On Mon, 8 Jan 1996, White Wolf wrote:

You're not getting it.  It's an attempt by Japanese TV to copy The Real 
World.  So, they needed to pay them to get them to move in together.

I think it could be argued, though, that the free housing provided by 
the show would be enticement enough to get them to move in, especially in 
a place like Tokyo, where residential space is at a premium.  I mean, 
think about it - in exchange for having your life filmed and having to 
relocate, you get a rather large house (by Tokyo standards), and don't 
have to pay any rent, heating bills, electric bills, water bills, 
homeowner's insurance, phone bills... sounds like a substantial savings 
to me.  (And for those like Ranma, who didn't have to pay for it before, 
their parents are getting quite a break by not having to support them.  
Soun must be quite happy not to somehow have to scrounge up the money to 
support Ranma's large appetite, for instance.)
     Of course, this leads to an interesting concept - the residents are 
going to need some sort of financial support, which for most of them will 
mean jobs.  Seeing Ranma just try to get a job will definitely be amusing.
     And, on another note, what other people would be interesting to have 
as roommates here?  I'd recommend two at the moment - Mamoru Chiba, also 
secretly known as Tuxedo Kamen, a college student who lives off his 
inheritance but supplements it with various odd jobs, and who cagily 
avoids questions about his love life, and Atsuko 'Nuku Nuku' Natsume, an 
apparently late-teenaged young girl who's really a cat's brain in an 
android body.  Any other suggestions?

--
Scott Johnson |  "This is the story" "of seven anime characters" "picked
zagyg@io.com  |   to live in a house" "to find out what happens" "when
              |   people stop acting scripted" "and start acting real."
              |   "The Anime Real World: Tokyo."