- The idea that Akane wouldn't realize that the times of 
hardship are what bring her closer to Ranma is a very good
one.

That was part of the point of the story, anyway.

The other part was that having so many misfortunes together makes the readers
_feel_ that they should be close.  If three out of four stories had Ukyou in
it, even if she was no different than now, I'm sure there would be lots of
fans who feel that Ranma and Ukyou were destined for each other.