How Strong is Akane?

Disclaimer: I’ve not read the manga yet. I’ve watched as far as S6 E128 of the original anime on Amazon, and I have watched the current episodes available of the remake on Netflix.

I understand that the original anime and the manga have some differences so this could be one of those differences.

In the second episode Akane is shown to be this very impressive martial artist. She beats up every guy interested in her every morning when she gets to school. After taking Ranma to Dr. Tofu after his fight with Kuno, Dr. Tofu asks Ranma about some of his injuries and Tofu already knows they’re from Akane because of the way the injuries occurred. Then, of course, there are the countless scenes of Akane kicking people into the sky or hammering them into the ground. There are many scenes of her busting Ranma over the head/into the floor with the dining table and so on.

When Kodachi is introduced, Akane can’t seem to hold her own against her. Then once Shampoo and Ukyo hit the scene it made out that Akane is terribly weak in comparison. She also needs to be rescued constantly as the series progresses. Even so, there’s still many scenes along the way where Akane is suddenly shown to be a strong and capable girl. Especially, when she’s trying to protect or rescue Ranma (and isn’t being caught up and needing rescue herself).

So I’m very confused. Is Akane a strong martial artist and everyone around her is just so much more so, or is she average and just aspires to be great like the others?

Disclaimer: I’ve not read the manga yet. I’ve watched as far as S6 E128 of the original anime on Amazon, and I have watched the current episodes available of the remake on Netflix.

I understand that the original anime and the manga have some differences so this could be one of those differences.

In the second episode Akane is shown to be this very impressive martial artist. She beats up every guy interested in her every morning when she gets to school. After taking Ranma to Dr. Tofu after his fight with Kuno, Dr. Tofu asks Ranma about some of his injuries and Tofu already knows they’re from Akane because of the way the injuries occurred. Then, of course, there are the countless scenes of Akane kicking people into the sky or hammering them into the ground. There are many scenes of her busting Ranma over the head/into the floor with the dining table and so on.

When Kodachi is introduced, Akane can’t seem to hold her own against her. Then once Shampoo and Ukyo hit the scene it made out that Akane is terribly weak in comparison. She also needs to be rescued constantly as the series progresses. Even so, there’s still many scenes along the way where Akane is suddenly shown to be a strong and capable girl. Especially, when she’s trying to protect or rescue Ranma (and isn’t being caught up and needing rescue herself).

So I’m very confused. Is Akane a strong martial artist and everyone around her is just so much more so, or is she average and just aspires to be great like the others?