Who is the real Kasumi Tendo?

[Zwzn]

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/M ... oNadeshiko
http://addventure.bast-enterprises.de/d ... 38&m=0&d=3

I was reading the comment board over at Anime Addventure and someone claimed Kasumi Tendo was a yamato nadeshiko(the name of a TV trope), and In fan fiction she tends to be characterized as always calm, peaceful, wise, mature, and has no life outside of taking cooking and cleaning, but is that how things are in canon? So I thought I'd try to look at what she does in canon. The problem is she is so much a back round character she hardly does anything.

This list I made is what I remembered Kasumi doing, or people saying about her.

She wasn't interested in Ranma simply because he was a little younger then she was, and her comment about young men boring her makes it sound as if she has an active social life out side of things involving the family.

She pushed Ranma(who she thought was a girl at the time) to seemingly needlessly take a bath, and seemingly setting it up so Ranma and Akane would be sharing a bath. Normally there would be nothing wrong with setting it up so two girls would share a bath given public baths and all, but she knew Ranma was worried about taking a bath for an unknown reason, and knows nothing about Ranma's upbringing, and history. Not trying to make a guest comfortable is impolite/being a bad host.

She was very rude to Ranma when she found out about the curse.

She forced the engagement on Akane who is not ready for such a thing even by the end of the series, and did not want it anyways..

She freaks out when she thinks Akane tried to cut her hair short. Kasumi literally threw the frying pan into the air along with dinner she was cooking in it. Akane states this is normal behavior for Kasumi.

The night Ryoga tries to kill Ranma in his sleep she is scared possibly near panicked because of the intruder(Ryoga) even with an armed and angry Akane.

Kasumi cruelly teases Ranma about the kiss from Mikado Sanzenin knowing it really was bothering him.

Kasumi a few pages later comments on Akane and Ranma being late bloomers implying a social life out side the family again.

When Shampoo flew into a killing Rage because she was looking for girl type Ranma after following Genma there Kasumi does not seem to grasp the fact Akane had nearly just been badly injured or killed, and Ranma id very scared of Shampoo for some reason, and is trying to not make Shampoo think he beat her. Kasumi is either a moron, or playing stupid.

Soun walks in after hearing all the noise, and Kasumi in a panic claims Shampoo is Ranma's girlfriend from China had forced her way in.

Kasumi sends Akane to wake Ranma up for reasons that are not explained, and Shampoo happens to have snuck into Ranma's bed. One has to wonder if Kasumi knew about Shampoo.

Akane is under the effects of the Xi Fa Xiang Gao, and Dr.Tofu has the a catalog that can get them a counter. Kasumi knowing full well the effect she has on Dr.Tofu decides to walk in, and say high causing the catalog to be destroyed.

In the opening of the hypnotic mushrooms story line Kasumi scares Akane about Ranma taking advantage of her weakened state(Akane had a cold), and then arms Akane with a large wooden hammer, and then giggles about it.

I know I have to have missed something, so feel free to add.

So far Kasumi does not look very yamato nadeshiko like to me, or very smart.

I did find it interesting that she seems to have a social life that goes unseen.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

On TVTropes, on at least a few pages (most notably her entry on the Ranma 1/2 character page), it's noted that Kasumi is actually a parody of the Yamato Nadeshiko. As you've pointed out, originally, Kasumi was in fact much like Nabiki or Akane (more like the latter, really), in that she generally seemed to be and acted like a nice girl, but was in fact something of a jerkass. About the same time as Shampoo joined the series permanently, however, Kasumi switched to parodying the trope by seemingly becoming a Yamato Nadeshiko pushed up to eleven, to the extent that, in one often referenced story, when she found the house in the shambles and Ranma was offered to her as a "sacrifice", she tapped him on the forehead and called him bad, then wondered if she had overdone things.

This latter characterization, as it appears in most of the manga and the anime is slightly more inclined towards this throughout (though anime!Kasumi still retains her moments of darker side throughout, for example there's one episode where she comes as close as she can to calling Genma out on his becoming a panda when he wants to avoid explaing without actually calling him out). That does not mean that the former characterization does not exist, and someone really should edit her entry on the Ranma Wikia to make mention of these facts.

[Crescent Pulsar R]

I'm going to ignore that list, for it is rife with opinion rather than simply stating the various scenarios as they happened. (And it doesn't distinguish anime from manga, either.)

That said, I personally wouldn't call Kasumi a yamato nadeshiko in the complete sense (in part because she does openly express her opinions, even if they tend to go unnoticed), though that's probably the closest thing that adequately describes her in so little words. And, since her character did go through some changes, as her importance in the story dwindled, you do end up with two slightly-different faces to choose from. But it's not uncommon for a mangaka to not flesh out a character until later, so you could argue that later depictions are more true to that character's nature.

A notable comparison is how Belldandy had developed as a character. In the beginning it was possible for her to have outbursts of anger (just like Kasumi when she yelled at Genma), which, sometimes, ended with her zapping Keiichi. Later on she's more calm and collected, and more often uses words and her kind nature to resolve various situations.

In the end, people tend to (rightly) see these two characters as their later depictions and, with their similarities, that's why they are also often seen as being the same type of character, and have other characters, in fan-fiction, confuse one for the other, or think they're related in some way. But, if anyone really needs an answer for what kind of character that Kasumi is, all that you have to do is read the last Kasumi-centric story: the one where everyone thinks she's angry. Takahashi Rumiko presents a common theme in it, about her character, that's shown here and there throughout the manga: because that's the core of Kasumi's character, as she sees it. And it's not just how she sees it, but how she illustrates how the other characters see her.

Nabiki: "Kasumi's mad!? Not possible."

Ranma: "It can't be... Sweet Kasumi?"

Akane, Nabiki and Soun had said that they had never seen Kasumi angry, even though that's a contradiction. But, that's how things work, and her character isn't fully realized unless one accepts the latest developments illustrated by the author. Otherwise, you can argue forever and never get anywhere with it.

[LawOhki]

Akane, Nabiki and Soun had said that they had never seen Kasumi angry, even though that's a contradiction. But, that's how things work, and her character isn't fully realized unless one accepts the latest developments illustrated by the author. Otherwise, you can argue forever and never get anywhere with it.

Considering that the story doesn't work as one coherent timeline, there's no reason to take later characterization to override all others.

Kasumi is sarcastic. Yes she is nice and sweet but it doesn't change that many times she's said mean or just snarky things. Are characters having more than one side to them that hard to accept? Do you know any person in real life who acts one way all the time?

Belldandy is a good example of a character who is flanderized by people into being perfect the same way they do Kasumi basically because if she hasn't done anything in a while she must not anymore or they have such a fanon view that they don't even notice. When her characterization rather consistently shows that she'll use being nice against people. It's her way of dealing with things and considering how effective it is, why wouldn't she?

That list isn't perfect.

- Kasumi suggesting that Ranma take a bath would be quite obviously because Ranma has just been running around sweating, and who knows how long since the last bath. So Ranma likely doesn't smell pleasant. There was no attempt to get both Ranma and Akane in the bath together by her, Nabiki is the one who informed Akane about the bath.

- Kasumi is not THAT rude to Ranma, both she and Nabiki actually are on his side.
http://www.sunmanga.com/online_manga/48 ... ?t=38&n=44

- Everyone freaked out over Akane's haircut. Kasumi knew that Akane's hair was important to her and she was surprised to suddenly see it all gone. How you could misinterpret that I don't know.

- Kasumi didn't cruelly tease Ranma about the kiss by Mikado, both she and Nabiki didn't think it was a big deal because they didn't believe it was his first one.
http://www.sunmanga.com/online_manga/48 ... t=38&n=212 And the next page

- Kasumi described the Shampoo situation to the best of her knowledge and Soun agreed with her statements because Ranma was being hugged and cuddled the entire time by Shampoo. And all she said was this which is very accurate.
http://www.sunmanga.com/online_manga/48 ... t=38&n=122

- No reason to suspect Kasumi knew anything about Shampoo having snuck into the room or having an ulterior motive. And if you want to take lines like how they are late bloomers to be serious you should have noticed that Kasumi had to ask why Akane wouldn't. It's likely a normal thing considering how much time Ranma and Akane are around each other.
http://www.sunmanga.com/online_manga/48 ... t=38&n=137

- Kasumi not knowing Tofu freaks out with her is easily explained by a blind spot. Which nearly every character has in one way or another.

- This is far more evidence of Kasumi have interests outside the home that your other examples.
http://www.sunmanga.com/online_manga/48 ... t=38&n=120

- And no she didn't giggle about giving Akane a mallet at all.
http://www.sunmanga.com/online_manga/48 ... t=38&n=121

- The Kasumi is angry chapter easily could be just one big troll by Kasumi at the end. Seeing as everyone is expecting her to freak out, for the lulz she decides to do something minor and let them punish themselves.

[Zwzn]

On TVTropes, on at least a few pages (most notably her entry on the Ranma 1/2 character page), it's noted that Kasumi is actually a parody of the Yamato Nadeshiko. As you've pointed out, originally, Kasumi was in fact much like Nabiki or Akane (more like the latter, really), in that she generally seemed to be and acted like a nice girl, but was in fact something of a jerkass. About the same time as Shampoo joined the series permanently, however, Kasumi switched to parodying the trope by seemingly becoming a Yamato Nadeshiko pushed up to eleven, to the extent that, in one often referenced story, when she found the house in the shambles and Ranma was offered to her as a "sacrifice", she tapped him on the forehead and called him bad, then wondered if she had overdone things.

This latter characterization, as it appears in most of the manga and the anime is slightly more inclined towards this throughout (though anime!Kasumi still retains her moments of darker side throughout, for example there's one episode where she comes as close as she can to calling Genma out on his becoming a panda when he wants to avoid explaing without actually calling him out). That does not mean that the former characterization does not exist, and someone really should edit her entry on the Ranma Wikia to make mention of these facts.

The only time Kasumi fits or comes extremely close to fitting Yamato Nadeshiko trope is in (Japanese)33.02 (Viz)31.02 Kasumi gets mad., and (Japanese)34.01 (Viz)32.01 Shotgun bean plant. Kasumi gets mad story line makes less sense then Ranma not being able to play cards in the Gambling King story line and the Shotgun bean plant story line just shows her in a good mood. At most her character changes in about the last 5 volumes.

I'm of the opinion that people just say she changed because she basically just stopped appearing in the manga. after about the 4th or 5th volume she don't really appear.

[Zwzn]

I'm going to ignore that list, for it is rife with opinion rather than simply stating the various scenarios as they happened. (And it doesn't distinguish anime from manga, either.)

That said, I personally wouldn't call Kasumi a yamato nadeshiko in the complete sense (in part because she does openly express her opinions, even if they tend to go unnoticed), though that's probably the closest thing that adequately describes her in so little words. And, since her character did go through some changes, as her importance in the story dwindled, you do end up with two slightly-different faces to choose from. But it's not uncommon for a mangaka to not flesh out a character until later, so you could argue that later depictions are more true to that character's nature.

A notable comparison is how Belldandy had developed as a character. In the beginning it was possible for her to have outbursts of anger (just like Kasumi when she yelled at Genma), which, sometimes, ended with her zapping Keiichi. Later on she's more calm and collected, and more often uses words and her kind nature to resolve various situations.

In the end, people tend to (rightly) see these two characters as their later depictions and, with their similarities, that's why they are also often seen as being the same type of character, and have other characters, in fan-fiction, confuse one for the other, or think they're related in some way. But, if anyone really needs an answer for what kind of character that Kasumi is, all that you have to do is read the last Kasumi-centric story: the one where everyone thinks she's angry. Takahashi Rumiko presents a common theme in it, about her character, that's shown here and there throughout the manga: because that's the core of Kasumi's character, as she sees it. And it's not just how she sees it, but how she illustrates how the other characters see her.

Nabiki: "Kasumi's mad!? Not possible."

Ranma: "It can't be... Sweet Kasumi?"

Akane, Nabiki and Soun had said that they had never seen Kasumi angry, even though that's a contradiction. But, that's how things work, and her character isn't fully realized unless one accepts the latest developments illustrated by the author. Otherwise, you can argue forever and never get anywhere with it.

They are all manga examples in the first 4 or 5 volumes before she disappears.

Kasumi gets mad makes as much sense as the Gambling King story line. Both are contradicted by basically every other appearance of the character.

[Zwzn]

Kasumi is sarcastic. Yes she is nice and sweet but it doesn't change that many times she's said mean or just snarky things. Are characters having more than one side to them that hard to accept? Do you know any person in real life who acts one way all the time?

But everyone knows Kasumi is a 2 dimensional character who does nothing but be sweet and nice, and slave away day in and day out cooking and cleaning.

Belldandy is a good example of a character who is flanderized by people into being perfect the same way they do Kasumi basically because if she hasn't done anything in a while she must not anymore or they have such a fanon view that they don't even notice. When her characterization rather consistently shows that she'll use being nice against people. It's her way of dealing with things and considering how effective it is, why wouldn't she?

Exactly.

It often seems fanfiction writers, and readers don't like it when something is pointed out to be fanon.

That list isn't perfect.

I'm only human.

- Kasumi suggesting that Ranma take a bath would be quite obviously because Ranma has just been running around sweating, and who knows how long since the last bath. So Ranma likely doesn't smell pleasant. There was no attempt to get both Ranma and Akane in the bath together by her, Nabiki is the one who informed Akane about the bath.

There is no sign Ranma needed a bath in the manga, and the only reason he took one at that time was not to be rude.

I find it very hard to believe Kasumi at least did not find it likely Akane was going to take a bath after her spar with Ranma. Kasumi should have a good idea of what Akane's habits are.

-- Kasumi is not THAT rude to Ranma, both she and Nabiki actually are on his side.
http://www.sunmanga.com/online_manga/48 ... ?t=38&n=44

At that point not to Ranma, but go a few pages to when she is shoving Ranma on to Akane.

Everyone freaked out over Akane's haircut. Kasumi knew that Akane's hair was important to her and she was surprised to suddenly see it all gone. How you could misinterpret that I don't know.

Kasumi's freak out was more drastic then any other character, and Akane says this is normal for kasumi. It shows Kasumi isn't the always calm and peaceful character fanon would have us believe.

Kasumi didn't cruelly tease Ranma about the kiss by Mikado, both she and Nabiki didn't think it was a big deal because they didn't believe it was his first one.
http://www.sunmanga.com/online_manga/48 ... t=38&n=212 And the next page

It was clear it really bothered Ranma, and that it was a big deal to him. It wouldn't matter if it was his first kiss or his one hundredth kiss. She saw him suffering, and made it worse when she could have tried to make Ranma feel better.

Kasumi described the Shampoo situation to the best of her knowledge and Soun agreed with her statements because Ranma was being hugged and cuddled the entire time by Shampoo. And all she said was this which is very accurate.
http://www.sunmanga.com/online_manga/48 ... t=38&n=122

There are a number of things Kasumi could said, but she chose one that would make Ranma look bad.

No reason to suspect Kasumi knew anything about Shampoo having snuck into the room or having an ulterior motive. And if you want to take lines like how they are late bloomers to be serious you should have noticed that Kasumi had to ask why Akane wouldn't. It's likely a normal thing considering how much time Ranma and Akane are around each other.
http://www.sunmanga.com/online_manga/48 ... t=38&n=137

Akane waking Ranma seems to be treated as unsual, but I thought I made it clear this was ify.

Kasumi not knowing Tofu freaks out with her is easily explained by a blind spot. Which nearly every character has in one way or another.

That just breaks SOD for me even by Ranma 1/2 standards.

This is far more evidence of Kasumi have interests outside the home that your other examples.
http://www.sunmanga.com/online_manga/48 ... t=38&n=120

Maybe she's spending the night at a boyfriend's.

And no she didn't giggle about giving Akane a mallet at all.
http://www.sunmanga.com/online_manga/48 ... t=38&n=121

You're right, but it still shows her as not being all peaceful and calm, and it shows her distrusting Ranma in ways that make little sense.

The Kasumi is angry chapter easily could be just one big troll by Kasumi at the end. Seeing as everyone is expecting her to freak out, for the lulz she decides to do something minor and let them punish themselves.

That makes sense

[Crescent Pulsar R]

Considering that the story doesn't work as one coherent timeline, there's no reason to take later characterization to override all others.

It's not a flashback, so it must succeed all of the chapters that came before it. Even if no real time passes in the series itself -- at least, not in a logical way -- that doesn't mean that any story that doesn't definitely show a connection to some past event must be bunched together with others as happening at some random time rather than in order of occurrence. The latter is what makes sense.

Kasumi is sarcastic. Yes she is nice and sweet but it doesn't change that many times she's said mean or just snarky things. Are characters having more than one side to them that hard to accept? Do you know any person in real life who acts one way all the time?

That's not in question. What we see, without considering everything that needs to be considered, only ends up being an opinion that can come into conflict with different opinions, which gets no one anywhere. How other characters see her, however, is what matters. Yes, Kasumi isn't a sun that never sets, like the characters think, but that's not the intended impression meant for us, as readers. If it had been, then her various comments would have mattered, and the opinions of the other characters would have changed to reflect that. It's kind of like a dirty, little secret: the readers can know about this side of Kasumi, but the characters can't. A private joke, you could say; and, often, her comments are a part of a joke, or the joke.

Belldandy is a good example of a character who is flanderized by people into being perfect the same way they do Kasumi basically because if she hasn't done anything in a while she must not anymore or they have such a fanon view that they don't even notice. When her characterization rather consistently shows that she'll use being nice against people. It's her way of dealing with things and considering how effective it is, why wouldn't she?

Well, considering how Belldandy has developed, as a character, I don't blame people who think she's "perfect." Either way, she has lived and learned due to new circumstances and experiences, as she stayed with Keiichi on Earth. And, in part, I'm certain that some of it is a revision of Fujishima's vision of her character. But, as with Kasumi, I wouldn't think that it would make sense to illustrate her as she has been throughout the series, instead of how she has turned out after everything is said and done. Unless, of course, events in fan-fiction take place during some earlier time.

Just to help prevent any confusion, what I said there was in agreement (as I understood it, anyway: I could have read your message wrong), along with my own two cents.

Kasumi gets mad makes as much sense as the Gambling King story line. Both are contradicted by basically every other appearance of the character.

It depends on how you look at it. Comedy such as this often takes liberties with a character's integrity, and what one sees a character do in two different instances, for the same, basic situation, could turn out differently due to comedic effect.

Anyway, just in case I've forgotten something, are there any instances, prior to or after the Gambling King storyline, that contradicts Ranma's skill at playing cards? I know it's supported at least once, later on, when he's playing with Mousse and Ryoga on a train.

[AdmiralTigerclaw]

Well, Kasumi does have 'some' Evil in her heart... Remember the little ogre story? (Cross Dresser sign, bed of nails, claw massage... Girl has some hidden issues.)

She's got her opinions... She's just better at hiding them, and has a LOT more tact than anyone in the cast.

I see her as genuinly sweet, but she's not stupid, and knows how to use words as a weapon when she is slighted. Hell hath no fury like a Kasumi scorned.
I mean, just look. She can turn a situation on its head with a sentence, and everyone destroys each other while she goes back to whatever she was doing. She can cause physical punishment to just about anyone in the cast without even taking a scratch.

With that kind of sweet deal, why would she bother being more open, conniving, or violent?

Kasumi knows the true meaning of the term: "Revenge is a dish best served cold."
And she plays the term to its full value.

You slight Kasumi, and yeah, she won't smite you like Akane right then and there, or blackmail you like Nabiki... But Right when you don't need things to be worse than they already are, you can count on her to add the straw that breaks the camel's back, and not even look like she's doing it intentionally. That is 'A dish best served cold' to its full glorious delivery.

Kasumi can be your best friend, or she can ruin your life without you even realizing she's doing it.

Beware the Quiet Ones.

[three headed dog]

Anyway, just in case I've forgotten something, are there any instances, prior to or after the Gambling King storyline, that contradicts Ranma's skill at playing cards? I know it's supported at least once, later on, when he's playing with Mousse and Ryoga on a train.

Yes. He beat Akane and Ryoga while pretending to be Ryoga's sister. Personally I hate the gambling king arc (worst arc in the manga and if I was editing the manga I'd cut it) but it is not because Ranma loses (or not that alone) remember everyone, including Nabiki lost to the Gambling King when he cheated (that is why the Tendo's go live at Ukyo's for a bit).

Considering that the story doesn't work as one coherent timeline

I'd like to point out that the anime altered the timeline some such as having Shampoo introduced earlier (Shampoo was the fan favorite in Japan and bringing her in was to increase the ratings which weren't as good as they wanted).

I'd also like to point out that they changed the order in the manga some as well. If you look at the original releases in the big Shounen Sunday magazines of Japan where some chapters were partially colored and compare them to the tankouban were all coloring was converted to greyscale you would find that the order of the storyarcs was changed some as well. For example: The Cursed Panda scroll storyline didn't actually follow the Nabiki as Ranma's Fiancee storyline when it was originally published. The Nabiki storyline wrapped up in Shonen Sunday 1991 vol. 23, while the Panda story was published in vol. 35/36 (Lately I've been trying to get the original version not the collected into manga book ones to see the various differences).

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

Just to clarify, even though the episodes introducing Shampoo were aired before the ones of the Martial Arts Skating story, even in the anime it's still supposed to chronologically happen after the MAS story - Akane has a flashback to Ranma's confession from that arc in the first Shampoo episode, after she goes off and starts beating up a dummy to relieve stress.

[Zwzn]

Well, Kasumi does have 'some' Evil in her heart... Remember the little ogre story? (Cross Dresser sign, bed of nails, claw massage... Girl has some hidden issues.)

She's got her opinions... She's just better at hiding them, and has a LOT more tact than anyone in the cast.

I see her as genuinly sweet, but she's not stupid, and knows how to use words as a weapon when she is slighted. Hell hath no fury like a Kasumi scorned.
I mean, just look. She can turn a situation on its head with a sentence, and everyone destroys each other while she goes back to whatever she was doing. She can cause physical punishment to just about anyone in the cast without even taking a scratch.

With that kind of sweet deal, why would she bother being more open, conniving, or violent?

Kasumi knows the true meaning of the term: "Revenge is a dish best served cold."
And she plays the term to its full value.

You slight Kasumi, and yeah, she won't smite you like Akane right then and there, or blackmail you like Nabiki... But Right when you don't need things to be worse than they already are, you can count on her to add the straw that breaks the camel's back, and not even look like she's doing it intentionally. That is 'A dish best served cold' to its full glorious delivery.

Kasumi can be your best friend, or she can ruin your life without you even realizing she's doing it.

Beware the Quiet Ones.

Kasumi isn't a quit one. She is the one most likely to chew out one of the adults when it is revealed that they did something stupid like the Neko-ken, or going to a cursed training ground you found on a guide written in a language you at best can hardly read. She is just as likely to be teasing you when you're down as her nasty mild sister.

She seems to pretty much be a nicer seeming Nabiki, or an Akane without the temper control issues.

The only reason she seems quiet is because she spends most of her time off screen.

[AdmiralTigerclaw]

Comparatively speaking, she is the quiet one. When everyone else has at least a dozen yelling lines, and you don't, that tends to mean you're the quiet one.

[Zwzn]

Comparatively speaking, she is the quiet one. When everyone else has at least a dozen yelling lines, and you don't, that tends to mean you're the quiet one.

I think we have very different definitions of what a "Quiet one" is. The fact Kasumi openly speaks her mind, raise her voice, and chews out and insults people she is suppose to be showing nothing, but respect for makes her not a "Quiet one" in my book.

The fact she tends to behave in a more civilized manner then a dim witted brute like Akane does not make her a quiet one in my book.

I personally find it hard to tell if a character is yelling at times.

[Crescent Pulsar R]

I think you're confusing Kasumi for some other character. ^^;