Why do you dislike Akane?

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

Please note that this is not and is not intended to be a character bashing topic, I am asking out of genuine curiousity and interest for those who dislike Akane to come forth and calmly share their reasons. This is a place for you to detail those aspects of her personality/behavior/whatever that you find repellent.

For me, personally, it's a blend of things and kind of hard to explain. One key factor I can identify is the infamous "I'll never forgive you" line Akane comes up with during the Battle Dogi story. Understand that I'm not looking at it in its immediate statement, though it's still vile, but at its retroactive applications. Throughout the series to that point, Akane has mercilessly beaten the tar out of Ranma whenever she gets ticked, and bar the odd moment of resignation or hurt (asking "when do you ever listen before hitting me" after getting the Happo Fire-Burst scroll, complaining to Nabiki about how sick he gets of it), Ranma always forgives her. And now, she's saying that if he dares to give her a taste of her own medicine, to even think about treating her the exact same way she treats him and which she sees no problem with doing, she will never forgive him? Where the **** does she get off with this?!

[three headed dog]

For me it's the people who defender her, not her so much, that has caused my to dislike her. They make out that she is a much better person than Ranma when in the manga this is clearly untrue. I don't mind people praising her, but it really annoys me when they demonize Ranma to do so (things like its always his fault, him always insulting her, always deserving to be hit, etc... when this is very untrue).

She is as quick to insult him as he is her. I'm not %100 sure but I think there are a few volumes in which she insults him more than he does her and she insulted him first (starting the cycle of insults).

She does hit him occasionally for no reason or very poor reasons for instance she occasionally hits him for the actions of others.

Claims of Akane being sensitive to other people feelings and Ranma isn't. She is insensitive to Ranma's feels about the curse and his fear of cats, Ryoga's feelings in that she will go on dates with him to make Ranma jealous, etc... While Ranma is generally insensitive to others feelings he is not always and isn't any more insensitive than Akane is.

She occasionally stands idly by when she could have helped Ranma, while Ranma’s mother tries to kill ‘the pervert’ in her room volume 34, Allows the blame for all the disorder in the household to be shoved onto Ranma volume 33, allowed everyone to tie up Ranma during the mirror clone saga, etc...

What annoys me the most though by far is that Ranma has a much better excuse for his actions - he was raised by "Genma", little social contact and the social contact he did have that we know about was at an all boys school and during training (his way of getting along with Ukyo and Ryoga were to fight with them if the flashbacks are to be believed), and has no one to really take after (Genma but that would not be good). Akane doesn't have those kind of excuses for her actions she went to a co-ed school, has many friends, lived in one place instead of traveling around, and sisters to guide her upbringing.

[Southern Cross]

O.K. everybody on this thread so far have some good points.As an Akane fan,however,I have a rebuttal for each of those four points in the last post.
(1)Every male student at Furinkan (with the exception of Ranma) seems to be a raging pervert.No wonder she says she hates boys.So would any girl in her situation.
(2)How much help have her so-called friends been to her? From what I can tell,her popularity among the girls seems to have been based on the fact that she's the most helpful of Ranma's fiancees.
(3)"Travel Broadens the Mind",and Akane definitely needs some broadening in that direction.Also,staying at home has adversely affected her martial arts skills,as she is the second-weakest of all the NWC.
(4)Actually her sisters are more trouble than they're worth.Nabiki is a greedy sociopath,and her eldest sister is a great housewife,but a lousy teacher,as Akane has horrible housewifely skills.

[KonokoHasano]

I actually don't hate Akane. I think of her as a normal character in the series with a short temper and slight delusions of issues. Then again, many of the characters have minor delusional problems, and so she fits right in

The thing that does get annoying is when a fanfic portrays her as a complete and utter psycho with no regard for the safety of others. I often wonder how that characterization came to be.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

Because its an easy step up from her normal behavior; it can be quite hard, especially for rookies, to write her at her normal level of temperment without having her come off as a bloodthirsty psychotic. Not to mention that some like to use such a characterization for their own purposes, usually parody and humor I believe. With new writers then coming along and relying on such characterization as their base, it spreads like a weed.

[Jupiah]

What bothers me the most about her is her habit of refusing to believe anything Ranma says. She often calls him a liar to his face even when she has no actual reason to believe he is lying to her. It really bugs when when she believes the words of people who have every reason to lie to her about the situation before the words of Ranma himself. Like how she believed Shampoos claim that he kissed her when he outright denies it in the dojo destroyer arc. Not to mention the only reason he even went on a date with Shampoo was to try and get a cure for his curse.
http://ranmahentai.ranma.ws/RanmaManga/Book08/RM08-063.html
http://ranmahentai.ranma.ws/RanmaManga/Book08/RM08-064.html

Also, her of blaming Ranma for things that are in no way his fault. I really wanted to slap her for the way she treated Ranma after he kissed her at the end of the nekoken arc. She overreacted in a really ugly way, and said some damn cruel things to him.
http://ranmahentai.ranma.ws/RanmaManga/Book05/RM05-080.html
http://ranmahentai.ranma.ws/RanmaManga/Book05/RM05-081.html
http://ranmahentai.ranma.ws/RanmaManga/Book05/RM05-082.html

And how she often interprets Ranma actions in the worst possible light, even when he has an very obvious and more innocent reason for them. Like how in the phoenix pill beach arc, She (and Soun and Genma) all assumed Ranma was trying to win the race to kiss Shampoo, when it was obvious he was doing it only to win the phoenix pill she was wearing around her neck. Not to mention that he could get a kiss from her anytime he wants too, he doesn't need to win it. They even go so far as to enter the race and try to stop Ranma. You'd think the idiots wanted him to be stuck as a girl.

[bissek]

The thing that gets me isn't what she does, it's the fact that she never apologizes for what she does, or even acknowledges that she should apologize for some of the totally unwarranted things she does. That's a character flaw that I find far more unacceptable in a relationship than the flaws in Ukyo and Shampoo.

I don't see Akane as the homicidal psycho that fanon so frequently displays her as. I see her as a violent brat who is long overdue for a spanking. While she might be a good pairing choice if she ever grows up, forcing a wedding before that point is a major gamble, with the results being either a happy ending or a total disaster (Or quite possibly oscillating between those two extremes several times a week).

I wouldn't have her marry Ranma. I wouldn't even trust her in the same room with Ranma without responsible adult supervision. Genma and Soun don't count, as they don't qualify as responsible by any stretch of the imagination.

[three headed dog]

I don't generally find my self defending Akane but

it's the fact that she never apologizes for what she does

This is untrue Akane does apologizes some times, not for every thing she should, or as often as she should but she does. Examples are: apologizes multiple times for hitting Ranma with the softball, Apologizes at the end of super soba arc, and apologizes for not believing him about the Hypnotic Mushrooms.

[Drawde]

The thing that does get annoying is when a fanfic portrays her as a complete and utter psycho with no regard for the safety of others. I often wonder how that characterization came to be.

Another reason is that it's an easy way to get the author's chosen girl with Ranma. It's much easier than coming up with and writing several chapters of why Ranma and Akane broke up, especially when that's not what the author's trying to write with their limited spare time. Though those chapters might make it a better story.

[mondu_the_fat]

For me, personally, it's a blend of things and kind of hard to explain. One key factor I can identify is the infamous "I'll never forgive you" line Akane comes up with during the Battle Dogi story. Understand that I'm not looking at it in its immediate statement, though it's still vile, but at its retroactive applications. Throughout the series to that point, Akane has mercilessly beaten the tar out of Ranma whenever she gets ticked, and bar the odd moment of resignation or hurt (asking "when do you ever listen before hitting me" after getting the Happo Fire-Burst scroll, complaining to Nabiki about how sick he gets of it), Ranma always forgives her. And now, she's saying that if he dares to give her a taste of her own medicine, to even think about treating her the exact same way she treats him and which she sees no problem with doing, she will never forgive him? Where the **** does she get off with this?!

Ever had a fight with your girlfriend? Heck, even sisters throw out that one once in a while. They always say stuff like that. Sometimes they mean it at the time, sometimes they don't. This doesn't make them "vile".

And as far as I'm concerned, that situation was completely Ranma's fault. Heck, I'd even support Akane if she _did_ mean it. Take a look at it from her viewpoint -- she had never toyed with Ranma's feelings the way Ranma tried to do in the dogi arc, and now Ranma was trying to hit her. What "taste of her own medicine" are you talking about? When did Akane ever lead Ranma on? When did Akane hit Ranma for the purpose of taking something away from him, something which Akane obviously was jealous Ranma of having?

And, take note, when a person "treats someone with their own medicine" this is _never_ the case. If Ranma did "treat Akane with her own medicine" it would be purely of malice/come-uppance/vengeance, rather than a desire to be treated fairly by her.

There are many reason to dislike Akane, but this wasn't one of them.

Please note that this is not and is not intended to be a character bashing topic, I am asking out of genuine curiousity and interest for those who dislike Akane to come forth and calmly share their reasons.

Could have fooled me.

[Cheb]

For a reader it's excusable to dislike or even hate some character. For a writer it's unacceptable. You either love absolutely everybody in the set like God loves his children including the lost sheep or your story comes out weakened and distorted. It's one of the anime cornerstones: "Creator, love thy characters". Doesn't say the characters themselves cannot hate each other's guts, though.
But without the love you cannot create a decent villain.

In short, if you absolutely dislike someone in the cast - you must resolve this issue before trying to write a fanfic. The world would be a better place if the beginner fic writers followed this advice.

[claymade]

In short, if you absolutely dislike someone in the cast - you must resolve this issue before trying to write a fanfic. The world would be a better place if the beginner fic writers followed this advice.

Preach it.

Although I will suggest one minor variation: if you absolutely dislike someone in the cast - you must resolve this issue before trying to write a fanfic featuring them. Worst come to worst, you can generally frame the story so that the character never happens to appear in it, with minimal damage done if you're careful.

There aren't many characters that I take a massive, persistent, seething antipathy toward (Himura Kenshin probably comes the closest) but that's how I'd handle such a situation if I ever did want to write a fic in such a plotverse. I strongly dislike bashing fics--even Kenshin-bashing fics--but there's nothing wrong with just writing a fic about the adventures of Sano and Saito while Kenshin's off in another city on some kind of important duty, etc.

[Necavit]

I think I tend to like Akane, because several people dislike her. My dislike of Ranma seems to be fed by every Ranma = God fic I read, but I still like the guy.

Lover spat is how I write off most of their interaction. What ones does to the other, the other will do right back. People usually side with Akane, cause lets face it, Ranma can be a insensitive jackass. Akane tends to beleive the worse in Ranma, cause well, she said it herself, she dosnt like men. I mean there was an arc, where she seemed to be afraid that Ranma would rape her just because she was alone. If I were Ranma Id be pretty damn insulted.

As for Akane hitting Ranma, just drop that one. Women being violent toward men, is a common joke in the Ranmaverse. What do the women do when they see Ranma in a dress? They gang beat him. Shampoo is constantly hitting Mousse and Ukyou smackes Ranma and Ryoga around several times.

Its just seems a normal reaction for many of the women.

Hell even Kasumi encouraged Akane to beam Ryoga with a barbell, true she thought he was a robber, but it still dosnt seem very Kasumi now does it?

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

Okay, now you people are getting off topic. This is not an argument topic about whether or not Akane is victimized, this is a general topic for people to list why they find Akane's character repellant. I find it hard to explain my own reasons, so I used the example I did in my opening topic- I normally work entirely with the anime canon and it's my preferred canon, and that moment doesn't even show up there. I just couldn't think of any other way to express the reason.

Also, that line wouldn't bother me so much if she'd said it before she started kicking Ranma around like a football. But she spits it out mid-pummelling, when Ranma starts fighting back, and is basically telling him that he is not allowed to defend himself without fear of long-lasting repercussions from herself and their families.

I'm not denying that Ranma wasn't also at fault there- Ranma can be a jerk, but what makes him a satisfying main character is that he actually works to be main character, trying to blend equally niceness and jerkery, moments of extreme charity and acts of vile darkness. I'm not saying he succeeds, but he comes off as relatively nice, especially when compared to Akane. Below are the "Uglies" from Acey's list- beyond the Battle Dogi, which I admit is perhaps his worst moment in the manga, when has Ranma given similar treatment to Akane?

Volume 4: Decides to put Ranma is mortal peril, because she’s angry with him, by dousing him with cold water while in Shampoo’s embrace. Not only displays no remorse for this action, but maintains it was just.

Volume 6: Kicks Ranma away from her when he tries to prevent her from falling to the ground… right into an ostensibly deadly Ryoga.

Volume 8:
*Arbitrarily decides that Ranma is a sick fetishist thief - while verbally noting as an aside that because of his curse (which he has no say in) his body has always been ‘sick and twisted’ - and suggests he seek psychological assistance.
*Upon discovering Ranma was being truthful, Akane makes no effort to apologise, or indeed make any acknowledgement that she should do so, and shows no remorse for her words and actions.

Volume 10:
*Decides she will be able to spend a day blindfolded and alone. This puts the general populace in danger, and she walks on and through several people. The same stubborn behaviour is nearly responsible for her falling in love with Kuno, Ryoga and Happosai. Doesn’t thank Ranma when she saves her, and refuses to believe her news about the type of pill she swallowed. Displays unfathomable recklessness running about without her blindfold after being informed that she’d swallowed the lifetime love pill. Puts Ranma and herself in great danger, and then attacks Ranma despite actions showing he’d accept her artificial love for her sake, abandoning any chance of truly falling in love for himself.
*Gleefully takes advantage of Shampoo’s curse to terrify Ranma when he refuses to go along with her deception. [This would normally be ‘B’, but the sheer joy Akane seems to take in abusing Ranma’s phobia bumps this up to ‘U’.]
*Tries to help out Tsubasa… by suggesting someone she believes to be a lesbian find a boyfriend.

Volume 11:
*Deliberately spills a kettle of boiling water on a girl she suspects may be Ranma in disguise.
*Assumes Ranma is going to try to physically take advantage of her because she is alone and ill.
*Begins to apologise to Ranma after she has experienced the power of Shampoo’s manipulation first hand. But mallets him from behind again as he’s still being manipulated… which she is aware of.

Volume 12:
*Refuses to even hear an explanation, malleting Ranma.
*Plays with Ryoga’s feelings to spite Ranma. [A repeat of Vol. 9]

Volume 17:
*Pulps Ranma’s face when he can’t identify what the embroidery is supposed to be.
*Blames the beating she gave Ranma on her sister.
*Slaps Ranma for saving Nabiki. Calls off her engagement with him.
*Crashes in on what she believes are a pair of fiancés becoming intimate.

Volume 21:
*Is prepared to break the engagement depending on the food’s prediction.
*Apologises to Ryoga for having to eat some of the sakura-mochi, simultaneously displaying politeness and an amazing degree of hypocrisy.
*Hits Ranma away in fear of seeing the result after dogging him to eat in the first place.

Volume 22: Is angry with Ranma’s comment. And sucker punches him hard enough to put him in a full body cast.

Volume 23: ‘Offers’ to cook for the family when Kasumi is ill. Is angry that the others aren’t thrilled by this and make plans to escape… but decides that Ranma, who is the only one with the courage to openly insult her cooking, is also the only one of them deserving of a thorough thrashing.

Volume 25:
*Ignores Ranma’s explanation and jumps to the most illogical conclusion in the history of man.
*Recalls a twisted version of events from the previous night. And from this deduces that Ranma is a petty womaniser.

Volume 27:
*Sends Ranma skyward when Hinako tricks them and Nabiki sells them out.
*[As in Volumes 9 & 12] Akane toys with Ryoga’s feelings to spite Ranma.

Volume 29: Uses the Fuo Yanshan (which is similar to a flamethrower) on a paralysed Ranma because Shampoo was trying to kiss him.

Volume 30:
*Despite his pleas, adamantly refuses to allow Ranma the opportunity to explain himself, and as the next panel indicates, assumes again that Ranma tried to force himself on a woman. [Like she assumed he would try to do to her back in Vol. 11.]
*Nonchalantly asks if he tried to rape Hinako or not, and not only doesn’t apologise for her outrageous assumptions and unprovoked attack, but makes no allusion to she herself being out of line.

Volume 32:
*Concludes that Ranma is simply jealous of her superior skills as a martial artist, and tells him so
*Points out that her being better than him hampers their relationship.
*Denounces him as a weakling.
*Bids him farewell and coldly informs him that he won’t be seeing her anymore.
*Reacts to Ranma’s counter attack as a betrayal, admitting that she felt he may have been truthful earlier.
*Chases after Ranma, accusing him of cowardice when he won’t show himself at her demand.
*Upon Ranma commenting that she’s very good, she sneers that its actually he who is very bad.
*Announces mid-pummelling that if he defends himself or tries to forcefully remove the Dogi from her that she’ll never forgive him. [Here, she not only displays hypocrisy and arrogance, but an amazing lack of faith in Ranma - considering the not insubstantial tasks he’s successfully overcome, she has no trust that not only will he be able to find a way to remove the Dogi without harming her, but she does not feel that that’s even his intention.]
*When Ranma refuses to submit to this emotional blackmail, Akane decides that that means he is more concerned with the Dogi than with her.
*Makes no apology to Ranma; in fact, contentedly accepts his poorly disguised apology. That she herself may have something to atone for is never fathomed or suggested.

Volume 33: Allows the blame for all the disorder in the household to be shoved onto Ranma.

Volume 34:
*Stands idly by while Ranma’s deranged mother tries to kill ‘the pervert’ in her room.
*Refuses to accept that he’s going through with it to help Mousse, but rather to cop a feel, explaining that she knows how Ranma’s ‘sick mind’ works.

Volume 35:
*Inadvertently admits that she attacked Ranma not really sure that he did anything *wrong.
*Puts Ranma through the floor immediately after Konatsu (too quickly to avoid) kisses Ranma several times in gratitude.
*Reads Konatsu’s secret scroll after being told what it was.

Volume 36:
*Kicks Ranma’s face through the mirror from behind after he mocks her impression of his mother.
*Delivers the clothes by tying them to a large concrete block and hitting Ranma with it from behind.
*Angry with the pair when they tell her to do the dishes, drives away the restaurant’s customers while she’s supposed to be helping business.

[mondu_the_fat]

Also, that line wouldn't bother me so much if she'd said it before she started kicking Ranma around like a football. But she spits it out mid-pummelling, when Ranma starts fighting back, and is basically telling him that he is not allowed to defend himself without fear of long-lasting repercussions from herself and their families.

What?

Ranma was trying to hit Akane, because Ranma was envious of the suit, After he tries to mind fuck her for it. Akane has _never_ done such a thing to Ranma.

Also, that line wouldn't bother me so much if she'd said it before she started kicking Ranma around like a football. But she spits it out mid-pummelling, when Ranma starts fighting back, and is basically telling him that he is not allowed to defend himself without fear of long-lasting repercussions from herself and their families.

(snip)

when has Ranma given similar treatment to Akane?

Why does Ranma have to get similar treatment to Akane?

A relationship is not about "You hurt me, so its fair for me to hurt you."



"I hate Akane because she likes disco."

"There's nothing in anime or manga to show you she likes disco, and why would you hate her for liking disco anyway?"

"Ok, now you're going off-topic."


See? If you're going to open a topic on why people dislike her, its unavoidable for someone to try to point out when your reason are wrong or unfounded.