I've said it before; I'll probably say it again: Ranma is not supposed to
be a SERIOUS series.

     However, SFII would be serious, then??? Fireballs, teleporting people,
mutants.... etc.

Many of the posts in this discussion overlook this fact, to the point of
analyzing the pressure which a Flying Dragon Ascention puts on the target.
I'm fairly sure Rumiko Takahashi wasn't considering the exact levels of
air pressure involved when she wrote that move into the manga!

     Probably not, but she was remarkably consistant on quite a few things.

not being an active otaku.  I just find it amusing that fans can argue
points of the series and TRY TO USE SCIENTIFIC TERMINOLOGY TO BACK UP
THEIR ARGUEMENTS.  We're talking about a story where cold water causes a
character to spontaneously change gender in a matter of seconds.  And
causes other characters to change species.  (In blatant disregard for most
laws of physics, like conservation of mass.  Or else Genma's a REALLY
light panda, and P-chan's gotta be a HEAVY little pig.)  Doesn't seem just
a tad ridiculous to take the story this seriously?

     You ever read Dragonlance books? Ever play AD&D, Shadowrun, Gurps,
Whitewolf games, etc? They all have something in common: magic. As a 
friend of mine said while I was creating a Walker Boh (Heritage of 
Shannara series) type character for AD&D: "When magic and science collide,
magic wins." This meant that if my character couldn't ground out a
Lightning Bolt spell by creating a charge of positive ions somewhere else.
Why? Because the magic overruled it.

     Basically, the *MAGICAL* springs allow "science" to be turned aside.
This, as well as other techniques.
--
Ben Kosse bmk7411@cs.rit.edu
BGC Otaku and worshipper of the Red-Eyed Goddess. Member of ShAS.
Anime, RPG's, computers, poetry (read/write), music (listen/compose).
Author of the Bubblegum Crisis theme pack (see the homepage below).
Homepage with anime and other interests. (http://www.rit.edu/~bmk7411)