On Mon, 26 Aug 1996, Richard Lawson wrote:

Okay, Chris, I have another bone to pick with you about a logical
inconsistency in the plot.

Actually, it's not *your* logical inconsistency.  It's Takahashi's, one
that kinda drove me crazy all throughout Ranma 1/2.

It's that, when Ranma, Genma, Mousse, Shampoo et. al.  were cursed, why
didn't they just turn around and jump into the appropriate pool to cure
themselves?

For Ranma and Genma, it's because they got mad and ran off chasing each 
other, and thus didn't think of trying to go back until it was too late...

I've always thought of Jyusenkyo as one of those places you can't find 
again once you leave unless it WANTS you to find it.

Shampoo and Mousse, on the other hand, I can't explain :)

 

At first, I thought it was because they didn't know which pool to jump
into.  As it turns out (in Volume 37), the Guide not only knew which
pool was which, he had a *map* of the pools - getting cured should have
been extremely simple.  

Just because the guide knows in Volume 37, doesn't mean the guide knew 
back when they were originally cursed...maybe all these visits lead him 
to start experimenting and studying so as to ensure no more honored 
customers took unanticipated dips :)

 

For those of you who think that the pools are destroyed, that is not
true.  Look again at Volume 38.  The pools are restored; they were just
flooded by the rain when Ranma went looking to get cured (along with
Ryoga, Genma, Mousse and Shampoo).  Afterwards, though, Soun is able to
get a cask of Nannichuan from the Guide.

Assuming the guide didn't have the cask prestored...And we never see it 
used, so who knows if the guide even gave him the right stuff :)

John Walter Biles :  MA-History, Ph.D Wannabe at U. Kansas         
ranma@falcon.cc.ukans.edu      bailesu@komodo.hacks.arizona.edu  
http://www.hacks.arizona.edu/~bailesu/falcon.html 
http://www.dhp.com/~wraven/john/index.html
"It's good to kill the King."  "I still think the Saxons should have 
put a higher price on our heads.  I'm more valuable than 25 librum."
--Frequent quotes from our PENDRAGON sessions.