Note: This was actually written sorta in response to rant posted by someone else, but I won't say who. I will, however, thank them for providing the reasons why people don't like Akane in such a neat little package. :)
Edit: Changed the title somewhat to more accurately reflect what this essay does, based on a reader's response. While I do believe she is not perfect, she's not an uberbitch, nor is she really spoiled.
Has all the breaks? Yeah, I suppose being engaged against her will, being insulted by the man she loves almost continually, attacked by random strangers and having her memory wiped, being mind-controlled, drugged, shrunk into a doll twice, hounded by half the school, pursued and groped by Kuno and Happosai, nearly killed several times while trying to save others (like Ranma and Shampoo)...
Yeah, I suppose you could say that she has all the breaks. Frankly, her life has been as hellish as people claim Ranma's is. I'm surprised she's as decent as she is, and that she never holds a grudge.
Or maybe she's just slightly better than she's given credit for? She is a quick tactical thinker, using the enviroment around her to her advantage (gymnastics match, Taro's first defeat, her short match against Kiima at Jusenkyo). She frequently is the one to suggest an idea to Ranma that allows him to win, or she figures out what Ranma is up to before anyone else. Check out the Bakusai Tenketsu match; she figures out what Ranma has done before Cologne does!
These traits are the same ones Ranma possesses. If someone is going to dislike her for them, one should also dislike Ranma for them as well.
It's called 'conflict'. Something an author creates to make for an interesting story. Truely good authors will stack the odds against the Hero, leaving doubt in the reader's mind as to how, or if, the Hero or Heroine will triumph. Poor authors on the other hand, will write a super-duper character with DBZ or God-like power, enabling him to overcome any foes, as well as solve all problems and do everything right. Where's the conflict here? The suspense? The challenge?
No matter what happens, good eventually triumphs over evil, but it's the path to that point that makes the story have an interesting plot. If they didn't triumph, then we would be reading a dark and depressing story. If one likes to read dark stories where Heroes never overcome their problems and die off or live miserable lives... well, I suppose that's up to the individual. No hope, no triumph of good over evil... Does that sound good to you?
Ranma's fighting skills are not what makes him a Hero; it's his desire to do good and "never-give-up" attitude. As the Heroine of the story, Akane shares this same trait as well. Some may argue it's lucky breaks, but it's more like the Hero always finding a way to win, despite the odds stacked against them. It's just the way the story goes. And for the record, both Ranma and Akane lose from time to time, showing they are not perfect people, nor are they "lucky" all of the time.
You see, the thing is, this is the way the story goes, this is what Takahashi wrote. We tell people all the time if you don't like a fic, don't read it. Well, if you don't like the series, don't read it. There are plenty of other series out there (anime and otherwise), and surely you can find one to suit your tastes, right?
If that's why you don't like her, you must be saying you don't like anyone in the series, since practically NO ONE ever apologizes or feels bad about their actions.
Well, I shouldn't say that, as a few people do apologize (see my Apologies list in my Ranma section). Akane is one of the few people who does feel bad about her behavior, and apologizes several times. For examples, check this. It's a list of all the times people apologized in the manga. Guess who apologized and/or felt guilty the most times?
These are just a few examples, and there are plenty more to be found. Granted, Akane doesn't apologize all of the time, but it's still a helluva lot more than most everyone else, which is to say near 0%.
As if this makes her a bad person? Are you a bad person because you can't do some things? And for the record, she does start to learn to cook. Taking the series in Manga order, she fails to make curry during the Bakusai Tenketsu story. Later, Nodoka offers to teach Akane (Akane vs. Ranma in the kitchen). Hijinks ensue, and at the end, Akane learns to boil water. A few stories later, Akane makes a normal curry at the beginning of the Ryuganzawa story. Conclusion? Nodoka must have taught Akane, and is continuing to teach her, who is showing normal improvement.
The only other time her cooking is shown to be bad, is when she helps out at Ucchans. To this, I say that just because someone can make one dish, doesn't mean they can make every dish. Can you make a souffle, even though you can make a sandwhich? Okonomiyaki is a hard dish to make normally, and Akane was under pressure to cook many fast. Is it any wonder she failed then?
Again, same as above. Though you'll note that she *is* shown training several times throughout the series. Just because it's not the extreme stuff done by Ranma, doesn't make it any less training. The only other people shown to train are Ranma, Ryoga, and Mousse. Hmmm, wonder what that makes Akane, if she's part of that group that is shown to train? Also, she got where she is without much external help. Do you really think Soun, who cries buckets if any of his daughters come to harm, could bring himself to properly fight her?
I'm reminded of the infamous morning battles, where she fights over 2 dozen guys who are a mix of Martial Artists (Karate, Sumo, Kendo), and other athletic sports clubs (Boxing, Football, Baseball, etc.). So, we are talking stronger and more skilled guys than normal, and she takes them all out without taking a hit herself, nor causing any permanent harm (considering they are well enough to fight her the next day). You can slice it any way you want, but it looks like a whole lotta skill to me.
As for Kuno, is he holding back on her? Possibly, some times in the morning fights. But you'll note that Akane tells Ranma, "When Kuno gets angry, he gets really hard to beat." Conclusion? How would she know how hard he is to beat, unless she had fought him under such circumstances? And remember, she did fight him during a Kendo match with her identity hidden, and was able to match Kuno's best moves. How well do you thin she would hold up, then, if fighting him without the Kendo restrictions?
Anyway, she trains during the Rythmic Gymnastics story, and manges to pick up the use of the tools and techniques, and use them pretty decently in the span of 2-3 days. Kinda Ranma-esque if you ask me. When Shampoo beats her at arm-wrestling with the use of a machine(at the beginning at a super soba story), Akane demands a rematch, which Shampoo conveniently declines (I would to, if I had only won using a machine, though some may argue that Shampoo might not have had mechanical aid). Akane goes to Ranma to train, knowing Shampoo is better than herself, and wanting to become good enough to compete. Of course, Ranma doesn't do anything to help. Can you really blame Akane, then, for her attitude about the super soba? She wants to be able to beat Shampoo, yet has *nowhere* to turn to be able to do that. I'm not saying she's blameless, and in fact her attitude does get pretty bad here, but I can see where she's coming from.
These are just two examples of her desire to train, and how well she can improve when trained. And the Ranma 1/2 manga shows time and again, when someone gets trained by another, they improve by leaps and bounds. Akane wants to train, but the problem usually is that no one wants to train her. After all, who is she supposed to learn from? It's one of the reasons that when she is shown to train, it's usually by herself. That seems like plenty of dedication to me. If she ever decides to really go for the lunatic level of training used by Ranma and Ryoga, it looks likes she could increase her skill by a very large margin, especially given the fact of how good she is from learning by herself, and her natural strength(she was naturally strong as a child).
So, an Akane that is able to closely match Shampoo after the end of the Manga, is not that unbelievable, if she has been training all throughout the manga (1 1/2 years or so), and if she has someone good to seriously train her hard (like Ranma or Genma) for several weeks to a month at least. So much for being a bad martial artist.
Um, unless you want to consider the fact that she throws her life in danger to help others, friend and foe alike. She's helped save Shampoo's life on a couple of occaisons (New Year's Eve curse, and Pink and Link), and gave up her life so that Ranma could live (Pink and Link). Also put her life on the line to help Shinnosuke, Ryoga, Mousse, Ukyo, Happosai, Kuno, Taro, and many others.
Being able to sacrificing one's life and/or well-being, for the life and/or well-being of another, is not a redeeming trait? Well, not from where I stand.
Also, she's never thought about killing anyone, nor hunted anyone down with the purpose of killing them. She's never outright attacked someone, unless provoked, and after the event is over, she goes back to normal as if nothing had happened, not holding any sort of grudge. In fact, Akane being nice to people is what has turned enemies to friends on more than one occasion. It's one of the reasons that she's friends with Ukyo (Ukyo does have a bit of a nice nature as well).
And there are some who say that she is "neither beautiful nor talented". I won't argue this, as it's personal opinion. I will say, that even if someone is ugly and clumsy, does that really make them a bad person? Someone to be hated? Is it really okay to judge someon based on physical beauty and what they can and cannot do? Maybe some can, but not me.
Yep, she does; I'll admit this one.
Although, she doesn't hit him all the time, but I won't deny it's somewhat common. In fact, if you're going off of fanfiction or the anime, you have a good argument for this point. Manga-wise, she gets better as her character grows, and there are times when Ranma insults her, her cooking, and/or nudity is involved (her standard triggers), and she *doesn't* hit him. My viewpoint about this? So what. *Everybody* hits him and *everybody* blames him. It's one of the tenents of the series: Everybody thinks it's Ranma's fault, practically no one is exempt from this rule. Ranma's mouth and bad decisions usually get him into the mess in the first place, so he's deserving of the blame most of the time. That's not justification, however, but it *is* a *slapstick comedy*. If no one got hit in a slapstick comedy, I'd begin to wonder...
Anyway, she does call him a pervert, but usually when she catches him in a compromising situation, or the facts as can be seen from her viewpoint, lend themselves to this conclusion. After all, Ranma rarely tells her what he's going to do, or even explains it well enough afterward, if at all. Ranma trying to get P-chan out of Akane's bedroom; I can only imagine what went through Akane's mind when she woke up to see Ranma pinning her to the bed. She's never given an explanation, so what is she supposed to think?
And part of her viewpoint is that she is shown to hold the traditional views of Japanese society with the idea of no PDA's (Public Displays of Affection). So while she may smack Ranma for feeling up her butt in public, when they are alone she has no problems with hand holding, closeness, hugging, and kissing. Though she does seem to hold the view of no sex before marriage. In this day and age of where people feel that homosexuality, incest, and bestiality is okay, it's ironic that Akane's reserved views are looked down upon, when it was the reverse many years ago.
People, it's okay to have reserved views about sex, and in my opinion, smart. With all the SDT's out there, the risk of pregnancy, and the lack of birth control in Japan comparable to the US or some other countries, being careful about sexual matters seems like a wise move to me.
So, Akane is a relatively normal girl for her society. And her striking back at Ranma, while not right, is at least mitigated by the fact that she has been hurt in some way; unless you feel insulting a girl's chest size, calling her unattractive all of the time, seeing her naked and claiming you have a better body, etc. is not a bad thing.
I've got news for you guys; just because a girl is friendly with a guy, doesn't mean she is flirting. Girls can be friendly without any romantic interest. If a guy draws possible romantic intentions, it is *not* her fault. Usually it's because the guy has had little contact with girls, or friendly girls, as we can see by what happened with Ryoga (and boys who's life is the internet).
Yep, you're right on this point. And Ranma is the way he is because Takahashi wrote him that way, and the same goes for Kuno, Kodachi, Soun, Genma, Nabiki, Kasumi, Shampoo, Ukyo, etc.
It's called the author creating an original story. But we in fanfiction wouldn't know anything about that, would we? Since we use characters and situations created by others.
Don't like the story? Go read something else! Pretty simple concept, yeah?
This last one has really confused me. Spoiled brats are usually selfish and given everything they want, and see nothing wrong with their behavior. I've already mentioned above that Akane can be pretty selfless, to the point of sticking up for friends and enemies, and even giving up her life. I've already mentioned how she does see her actions as wrong from time to time, feel guilt over them, and apologize.
The only other reason she may be a spoiled brat that I've seen people mention, is that she's never disciplined. I would add that nobody is disciplined in the manga, so by this logic, everyone is a spoiled brat. Though Genma is hard on Ranma, it's not always when he's done something wrong (and as a result, Ranma tends to not listen to his father). Soun doesn't seem to put his foot down with his daughter's much, though he did tell Akane and Nabiki to stop fighting once (I'll look through the manga again, and see if Soun takes any more action as a parent). I don't believe Cologne has ever disciplined Shampoo, but that could be because, by her tribe's standards, Shampoo's not doing anything wrong.
But really, one only needs outside discipline, when one's internal discipline fails to work. Like I've said, Akane is capable of seeing fault with her own actions. Not all the time, but quite a bit.
Of course not! She's got several problems and flaws. These are:
Yes, she can get mad quick, and sometimes it doesn't take much to set her off, depending on her mood and what else is happening. Usually doesn't last too long, unless the problem continually rears it's head (or Ranma's insensitive nature adds friction to the problem).
She's a physical person, and tends to express herself this way. Also likes to let her fists solve most of her problems (sound familiar?). Though I would note that she does tend to use her brain more often than Ranma does.
She also doesn't usually listen to explanations until after she's administered punishment. Again, I would note that this usually happens because Ranma does something and doesn't explain it to her, so when she walks in on the situation later, she just assumes to worst. In fact, 5 out of 6 times, she's never given a plausible explanation for Ranma's behavior, so what is she supposed to think?However, she is given some evidence that Ranma isn't a pervert, nor as bad as she makes him out to be, so she's not innocent.
So while she's definitely not perfect, she's not a horrible person either. What are we left with? A normal girl living an abnormal life, and trying to cope. What can I say to this? Welcome to the world of anime women! Watch a few more series like Inuyasha, Rurouni Kenshin, Love Hina, and Slayers, and I think it will all become clear. ^_^
Realize, though, if a person is going to dislike Akane because of these reasons, they should logically dislike everyone else in the series as well, since all the characters share the same negative traits. But then, hate has never been about logic.
I will admit that this essay is a bit weighted in Akane's favor, but that's just my nature of seeing the good in people. Yes, I know she's got problems, but I feel that imperfect people with problems are much more entertaining that perfect people, because the process of working through those problems is what makes good stories.
So what is she really?
A confused and frustrated, hormonal 16-year-old girl, with a ton of problems, people out to get her (either kidnap or kill), and a frustrating fiance!
IMHO. ^_^