On Mon, 9 Sep 1996, Scott Jamison wrote:

On Mon, 9 Sep 1996, Sebastian Weinberg wrote:

: 				QUESTIONABLE

I like the little touches you give to Ukyou, particularly the
insight into her mind.  Also the reactions of the regulars were
neat.

	I think the other customers in Ucchan's often get short shrift, 
faceless extras that they are. 

   Ucchan's has _customers_? :) (Takahashi never bothers to draw them, which 
is odd, for we see patrons of other restaurants. Perhaps they do file out 
when Ranma and/or Akane show up--because Ranma invariably brings trouble 
that innocent bystanders want no part of. :) )

: 	Several blocks away, the boy ducked into an old-fashioned phone 
: booth with an "Out of Order" sign on the door.

Whoa, it's Clark Kent!  Ooops, just Tsubasa.  I don't know why so
many people use him, even though he only appeared in 3 parts of one
volume.  Kinda like the Golden Pair.

	Actually, I specifically used him because that story was 
reprinted by Viz this last month.  In some ways it's easier to use the 
one-shot and very minor characters, since you can make up their 
background details without worrying so much "have I forgotten one story 
that completely contradicts this", especially for those of us who *don't* 
have all the manga.

   The only problem with your story was that Tsubasa gave up on Ukyo even 
before the end of his story. (When Ukyo buys Ranma's last okonomiyaki, 
helping him win the bakeoff battle for her company, Tsubasa can no longer 
kid himself that Ukyo desires him or anyone but Ranma, and with a 
heavy heart commits himself to abandoning his suit. He appears to have 
kept his promise; at any rate, he does not bother her again in the story 
and is never seen again afterwards.) He spends the second half of the 
story chasing Ranma and then Akane. 
   Tsubasa has the dreadful habit of falling for any girl who shows any 
signs of affection towards him or acts in a friendly fashion towards 
him, which Ranma and then Akane make the mistake of doing. (Of course 
that begs the question of when Ukyo, who claims that Tsubasa repulses 
her, ever acted in a friendly fashion towards him. Perhaps Ukyo never 
told the whole truth about herself and Tsubasa?)
   In any case, inasmuch as the story shows Tsubasa plotting to win 
Ukyo's affection the story (while still well-written and quite 
entertaining, I thought) violates continuity, as Tsubasa is no longer 
intersted in Ukyo. Happily, that was my only major problem with the 
story.

Paul Corrigan
pcorrig@uoft02.utoledo.edu