Ranma 1/2, Volume 24 Book

Okay, here's the volume that concludes the Ryugenzawa arc, and it's everything I remembered and more. *_*

We left off with Akane realizing that Shinnosuke, despite his denial earlier, really was the boy who saved her when she was little. He gave her a hornpipe and then got scraped on the back by a giant platypus, and now she has seen the scratch-scars on his back. The readers know that he's not willfully denying this, he just has a memory that's as good as Ryoga's sense of direction.

The next day, though, Shinnosuke's thinking about naked Akane climbing out of the tub and saying "I can't forget what I saw last night". His grandfather suggests that it must be love. Akane tells them breakfast is ready, and they all sit down to eat while Ranma trudges through the forest and finds the house. He witnesses Shinnosuke and his grandfather raving over Akane's food. She tastes it and it's amazing. There's suddenly the rumbling like an earthquake, so Shinnosuke leaves to take care of the animals. Akane rushes outside after him, because he forgot his broom and overshirt. Ranma sees this little touch of domesticity - like when Shinnosuke asks if she'll stick around and make dinner too - and confronts her after he leaves. She tells him that he came here to fight monsters, when he accuses her of running away, and when she asks if he was worried he denies it. Then he asks what's with the dude, and when Akane asks if he's jealous, he suggests that they go home (not that he cares, he says, but her old man is worried). Akane refuses, saying she needs to make dinner. She makes Ranma taste the food when he insults it, and it's not just normal - it's good. This, in conjunction with the giant animals, makes Ranma believe that this forest has some incredible secret. She boots him away.

That night, after dinner, Grandfather suggests that Akane stays with them, as surely she's seen Shinnosuke's feelings for her. Shinnosuke is embarrassed, but admits that he forgot Akane's name, and he writes it all over the house (literally, outside on the wall) to commit it to memory. While he gets water from the spring (because the well has dried up) Grandfather tells Akane that the well water is what has kept Shinnosuke alive since his back was scratched up. He tells the story of essentially being a zoo keeper at a rare animals exhibit, but the animals escaped into the forest and grew massive, so he and his grandson stayed around to ensure safety (this is why their uniforms look like custodians and they fight with brooms). But doctors gave up on Shinnosuke after that platypus attack, and he used the water of life from the spring as a last resort, and it worked. Whenever Shinnosuke stops drinking it he suffers headaches, dizziness, and weakness.

Down at the spring, a giant creature begins fighting Shinnosuke, but Ranma is sulking up in the trees nearby (wondering "what the heck is he to you?") and overhear s the battle. Shinnosuke is weak and drops fairly quickly. He brings the unconscious body back to Akane and Grandfather, who put on brave faces because they don't want Shinnosuke to know that his life is in danger. Ranma heads out, telling Akane that he's going home and he's not ever going to come after her like this again. She tells him she's staying with Shinnosuke, and goes one to say "I have reasons", but when she looks up Ranma is gone. He's running through the woods kind of freaking out, thinking that she prefers Shinnosuke to him.

[I HAVE TO PAUSE, because this is only two chapters into the volume (of eleven) and Ranma has revealed more of his heart than he ever has to the readers. My shipper heart is bursting.]

Shinnosuke, Grandfather, and Akane take off the next day, checking to see if other springs have dried up. Ranma is pissed off ("That two-timer! See if I care!", but he also notices that the spring next to his tent is drying up before his eyes. The trio come into view and Ranma hides, but Akane recognizes the tent. Grandfather makes a comment about someone ("He") blocking the source of the spring, and Shinnosuke takes Akane's hand to lead her away. This increases Ranma's jealousy. He slinks after them.

Ryoga is coincidentally wandering through the woods, lost as always, and he sees Shinnosuke and Akane holding hands. When Ranma comes by, he gets annoyed, turns him into P-chan, and punts him - and he lands near Akane, who dotes on him. She's preparing lunch and it's disgusting, because there's no more Water of Life. Shinnosuke assumes something is wrong with him and apologizes for not enjoying the meal, which makes Akane tear up. So Shinnosuke promises to eat her meals every day for the rest of his life and confesses that he loves her and asks if she likes him. Akane is thinking that she has to stand by his side and support him, so she tells him that she likes him very much. P-chan is shook, and he transforms back to confront Ranma, both angry and crying. Ranma criticizes him, but is is disbelief that it's gotten that serious.

Grandfather sneaks up at night to do something that will save them all. Ryoga is marching toward the camp (Ranma following him, until he gets punted) saying that he's going to confront Shinnosuke to see if HE loves Akane more than life itself. But when Ryoga gets to camp he's splashed with water and finds Grandfather in drag. Grandfather runs off. Shinnosuke grabs Akane and asks if it's about the Water of Life, because that's the only reason he'd do something so drastic.

Ranma comes across them, seeing Shinnosuke's hands on Akane, and asks why she's choosing him. She can't really say it out loud in front of Shinnosuke, so she stammers and stalls, and then Shinnosuke challenges Ranma. As they go for their first blows, Shinnosuke begins to wobble with weakness, so Akane jumps between them and slaps Ranma across the face. They're both stunned, and she says he can hit her back, but he says "I get it. Sorry I bothered you." and leaves.

[OMG OMG OMG. The fandom is always talking about how violent Akane is, but this shows that he actually knows how to read it and doesn't mind. ALSO, I love that in most stories, the girl would jump in and take the punch, but Akane instead takes action to attack - but is clearly shocked with herself. But her protective instinct is really strong. Love this girl so much.]

Grandfather goes to the source of the Water of Life and appears to be challenging a monster. He says that he brought its favorite things: wine and women. Ranma is alone, trying to work through the fact that Akane just dumped him; he decides to go home and take a training trip and they'll never see each other again - but then the giant monster appears, chasing Grandfather. The monster chases him (carrying Grandfather) back to the camp where Akane is tending to an unconscious Shinnosuke, and they all have to run away. Ranma slinks away as soon as they get to safety, but overhears Grandfather talking about the Yamato-no-Orochi who lives in the source of the Spring of Life, and blocks the passages to other springs in the system. After this is explained, Akane asks "... then Shinnosuke's life will be saved?" which makes Ranma snap to attention. But Shinnosuke heard it too, and all three of them listen when Grandfather says the monster likes beautiful girls.

The trio heads back to the house (and Ranma and Ryoga follow and eavesdrop) to plan how to attack the monster. Akane asks to be used as bait, saying "who else can do it?" Ryoga, on the roof, asks Ranma "There's someone else, right?" and waxes poetic about dying out of love for Akane, but then remembers that Ranma was dumped. He thinks about all the times he's been rejected, and says he doesn't mind ("Well, I mind..."- Ranma) and suddenly Ranma bursts into the door of the house insisting that he defeat the monster. But Akane's already gone (dressed as a school boy). The remaining men decide to dress in drag to serve as decoys for Akane, while she looks for the healing moss that grows on one of the heads. She's checked seven - but where's the eighth one? Ranma comes up with the idea to use beer to spray into their eyes, and eventually they knock out seven of the heads, and then Akane locates the big eighth head on the other end of the body. It snatches her up in its tongue, lured by the scent of a real woman. So Ranma transforms. Akane is on the verge of being eaten and all she can think of is that Ranma doesn't know the truth about why she slapped him (and therefore rejected him). Ranma dives into the water thinking "So what if you do love that Shinnosuke jerk so much you'll give up your life... I'm the one who's gonna save you!" He and Shinnosuke reach her body and pull it out of the monster's mouth and swim to the surface. Ranma tells him "Look, just take care of her" and goes back to the monster. He's prancing around in front of it in a school girl's uniform, saying how delicious he looks.

The other heads come to life, so Shinnosuke uses the broom (with the moss on it) to knock them out while Ranma does his thing, but he wobbles and falls. The monster is getting closer to Akane, so Ranma starts loosening the opening of his (her?) top to show off cleavage. Grandfather laments that Shinnosuke lost his hornpipe, and Akane reveals and blows it and it puts the other seven heads to sleep. Grandfather uses the moss of life to cure Shinnosuke once and for all, and Akane then chooses to go rescue Ranma, telling them that he's her fiance. She sees that Ranma is inside the mouth of the monster, so she removes her shirt to show off her bound torso (and of course, her breasts showing over the top of the wrapping) and tells Grandfather to heat up a kettle of water. Shinnosuke helps her get closer to the monster, and Ranma shouts at him to get Akane out of there. She finally rushes in with the kettle, transforming Ranma and then falling backward out of the mouth. He rushes forward to grab her and they plummet head first toward the ground. There's a moment to look at each other and say names before they flip and land gracefully together (<3). Akane blows the hornpipe again and it falls asleep.

The orochi settles into a long slumber and the essence that seeped from its body restored the spring of life. Grandfather tells Akane she can go home; he and Shinnosuke will continue to guard the forest. Outside of the house, Ranma thanks Shinnosuke for risking his life to save Akane. Shinnosuke says that it doesn't ring a bell - must've been someone else. Ryoga takes off after putting Ranma in a headlock and saying he'll spare him the bitter words. Akane says goodbye and leaves, and Shinnosuke laments that he never confessed his love to her.

Akane and Ranma walk in silence, because lots of thoughts are going through Ranma's head of things he could/should say: "Glad you're coming back, Akane." "You have me really worried." "Didn't even know I could worry so much." He doesn't say these, but he decides it wouldn't hurt to be nice once in a while, and he takes her hand. Akane says that she's glad they're going back together, and apologizes for worrying him. He has an "augh" reaction (because he can't find the words). Akane asks why he's so quiet, and thoughts are running through his head: "I'm happy too.
From now on I'll try and be a nicer guy. So don't go putting yourself in danger. It's times like these that I like best of all." But instead, the prevailing thought it "Nope. Can't. Nope."

So yeah... this is my favorite volume of the manga so far (and probably overall) because it has SO MUCH romantic drivel between Ranma and Akane. I don't think we've spent this much time with Ranma's feelings - it's usually just a moment of thumping hearts and then a rude comment so he doesn't have to think about it. And it feels like more than just his pride, which we saw in the reversal jewel storyline - and that makes sense, because while he admires Shampoo's skills and thinks she's cute, he doesn't like her personality. Whereas his only problems with Akane are superficial or are frustrations with her jealousy. I also love this story because it shows off Akane's good heart. She goes to Ryugenzawa because she wants to pay back a favor to an unknown person who helped her there. She stays with Shinnosuke because she's responsible for his condition. She doesn't tell Ranma when she's in front of Shinnosuke because she promised not to let Shinnosuke know. And as soon as he was better, she fought to protect and save Ranma, because he's her fiance. She keeps her promises, she does what's right.

And Ryoga's involvement in the story is fun at pulling out Ranma's feelings. I really think that's all he's there for, lol. He works really well overall in the series this way, but it also shows off that Ranma doesn't really think of Ryoga as a romantic threat. Akane's behavior is the key to Ranma's jealousy, not the interest of others. But man, that last sequence and Ranma's thoughts... they kill me every damn time, along with the expression of shock on his face when Akane slaps him to protect Shinnosuke.

This is just a great volume, and if I recall correctly, we don't get as much (romantic) depth from Ranma again until the final arc. Also, if you like the anime, the two-part OAV "An Akane to Remember" tells this story pretty well. But let's get real, the manga is always better.