Okay, so this is late even by my standards. My beloved ISP has taken to
crashing, and I've only been able to get on at odd times. It's not my
fault, honest!
   What? Oh, right, the C&C. Sorry.
   I started reading this with fairly low expectations. Why? Well, it
looked to embody a venerable old fanfic cliche - A new character, often
the gaijin avatar of the author (and a martial artist to boot) shows up in
Nerima, and promptly causes Nabiki to fall in love with him. At best, they
tend to be generic and uninteresting, and at worse they're the worst kind
of otaku-daydream-wishfufillment.
   Surprise! I really liked it.
   So what was it really about? Well, *squirm* a new character, likely
the gaijin avatar of the author (and a martial artist to boot) shows up in
Nerima, and promptly causes Nabiki to fall in love with him.
   Despite this, the author actually makes it work. The dialogue was
clever and engaging, the situations were well-executed and original (loved
the meeting between Nabiki and the PM), and the courtship manages to be
rather touching and an verbal/mental fencing match at the same time.
   The story was written with an eye for detail on Japanese culture and
behavior. Either the author did his research, had a fairly good knowledge
of the culture, or did a really good job of faking it. Poor gaijin that I
am, I have no idea. :) But it lent something to the story.
   As with most Nabiki stories, the why-is-she-so-moneygrubbing question
is raised and answered. The one given in the story passed muster; and
suggested that Nabiki might not always enjoy her extortions and schemes.
   Jeff seemed a little too perfect. He had depth, and things didn't
always favor him, but he never seemed to make any serious mistakes, or
just plain be wrong. I also felt his martial art abilities were something
that could have been left out; they didn't really play a part in his
relationship with Nabiki, and reenforce the otaku-wish-fufillment charge.
   Kuno, one of the few main characters who puts in an appearance, was
done very well. His monumental arrogance and lack of perception were right
on target.
   I shouldn't have liked it. You aren't supposed to like these kind of
fics, but I did anyway. If you haven't read it, I recomend taking a look.
Hope to see more from the author. :)

- Mike of No Particular Title or Handle
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  /  \    l   Mike Loader - Lincolnite, Amberite, Illuminatus, Discordian,
 / () \   l      Journalist, Author, Traveler, Historian, Java Fiend.
/      \  l        Trier - LA - LV - Kiev - Reno - Hong Kong. Fnord.
--------  l                    mloader@scs.unr.edu
==========+==================================================================