Normally, I wouldn't add a 'pseudo-chapter' to a story of my design, but as more than one reviewer has commented that they don't know the anime, and I even had one ask me for 'episode synopsis', I decided that I might as well create a brief overview for each of the anime-exclusive storylines I'll be using as my bases in the future. You can also find most if not all Ranma ½ anime material on Youtube in dubbed or subbed form.
Firstly though, I just want to address those who claimed it wasn't right for Ranma's non-Tendo interests to give upon him so easily: who said that they were renouncing their engagement? They left him in disgust, which they have done before in the anime canon, but nothing was said about them giving up their pursuit of Ranma. It's just that Ranma cannot accept their pursuit in that timeline, because he couldn't bring himself to marry someone who'd try to kill an innocent bystander.
Tai Khan, I admit I'm not particularly fond of any of the Tendo girls, but why did you feel I was biased towards Nabiki in the previous chapter? The way she acts is canonical; she has absolutely no concern for Ranma whatsoever (selling semi-nude photos of him to Kuno anyone?), but she gets angry when he does something that could inconvenience her- see the Ranma vs. Ryoga episode in the first season, where she gets furious when it appears Ranma is going to win, thus costing her money, and she promptly works Ryoga up into a potentially lethal fury to try and save her cash. However, for all that, none of her actions (or, indeed, the nastier/stupider actions of any Tendos) have ever had any real consequences, so it's only natural that such a fallout would be jarring enough to make her guilty. I won't be doing any other Ranma/Nabikis though, because I feel it takes too much for her to change enough that they could work together.
Anyway, on with the episodes…
"Ranma the Lady-Killer"- Season 5, Episode 14
In this episode, Shampoo comes to Furinkan High after a basketball game with the intent of blackmailing Ranma into agreeing on a date with her by using a cat, something she has never done before and never does again. After a brief confrontation with Ukyo, she does just that, which inspires Ukyo to pull the same trick- however, while the girls are squabbling over the cat, it falls out of their hands and lands on Ranma's face, scratching him badly.
At home, Akane tends to Ranma's wounds; unknowingly putting a bandaid on him Happosai from China bought, which is impregnated with a powerful love potion/aphrodisiac. Ranma begins to sweet-talk Akane, until they are interrupted by Soun & Genma and Ranma promptly flees the scene. He begins wondering what just happened and whether either of them meant what they were saying, until he catches sight of Kasumi and is compelled to sweet-talk her. Soun interrupts them and Ranma flees into town, where he begins wondering just what the heck is happening to him… until he spots some girls passing by and the bandaid goes into action again.
Shampoo and Ukyo, meanwhile, have been fighting all day and still haven't come to a clear winner. As they pause to take a breather, neither is happy to see Ranma walk past and flirt with some girls. Both of them confront him, and he ends up offering to take both of them on a date, which prompts them to start fighting again to see who gets that date. Shampoo seizes the advantage while Ukyo is looking away and pins her to a tree with some forks. Shampoo and Ranma enjoy a romantic boat ride, and almost end up kissing, but Ukyo frees herself and cuts the boat in half with her spatula before their lips actually touch. This Shampoo a cat in the middle of the lake and Ranma on the shore with Ukyo, where he promptly walks off to date with her. Ukyo's "date" is less romantic, because she takes him near some tennis courts and the girls playing there distract him. He manages to apologize to her and goes to get her a drink, but while Ukyo comments to herself that Ranma is acting weird, though should she really look a gift date in the mouth, a human once more and very ticked off Shampoo comes onto the scene.
Meanwhile, at the Tendos, Nabiki has seen Ranma's flirting with the unknown girls from earlier in the episode and she reports this to Soun, Genma and Akane, none of whom believe her at first, but all of whom go to investigate. This leads to a major confrontation between all parties concerned at the park, where Akane finally slaps Ranma unconscious after seeing him start flirting with Nabiki.
In the wake of things, Akane locks herself in her room to sulk, while Soun & Genma hogtie and gag Ranma before dumping him in the dojo. Happosai goes to mock Ranma, and recognizes that the bandaid is what's up- unfortunately for him, he makes the mistake of gloating about how "the best is yet to come" as Shampoo & Ukyo come onto the scene. They interrogate the old pervert and, upon learning the truth about Ranmas behavior, immediately start fighting over who will get to claim this golden opportunity. Inside, in one of her nicer moods, Akane sets Ranma free and asks if he meant any of what he said to her that day; before Ranma can say anything, Shampoo bursts into the dojo, grabs him, and smashes her way out, Ukyo in hot pursuit. Ukyo, for some reason, gives Akane a motivational speech before she leaves, and this prompts Akane to come and follow.
At a skyscraper under construction, Shampoo tries to get Ranma to sign her marriage license, but is disrupted by Ukyo, who promptly tries to do the same thing, only for her license to be knocked out of her grasp. Ukyo & Shampoo get ready to fight as Akane comes onto the scene, whereupon the two teens reveal the truth about the bandaid. Akane's attempt to break up the fight, by diving between the two, causes her to get knocked over the edge and Ranma dives off to save her, getting the bandaid knocked off in the process. Ukyo & Shampoo go home in disgust at this waste of a day, and when Ranma & Akane get home, they get grounded by Soun for being out so late.
"Ukyo's Skirt! The Great Girly-Girl Gambit"- Season 3, Episode 23
It's fall tourism season, and a brochure she found tempts Ukyo to go and take a trip to the mountains. When Ranma drops by to buy some food, she brings up the subject, tactfully implying that she'd like him to come along as well. Ranma agrees, but makes things clear that he has no idea about the romantic motivations behind Ukyo's requests. After he leaves in an argument with Akane, a hurt Ukyo thinks to herself about how Ranma barely acknowledges their engagement and insists on treating her like 'one of the guys'. Wondering if maybe a new look will make him start treating their relationship differently, she decides to try that.
The next day, just about every boy in school, even Kuno himself (who is the only one to recognize Ukyo straight away!), becomes infatuated with Ukyo, though to her dismay Ranma doesn't seem to realize anything. This leads to trouble; when she tries to get him alone so she can talk to him, they get chased around all day by the hornball freaks from Furinkan, and that evening Kodachi and Akane are not happy that Ranma has spending such time with Ukyo. Kodachi even arranges a French cuisine cook-off contest between herself, Akane and Ukyo to decide who gets Ranma once and for all. Shampoo bursts in just before the contest starts and demands to be allowed to compete.
When the contest is finished, they demand Ranma reach a verdict, though Ranma is unable to do so. Partially because he's distracted by the fact he's wondering how he ate a full-course meal prepared by Akane, in a style she doesn't know the first thing about, and hasn't gotten sick. But more because the hornballs, led by Tatewaki Kuno and Ryoga (the latter is furious at Ranma for 'cheating on Akane'), burst into the gym and brutally mug Ranma. While Akane and Kodachi start arguing over who gets to tend him, Ukyo is upset that she's caused so much trouble for Ranma and gives up on the 'girly-girl gambit', returning to the status quo.
"Clash of the Delivery Girls! The Martial Arts Takeout Race!"- Season 2, Episode 4
An anime mutation of a story from the manga, this version of the MA Takeout Race is set before Shampoo returns to Nerima. It turns out that, shortly after their 'pilgrimage' started, Genma traded Ranma's hand in marriage to the 2-year-old daughter of the head of the Daikoku School of Martial Arts Takeout in exchange for food for his empty belly (specifically, a roasted fish, a bowl of rice, and two slices of pickled vegetables). Now, Daikoku and his daughter Kaori have come to the Tendo Dojo seeking that which was promised to them (Genma stole Ranma back immediately after he ate his fill and Daikoku's back was turned).
Kaori Daikoku might be unique amongst the "love interests" that have shown up in both canons, because she is the only one to actually defend him from assault by Akane. For some inexplicable reason, she decides that Akane has some slight feelings for Ranma and offers to do a deal; the two will compete in a Martial Arts Takeout Race, and the winner will get Ranma as their husband. She clearly outclasses Akane, but Akane manages to fight on until they reach a bridge, where Kaori decides to stop playing and ensnares her by the throat with the "Ramen Round-Up Noodle Noose". Akane is helpless, reduced to begging Ranma to save her- Ranma hesitates, seemingly because the race's rules demands he turn into a girl again (though he might partially be hesitant because he realizes how unfair it is for him, the prize, to compete on Akane's behalf), but Genma kicks him into the river and she goes to Akane's aid.
Akane wins by an inch, literally, but only because Ranma-chan knocks Kaori to the ground and clings to her legs so she's forced to crawl along. And that's after she keeps the ramen bowl safe from Kaori's attacks. Kaori, for some reason, agrees that Akane truly won the challenge and she and her father leave and never come back.
"Two, Too Violent Girls! Ling-ling & Lung-lung"- Season 3, Episode 18
Two 13-year-old twins from Shampoo's tribe of Chinese Amazons come to Japan seeking to hear from Shampoo about whether or not the "interloper" she dealt the Kiss of Death too has been defeated. Realizing that they evidently haven't heard about the true deal with Ranma, Shampoo goes to warn Ranma about their presence.
Initially, Ranma plans to avoid becoming a girl until they leave, but for their own insane reasons (perhaps because they proved too strong for the worthless wimps) Genma & Soun turn Ranma into a girl and give him to the twins. When they attack her, though, Shampoo interposes, going so far as to give them the Kiss of Death when they refuse to halt their advance.
Shampoo goes off to fight them, but loses, partially because she's trying to go easy on them, primarily because they unleash their new technique on her- the Dance of the Great Fire Dragon. Back at the Tendos, Akane suggests Ranma go and help Shampoo, while Ranma counters by pointing out how Shampoo will react to her/his assistance. When Cologne drops by to give Ranma a few pointed tips on how dangerous the twins can be, she/he finally goes to fight them.
It turns out that the "Dance of the Great Fire Dragon" technique is basically running around with a dragon puppet containing a built-in flamethrower and a cassette player that plays music that causes those who hear it to dance uncontrollably. Shampoo realizes that Ranma can avoid this effect by plugging up her ears and tells this to Ranma, but she needs Akane to sit on her back and, somehow, resist the music and plug up Ranma's ears for her before she can defeat the twins. Shampoo saves them from getting caught in the explosion of their ruined puppet, and they remorsefully agree to stop trying to kill Ranma. Remorse gives way to glee when Ranma's real identity is revealed to them, though we're told later that the Kiss of Marriage is apparently "first come, first served". The twins go home to China, Ranma forgets all about what Shampoo did for him in this episode, and everything is back to normal.
"Swimming with Psychos"- Season 5, Episode 19
Another anime-ification of a manga story, though this story might actually have come first and the manga adapted it later. Akane Tendo is chosen to represent Furinkan in a swimming tournament, and she agrees to do so. Ranma confronts her on the stupidity of this privately, as she can't even swim, and Ukyo comes forward to offer to take her place instead, something that Ranma agrees to, as Ukyo is actually the best swimmer in school.
Akane absolutely refuses this idea, but while sulking around the pool, Principal Kuno shoves her into the water and it takes Ranma to save her. Upon hearing that Akane can't swim, the principal sadly declares that nobody can pass gym until they know how to swim, then decides to give Akane personal swimming lessons. This, naturally, leads to goofiness and trouble, as the principal's ideas of "swimming lessons" include Akane diving into the pool with a boulder on her back… while the salt-water filled pool is inhabited by a live shark, and a pair of goofy, poorly assembled automated costumes. Finally, Ranma suggests the idea of having Akane wear a half-dozen inner tubes at once, because she can kick strongly but can't stay afloat. Using this method, Akane wins the swimming tournament.
"Shampoo's Red Thread of Dread"- Season 4, Episode 19
A Chinese peddler in occult trinkets and mystical reagents drops by the Nekohanten, evidently not for the first time either. This time, amidst his other goods, he has a Red Thread of Love; tie one end to your pinky and the other to someone else's pinky and the two of you will fall in love (it's implied that the magic only works if at least one of the linked persons actually does love the other and/or that the magic is based upon mirroring the feelings of the lover in the lovee). After five hours, the effect becomes permanent.
Naturally, Shampoo cannot resist buying it and immediately sneaks around to the Tendo Dojo to try and put it on Ranma. After a number of false starts, Shampoo finally succeeds in doing so when Akane distracts Ranma by splashing him with cold water for accepting Shampoo's offer of a game of cat's cradle and accusing him of making a big scene. Upon pulling the string taut, Ranma immediately becomes as lovesick for Shampoo as she is for her, even commenting to her (after getting changed back) that the sooner he's married to Shampoo, the sooner he can be rid of Akane.
Akane storms off and spends most of the episode sulking in her room, while outside Ukyo, Mousse and Kodachi try to sever the thread and Kuno does his best to help Ranma & Shampoo avoid them. Soun tries to persuade Akane to go and make things up with Ranma, even telling her to get down on her knees and beg him to come back (though, in the dub, he immediately recants his position when she is affronted by this). Kasumi realizes, thanks to Ranma & Shampoo's lingering around the Tendo Dojo (perhaps because of their desire to try and get Soun to call off the Tendo arrangement, until the mob forces them to flee), that the thread they now wear is responsible for the change in things, and Nabiki passes this on to Soun & Akane after selling it to Ukyo and Kodachi.
Akane, despite the fact she saw Shampoo put it on and admits that's why Ranma is acting the way he is, absolutely refuses to go and try to cut it. P-chan snatches the scissors from Soun, turns back into Ryoga and goes to cut the thread, but loses it after Shampoo points out Akane is Ryoga's by default if Ranma marries Shampoo instead. Akane finally has a vision of Ranma & Shampoo's wedding and, her ego/pride getting the best of her, finally decides to do something. She manages to cut the thread mere seconds before the effect would have been permanent, and Shampoo is somehow too shocked to turn her into a gory smear for her intervention. She and Ranma flee the church where Ranma & Shampoo were about to get married, and when Ranma asks her to explain just what has been going on all day (he has no memory of what happened while he was wearing the thread), she belts him across the face and tells him to 'think about it' when he asks why she did that.