Oops!  Going to have to disagree with you here, Kun-chan...

But if the story continues on from the manga, then it's considered, by me,
to be in the same 'world' ... they can be developed, but if they don't go on
from the nine years of work that Takahashi put into making the manga -
ie. establishing Ranma and Akane's relationship ... keeping the
characters with the same characteristics ... etc - then I think it's like
you're telling Takahashi-sensei that she wasn't good enough, and you
think you're better ... *shrug* But that's just what it seems like to me.
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I can't say I agree with this.  Rather than saying that RT's work wasn't
good enough, I think it's more of a case of taking a different "take" on
things.  Doesn't mean its necessarily any better or any worse, just
different.  And the fanfics that result can be pretty good, too.  To
illustrate my point out of the context of fanficdom, however, think of
Shakespeare's King Lear.  He based it on an old traditional tale that was
well known to everyone in his audience, but altered the ending
considerably for his own purposes.  Given your criteria, I think we'd
have to conclude that he was wrong to do this, and that, in effect, he
was dissing whoever came up with the original story...  Not that anyone
here is writing like Shakespeare, but hopefully you get the idea...

I do generally agree though, that in a serious story at least (as
distinguished from most of the noise I've posted), any deviations should
be prepared for and justified.  I think Zen's fic did an adequate job of this,
even if I found Ranma's immediate flight to Ukyou somewhat
unconvincing.  However, it was still an interesting fic, particularly when it
explored Akane's viewpoint.  

And we all "ask questions" to either make a fanfic that is "for" or
"against" Takahashi-sensei's work. I think if it's against, then why not just
make up an original story with your own characters. It seems bad form
to throw Takahashi-sensei's work away like it was worth nothing, and
you think you can do a better job than her.
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Who knows?  Maybe they can (do a better job than her, that is).  Mind
you, I haven't seen this yet, but its possible...

tom