All the answers to....

Jusenkyö
Land of Cursed Springs


The Chinese name for this place is Chöchuanshan.


Who has what curses, and what other curses exist?
WhoFrom (yrs ago)Spring-of-Drowned-
Ranma, Herb and a monkey1500Girl
Genma2000Panda
Ryöga1200Piglet
Shampoo1800Cat
Mousse1300Duck
Pantyhose1300Yeti-riding-a-Bull-holding-a-Crane-and-Eel
LukkosaiN.A.Boy
Rouge4000Ashura
A birdN.A.Twins
none1200Virtuous-Man
Pantyhose2500Octopus
Kiima0Akane

How were the pools cursed?
Presumably when something 'drowned' in an non-cursed pool. After that, everyone who falls into that pool (or gets splashed with water from that pool) gets that curse. It is not known if the thing had to drown and die, but it is highly likely - after all the legends are all tragic. In V37 Akane falls into a pool, and she doesn't drown, but the pool is cursed. This could be because some special method was used, but this hasn't been stated or indicated.

 Are characters' cursed form the copy of the person/thing that drowned in the pool?
No. Ranma, Herb and the monkey definitely do not look exactly the same - girl-form-Herb's ears are still pointed, has slit eyes and the same white/blue hair as his male side.. Because the characters are toons, it is hard to tell the real facial differences between any two young people (bit easier with the non-teenagers) so whether there is any further resemblance (other than being a young girl) is hard to tell. When Ranma's mother turns up, it is pointed out that they look very similar, and this implies that Ranma-chan form is not a copy/clone, but based on his male body. In other words, if Ranma had a sister, she could look very much like Ranma-chan (if they were the same age). The pool Akane curses is a special case - see question on how the pools work.

Can Ranma be cured by the pools of Jusenkyö?
Yes. It has been stated by Miss Takahashi that the Spring-Of-Drowned-Man will cure Ranma. When Ranma used the 'Instant Spring-of-Drowned-Boy' powder he was cured (and so was Genma), so this is pretty certain.

Do characters' cursed forms change/age?
Pantyhose was cursed right after he was born (and turned into a tiny baby-monster), and he now turns into a huge adult monster. Also, since V34.5 Ranma-chan's chest has gotten bigger, though whether this was caused by aging and general growing up or Ranma just getting better a larger build in is unknown. It could be that some cursed forms do not age (ie those ones that imply age in the name) while others do.

How do the curses work?
This is very tricky because what evidence is rather varied and quite limited. For what the cursed versions of the characters looks like, imagine a normal person have a set of characteristics, and the cursed pools set some characteristics when the curse is activated, and these will override the current ones.
For example Ranma, has (among others) the characteristic of being male, about normal height and weight, and the spring he fell into sets the two characteristics of age to be young and gender to be female - everything else stays the same. So if Ranma was tall, he would be a tall when female as well, etc. Another example is Genma's pool, which changes his species to panda, and nothing else. And the Spring-of-Drowned-Virtuous-Man would set someone's characteristics to be male, and personality to be 'virtuous'.
The characteristics that are set are those implied by the name of the spring. So because the spring Akane cursed is called Spring-of-Drowned-Akane, it has a specific quality of changing the cursed person's appearance to be like Akane's.

Why does cold water make the change?
From the point of view of the series it is much more useful for Ranma to change to female due to cold water - as this is much easier to come across, so more likely to occur naturally - ie due to rain, being splashed etc. Also, a common occurrence is for onna-Ranma to be on the girls' side of a hot bath, and to fall into the hot water and then all the girls beat up the 'pervert', and something similar would be much harder to do if it was the other way around.
A 'real' explanation could be something on the lines of that the springs are in fact cold, and so any new cold water would replicate the original in effect. So if they were hot, then the curse might be the other way around.

What temperature water is needed?
Normal 'room temperature' (about 20°C) will certainly cause the curse, and 'hot' water often seems to be pretty hot - the characters often say that its hot, and you can often see actual water-vapour coming from the water. Where the actual divide is is not known - perhaps around body temperature.

How much water is needed?
Very little - for example in V34.5, Happosai gets Ranma with a little water-pistol (and you can actually see speed lines as Ranma shrinks to female) - thats probably about 20-30ml. Spots of rain don't immediately effect anyone.

What would happen if someone fell into another cursed spring?
If it is a spring of their normal form (ie Spring-of-Drowned-Boy for Ranma) then they'll be cured. Otherwise, it is not precisely known - the only evidence is Pantyhose who used the Spring-of-Drowned-Octopus to give himself octopus tentacles on his back. But how he did it is unknown (though he probably splashed his back). It seems multiple curses sort of merge together, though some specific parts of the originals remain. For example, Pantyhose has the wings of a crane, the tail of an eel, tentacles coming out of his back from an octopus, and his main body is rather like that of a big minotaur, though he has a mane rather like that of a bison.

How does the curse effect people mentally?
Those that turn into animals don't seem to be effected in mental ability or personality, though there might be some subtle changes. However, some characters do have a personality change - ie when Rouge changes to Ashura she gets a very aggressive personality, and presumably the Virtuous-Man spring would also have a mental effect. As a note, Ranma managed to trick Pantyhose into getting his tentacles stuck in a smoke stack (because octopi instinctively go for enclosed spaces), so this can be a little complex, though this example is probably the result of a plot necessity.

Are the children of cursed characters effected by their parent or parents' curse?
For most of the series the only evidence we have is that a long time ago the men of the Musk Dynasty threw animals into the Spring-of-drowned-Girl and then splashed them with the Chiisuiton to make them permanently female. It is not explicitly stated whether or not their offspring were immediately effected or that they changed (mutated) over time.
Because the people of Mount Phoenix have also changed because of the waters of Jusenkyö, we now know that the offspring of cursed humans and normal/cursed humans are also genetically effected. Again, it is not known if this happened immediately or not.
I think the most likely case is that while the children of cursed parents will be effected, it will only be in a subtle and minor way. I doubt that the children of humans cursed to transform into another type of human will have, will be effected by their parent's curse. In other words, Ranma's children would not be more likely to be female.