Seeing the debate over Gary's fic (and also seeing SKJAM's post on overused
fanfic cliches) has made me decide to publish something I did a bit of
research on a while ago.

Occasionally, Akane's cooking is shown to be bad.  Like in the cookies
story, where eating Akane's cookies gave Ranma a severe stomachache.

However, the last time Akane is shown to be cooking is in the Shinnusuke
arc.  It begins with Akane preparing a dinner that no one wants to eat,
assuming that it will be horrible.  So she eats it herself while watching TV
(and finding out about Ryugenzawa).  Kasumi later offers the leftovers to
the family.  To everyone's surprise, it turns out to be edible.  Ranma even
goes so far as to call it "normal".

In short, Akane has learned to cook.

Later, she cooks at Shinnusuke's hut, and does a horrible job of it when the
Water of Life dries up.  I think that's understandable; many an excellent
home cook fails utterly at campground cooking.

Thus, Akane has become able to produce "normal" food.  And keep in mind,
"normal" means more than edible, it means palatable.  Normally, we only eat
stuff we enjoy eating.  I'm not saying Akane's become a master chef by any
means, just that she's now able to follow a recipe.

And after Volume 25, Akane's cooking is never mentioned again.  Since the
last instance of Akane's cooking is shown to be "normal", I would say that,
by canon, Akane is no longer a horrible cook.

Now I have to go back and rewrite "The Ingredients of an Okonomiyaki" again.
:)

-Richard

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