On Fri, 14 Feb 1997, Ben Kosse wrote:

My point was not that the Ranma stuff was scientifically impossible.  I
readily accept that fact and was in fact pointint it out.  yes, it's
obvious magic plays a large part in teh Ranma series.

     Um, and Teleport is scientifically possible? No.

I just said I readily accept the fact that it isn't scientifically
possible!  READ the post!

1) My point was NOT that the Ranma stuff was scientifically impossible;
2) I readily accept this fact.

Direct quote from the portion of the post you quoted!

My question was, and is still is: WHY ARE PEOPLE TAKING RANMA SO
SERIOUSLY, THEN?  To the point of analyzing the special moves for air
pressure, speed, temperature, energy behind a ki blast... if it's magic -
as you point out - why can't we just accept it as such instead of trying
to find scientific qualifications for things in the series when it's
OBVIOUS that science doesn't apply - as you yourself said!

     However, let us go to a Fireball example. The magic of a fireball is
the creation of it, not the end effect. After all, a fireball still burns.
While analyzing Ranma, it seems to me that people are describing how it
works (i.e. like describing a fireball as "a ball of flames explodes"),
and then using that to assist in comparing people's combat techniques or
whatever.

I'm sorry; you yourself stated that magic overrides sceince.  Yes, this is
often the case (except for certain instances in Shadowrun, which I won't
get into).

I don't know... it just seems that Ranma is much more enjoyable if you
just sit back and enjoy the storyline and characters instead of trying to
analyze every move, how the curse works, etc.

Then again, as a professional software engineer and also an archaeology
student; maybe I'm used to spending time analyzing things other than a
manga/anime which is CLEARLY not meant to be taken seriously, and in fact
contradicts itself at several places.  (I remember a list of these
contradictions coming across the list, or another anime list, at some
point.)

Not to be meant as a flame here, but you DID misunderstand my point in the
original post. ^_-

     I think you misunderstood mine as well. What I was trying to say is
that Magic has effects. Gust of Wind creates a gust of wind (fancy that,
huh! :)  In Ranma's case, his hurricane type attack (I forget what it's
called) throws someone up into the air, and creates a vacuum, etc. (all
the stuff that's been said before).

Fair enough (you STILL misunderstood my post this last time, though. ^_-).

I just personally think it's a tad ridiculous to be analyzing aspects of
the series like this; it's like trying to analyze what resistance to
radiation Homer SImpson has because he's regularly exposed to radioactive
material at work and never wears a protective suit.

Yes, you can _DO_ it, but WHY?  I don't see where you gain much enjoyment
of the series from it. ;) 

Then again, this thread started when I was in the middle of attemping to
debug a DLL for Windows 95... something which can always make you have a
somewhat cynical view of the world.

I'll be happy to continue this conversation, but I suggest we take it to
private e-mail to avoid spamming the list. ;)

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