I'll admit, the Ranma/Akane love story has very rarely done very much for me. It's not that it's badly written or doesn't have nice moments (I always like the Battle Royale Romeo and Juliet story best in terms of a "moment" for the two that felt really genuine and sweet), but because I just disapprove of relationships which are foregone conclusions on general principle. It was obvious Ranma and Akane were going to get together from the second issue of the manga, and also pretty obvious more or less how it was going to happen. That just sucks most of the interest out of it for me.

Fortunately, Akane and Ranma actually have a relationship above and beyond their stultifyingly obvious love matchup. Despite how they're often portrayed (including occasionally in the anime), by significantly less than halfway through the manga, they're actually good friends and hang out together often without constantly getting into fights (see, for instance, their happily going to the fair together in the Phoenix Pill story) or feeling awkward. I feel this is often sadly a bit underrepresented, even though the fact Ranma and Akane genuinely like each other most of the time is by far the most compelling argument for their eventual romantic ending.

And yes, akaneranmaoth026.jpg begs for Photoshopping. Go for it!

Akane and Ranma Pictures

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