Based on the Ranma 1/2 manga and anime series, Toraware no Hanayome consists of several chapters, which are similar to episodes of a TV show: each one has its own story and theme, but all the chapters have recurrent characters from the Ranma 1/2 universe. As in the original manga and anime, the story focuses on the young martial artist and high school student Ranma, who was cursed after bathing in a sacred Chinese spring: contact with cold water turns him into a woman, while hot water restores him to his original masculine form. Most of the story in the game is dedicated to Ranma's relationships with his schoolmates and other characters, often involving comic and/or romantic situations, as well as Ranma's attempts to get rid of the curse: in the first chapter, he tries to win a contest that would allow him to travel to China and find a way to turn him into a man permanently.

Unlike most other Ranma 1/2 iterations, this game is a so-called "digital comic", which is the same as Japanese-style adventure. Controlling Ranma, the player interacts with the environment by selecting verb commands ("Look", "Talk", etc.) and objects from sub-menus. The navigation is also menu-based. Animated cut scenes appear frequently to advance the story.