At 09:27 PM 5/20/96 -0400, you wrote:

    I guess I better add my $.02 here. I don't really think that Japanese
should be used when there is an appropriate english translation ("sempai"

I agree in some cases, but simple words like Nani? Ano? Arigatou etc. are
pretty easy to understand. And even the more difficult ones are also if used
in a good way. For example, Kun-chan's lemon series uses a LOT of Japanese

words

to describe *ahem* yet it is pretty obvious what they mean. AND, as a

bonus, you

learn a little Japanese.

imho, who cares about using those words?  i think it's...well, bad form, in
a way.
we speak english, you can live without japanese in your story, therefore

why not

just stick to english?  i think this ranks up there wtih using multiple
punctuations
(!!!) or (???) or even (?!).  not terribly horrible, but bad form anyways.

I'll have to break my silence and disagree here.  I only speak marginal
Japanese (3 semesters and a *lot* of anime), but I feel it can add a
great deal of character and tone to a story if done right.  Done wrong
it's at least annoying, if not completely distracting.

Let me rephrase myself.

-- It's fine in conversation.
"Oyasumi nasai, Ranma," Kasumi said softly to Ranma before he
pulled the blanket over them and they went to sleep together.
-- (oyasumi is what is said when someone's going to bed.
    whether this applies to someone you're going to be with all
    night anyways, i don't know.)

-- Or titles i'm fine with.  It sounds difficult to get those
   titles right outside of conversation.  After all, titles
   depend on the viewpoint you're looking at...in 3rd person
   omniscient, which do you use?
"Kuso," Ranma couldn't help but exclaim when he looked at his
Kasumi-chan stretch before turning over.

But the substitution of Japanese words for English words I can't
like.
--
"What's this, Ranma?  Weren't we going to sleep?" she grinned
at the feeling of his asoko leaping suddenly against her rear
end, then she turned around.

I hope this more precisely defines my view on this.

signed, phoneynt
-----------------------------------------
| ******** END * TRANSMISSION ********* |
-----------------------------------------
       drward@richmond.infi.net