The Bathroom Debate: Who Walked in on Whom?

I have come across this argument SO MANY times, and it shouldn't even be an argument. However, a lot of people insist that Akane's the pervert, not Ranma, because she supposedly knew someone was already in the bath but entered anyway. However, as you can clearly see from the original panels of the manga, Akane had no idea anyone was in there. Nabiki only told her the bath was ready, not that anyone would be joining her. And when she enters the room, she doesn't say anything, or acknowledge that someone else is already there. She just takes off her ribbon and gi, and no other clothes can be seen in the hamper.

So no, she did not knowingly walk into the bath, expecting to find Ranma. She didn't expect to find anyone. Especially not a boy.

MANGA

ANIME [90s]

The confusion comes from the first episode when Akane enters the bath and clearly spots Ranma's clothes in the hamper. She then says: "I guess we can both take our baths."

However, as you can see from the manga-panels, this is not how the scene unfolded in canon. And even if it had, it wouldn't have mattered to the target audience anyway. This series takes place in Japan. And in Japan, it's normal for girls to bathe with girls. That's why public bath houses are so popular, and why we see it show up so frequently throughout the series. So even if Akane had known Ranma was inside, that still wouldn't have made her a pervert. Ranma would still be at fault for not clearing up the misunderstanding immediately, or in the very least, before he undressed and stepped foot in a bathroom that wasn't his own. Since this is Akane's house, she had every right to feel safe walking into her own bath.  

There is no reason behind this change that I can see. It's just another liberty the writers and animators took during the adaptation process. However, if people are only familiar with the anime, then of course they'd be misinformed and confused. Which is why staying faithful to the source material is so, so important. 

ANIME [2024]

In the remake, when Akane enters the bath, she's clearly distracted and isn't looking when she tosses her clothes in the hamper, so she doesn't see Ranma's clothes are already in there. And since Nabiki never told her Ranko was already in the bath, she didn't realize she wasn't alone. So this adaptation is much more aligned with the original scene in the manga. Thank heavens. So at least new fans won't be confused.