When it comes to harem animes, there will always be the debate on who is “best girl.” This is especially true when there are a bevy of beauties in whatever anime that may be. Well, when it comes to harem animes, one of the pioneers of the trope has to be Ranma 1/2. With several possible fiancees for Ranma to choose, everyone will have their own personal choice on who is the show’s “best girl.”

But, if they pick anyone besides Ukyo Kuonji, they’re all wrong. And as Netflix finally released the episode introducing her just this weekend, it’s time to tell the world why she’s the show’s “best girl.”

Before you read any further, I will have to pull out the SPOILER WARNING now. As Netflix just showed off Ukyo, a lot of you are not all too familiar with her. But, as someone who’s both read the manga and the original anime, I am very familiar with the giant spatula weilding, okonomiyaki making Ukyo. Now, I don’t say she’s the show’s “best girl” lightly. Yes, I know Shampoo is super cute. I know Akane is the “true” love interest. I know Kasumi‘s motherly behavior makes you want to be with her all the time. I know Nabiki has some devilish charm to her. And I know you need to help if you have the hots for Kodachi. Although she may be considered an underdog in a lot of respects, Ukyo still stands out as the best choice for the tile of “best girl.”

First off, when it comes to Ranma’s choice of fiancees, Ukyo is pretty much the “normal” one. She’s not some brute with freakish strength like Akane. She’s not an Amazon warrior like Shampoo. And she’s definitely not insane like Kodachi. No, Ukyo is pretty much just an ordinary girl. Sure, she has the uncanny ability to whip up an okonomiyaki from out of nowhere. And she does carry a huge spatula everywhere she goes. But she’s still pretty much just your everyday girl.

Ukyo is also the most mature of all of Ranma’s fiancees. She pretty much had to grow up after being spurned by Genma and Ranma when she was around six years old. Her young life was ruined when she was left all by her lonesome. She then trained to be the best okonomiyaki chef in all of Japan, even training under harsh conditions to reach that goal. All of that training paid off as she now runs a fairly successful okonomiyaki restaurant all by her lonesome. That’s pretty impressive as she has to balance this with school as well.

Also, if you think about it, Ukyo is probably the closest to Ranma among all the girls. Besides her, Ranma only met the other girls around the time the series starts. Ukyo, on the other hand, knew Ranma when they were just kids. Heck, they were even close friends back then! Sure, Ranma didn’t know Ukyo was a girl during that time. But they were still close! It’s even around this time when Ukyo developed a thing for Ranma. Even after Ranma finds out that Ukyo is actually a girl, instead of avoiding her like her other fiancees, he’s still very friendly towards her. They even still call each other by their own pet names after the reveal. Okay, the later English “Ranma-honey” doesn’t sound like it. But the original “Ran-chan” makes much more sense, doesn’t it?

In fact, there are a lot of times when Ukyo simply just takes care of Ranma during his really low points. During the Ultimate Weakness Moxibustion Arc, Ranma has all of his strength sapped by Happosai. Who’s the one who goes with Ranma and Genma to try to train? It’s Ukyo. Sure, she daydreams of them getting married with him being a stay-at-home dad and she becomes the breadwinner. Still, the mere fact she does even help Ranma try to train to regain his strength is insight on how much she cares for him. It also shows that Ranma trusts her enough to help him.

While I’ve been spouting off how nice Ukyo is, that doesn’t mean she isn’t devious in her own right. But her plots to win over Ranma are much more subtle than his other fiancees’ traps. This mostly involves her either teaming up or trying to trick Ryoga to get together with Akane. No quid pro quo dates like with Shampoo and the Instant Spring of Drowned Boy deals as seen in the Dojo Destroyer arc. No fighting Ranma’s female form so she can date his male form like with Kodachi in her intro arc. It’s mostly plain subterfuge and cunning fueling the plan. In a way, she’s using her brain instead of force, which I would say is admirable.

Finally, among all of the other fiancees, Ukyo is the only one really willing to give up everything to be with Ranma. In the Sauce of Ten Years arc, after the okonomiyaki sauce she’s been fermenting comes out bad, she decides to stop being a chef and tries to devote her entire life to Ranma. She was willing to give up on all of her chef training just to be with the man that she loves.

However, the best example of Ukyo willing to change for Ranma comes in the anime only episode Ukyo’s Skirt! The Great Girly-Girl Gambit! In the episode, Ukyo figures out Ranma only sees her as a friend and believes, if she acts more like a girl instead of one of the guys, she can get him to change his view. So, she then starts acting more like a girl, even dressing up in the school’s female uniform instead of the male clothing she usually wears. Of course, things get out of hand and soon a big cooking contest happens with Ranma being the prize.

Ranma gets beat up by all of the boys of the school for taking Ukyo out on a date and having the cooking contest in the first place. This leads to feelings of guilt from Ukyo as all of this started because she started dressing up like a girl. In the end, she decides to go back to being the tomboy she was in order to ensure Ranma doesn’t get hurt anymore. So, this proves how loyal Ukyo is to Ranma. Despite knowing this would decrease her chances with Ranma, she gives it all up for him.

Putting all of these things together, it’s hard to deny Ukyo is the “best girl” of the series. Not only is she the closest to Ranma, Ukyo is also the most pragmatic of the bunch. Couple that with her willingness to sacrifice her own happiness for him, Ukyo actually shows how much she truly cares for Ranma as a person. She’s likes him not because of his looks like Kodachi. She doesn’t want to marry him because of some ancient tradition like Shampoo. She’s not in it because of an agreement between parents like Akane. No, Ukyo likes Ranma because he’s Ranma. How does not not automatically make her “best girl”?

Besides, she is the cute fiancee after all.

Who is the “best girl” in Ranma 1/2? And why is it Ukyo Kuonji? Let me know in the comments section below!