On Fri, 14 Feb 1997, Ben Kosse wrote:

WARNING! Spoilers inherent. Read this damn fine (top 10) fic before
reading any reviews on it. All time spent trying to decide if you want
to read this fic is just wasted time. GO READ IT NOW!

    Agreed. If you're reading this post and haven't read this fic yet, go 
back and read it, darn it! In the words of Akiko, "Shut up and start 
reading." :)

She smiled sadly.  "I do not think we should get married."

     Euhhh.
...

    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUGGGHHH!!!! What are you DOING, Mr. Lawson????? 
AAAAUUUUUGHH!!

Seriously, this is the most depressing story I have ever written. 
I'm very interested to know what your opinions are, and if you 
hate me forever for allowing Nuku Nuku to die.

     Yes. I want to hate you. Your writings so well describe what
happens after episode 6, I almost take it as canon. (Can I inflate
your ego any more?).
     But, I can't hate you. You described what happened so well.
It was "called for", not just sad to be sad.

     Sorry for echoing here, but I agree 100% with what Mr. Kosse said 
here. This is easily the most depressing fanfic I have ever read of any 
genre, period. Nothing comes close. What creates the enormity of the 
tragedy is that just as everything seems to be going right, when it looks 
like good has finally conquered evil and that everyone is going to live 
Happily Ever After, a new evil comes, one that can't possibly be beaten. 

    And yet, if anyone had seriously thought long enough about it (as I'm 
sure Mr. Lawson did), they would have known that this exact scenario 
would have been inevitable. Mr. Lawson takes the reality of what it would 
mean for a cat's brain to be artificially amplified for so long and draws 
the most logical response -- that it wouldn't be able to handle it and 
would eventually die. What makes the difference, though, is how Nuku-Nuku 
handles her impending death and how she takes pains to make sure her work 
would not vanish after she was gone. 

I added the scenes back in when one of my prereaders felt that 
there was something missing, ending it like I did.  So I added the 
scenes back, and another one of my prereaders felt that the scenes 
were too unnecessarily depressing.  I want to know what you think; 
would it be better to leave out the final stages of Nuku Nuku's 
breakdown?

     No. Keep it there. It needs to be there, much as I don't like
to read it.

    Yes, I agree again. (sorry about that, guys) These scenes are what 
create the emotional "punch" that carries the theme of the fic through -- 
that all good things must eventually end, and that we should make the 
most of them while we still have them. Without these scenes, the fic 
would lose a lot of the finality and realism (and depression power :P) 
that I love about this thing. 

    The last two speeches Nuku-Nuku makes in the end are probably both 
the saddest and happiest moments of the fic both at the same time. I 
don't cry at movies, or fics, period (I'm an engineering major :P), but 
the lump in my throat and the grey haze clouding my vision are still 
there as I'm writing, just thinking about those speeches. If I scored 
this chapter, I'd put that simple little theme from Gunbuster in the 
background, if that makes any sense at all. 

    Superbly done, Mr. Lawson. I'm looking forward as to how you're going 
to top this one in "Magic" (but I'm hoping for a happy ending, no 
pressure, of course).