At 11:25 PM 10/29/96 -0600, bridget ellen engman wrote:

On Tue, 29 Oct 1996, Don Wang wrote:

	Okay.  Now let me see here.  Did you see how afraid Akane is in the
Tunnel of Lost Love?  If she is afraid of ghosts, it will make sense
that she is afraid of the darkness, right?  And yes part of my

Not really.  In the R 1/2 setting ghosts are about as real a threat as 
anything else (curses, spices, etc.).  Fearing yet another bizarre magic 
thing wouldn't be the same as falling apart when the lights go out.

assumption is based on 'she is STILL a girl'.  Akane is all energetic
and everything, but deep down she is a girl and still needs to be
protected.

It's not that girls need to be protected more, it's that they're encouraged 
to admit they need it ("I'm scared of the dark!" "Aww, don't worry." etc.) a 
few years longer than boys are ("I'm scared of the dark!" "Boys don't cry"
etc.).

However, at her age you look stupid either way ("I'm scared of the dark!" 
"Shut up!  You're *sixteen*!" etc.).  So it might be in character for Azusa 
but definitely not for Akane.

It's considered feminine (at least in the average America/western sense; 
"feminine" only means "appropriate for females" and is thus a relative term
depending on who decides what is appropriate) for some little kids, but if 
you're young enough or too old gender doesn't matter.

Not going to hit you for this, really I'm not.  But please, give it a 
rest.  Girls have no more innate need to be protected than guys do, and 
especially not Akane.

I agree with Bridget, even though in "J.2.U." it's not really a matter of 
gender.