On Fri, 4 Apr 1997, Shazorn wrote:

	I have wondered for some time whether addressing social issues 
wasn't part of what Takahashi-sama had in mind in the first place.  There 
is a play in the U.S. called, as I recollect, "Watermelon Man".  It is 
about a white, southern, male bigot who awakens one morning to discover 
he has become a black man.  This has crossed my mind on several occations 
as I read the Ranma stories about a young man, very full of macho 
self-image, who suddenly finds himself a girl.  Remember Takahashi-sama 
is a woman, and one of Japan's great social problems is sexism.  

  It is quite possible given Ranma's ego and all the problems that this is 
what Takahashi intended.  Remember, Kasumi is the stereotypical Japanese 
woman while Nabiki is intended to be the exact opposite of the 
stereotype.  Akane is, well, violent.
  Yet Ranma 1/2 became a martial arts action comedy.  The drama died out,
replaced by rediculous combat situations.  When I look at the original
series, and the "sequel," I wonder what Takahashi had in mind when she
originally created Ranma 1/2.  Ranma's ego originally was not so large,
and he did try in the beginning to make amends whenever a problem arose. 
  The characters had personalities.  Kasumi said something sensible in the
beginning.  Even the original Shampoo had a personality, not the Chinese
bimbo of later.  I often wonder what would have happened if Ranma was a 
Shojo manga as opposed to a Shonen one.
  Would Ranma actually go on to lose his ego?  There are shades of it in 
the beginning.  What Ranma 1/2 started as and what it ended as are two 
totally different things.

	Our Canon is drawn with consumate talent, full of unforgetable 
characters, and written with great humor. Just perhaps it is plotted with 
a hidden agenda as well?  For most of us, unexposed as we are to sexism 
on the scale of Japan's, we tend to overlook this factor.

  Who knows what was lost in the translation?  Takashi loved Japanese 
puns and in jokes, and without understanding the culture, perhaps they 
were lost.  All the characters defintely fit stereotypes.