TVTropes Now available in the app store!
Open

Follow TV Tropes

Cursed Meets Cursed

Go To

In 1983, the Tendo family are taking a trip to the Jusekyo Spring in China. Feeling that her father will never have the heart to pass his teaching after her mother’s deaeth, Akane runs off only to fall into one of the springs. While Suon was able to pull out his youngest daughter before she drowned to death, the spring had left Akane with a permanent curse: to turn into a boy whenever she is hit with cold water.

Four years later, Akane has been stuck dealing with her curse and constant bullying after it became common knowledge. The news that her father wants to unite their school with an old friend through an arranged marriage between their children doesn’t help either. Thankfully, things seem to turn up when he reunites with his old childhood friend Ranma.

There are just three problems. One, Ranma thinks that Akane was always a boy. Two, Ranma is the same Ranma that Soun planned to marry Akane to. And three, Akane doesn’t know that her “female” friend Ranma was born a guy.

Cursed meets Cursed is a Ranma ½ fic where Akane also has a Sex Shifter curse just like Ranma, with the added twist that both are trying to hide the exact details of their curse.


Cursed Meets Cursed contains the following tropes.

  • Accidental Pervert: This trope might as well be Akane’s other curse, as she often walks into Ranma while she’s underdressed.
  • Adaptational Gender Identity: Rather than cisgender as in the original manga, Ranma is trans female and Akane is trans male, though neither of them had realized that yet.
  • Bait-and-Switch: In chapter 6, the hot water that Kuno intended to expose Akane's true form lands on Ranma instead, and when he turns from female to male he thinks that the wannabe samurai will accuses him of being a pervert. Instead, Kuno believes that ‘’Akane'’ inflicted her curse on Ranma. Ranma has to knock-out Kuno before he wakes up Akane to confront him about the matter.
  • Boomerang Bigot: Fours years of harassment and accusations from guys that Akane is nothing more than a guy pretending to be a girl has left her resentful of the male gender, with only her father as the exception in spite (or rather, because) her transformation to a boy and how she subconsciously sees herself as male. This is the main reason Ranma is hellbent on making sure Akane thinks he's always a girl, as despite their bickering he doesn’t want to lose their friendship.
  • Calling the Old Man Out: In chapter 4, Kasumi calls out her father and Genma for trying to push their respective children into staying in her birth forms, explaining that they won’t be able to figure out which form is more comfortable if their fathers continue to pressure them.
  • Comically Missing the Point: In chapter 7, an old ice cream vendor teases Akane about how "he" dated Ranma when they were kids despite her denial, and brings up an anecdote about how Akane declined a free ice cream cone because he was upset that Ranma left for "her" training. Ranma, overhearing this, is only upset that Akane refused free food.
  • Everybody Has Standards:
    • Ranma might consider Akane a pervert due to some mishaps, but even he’s confused that a whole army of guys is calling his friend that. Likewise, he’s irritated about Kuno accusing Akane of being a pervert without a real reason, especially since in her eyes Kuno isn't any better.
    • After Ranma pulls her from drowning in the swimming pool, she tells Akane she's going to rescue the unconscious Kuno as well. Akane agrees with her decision, since as much as he hates Kuno he doesn't want him to die.
    • Though Ryoga wants revenge against Ranma for "ruining" his life, he pretends to believe Ranma's claim that he mistaken her for a boy back in middle school as he doesn't want to out her as a trans girl to everyone.
  • Family Versus Career: Kasumi mentions to Ranma that she originally wanted to be a doctor, and had her father's support. However, after her mother's passing, she chose to focus on being the Team Mom for the grieving Tendo family. Kasumi makes it clear that she hasn't given up on her dream but is putting it on hold for her family, and she continues to read medical textbooks from Dr. Tofu to keep up while planning to start official studies the same time as Akane and Ranma go to college.
  • Gayngst: Akane is horrified when she realizes she is crushing on Ranma, fearing that she’s just as much of a pervert as Kuno accuses her of being.
  • Irony: When Ryoga finds out that Akane is a born girl who turns into a boy with a Jusenkyo Curse, he accuses her of using her curse to take advantage of a "innocent maiden" like Ranma. In the manga, Ryoga pretends his curse pig form is a normal animal so he can get close to Akane.
  • Mistaken for Flirting: Ranma mistakes Akane's (who he thinks is a boy) friendly attitude, including when Akane treated him with ice cream and complimented his outfits when they were kids, as deliberate flirting with his female form. This has the unintended result of Ranma to conclude that when Akane walked into the bathroom and ran into an undressed Ranma, he was deliberately trying to get a peak at his female form.
  • Mutual Masquerade: The premise of the story. Akane is trying to hide that she was born a girl and that her male form is her cursed form, while Ranma is trying to hide that he was born a boy and that her female form is her cursed form.
  • Right for the Wrong Reasons:
    • Discussed in chapter 6 when Akane fears she's as much of a pervert as Kuno accuses him, though rather because of her Sex Shifter curse it’s because of her crush on Ranma (who she believes is a girl). Her friends Noriko and Tomoyo assure her that having a crush on a girl doesn't make her a pervert.
    • Also in chapter 6, when Kuno sees that hot water turns Ranma from female to male, he concludes that Akane has afflicted Ranma with a curse that turns him from female to male. He's very wrong on the curse’s origin, but he's right in that both Ranma and Akane's Sex Shifter ability are connected.
    • In chapter 8, Ryoga realizes that Ranma is a trans girl, but only because he thinks that the reason nearly everyone at her new school thinks she is a girl is that she wants to hide how she transitioned to avoid social stigma, rather than keeping Akane from finding out she's a born-male Sex Shifter. Of course, the story has a "Trans Female Ranma" tag for a reason.
  • Secret-Keeper:
    • Nabiki and Kasumi are keeping the details of Akane and Ranma’s curses a secret from the other, as well as keeping their fathers from revealing said secret.
    • Noriko and Tomoyo agree to help Akane hide the details of her curse from Ranma. Likewise, when they discover Ranma is a Sex Shifter as well, they assure him they won't let Akane find out.
  • Secret Secret-Keeper: Played With While Ranma thinks she successfully convinced Ryoga into thinking he mistaken her for a boy back in middle school, Ryoga pretends to believe her claim as he believes she had transition since he last saw her and he doesn't want to out her as a trans girl to her friends.
  • That Came Out Wrong: In chapter 8, Ranma is frustrated between figuring out that Ryoga was holding back against her and Akane got in the way of their duel. Akane tries to tell her that he got involved to defend her honor but in frustration he yells that he's trying to protect her. Ranma reaches her Rage Breaking Point with both boys when it seems that Akane sees her as a mere damsel rather than a fellow fighter and slaps him in the face.
  • Wouldn't Hit a Girl: Despite wanting revenge on Ranma, when Ryoga sees he's now a girl he pulls his punches because of a budding crush on her. Ranma is infuriated when she and Akane figure out that he's holding back. She makes her disapproval in Ryoga's attitude clear after he deliberate missed an umbrella strike when she goaded him to take her seriously.

Top