Tsubasa Kurenai

Infobox animanga character
name = Tsubasa Kurenai
series = Ranma ½


caption = Tsubasa's true appearance
first = Volume 9
last =
creator = Rumiko Takahashi
voiced by = Eiko Yamada (Japanese)
Saffron Henderson (T.V. Series)
Kathleen Barr (Movie 1 and second OAV) (English)
alias = Stalker of Love, by himself
age = 16
gender = Male
born =
occupation =
relatives =

nihongo|Tsubasa Kurenai|紅 つばさ|Kurenai Tsubasa is a fictional character in Rumiko Takahashi's anime and manga series "Ranma ½".

Tsubasa's name is written in hiragana, but the kanji for Tsubasa means "wings," while "Kurenai" means "(deep) red", so his name could mean "red wings" or something similar (i.e. scarlet wings).

History

Tsubasa Kurenai is madly in love with Ukyo Kuonji. At first, it would seem that Tsubasa is a lesbian, but in truth, Tsubasa is a boy that enjoys "dressing up" as he puts it. He is a master of disguise and has had such costumes varying from a mailbox to a tree.

Tsubasa met Ukyo at their previous school (which was an all-boys school. Ukyo was dressing like a boy at the time). After constant hounding from Tsubasa, Ukyo moved away hoping to be rid of him. Unfortunately for her, he was able to track her down in Tokyo.

Despite his one-time appearance in the manga, Tsubasa has a slightly larger role in the anime. He made cameo appearances in the OAV episode "Tendo Family Christmas Scramble" and in the first Ranma ½ movie, "Big Trouble in Nekonron, China", as well as playing a part in the seventh season episode 'Battle for Miss Beachside' where he entered a beauty contest alongside Ranma's love interests and ended up being chased away by Maomolin.

Story

Ukyo explained to Tsubasa that she was with her new fiancée Ranma, who was a girl since, everyone assumed Tsubasa thought Ukyo was a boy. Tsubasa immediately disliked Ranma for stealing the love of his life. Later, when spurned by Ukyo again, Tsubasa tried to date female Ranma. Feeling sorry for Tsubasa, Ranma tried to set "her" up with his male half, which Tsubasa absolutely would not stand for because of his dislike of boys. After Akane released a large group of cats, they chased Ranma in to a fountain which instantly knocked him out. After Tsubasa found the now female Ranma, he quickly took her back to the Tendo Dojo where, he quickly threw Ranma into the bathtub to see if she would awaken.

But after Ranma turned back into a male, Tsubasa quickly became disgusted at the thought of giving a man a bath. This made Ranma rather angry and he grabbed on to Tsubasa's dress and harshly asked him why he refuses to like boys. Tsubasa only yelled that he hates boys and that's that. He quickly pulled away in anger causing his dress to get ripped. Ranma only stared in shock at Tsubasa's skinny male physique as Tsubasa only stated "What? You find a guy's body interesting?!" With that said Ranma gave Tsubasa a hellish beating. Afterwards, Ukyo revealed that she always knew Tsubasa was a boy and that she thought they did too.

Since his first appearance in the Ranma anime, every main character in the series has developed an instant dislike of him.

Attacks and Disguises

Tsubasa is not a trained martial artist, but can still cause trouble with his ridiculous tactics and unpredictability.

* Disguises : Tsubasa has a number of paper mache disguises that susprisingly are just as tough as the real thing (even though Ranma is capable of destroying them easily), and he can even use them as if they were real. Among the disguises he has worn are:
** Mailbox: This is Tsubasa's most commonly used disguise, and he uses it to charge into his enemies with an immense amount of force.
** Tree: Tsubasa uses this disguise when he is eavesdropping or just hiding from others. He is capable of moving the roots like tentacles.
** Ucchan's Okonomiyaki sign: Tsubasa disguises himself as a sign (that says Ucchan's) and stands in front of Ukyo's restaurant in order to spy on her.
** Soda Machine: Tsubasa uses this disguise to follow Ukyo wherever she goes and also uses it to slam through walls.
** Trash Can: Tsubasa uses this disguise when he feels down in the dumps. Ranma finds him sitting on a swing wearing this, after Ukyo definitely rejects him.
** Umbrella Demon: An outfit that resembles a one footed, one-eyed demon with a parasol for a head, Tsubasa uses this diguise when he's out in the rain, chasing after Ranma.
** Memorial Statue: Tsubasa wears a costume that resembles a statue of a man riding a horse. He has only worn it when he was at Furinkan High.
** Barrel: Tsubasa originally wore this disguise in the anime while working for Ukyo during the Miss Beachside contest.
** Christmas Tree: Tsubasa wore this disguise during the Tendo's Christmas party in the Ranma ½ OAV episode "Tendo Family Christmas Scramble".
* Charge: Tsubasa charges at his enemy with immense force and speed while yelling CHARGE! However, sometimes he ends up ramming a lighting pole if the enemy dodges.
* Unusual Entrance: Tsubasa usually makes a flashy or explosive bulldozer-like entrance every time he appears which usually catch his opponents off guard. In the anime a stream of light appears over his disguise before appearing while trumpets can be heard in the background.

Trivia

*He is somewhat similar to two characters from Urusei Yatsura, Ran and Nagisa Shiowatari. He is similar to Ran in which both normally look like cute and innocent girls (even though Ran is really a girl), but when angered they go on to speak with deep, male voices (completely male, in Tsubasa's case). And in Nagisa's case, they are both crossdressing males with feminine voices who are in love with characters who are tomboys.
*Tsubasa's male build differs from the manga and the anime. In the Manga, tsubasa's build is slender and unmuscular, while in the anime, its more ripped and buff.

External links

* [http://www.furinkan.com/ranma/characters/tsubasa.html Ranma ½ Perfect Edition entry on Tsubasa]