Anime/manga legend lays out various scenarios for five-way fight, and physical strength plays surprisingly small role.

In addition to being one of the most successful manga creators of all time, Rumiko Takahashi is a huge pro wrestling fan. So perhaps it was only a matter of time until the artist of such hits as Inuyasha and Ranma 1/2 herself started wondering who would win a battle royale between her most famous main characters.

This week, Takahashi shared her theory through her recently launched Twitter account, starting off by listing the combatants:
● Ataru Moroboshi, from Urusei Yatsura
● Ranma Saotome, from Ranma 1/2
● Inuyasha, from Inuyasha
● Rinne Rokudo, from Rin-ne
● Mao, from Mao

Next, the rules. As in a boxing or wrestling match, the fight will take place in an enclosed ring. However, how many times a fighter gets knocked down doesn’t matter at all. As long as they’re in the ring and have enough strength to move under their own power, they’re still in the fight. Finally, since this is a contest between the characters, not their weapons, everyone has to fight bare-handed, so no Tessaiga blade for Inuyasha, Shinigami Scythe for Rin-ne, or katana for Mao.

And with that, the fight is on! Unfortunately for Inuyasha’s sizable international fanbase, Takahashi lists him as the first to be eliminated. Why? Because despite the advantages of his half-yokai strength, he’s sort of deficient in mental power:

“It’s likely that Inuyasha wouldn’t be able to properly understand the rules, and would quickly be disqualified for failing to stay inside the ring.”

▼ Sorry, Inuyasha. But hey, at least you’ve got plenty of other cool moments in your life to look back on.

Next to go: Mao. Sure, the mystical warrior is an efficient fighter and, as Takahashi points out, can’t really die. However, because of his stoic nature:

“Mao wouldn’t be interested in this kind of contest, so he’d voluntarily withdraw.”

That leaves us with Ranma, Rinne, and Ataru, a group consisting of two superbly skilled martial artists and one highly horny high schooler. Don’t count Ataru out, though. “The tide of battle would really depend on whether or not there was some sort of prize for the winner,” Takahashi explains. “If they were fighting for a girl, then Ataru would be very strong,” she theorizes, adding that the character also has astounding powers of recovery, as demonstrated by his ability to bounce back from the hundreds of electric shocks he’s endured at the hands of his (often justifiably) jealous alien co-star Lum.

▼ Ataru’s life is basically a never-ending alternation between gawking at girls and getting hit with bolts of lightning as punishment for doing so.

“Rinne would fight hard if there was a cash prize,” Takahashi continues, referencing the perpetually penniless shinigami’s financial struggles. And as for Ranma, the guy who’s sometimes a girl but always prideful as a lion and stubborn as a mule? “Ranma hates to lose, so he wouldn’t stop fighting until he wins.”

That might sound like a clear endorsement of Ranma as the strongest Takahashi lead, but the artist says that, with the right motivation, neither Ataru nor Rinne would be giving up either, and so she can’t say for sure how the contest would turn out. Still, if she ever does decide on a definitive answer, it’d make for a seriously entertaining anime short.

Source: Twitter/@rumicworld1010 via Hachima Kiko
Photos ©SoraNews24
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Follow Casey on Twitter, where he two notices Kosaku Hatanaka got left off the list, and would like to remind everyone that the ending theme to the One-Pound Gospel anime is awesome.