At 10:04 PM 30/04/96 +1000, you wrote:

Konatsu - awful character.  Tsubasa recycled in an even less appealling 
format.  Rates with Happosai as a bad idea (IMHO).  

But Konatsu's much more attractive than Tsubasa! He's a bishounen!

Hey, Happosai is funny!  But Konatsu really needs someone to talk
to him about the birds and the bees before he gets anywhere in his
relationship with Ukyou.  I mean AFAIK, he still thinks he's a she.
His character is just the whole tranvestite/transexual thing gone
overboard.  Why does Ukyou get all the nuts?  She's perfectly 
normal except for a penchant for wearing boy's school uniform (but
she still looks like a kawaii female to me).

The almost marriage - Marks another incremental change to Ranma and 
Akanes relationship, but in the end fails to cause a signifigant 
alteration of the situation.  Ranma & Akane still fight (maybe not as 
badly...) and their other suitors still circle patiently.

It shows that Akane is willing to marry Ranma, and the part where Ranma
thinks that Akane's dead shows that he admits that he loves Akane. The
wedding also goes to show that Ranma will probably ends up hating Shampoo
and Ukyou for trying to kill Akane. And Ryouga gave up on Akane. The only
ones the same are Kodachi and Kunou... they're too insane to change.

I agree that this ending does develop their relationship more.  A
sucessful wedding wouldn't work because these two are still
just teenagers!  Also it has taken them this long to admit that
they love each other so why can't they take sometime to digest
this fact and enjoy an engagement.   I don't think Ranma would
actually hate Ukyou and Shampoo, but would definitely give
them the final *we can only be friends* talk.  As for Ryouga, he gave up on
Akane and will now search for Akari.
The Kunos?  Well, not everything can be resolved, but then
this is Ranma, a little madness always lurks in the corner. :)

--Ilsa, OAA and COR

Kun-chan...