. After that, the volume numbers are off by two.)

The anime episodes really played up the conflicts between Ranma and Akane, and I think went a little overboard on her. Even in the manga, Akane has her moments, but in the anime her character seems more angry and abusive overall. If you are interested in seeing more romantic moments (though never quite as far as the possessed Akane goes in the OVA episode you're talking about), you would enjoy the manga more, I think. In the manga, Akane is less abusive, and is a fairly sweet girl -- she may have occasional problems controlling her temper, but not unjustifiable ones.

For example, compare the anime (season 7 episode 12, "Meet You in the Milky Way") and manga (last chapter of vol. 33) treatments of the weaver festival. The manga version has Ranma and Akane showing some concern fof their relationship (amid some bouts of ego)... while the anime shows a strangely familiar constantly bickering couple. Both stories cover the same event, but the manga story was more depth and more romance, while the anime is pretty much just "filler."