On Wed, 16 Apr 1997, JD Farber wrote:
Well, I would rank her ahead of Kodachi, who is insane :)
At least with Shampoo, you wouldn't get unpredictable behavior and random
poisoning. So I can say ONE good thing for her. You wouldn't have to
worry about waking up dead or tied to ceiling. Probably.
I think that I would have to dissagree with you on those points. You know
how potion happy Shampoo gets.
I would like to point out that in the actual Anime/Manga Shampoo uses
drugged/enchanted food very rarely, in fact, only once I am certain of (the
compulsion mushrooms). In her other plots SHampoo normally waves some
Magic item/cure in front of Ranma and then stands back as Ranma charges into
her trap.
The notion that Shampoo regularly drugs food is an invention of certain
FANFIC writers and is at variance with the source material.
On the other hand every time Kodachi is shown cooking, the food turns out
to drugged.
If she had a husband, she would see him as a
guniea pig more then anything else.
I disagree totally here. I think it is quite plain that Shampoo does
develop genuine feelings of affection for Ranma as the series
progresses. She may not, in fact, love Ranma as much as she thinks she
does, but that she would use him as a guinea pig is utterly unbelievable
(for one thing Shampoo doesn't invent items, she uses reliable artifacts and
recipes handed down by her ancestors, she doesn't *NEED* a guinea pig ^_^
).
As for being tied to the ceiling, well,
we all know how playful cats can be. And that wouldn't be too bad. All in
all, I'd rank her behind Kodachi.
It's quite plain from the way the Manga/Anime was written that there was
never any serious threat to the Ranma-Akane match, however it is equally
clear that Takahashi-san saw Shampoo as Akane's most dangerous rival with
Ukyou a distant third and Kodachi a possibility only in her own mind.
As a minor comment on strategies... Ukyou has tried a number of clever
ways to seperate Ranma & Akane, evidently acting on the assumption that
with Akane out of the picture Ranma would become hers. Shampoo has
tried, in her own clumsy fashion, to make Ranma like her despite Akane
still being in the picture. I think Ukyou is far more likely to succeed
in a plot to break up Ranma & Akane, but I have doubts about the 2nd
stage of her plan. Shampoo is extremely unlikely to get anywhere, but if
she does, she has won.
At least Kodachi's drugs and mental
imbalances are already known,
You say that like you actually believe it...
unlike the full extent of Shampoo's depravity.
Better the devil you know...
Shampoo is a trained warrior, she is ruthless, determined, open with her
feelings and overly simplistic. To call her depraved, with all that
implies, is a baseless and hopelessly inaccurate accusation.
Shampoo has shown herself to be willing to kill, as is appropriate in a
warrior, but unlike Mousse has shown restraint in what she does.
Shampoo, as displayed in the Manga, is perfectly capable of killing
Akane, but is smart enough to only consider it when the blame will fall
on someone else.
While this is not an endearing trait, I find it preferable to some of the
things Mousse has shown himself capable of - Shampoo has only ever
targetted those who chose (for whatever reason) to stand in her path,
Mousse is the guy who, having failed to beat Ranma in a fair fight,
kidnapped Akane and threatened to turn her into a duck in an effort to
lure Ranma into a trap and followed it up by being willing to endanger
innocents and his own allies in an effort to kill Ranma.
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"The Major" | "Funny Games, Strange Cartoons, Confusing
David Bateson | Computers and too many Books! No
| wonder you're weird."
major@yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au | - My Sister.
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