At 03:28 PM 10/29/96 -0600, Travis Butler wrote:

From:        Caroline Ann Seawright, kunoichi@yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au

I don't think this comparison is really valid. The cure for the cat 
tongue was always within reach, always possible; all Ranma had to do was 
beat Cologne and grab the Phoenix Pill, something he believed he could do 
and something in line with his talents as a martial artist. Here... I 
haven't read the manga stories this is based on yet, but as I understand 
it, the Kaisui-fuu is the only thing known that can 'unlock' the cursed 
form. And in this story, it's dropped into a chasm, "buried under so many 
tons of rock even Ryoga can't get to it" -- lost in a situation where his 
martial arts talents can't do a thing to help. Gone forever, for all 
practical purposes. I'd say there's a very substantial difference between 
the two situations: the cat tongue was almost certainly not permanent, 
and Ranma could do something about it; this time it most likely *will* be 
permanent, and there's not a thing he can do about it.

Not necessarily.  Ranma just has to get stuck in his male form again, the 
same way he got stuck in his female form.  He could probably do it by 
jumoping in the drowned-guy spring (so he'd turn male with cold water and 
female with hot water).

Then he just has to get that cursed bucket of water (I forgot how to spell 
its name) and lock his new cursed form in place.  If *both* the cursed 
bucket and the kaisui-fuu are gone, *then* he's in trouble.

Or if he wanted to make a story more interesting he could jump in the 
drowned-dude-who-had-a-Jusenkuyo-curse spring.  Any ideas on how that would 
work?