Mina-san, Ohayou!
On 16 Aug The Critic wrote:
: >This is the main flow in any story involving Ranma, and why Takahashi
: kept piling stuff
: >on his back... cause the guy just won't stay down! This, more then
: anything else in my
: >opinion is what defines Ranma as a character, he won't give up! (Though
: he does like a
: >challenge.)
:
: Any story involving Nabiki actively confronting Ranma has to take into
: account Ranma's nature. He would fight her every second of the day, and
: wouldn't shrink from doing anything to win.
If that is the case, why didn't he do that in the storyline where
he was engaged to her, or in the episode where he burned her
concert ticket? In both stories it was a sense of obligation that
kept him from fighting her at first (penance for the ticket and
being engaged to her respectively), and later on when he *did*
start, he never stooped to "doing anything to win".
It would be terribly easy for Nabiki to instill a sense of
obligation into Ranma in _Nabiki: New Roles_, what with her being
basically the head of the household that he will be living in.
: >Better yet, as head of the household, what if Kuno were to pursue
: Nabiki for once, and
: >actually be trying to get at Akane and the pig tailed girl? OH now
: that would get
: >Nab's goat!
:
: In a story of this nature, it would be supremely important to keep the
: original relationships intact, or things wouldn't be challenging; the
: author could simply change anything he wanted to make things work out.
Agreed. The fun in an Alternative Universe fic is to alter just
one thing and see how that alteration affects the unaltered rest
of the continuity. I have violated that rule a few times in my
own fic _Ranko 1/2_, but I definitely agree.
: >I always saw Ukyo as the craftiest of Ranma's fiancee's, a direct
: confrontation between
: >her and Nabiki would be entertaining... Till Nabiki got the upper hand,
: that is.>
:
: Ukyou wouldn't play Nabiki's game; she loves Ran-chan, and *will* marry
: him. There is no room for compromise, it's as sure as the sunrise.
: Nothing Nabiki could ever conceivably do would change that simple fact
: of reality.
I'm not sure what you mean to say here. Certainly Nabiki would
find it hard to manipulate Ukyou towards letting go of Ranma, that
is true, but that doesn't mean they wouldn't play the same game.
The two of them would concentrate on influencing *Ranma*, instead
of each other.
: >This has been done at least once or twice, and very IC in my opinion
:
: Ryouga has never been shown to be manipulated; he's been tricked by
: Ranma several times, but has never been manipulated.
You'll probably have to explain that distinction a little more,
but I *think* I know what you mean. I agree about Ranma, but as
someone else already pointed out, Cologne did indeed manipulate
Ryouga.
: Of course, that is
: not to say he *couldn't* be manipulated, just that such a thing has
: never happened. My point is that it probably wouldn't; people who go by
: the the few dubbed anime episodes released by Viz and who don't
: understand basic elements of Japanese culture seem to view Ryouga as
: this big bruiser type who is tricked by Bugs Bunny to walk off of a
: plank.
Heh. No, he certainly isn't.
: Ryouga sees himself as a warrior, steeped in the code of bushido.
I'm not sure about that. He has thrown rules of conduct and honor
to the wind sometimes, just to get cheap revenge on Ranma. Of
course that does not contradict that he *views* himself that way.
:)
: Such
: characters, including Ranma and Kunou, amongst others, feel that they
: are above normal people--they feel normal rules of politeness don't
: apply to them. This view of himself is supported by an ego the size of
: Mt. Fuji, so Ryouga would in all likelihood react badly to
: someone--especially a mere girl--trying to 'use' him.
He would, probably - if he ever noticed at all. Ryouga has been
shown to be easily lulled by the slightest show of affection from
a female and willing to go to great lengths for them.
: He's displayed
: murderous rage at far lesser offences to his dignity.
He also displayed unfailing courtesy towards girls, even when he
was highly annoyed by them. Ususally it was Ranma in disguise,
taking advantage of said politeness to get in some shots without
having to fear retribution.
Sebastian