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Volume 5

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Chapters Originally Published in:
Shonen Sunday 1988 Vol. 22 - 32

Ranma 1/2 Vol 5

Chapter 37: 弱点さがし
Jakuten sagashi
(Looking for a Weak Spot)
While Akane is practicing on the balance beam in gym class a weird looking boy snaps photos from outside. Daisuke and Hiroshi ask for copies and explain that the boy's name is Hikaru Gosunkugi. Gosunkugi is delighted to snatch a strand of Ranma's hair and quickly stuffs it into his voodoo doll and nails it to a tree. It has no effect on Ranma, but Gosunkugi smashes his finger with the hammer. It turns out that he is also obsessed with Akane and has decided to help Kuno discover Ranma's weakness. After following him around, and testing various things they realize that Ranma seems to have no phobias. After he tells them as much and wanders off they hear him scream and find him laying on his back paralyzed with fear.

Published In:
  • Shonen Sunday 1988 Vol. 22
  • Ranma 1/2 Tankobon Vol. 5 ch. 1
  • Ranma 1/2 Shinsoban Vol. 5 ch. 1
  • Ranma 1/2 Shonen Sunday Comic Special Vol. 2 ch. 19
  • Ranma 1/2 TV Drama Commemoration・The Best Complete Edition Vol. 2 ch. 5
Publication Date: April 27, 1988
Pages: 16 (black and white)
Anime Adaptation: Episode Nettohen 2: You Really Do Hate Cats?
Notes:
  • Shonen Sunday is promoting some upcoming heavy-hitters in the next few weeks, with an advertisement featuring the "golden bombs" they are going to drop. Volume 23 will feature a new Mermaid Saga tale from Rumiko Takahashi, volume 24 will feature Ryoichi Ikegami's Human, volume 25 will feature color art for Osamu Ishiwata's B.B. and volume 26 will have the same for Yuu Nakahara's Bucchigiri and a Mitsuru Adachi short story with color art in volume 27.

  • Table of Contents
    • A: The next issue will be a double feature. The fourth work in the Mermaid series. Please read the book and prepare for it.

Chapter 38: 弱点みつけた
Jakuten mitsuketa
(Weak Spot-- Found!)
Genma decides to retrain Ranma from the very beginning hoping to rid him of his phobia. Everyone else is still in the dark as to what Ranma's weakness is, and he makes it a point not to tell anyone, especially with Gosunkugi sneaking around the house. Ranma goes outside to train just as Kasumi and Nabiki are searching for Hanachiyo, a cat Kasumi was asked to watch for a friend. When Ranma comes across the cat hiding in a bush he gets so scared he falls into a coma. That night the Tendos laugh about Ranma's phobia and Genma explains how he tried to train Ranma to use the "Cat Fist" technique which led to this problem in the first place. Gosunkugi, who was hiding beneath the house the whole time, promises to lead Ranma into cat hell.

Published In:
  • Shonen Sunday 1988 Vol. 23
  • Ranma 1/2 Tankobon Vol. 5 ch. 2
  • Ranma 1/2 Shinsoban Vol. 5 ch. 2
  • Ranma 1/2 Shonen Sunday Comic Special Vol. 3 ch. 1
  • Ranma 1/2 TV Drama Commemoration・The Best Complete Edition Vol. 2 ch. 6
Publication Date: May 4, 1988
Pages: 16 (black and white)
Anime Adaptation: Episode Nettohen 2: You Really Do Hate Cats?
Notes:
  • Ranma 1/2 is not the only Takahashi story in this week's issue of Shonen Sunday. She also publishes the Mermaid Saga chapter "Dream's End" this week as well.
  • There is also a full color Maxell cassette ad featuring Ranma in this issue of Shonen Sunday. Additionally there is an ad for the first collected volume of Mermaid Saga stories as well when it was originally published in a wideban format.

  • Table of Contents
    • A: After this chapter staff member Nakano-san becomes independent. Thank you for your long period of hard work.

Chapter 39: 猫地獄への招待
Neko jigoku e no shotai
(Cat Hell)
Gosunkugi sets a trap for Ranma in the gym by dressing up as Akane and telling Ranma that she has been kidnapped. Ranma of course thinks it is ridiculous because Akane is right beside him, so he goes to the gym to see what is going on. Gosunkugi opens a trap door leading them beneath the stage where a dozen house cats are all waiting. Ranma manages to fend off his fear, but is obviously shaken up. Back home, Genma explains all the times he tried to cure Ranma of his fear, but only seemed to make it worse. He tells Kasumi that once Ranma becomes too scared, he "yowls" Ranma's fear reaches critical mass as a tiger emerges from the darkness beneath the stage.

Published In:
  • Shonen Sunday 1988 Vol. 24
  • Ranma 1/2 Tankobon Vol. 5 ch. 3
  • Ranma 1/2 Shinsoban Vol. 5 ch. 3
  • Ranma 1/2 Shonen Sunday Comic Special Vol. 3 ch. 2
  • Ranma 1/2 TV Drama Commemoration・The Best Complete Edition Vol. 2 ch. 7
Publication Date: May 11, 1988
Pages: 16 (black and white)
Anime Adaptation: Episode Nettohen 2: You Really Do Hate Cats?
Notes:
  • Ryoichi Ikegami publishes a short story, Human, in this issue.

  • Table of Contents
    • A: Managed to survive GW Progress. I'm looking forward to the Hanshin Tigers match at the Tokyo Dome in mid-May.

Chapter 40: 猫拳パニック
Neko-ken panikku
(Cat-Fu)
Ranma loses control after being around too many cats and the only way he can cope is to become a cat himself. He shreds the gym floor and Kuno's sword as if they were paper and then leaps outside and starts climbing trees and other cat-like things. Genma arrives dressed in drag hoping to calm Ranma like an old woman in their neighborhood once did, but Ranma only seems to get more upset. Akane tries to a bag full of catnip at him, and he seems to get buzzed off of it. He bounds towards Akane and curls up in her lap, purring. He then gives her kiss on the lips in a very innocent, cat-like way. Akane is embarrassed and furiously hurls Ranma into the school swimming pool.

Published In:
  • Shonen Sunday 1988 Vol. 25
  • Ranma 1/2 Tankobon Vol. 5 ch. 4
  • Ranma 1/2 Shinsoban Vol. 5 ch. 4
  • Ranma 1/2 Shonen Sunday Comic Special Vol. 3 ch. 3
  • Ranma 1/2 TV Drama Commemoration・The Best Complete Edition Vol. 2 ch. 8
Publication Date: May 18, 1988
Pages: 16 (black and white)
Anime Adaptation: Episode Nettohen 2: You Really Do Hate Cats?
Notes:


  • Table of Contents
    • A: Thanks to you the book Mermaid Forest is popular. As the author I am also very happy.

Chapter 41: 誰でもよかったの
Dare demo yokatta no
(You'd Have Kissed Anybody?)
Genma tells Ranma about the kiss, but Ranma cannot seem to remember anything that happened while he was acting like a cat. Ryoga and Kuno come to give Ranma a little punishment for kissing Akane. Meanwhile, Akane is trying to talk to Dr. Tofu about what happened, but cannot seem to work up the courage. Ranma arrives at the clinic and apologizes to Akane and tells her that he could have kissed anyone because he cannot control himself when he is like that. That only seems to upset Akane more, and while Dr. Tofu is getting a package from China, Akane splashes Ranma and punches him through the roof. Back home, Ranma is about to get in the bath when a cat jumps out of nowhere and leaps into the bath with him. He changes back into a boy and the cat changes into Shampoo. What an unfortunate time for Akane to walk by and see them in the bath together.

Published In:
  • Shonen Sunday 1988 Vol. 26
  • Ranma 1/2 Tankobon Vol. 5 ch. 5
  • Ranma 1/2 Shinsoban Vol. 5 ch. 5
  • Ranma 1/2 Shonen Sunday Comic Special Vol. 3 ch. 4
Publication Date: May 25, 1988
Pages: 16 (black and white)
Anime Adaptation: Episode Nettohen 3: This Old Gal's the Leader of of the Amazon Tribe!
Notes:
  • Some Ranma 1/2 shirts are advertised in this week's issue of Shonen Sunday. There is also a Genma beach volleyball being advertised as well.
  • There is also another advertisement for Mermaid Forest wideban.

  • Table of Contents
    • A: Thank you very much for the many applications for a new assistant. For the time being I'll cut it off.

Chapter 42: シャンプー再来日
Shampoo sairainichi
(Shampoo Rides Again)
Ranma thinks about laying down the law with Akane so she will not think she can just get upset and expect an apology from him all the time, but she catches him off guard by being surprisingly cheerful about seeing him in the tub with Shampoo. But then Akane splashes Ranma and tosses him through the air. While Ranma flies through the air he narrowly avoids an old woman who almost hits him. She calls him "son-in-law" and then tells him they will meet again. Once Ranma gets back to the Tendo home he finds Shampoo there and learns that she has opened a ramen store in town and she plans on moving permanently to Japan. The old woman is there too, and she tells Ranma that she is Shampoo's great-grandmother, Cologne. When Ranma refuses to accept Shampoo as his bride Cologne strikes him in the chest with her cane and says in a few days he will be begging to marry her.

Published In:
  • Shonen Sunday 1988 Vol. 27
  • Ranma 1/2 Tankobon Vol. 5 ch. 6
  • Ranma 1/2 Shinsoban Vol. 5 ch. 6
  • Ranma 1/2 Shonen Sunday Comic Special Vol. 3 ch. 5
Publication Date: June 1, 1988
Pages: 16 (black and white)
Anime Adaptation: Episode Nettohen 3: This Old Gal's the Leader of of the Amazon Tribe!
Notes:
  • This week's issue of Shonen Sunday has various Ranma 1/2 goods from the "Big Shopping Summer Sale". There are sundry Urusei Yatsura and Maison Ikkoku items for sale as well.

  • Table of Contents
    • A: I'd like to go to the Tohoku region but my schedule makes it inconvenient.

Chapter 43: ムース襲来
Mousse shurai

(Attack of the Wild Mousse)
Shampoo and Cologne continue to bother Ranma about being engaged until a strange boy comes flying from nowhere. The boy seems to be a powerful martial artist, but keeps thinking Ranma and Akane are Shampoo until he puts on his glasses. The boy introduces himself as Mousse and is another Chinese martial artist. He was a friend of Shampoo's who has come to take her back from her new fiance, Ranma. Mousse decides the best way to get her back would be to try and take Ranma's fiancée from him, and so they decide to have a match in a few days time. That night, Ranma finds out that Cologne did something to make his body extremely sensitive to heat, so he can no longer change back into a boy unless he promises to marry Shampoo.

Published In:
  • Shonen Sunday 1988 Vol. 28
  • Ranma 1/2 Tankobon Vol. 5 ch. 7
  • Ranma 1/2 Shinsoban Vol. 5 ch. 7
  • Ranma 1/2 Shonen Sunday Comic Special Vol. 3 ch. 6
Publication Date: June 8, 1988
Pages: 16 (black and white)
Anime Adaptation: Episode Nettohen 3: This Old Gal's the Leader of of the Amazon Tribe! & Episode Nettohen 5: Enter Mousse! The Fist of the White Swan
Notes:
  • This week's Shonen Sunday has an advertisement for Ranma 1/2 volume 3.
  • Mousse makes his debut.
  • Swirling glasses - The reason glasses are shown to have spirals in them in Japan is because of the term "bottle bottom glasses" (瓶底眼鏡). The glasses are said to look like the "bottom of a cow milk bottle" (牛乳瓶の底).

  • Table of Contents
    • A: I saw Hanshin vs the Giants at the Tokyo Dome. I was very happy Hanshin won.

Chapter 44: 格闘演芸会
Kakuto engei-kai

(The Martial Arts Magic Show)
The day of the man-to-man fight arrives and Ranma is literally not a man. He decides to put on a baggy robe and big sunglasses in hopes of fooling everyone and making a mockery of Mousse's martial arts style all at the same time. Mousse quickly gets angry about Ranma's hijinks and Ranma keeps egging him on by calling his techniques "magic tricks". Ranma sheds his disguise and says he has a magic trick of his own as he "disguises" himself as a woman, which everyone seems to believe. Ranma realizes too late that his arms and legs are much shorter now and that he is going to have a tough time striking Mousse. Mousse tries to rip Ranma's "female disguise" off but only rips Ranma's top, much to the amusment of the male audience members.

Published In:
  • Shonen Sunday 1988 Vol. 29
  • Ranma 1/2 Tankobon Vol. 5 ch. 8
  • Ranma 1/2 Shinsoban Vol. 5 ch. 8
  • Ranma 1/2 Shonen Sunday Comic Special Vol. 3 ch. 7
Publication Date: June 15, 1988
Pages: 16 (black and white)
Anime Adaptation: Episode Nettohen 5: Enter Mousse! The Fist of the White Swan
Notes:
  • In Shonen Sunday this week there is an advertisement for some Urusei Yatsura and Ranma 1/2 shirts.

  • Table of Contents
    • A: It was only for one night, but I travelled to a rural area of the Tohoku region. I want to go back one day.

Chapter 45: 猫舌やぶり
Neko jita yaburi

(Cat's Tongue Got You?)
Mousse continues to strip away Ranma's clothes until finally Ranma is completely naked. Akane dashes in for the sake of modesty angering the male onlookers. Mousse continues to win until Dr. Tofu counters Cologne's "Full Body Cat's Tongue" with the "Tokyo Grandpa Joint" allowing Ranma to once again endure hot water. Ranma knocks off Mousse's glasses hoping to even out the odds, but he releases tear gas. In the commotion Akane manages to get Ranma some hot water so he can change back. Once he does, beating Mousse is a piece of cake. After the match the rain starts to fall, Ranma changes back into a girl while Dr. Tofu tells him the Tokyo Grandpa Joint works only once.

Published In:
  • Shonen Sunday 1988 Vol. 30
  • Ranma 1/2 Tankobon Vol. 5 ch. 9
  • Ranma 1/2 Shinsoban Vol. 5 ch. 9
  • Ranma 1/2 Shonen Sunday Comic Special Vol. 3 ch. 8
Publication Date: June 22, 1988
Pages:4 (red tint) 12 (black and white)
Anime Adaptation: Episode Nettohen 5: Enter Mousse! The Fist of the White Swan
Notes:
  • This issue has an ad for Ranma 1/2, Rough and My Pace Futaro.
  • In 1988 Hiroya Oku makes his debut as a mangaka. Oku would go on to create GANTZ, but he started out his career making a sex-change short story, HEN, that won the Seinen Manga Award after it was published in Young Jump. Oku has often talked about his admiration of Rumiko Takahashi, sharing a comment that while in high school he once stood in line to shake her hand at a bookstore signing and sharing his pride in eventually being in the same magazine as Ryoichi Ikegami ("who even Rumiko Takahashi longed to be," Oku stated). In the short story the main character Toriai lives in a Maison Ikkoku-esque apartment building as he slowly transforms into a woman.
  • In Japanese people that cannot handle eating hot food are said to have a "cat's tongue" (猫舌/nekojita). This is why the curse that makes Ranma particularly sensitive to hot water is called the "full body cat's tongue".

  • Table of Contents
    • A: I went to Ise Shima and ate at a seaside restaurant that had superb seafood.

Chapter 46: 秘薬THE不死鳥丸
Hiyaku THE fushicho-gan

(The Phoenix Pill)
Days pass and Ranma is still stuck as a girl. Some of his classmates start to wonder what is going on, when Shampoo arrives with good news, a new pill has just been released that can cure the Full Body Cat's Tongue. Shampoo tells Ranma that Cologne has the pill so he immediately heads for the newly opened Cat Cafe and tries to take the pill from her. Cologne proves to fast for him though and Ranma decides to get a job at the restaurant in hopes of grabbing the pill. Cologne finally tells Ranma that only by mastering the Katchu Tenshin Amaguriken technique will he be able to get fast enough to grab the pill from her.

Published In:
  • Shonen Sunday 1988 Vol. 31
  • Ranma 1/2 Tankobon Vol. 5 ch. 10
  • Ranma 1/2 Shinsoban Vol. 5 ch. 10
  • Ranma 1/2 Shonen Sunday Comic Special Vol. 3 ch. 9
Publication Date: June 29, 1988
Pages: 16 (black and white)
Anime Adaptation: Episode Nettohen 4: Behold! The "Chestnuts Roasting in an Open Fire" Technique
Notes:
  • Some new Ranma 1/2 merchandise is advertised in this week's Shonen Sunday which includes a Ranma 1/2 sweat suit. Some Maison Ikkoku, Urusei Yatsura and Kamen Rider Black goods are also on sale.

  • Table of Contents
    • A: Big summer job (?) I'm working on my schedule for the summer and I'm sure I'll be working everyday.

Chapter 47: 夜店でバトル
Yomise de batoru

(All's Fair at the Fair)
Soun decides to take the family to the fair in hopes of cheering Ranma up. While there Ranma plays the goldfish dipping game and discovers that if he moves fast enough he can catch all the fist before the paper ladle breaks. Ranma manages to catch all the fish, and discovers he has mastered the essence of the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken. Now Ranma dashes off to challenge Cologne in the haunted house, and sure enough Ranma swipes the Phoenix Pill away from her. Unfortnately Cologne took this into account and switched the pill with a piece of candy.

Published In:
  • Shonen Sunday 1988 Vol. 32
  • Ranma 1/2 Tankobon Vol. 5 ch. 11
  • Ranma 1/2 Shinsoban Vol. 5 ch. 11
  • Ranma 1/2 Shonen Sunday Comic Special Vol. 3 ch. 10
Publication Date: July 6, 1988
Pages: 16 (black and white)
Anime Adaptation: Episode Nettohen 4: Behold! The "Chestnuts Roasting in an Open Fire" Technique
Notes:
  • The "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" technique is called "Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken" (火中天津甘栗拳) in Japanese. A literal translation would be "Heavenly Roasting Chestnut Fist" due to the training method needed to master the skill. The English translation comes from the famous Nat King Cole holiday tune, The Christmas Song.

  • Table of Contents
    • A: I watched Chang vs Ohashi's world boxing match. In the world boxing matches that I attend, the Japanese fighters always lose, why?
    • Webmasters' Note: Takahashi is referring to the Chang Jung-koo (張正九) versus Hideyuki Ohashi (大橋秀行) rematch that took place June 27, 1988.


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