Tofu Ono
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| Dr. Tofu Ono 小乃東風 |
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 Dr. Tofu Ono |
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| Alias: | Dr. Tofu |
| Gender: | Male |
| Age: | Late 20s/Early-mid 30s |
| Family: | Kin Ono, mother Father, deceased |
| Love Interest: | Kasumi Tendo |
| Loved By: | Formerly: Akane Tendo |
| Rivals: | Yasukichi the Egg-Catcher Man (anime only) |
| Occupation: | Chiropractor |
| Residence: | Moxibustion Acupuncture Clinic, Furinkan |
| Fighting Style: | Unknown |
| Seiyū: | Yuji Mitsuya |
| Voice Actor: | Ian James Corlett Kirby Morrow |
| 1st Appearance (Manga): |
Volume 1 |
| 1st Appearance (Anime): |
TV Series, Season 1, Episode 2 "School is No Place For Horsing Around" |
Dr. Tofu Ono (小乃東風 Ono Tōfū) is a fictional character in Rumiko Takahashi's anime and manga series Ranma ½.
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[edit] History
Dr. Tofu Ono is a chiropractor who runs a moxibustion and acupuncture clinic in Furinkan. His office is near the Tendo dojo and thus has known their family for a long time. He often helps Akane Tendo and Ranma Saotome when they have bumps, bruises, or other injuries from their many scuffles. In addition to his medical skills, he is very knowledgeable about martial arts techniques although he is never seen practicing. He helps Ranma discover a cure for Happosai's "Moxibustion", and Cologne's "Full-Body Cat Tongue" techniques. He is also one of the earliest to realize the potential of Ranma and Akane's relationship and skillfully nudges them in the right direction from the very beginning.
For a time, he employed both Genma Saotome and Shampoo as assistants.
[edit] Character
As the local physician, Dr. Tofu is often seen as very knowledgeable and quite serious, especially when it comes to medical attention. However, this serious nature is counterbalanced by two distinct mannerisms. First, Dr. Tofu has a habit of punctuating his medical discussions by playfully referencing his full-size skeleton model, which he refers to as Betty. Second, and much more serious, is what happens whenever Kasumi Tendo crosses his path.
Unfortunately, whenever he sees the eldest daughter of Soun Tendo, his glasses fog over and he doesn't pay any attention to what he's doing - to the point that he can unknowingly be a danger to the people around him. His patients have long learned to stay away from him when Kasumi is around, and the anime shows several humorous examples of what Dr. Tofu does when he is under the influence of love. On at least two different occasions he took his skeleton and danced around town with it on his back after simply talking to her on the telephone. People who witness these antics often comment that "he's usually such a good doctor."
Even more unfortunately, Kasumi is completely oblivious to the effect she has on him, dismissing any of his unusual actions with the same casual air with which she addresses much of the insanity that occurs within the Tendo household. In a similar manner, Dr. Tofu was unaware of the crush Akane had had on him for years. In the anime, his mother Kin revealed this to be a family trait. According to her, Tofu's father - who looked exactly like Tofu would if he had grown a moustache - used to behave in exactly the same way when they were dating. The source of Tofu's infatuation with Kasumi is unknown, but flashbacks show that he's clearly been like this since Akane was a little girl.
Although Akane says he is a good martial artist and Ranma admits Tofu is skilled enough to hide his presence, he never actually gets into a fight in the manga. Instead, he only uses his knowledge of pressure points to help Ranma and the others. In fact, he was able to strike Ranma in such a precise manner that a very exact amount of time later—he is actually shown counting down—both of Ranma's legs, without warning, temporarily gave out completely. In the anime, Tofu fights a small scrap against the frog hermit, where he uses his knowledge of pressure points to completely paralyze his foe and his frogs for a time.
[edit] Trivia
- Translated literally, "Tōfū Ono" means "east wind axe," a Japanese idiom for "the wind that brings the spring." In relation to the character's personality, it means nothing, although the sheer bizarreness of his name more than makes up for it. See also Tofu and Ono Tofu
- Despite the fact that its never revealed if Kasumi has any true romantic feelings for him, she does consider her friendship with him very meaningful. Unlike his manga counterpart, it seems that Dr. Tofu is set to be paired up with Kasumi by the end of the anime.
- Tofu does not appear in the OAV's but he did appear in the OAV ending theme Red Shoe Sunday. He is the man in the black suit and sunglasses who is watching Kasumi while she is at the harbor. Kasumi's lyrics in this song heavily imply that she likes him and is waiting for him to make the first move.
- Tofu plays a larger role in the anime than in the manga; he does not appear in the manga after volume 12. He suffers from what some fans dub as "Takahashi Character Death", where a major character created by Takahashi is never seen or heard from again with no explanation.
[edit] References
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Ranma ½ Characters
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| Saotome Family | |
|---|---|
| Ranma Saotome | Genma Saotome | Nodoka Saotome | |
| Tendo Family | |
| Soun Tendo | Kasumi Tendo | Nabiki Tendo | Akane Tendo | Mrs. Tendo | |
| Chinese | |
| Shampoo | Mousse | Cologne | Jusenkyo Guide | Pantyhose Taro | |
| Kuno Family | |
| Tatewaki Kuno | Kodachi Kuno | Principal Kuno | Sasuke Sarugakure | |
| Notable Furinkan Residents | |
| Ukyo Kuonji | Hikaru Gosunkugi | Dr. Tofu Ono | Hinako Ninomiya | Konatsu | |
| Major Adversaries | |
| Ryoga Hibiki | Happosai | Mariko Konjo | Herb | Ryu Kumon | Saffron | |
| Recurring / Other Characters | |
| Akari Unryu | Tsubasa Kurenai | Shinnosuke | Minor Characters | |
| Media | |
| Manga | TV Series | Movies | OVAs | |
| Other Articles | |
| Anything Goes Martial Arts | DoCo | Items | Locations | |
