: Kentaro shook his head.  "You pushed her away as much as she ran away.  You 
: all treated her like she'd been given an incurable disease.  Akane stopped
: loving Ranma, unable to live outside her sexual preference and unable to
: overcome her homophobia."
: 
: "Don't you dare!"  Nabiki's shout blew in Kentaro's face.  She growled and
: continued.   "Don't you dare judge my sister.  It was very difficult for her.
: You can't imagine it.  Can you, Kentaro-san?  If Ranma gets cured, will you
: still love him?  Will you want to marry him?"

        Nabiki doesn't know that Ranma had returned to the Dojo - to visit
Akane - in Building Bridges.

Seeing that we so strongly disagreed and I saw his opinion
reflected by a few others here, I thought it best to ask about it
in public:  In how far do you think are Nabiki's and Kentaro's
statements here reflecting the real events?

This hinges heavily on the scene in the college cafeteria in _Thy
Outward Part_, where Ranma and Akane meet, half a year after
breaking off their engagement.  *I* read this as a proof of
Nabiki's point here, i.e. that it was Ranma who severed the ties
between himself and Akane, because she would not continue as if
nothing happened.  Zen, on the other hand, interpreted it from the
viewpoint that is presented here by Kentaro, i.e. That Ranma was
pushed into isolation by Akane's negative reaction and her dumping
him, instead of staying with him as long as he needed her.

        Incidentally, Sebastian, this scene from TOP was expanded upon and
repeated, with more impact, in Building Bridges part 2 (the sequel to TOP).  

        I don't know if you've read it yet but it tries to bridge the gap
between TOP and TNOL.  

        If Zen had read part two of Building Bridges, as I'm sure he already
has  :), then he might have been influenced by that part.  

      I see it as this, relating to events in part 2 of Building Bridges :

    Ranma asked Akane something like this : "Can you love me as I am or will
you just be friends with me?  I can't be friends with you because I have
known love so friendship is out of the question for me."

    Akane replied something like : "I too have known love, and friendship is
out of the question for me too.  I'm sorry"

        Then Ranma turns to leave and Akane tries to hold her back.  And
then events take their course.

>From both these viewpoints, Akane's behavior in *this* story takes
on a completely different meaning.  In the first case, it is
unsympathetic, due to her hostile treatment of Kentaro, but more
or less understandable in the assumption that Ranma would still
want her - after all, the last time she saw him, he told her to
get lost, because he still wanted her so much and wasn't prepared
to let go and move on from her.  

        The last time SHE saw Akane, Akane was the one who told her to 'get
lost' and 'get out of my life' and all that - in Building Bridges.

        I'm on Zen's side in this debate, BTW.

In the latter case, of course,
her behavior becomes arrogant, capricious and intolerable - first
she pushes him away and doesn't make any contact in *three years*,
and then she simply waltzes back into his life, demanding that
everything be like before, and Ranma should love her as if nothing
happened.

        I must point out that the scene between R&A in Building Bridges part
2 takes place after Ranma storms out of Kentaro's room in TOP.

When Zen sent some C&C, reacting to Akane's behavion on the basis
of the latter interpretation, I reacted irritated and completely
out of proportion, accusing him of Akane-bashing, prejudice and
more or less called him a liar, when he said he had proof (citing
the cafeteria scene).  An absolutely unforgivable lapse,
*especially* since that is everything I hate in discussions: 
Dogmatism and the inability to see other viewpoints.  And to top
it all off, I did this to someone whom I consider a good friend.
:(

        He does have proof, but the cafeteria scene does not do it justice.
The slap scene...ahh, now THERE was proof.

So, would everyone please step up with their opinions regarding
this?  Let's work this out together, so Richard can think about
clarifying a bit.

        My opinions regarding this are already expressed in Building Bridges
, which IS the sequel to TOP and part of it recounts what Ranma did in her
absence.