This I Ship Meme originally belongs to adamhatson and is dedicated to all of the wonderful Ichise x Ran or IchiRan shippers, partisans, and loyalists of the world. Sit back, relax, and be in awe of how surprisingly genuine the pairing between Texhnolyze's very own Ichise and Ran can be.
The dystopian psychological thriller anime classic Texhnolyze would be the last place to look for when it comes to anything with a shred of romance. I can concur with that notion because the perennial struggle between human flesh, the human spirit, and machinery is at the forefront in terms of this anime's themes. Any notion of romance is almost entirely null and void. Nevertheless, there was one particular pairing that caught my eye ever since I was a 12-year-old sixth grader first tuning into this on Animax in the form of Ichise x Ran or IchiRan. Do not think for one millisecond that I was not aware of the age difference, given that Ichise was 19 and Ran was 14, because this would make any conservative person's eyes bat with trepidation. However, I forgave that because there was a lot more genuine chemistry between these two young souls in a ruthlessly cruel world than what Ichise had with Doc, let alone any other woman, as well as what Ran could have had with any other man in Lux, and it does make some amount of sense in terms of what scarce romantic prospects there are between them. In another lifetime, they could have also ended up together as a genuinely loving couple.
I dare to eschew any notion that there is something sibling-like between Ichise and Ran because there is a whole lot more trust and authenticity between them that transcends mere friendship. Ichise and Ran understand each other in a very profound way that nobody else could. They have seen the darkness in each other as well as what unadulterated purity could emerge from the darkness of themselves. It is from that darkness that they could see the light in each other that nobody could, and realise that they are a lot more alike than they would like to be. No taboo is going to get them down. Nobody is ever going to separate them. Ichise and Ran are going to be together forever and until the end of time.
Should Ichise and Ran pursue a romantic relationship, and if they did not end up how they ended up in canon, I could envision them going steady with their relationship by getting to know each other a lot better and learning to grow together both as a couple and as individuals. After years of steady dating, I could envision Ichise at 21 years old and Ran at 16 years old deciding on engagement then marriage. Eventually, they would end up having fourteen children consisting of seven boys and seven girls. Now, with Ichise approaching 38 and Ran at age 33, they are the proud parents of 16-year-old triplet sons Ichigo, Jinpachi, and Kaiji; 15-year-old twin sons Joji and Jiro; 14-year-old twin sons Kohei and Kihei; 13-year-old triplet daughters Izumi, Ikuni, and Inami; 12-year-old twin daughters Junko and Keiko; and 11-year-old twin daughters Kiyomi and Mayumi. Their sons want to be as strong as Ichise when he was an underground kickboxer, while their daughters want to be as knowledgeable as their mother. Sure, there would also be cases where Kohei and Kihei would aspire to be both kickboxers like their father and seers like their mother, while Kiyomi and Mayumi want to enter professional kickboxing while aspiring to combine spirituality with science in being seers and mechanics. Their children would prove themselves to be prodigiously well-rounded combatants and seers who might make Lux and probably the rest of the world not as dreary as it is, despite whatever ongoing problems may occur.
Ichise and Ran may not be the couple a lot of Texhnolyze fans expect to be together. Overlooking the foreboding reality that Ichise and Ran found themselves within Texhnolyze's canon, the possibilities of them growing old together as a couple, especially with children of their own, are absolutely endless. I would even encourage you lot to continue spreading the love for Ichise x Ran because it is a truly underrated couple that deserves more fan art, fanfics, and fan works in general. So, what are you waiting for? Please show more love to Ichise x Ran.
I hope you all enjoyed this, and I will see you in the next submission. Take care, stay safe, and remember to keep on spreading the love for Ichise x Ran, everybody.
Ichise and Ran from Texhnolyze belong to Hiroshi Hamasaki, Chiaki J. Konaka, Yoshitoshi ABe, and Madhouse.
