Tendo Family Christmas Scramble (天道家すくらんぶるクリスマス Tendō-ke Scramble Christmas?) is the second episode in the Ranma ½ OVA series.
Synopsis[]
In a snow-covered wilderness, a sleigh pulled by several reindeer passes by Kasumi, who notices a present for her has been dropped from the sleigh. As she wonders what it could be, it is suddenly revealed that this was a dream. Upon waking up, Kasumi looks at her calendar and and is delighted to notice that it's Christmas Day.
Akane admires her work in making Ranma's scarf.
Elsewhere, Akane has just finished making a hand-knitted yellow scarf for Ranma; however, due to her lack of household skills, it is very badly made, full of large holes, and very tatty-looking. She admits it may not look like much, but it's the thought that counts. She then looks at a group photo on her wall, noting how she's barely visible in it, and takes a nap.
In Nabiki's room, Ranma asks Nabiki if she'll really lend him money to buy a gift for Akane without stomping on him with the interest like last time. Nabiki says she wouldn't do that since they're practically family already and hands him ¥5,000. Ranma thanks Nabiki and tells her to keep this between them, while Nabiki reminds him to come see her any time he needs help.
Later, as everyone in the Tendo Dojo is having breakfast, Akane starts talking to Ranma about what day it is. Before she can finish, Soun and Genma say it's fine with them for them to go out on a Christmas date. However, Akane and Ranma say they'd rather stay in. Kasumi says that's for the best, claiming that Santa Claus told her to have a Christmas party. This confuses the group, but they agree to hand out Kasumi's invitations.
Ryoga arrives at the Dojo with a gift, deciding love must be guiding him onward. Suddenly, he gets squashed by a large gift brought by Kuno and Sasuke. When Sasuke asks Kuno if his gift isn't too extravagant, he explains that love looks with the mind instead of the eyes, so the gift only needs to reflect the size of his heart. Unimpressed, Sasuke wishes his master would lend him a hand. Kuno takes offense at this, which scares Sasuke, who was just wondering if there will be a band. Kodachi Kuno then arrives, telling Kuno that his gift is too big for a stocking, much to his dismay. Shampoo then runs over Kuno with her bicycle, to Sasuke's dismay. Ukyo then walks up and asks what's going on. After the three females exchange anger to each other about not being the only one invited, Mousse runs up, asking Shampoo how she could go without him and runs straight into a wall.
Soon, Kuno and Sasuke are in slight awe at being in the sacred ground of Akane's room, which has been designated as the male waiting area while the party is set up. Sasuke notices Akane's picture on the wall and tells Kuno he's in it, albeit barely noticeable. Kuno thinks about autographing the photo, but Ryoga pokes his marker away, saying he won't allow him to deface Akane's room, and the two start fighting. Mousse tries to break up the fight, resulting in all three of them flying through the window and into the Koi pond, which turns Mousse and Ryoga into their respective cursed forms.
Kasumi tells Ranma that she's quite busy in the kitchen, so Ranma goes to get someone to help. When he enters Nabiki's room, which has been designated as the women's waiting area, he is set aback by the extreme tension between Ukyo, Kodachi and Shampoo. When he asks if someone would like to go help Kasumi in the kitchen, the three female guests all agree to help. Akane also offers to help, but for fear of people suffering from her poor cooking skills, Ranma decides to have her help him decorate the tree instead. Ukyo, Kodachi and Shampoo, however, see this as favoritism and call it unfair. Nabiki interjects and tells the three girls that she can arrange it so that they each get some alone time with Ranma, but it won't come cheap. This is obviously a dream come true for the girls, though Ukyo is skeptical; Nabiki reassures her and starts the bidding at ¥1,000.
Ranma is tied to the tree after he insults Akane.
Ranma finishes up some decorations in the training hall when Akane asks him to look at the tree. He says that it's fine, but he is unable to keep up the guise for long and becomes more sarcastic in his tone, until he lets loose to Akane that if she was cooking they'd all be in the hospital by now. Angered by this remark, Akane attacks and ties him to the tree, saying she can't help it if she's not the arts-and-crafts type.
In the kitchen, Kasumi tells Ukyo that they're out of Soy Sauce. Mousse and Ryoga, now back in their human forms, offer to get more, hoping to go with Akane and Shampoo, respectively. Mousse grabs Ukyo, believing it to be Shampoo, tells her they'd better get going; however, Shampoo throws a glass of water over Mousse, turning him into his duck form again, and tells him she's busy cooking. While Ryoga wonders where Akane is, Kasumi tells him that she's ready to go, explaining that she may remember something else they may need on the way there.
Ryoga and Kasumi head out, with the latter carrying Mousse, still in his duck form. Kasumi asks Ryoga where he lives. Ryoga replies that you can see Mount Fuji through the west window and it's near the Pacific Ocean. Kasumi exclaims that Ryoga must live in a very large house; Ryoga says it really isn't, but it sure feels that way sometimes. Just then, the pair end up in front of a brick wall due to Ryoga having no sense of direction, and Mousse flies up so he can direct them to the market. After Kasumi comments on Mousse's intuition, Ryoga uses his "Bakusai Tenketsu" technique to break the wall. Ryoga continues to break multiple walls with the Bakusai Tenketsu, still trying to find the market.
Back at the dojo, Kodachi spikes some of the drinks behind Ukyo and Shampoo's backs so she can have time with Ranma. Just then, Ukyo flips her Okonomiyaki, causing some strain ingredients to fall into Shampoo's Ramen Sauce. Believing Ukyo did it deliberately, Shampoo angrily puts some of her ingredients on Ukyo's Okonomiyaki as revenge. The pair start fighting, but then they bump into Kodachi, who's still spiking the drinks. This causes Kodachi to smell her own paralysis potion and fall asleep. Meanwhile, in the dressing room, Soun and Genma (who's now in his human form) have dressed like Santa and a reindeer, respectively. Soun reminds Genma their plan, "Operation True-Romance!" must go off without a hitch.
The guests talk amongst themselves as they wait for the party to start.
That evening, the training hall is packed with guests for the Tendo Family Christmas Party. Behind the stage, Nabiki notes that it's just about time for them to start singing. Ranma refuses to perform, his saying that "real guys don't do karaoke." Nabiki then pours a glass of water over Ranma, changing him to his female form, and tells her that girls singing karaoke look lovely. Nabiki, Akane, Kasumi, Shampoo and Ranma then sing a cover of "Equal Romance" by CoCo on the stage, while Ryoga and Mousse frantically control the spotlights. After they finish singing, Nabiki welcomes the guests to the party.
As the party gets underway, everyone enjoys themselves while watching the performances by Sasuke, Kuno and Mousse as well as Ling-Ling & Lung-Lung. After several antics (such as Tsubasa disguising himself as the tree), the poker tournament begins. At one table, Ranma (who's now back in his male form), Ukyo, Shampoo, Sasuke, Mousse, Kuno and Akane are playing each other, each thinking about their respective love interest (except Ranma and Sasuke, who are thinking about the quality of their hands instead). When they each reveal their hands to one another, the Gambling King steps in and declares he has a royal straight flush, meaning he wins. Shocked by this, the group decides to throw the Gambling King.
Nabiki sees Soun and Genma in their costumes.
After the poker tournament, Nabiki tells everyone it is time to exchange Christmas gifts. Just then, Soun and Genma appear in their Santa and reindeer outfits, and Soun declares that he has a gift for Ranma and Akane (an engagement ring); however, due to the sheer shock and embarrassment of this scene, neither Akane or Ranma want to go up on stage. Suddenly, the crowd begins screaming, due to Happosai getting up to his usual antics. Then Sentaro and Satsuki arrive on a horse. Sentaro thanks Akane for inviting him, saying he got a very special gift just for her. However, at that moment the gift begins to move, revealing that his grandmother was hiding inside. She tells her grandson that she's wise to his tricks and he'll be punished when they get back. As Sentaro begs his grandmother for forgiveness, Akane notices that Ranma, Shampoo and Ukyo are suddenly missing. Thinking they might be up to something, she runs to find them, not noticing Ryoga trying to give her his gift.
On the Dojo's roof, Nabiki tells Ranma to sit tight on the bench that has been placed there, or she'll tell everyone that he had to borrow money for Akane's present, despite his protests. Ukyo appears, telling him she's so happy they finally get to be alone, and thinks the present Ranma has is for her. However, before she can go any further, Shampoo and Kodachi appear, all of them wanting time alone with Ranma first. Nabiki reappears to tell them there's no need to fight as there's plenty to go around, but the girls won't listen. Ranma, deciding he's had enough, runs off, only to be chased by the three girls. Nabiki sighs that her business has gone, but soon gets over it as she's already been paid. Akane, having just climbed onto another part of the roof, sees Ranma being chased by his three other fiancés. Ranma, noticing Akane on the roof, grabs her and jumps to avoid the girls' attacks, but they then fall through a badly-patched hole in the roof. Kodachi, Shampoo and Ukyo see them fall, but don't notice the hole, so they get off the roof to look for Ranma again.
Ranma sees his initials in the scarf.
Meanwhile, after discussing whether or not she's still mad, Akane finally gives Ranma his present, which he initially thinks is a fishing net before Akane tells him that it's actually a scarf. Ranma comments on Akane doing something like this when she's not very good at arts-and-crafts and then notices his initials stitched into the scarf. Akane, slightly angered by Ranma's comment, tries to take the scarf off him, but he avoids her grasp and puts it around his neck. Returning the favor, Ranma gives Akane his gift for her - a picture frame with the photo from her room in it. Ranma explains that it was the only picture he could find and apologizes that it isn't handmade, but he isn't very good at arts-and-crafts either. Akane thanks him, saying that this really means a lot to her. Suddenly, the board beneath them gives way and they fall into the training hall. As Ranma sits up (with Akane holding onto him), he's faced with his angered fiancés and rivals, all of whom are about to attack him for what he's doing with Akane. While Ranma protests his innocence, Nabiki indirectly tells him not to worry and turns the lights off, leaving everyone in a slight panic and taking focus away from Ranma.
Nabiki, Ranma, Akane and Kasumi watch the shooting stars fall.
After the party, Kasumi is cleaning up the training hall when she notices a gift on the floor. She picks it up, wondering who it belongs to, when it opens to reveal a small amount of blue dust that quickly disappears. Akane then takes Kasumi to the balcony, where Nabiki and Ranma are. The four of them look up at the sky and see a shower of shooting stars pass over Furinkan, which Kasumi notes to herself must be what was in the box. Ranma then puts his hand around Akane's shoulder as she tightly holds onto the picture frame Ranma bought.
Trivia[]
- This episode has the largest cast of characters of any Ranma ½ episode, especially if one counts the characters seen only in Akane's photograph.
- Kasumi's calendar notes that December 25th (and the events of this episode) is a Saturday. Coincidentally (although it may have been intentional), the year this special was released (1993), December 25th was indeed on a Saturday.
- The English dub implies that Soun and Genma have known each other since at least grade school.
- In the English dub, when everyone is playing poker and thinking about their love interest, Ukyo's name is romanized as "Ukyou".
- Sentaro appears in the crowd at the end of the girls' song before he makes his actual entrance.
- The Kimen School Calligraphy teacher, the Paper Doll Salesman, and Farmer Brown and Anna were not previously shown to meet the Tendos, yet apparently they were invited.
Cast[]
| Character | Japanese voice | English voice |
|---|---|---|
| Kasumi Tendo | Kikuko Inoue | Willow Johnson |
| Akane Tendo | Noriko Nagai | Myriam Sirois |
| Nabiki Tendo | Minami Takayama | Angela Costain |
| Ranma Saotome (male) | Kappei Yamaguchi | Sarah Strange |
| Ranma Saotome (female) | Megumi Hayashibara | Brigitta Dau |
| Genma Saotome | Kenichi Ogata | Robert O. Smith |
| Soun Tendo | Ryunosuke Ohbayashi | David Kaye |
| Ryoga Hibiki | Koichi Yamadera | Michael Donovan |
| Tatewaki Kuno | Hirotaka Suzuoki | Ted Cole |
| Sasuke Sarugakure | Shigeru Chiba | Robert O. Smith |
| Kodachi Kuno | Saeko Shimazu | Teryl Rothery |
| Shampoo | Rei Sakuma | Cathy Weseluck |
| Ukyo Kuonji | Hiromi Tsuru | Kelly Sheridan |
| Mousse | Toshihiko Seki | Brad Swaile |
| Gambling King | Takeshi Aono | David Kaye |
| Yuka | Masami Toshima | Cathy Weseluck |
| Sayuri | Yoshiko Kamei | Willow Johnson |
| Hiroshi | Kōji Tsujitani | Terry Klassen |
| Daisuke | Takehito Koyasu | David Kaye |
| Happosai | Ichirō Nagai | Paul Dobson |
| Sentaro Daimonji | Bin Shimada | Brad Swaile |
| Sentaro's grandmother | Naoko Kyoda | Pauline Newstone |
Note: Principal Kuno, Higuma Torajiro the Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics Judge, Mr. Ryokou, Farmer Brown, Kinnii, Azusa Shiratori, Copycat Ken, Ling-Ling & Lung-Lung, the Kimen School Calligraphy Teacher, Jo, the Crepe King, Niku Men, Mariko Konjo, Anna, Tsubasa Kurenai, Panda Doodle, Kin Ono, Picolet Chardin II, the Director and his Assistant, Jusenkyo Guide Uragishi Sankichi, the Frog Hermit, Toramasa Kobayakawa, the Paper Doll Salesman, Rinko, Princess Ori, Kengyu, Mikado Sanzenin, and Satsuki Miyakoji make cameo appearances, but do not have speaking parts.
Gallery[]
