Ranma basically had no choice in either of the arragements :P
If you feel like bashing Shampoo, lets bash everyone the same amount :P
I really dislike this whole "AKane is great, Akane is wonderful, Akane is
sweet, AKane is cute, AKane is the best..." tirade :P

Well, you don't HAVE to like the truth. You can lump it.

Actually, I believe that, while Ranma and Akane are the best for each
other, and they are in love, that Ukyou is the best female character in
terms of niceness, politeness, friendship, understanding, etc.  Ranma and
Akane deserve to have each other because their strengths and weaknesses are
so similar.  (i.e. overreacting, jealousy, childishness, honor, standing
up for what's right...)

Yeah, the end of Vol. 38 bothered me.  I'm considering writing a fic
to explain Ukyou's actions.  I didn't like Kun-chan's line, though, that
that one attack justified throwing away all of Ukyou's character
development.  I don't feel that Ukyou's attacking Akane means she's all
of a sudden "just as bad as Shampoo".

By the way, to get vaguely on-topic, I need fanfic advice.  If you were, 
say, Ranma, and you had to deliver a package to Ukyou's village that was, 
say, the size of a coffin (to pick something at random), how would you 
get there?  Plane, train, car?

Not that this means anything.

--Sean Gaffney
--"You git!  I thought you were dead!  Git git git!" - Benny, No Future