The Martial Arts Magic Show (格闘演芸会 Kakuto engei-kai?) is the 44th chapter of the Ranma 1/2 manga and the third chapter of the Full Body Cat's Tongue Arc.
Synopsis[]
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".
Plot Overview[]
A crowd of spectators gather while Akane and Shampoo's Great-Grandmother wait for Ranma.
A large number of students have decided to watch the fight between Mousse and Ranma. Not wanting to miss a chance at promoting her business, Shampoo is selling dumplings to the spectators. Her father, meanwhile, has brought a cart with him so he can also sell freshly cooked Ramen to the spectators as well.
Meanwhile, Shampoo's Great-Grandmother and Akane wonder where Ranma and is (Akane is also surprised about how the fight has been turned into a carnival). Shampoo's Great-Grandmother notes that, due to her Full Body Cat's Tongue, Ranma could've have a "man-to-man" fight even if she wanted to. Slightly annoyed, Akane tells Shampoo's Great-Grandmother that Ranma'll show.
Akane then begins to think to herself about when she last saw Ranma, which was her preparing something as part of a "brilliant plan" to hide her gender. Despite Ranma's optimism, Akane has doubts over just how "brilliant" Ranma's plan will be. Just then someone shouts that Ranma Saotome has arrived, however, the voice turns out to be Mousse who's mistaken a spectator to be Ranma since he's not wearing his glasses.
After being punished by Shampoo's Great-Grandmother for his stupidity, Mousse mistakes her for Ranma. Mousse is then instructed by Shampoo's Great-Grandmother to put his glasses on, but Mousse declares that there's an old ghoul in front of him, so gets punished again by Shampoo's Great-Grandmother for insulting her.
A voice then booms out to Mousse to go into the ring, which Akane and Shampoo's Great-Grandmother identify as Ranma's voice. Ranma then comes spinning into the ring, wearing a large overall which is styled after that of Mousse. Although Akane highly doubts it'll work, the other spectators wonder amongst themselves if they can sure if it's a "he" or not who's just appeared.
Once again, Mousse has taken his glasses off and so believes it to be the Ranma he's agreed to face in his man-to-man fight. This declaration makes everyone in the audience agree that it's Ranma, while Akane is glad the disguise worked after all.
Ranma asks Mousse if they shall begin, and then proceeds to produce a large cloud of smoke, out of which multiple flags and rabbits appear from. Mousse asks what all this is, as a flock of doves flies past him. Ranma then asks Mousse if he has no more "tricks" up his sleeve. Comparing his fighting style to mere "tricks" angers Mousse, although Ranma still only sees his "Hidden Weapons Style" to be a nothing more than an exaggerated form of the tricks used for small children's birthday parties.
Mousse prepares his "Blow of the Chicken Egg" attack.
Having heard enough from Ranma, Mousse decides it's time he shows Ranma the true terror of the hidden weapon, with his "Blow of the Chicken Egg"! Mousse then pulls out a chicken, which quickly lays a handful of eggs that Mousse throws at Ranma. However, the eggs are actually explosives, but Ranma is still unimpressed and again dismisses it as a trick. This angers Mousse further who kicks Ranma demanding he take back what he just said, before launching a large number of projectiles at Ranma.
With Ranma tied in the projectiles he just launched, Mousse asks Ranma if he's run out of "tricks", but Ranma says she's just getting warmed up... At that moment Ranma jumps into the air and declares that this will be her grand finale. In the air, Ranma seemingly explodes as her clothing falls to the ground via parachute. When Ranma reappears, she is wearing a Bunny girl suit, much to the impressiveness of the audience (especially at the "realism" of Ranma's appearance).
Ranma turns her attention back to Mousse, and tells him that even dressed as a girl she is still more than a match for him. Mousse is extremely angered by this disguise. Meanwhile, Shampoo's Great-Grandmother, Shampoo and Akane are watching the fight, with Shampoo wondering if people really think Ranma is disguised, while Akane is shocked that Ranma has managed to find a way to fight as a girl without others thinking she's contradicting the "man-to-man" fight.
Ranma tries to kick Mousse, but fails due to her shorter legs.
Back in the ring, and Mousse removes his overalls and says he sees what Ranma wants to do now. Mousse continues by agreeing that he'll remove the tricks and they'll just fight with their bodies alone. Shampoo says that Mousse is angry, while Akane gloats that in hand-to-hand combat Ranma can't lose.
Mousse then launches a flurry of punches at Ranma, but Ranma manages to avoid them all. Back in the audience, and Dr. Tofu and Genma have arrived to watch the fight as well. Akane then hears Dr. Tofu mention that if Ranma stays in his female form he's going to lose. This causes Akane to wonder what Dr. Tofu means, but soon finds out when Ranma tries to kick Mousse when he's trying to do the same to her. Instead of hitting each other simultaneously, Mousse hits Ranma first due to her having shorter legs than Mousse in her female form.
As Ranma falls to the ring, Mousse tells Ranma that if he wants to keep his fiancé he should his disguise and fight man-to-man. Mousse then kicks upward with his heel to Ranma, but still manages to cut down the centre of Ranma's outfit. This causes Ranma to decide that she can't defeat Mousse while in her female form... Just then Ranma is surrounded by male spectators who are amazed at the "realism" of Ranma's body. As Ranma fends off the leachers, Akane looks on in disbelief as Genma holds up a sign saying "To Be Continued!".
Cast in Order of Appearance[]
- Shampoo (human)
- Shampoo's Father
- Cologne
- Akane Tendo
- Ranma Saotome (female)
- Mousse
- Tofu Ono
- Genma Saotome (panda)
Quotes[]
To be added
Trivia[]
To be added
References[]
See Also[]
| |||||
| |||||