Thursday, November 11, 2010

Ultimate Weakness Moxibustion - Chapter 1

16 year old martial artist Ranma Saotome is walking home from school eating a snack, when the ancient martial arts master Happosai goes leaping by, carrying a bag of girls' panties. He is being chased by a group of girls angry about having their panties stolen. Ranma distracts the old man by throwing the snack into his mouth, allowing the girls to catch him and beat him soundly.

Happosai shows up at the Tendo home at suppertime, looking the worse for wear. Ranma smirks and asks, "Still alive, huh, freak?" In revenge, Happosai attempts to strike Ranma with something from his pipe, which Ranma manages to dodge and grab, recognizing it as moxibustion (burning moxa). While distracted, Happosai hits Ranma in the back with a second dose. Ranma screams in pain at being burned, and Happosai leaves (forcefully).

The next morning on the way to school, Tatewaki Kuno attacks Ranma, who smiles, says "Morning!" and kicks Kuno in the face. Except Kuno is unaffected, saying, "Do you call that a kick? I barely felt it." Ranma, much puzzled, kicks Kuno in the face again, with no effect. He dodges a blow and punches furiously, over and over. Unfazed, Kuno knocks Ranma unconscious. Realizing that he has beaten Ranma at last, he embraces Akane and declares, "You are mine, Akane Tendo!" She then boots him over the horizon.

Confused and angry, Ranma tries to punch a hole in a nearby wall. Except he hits a kid on a tricycle by accident. Except the toddler is unharmed and pushes Ranma backward with a finger. Ranma and Akane visit Doctor Tofu Ono, who figures out what Happosai did to Ranma, describing to them the effects of the "ultimate weakness moxibustion." Doctor Tofu sadly tells them that no cure is known, that no one any longer knows the moxibustion which counters the ultimate weakness moxibustion. The conclusion is that Ranma will be weak for the rest of his life. Ranma runs off, choking.

In the meantime, Happosai is aerially distributing "Happy-Grams" announcing Ranma's weakness. In particular, these fall into the hands of Ranma's rivals: Tatewaki Kuno, his father Principal Kuno, the Chinese amazon Mousse, and Ryoga Hibiki.

A note about Principal Kuno.
For purposes of Moxibustion Violation, I am following a timeline created by M.Zephyr which supposes that the principal has not yet returned to Japan. So in MV, no one knows about him yet. Since Principal Kuno does not play any major role in the story arc in the manga, this inconsistency causes no particular problem.

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