Three problems:

A: Lum is innately sweet and good natured, but she does loose her cool
and at those moments we see a jealous woman, not a monster.

B: Ataru is a cosmic force.  His energies cannot be drained. (See the UY
series for the many many failed attempts)

C: Lum makes the most headway with Ataru when she acts like an ordinary
Earth girl, but she isn't willing to go as far as Ran does.

Note, that I planted a "hidden" side into Ataru for the VPM xover, but
the scenario of:  ``Ataru loves Lum and so spares her from his dark
side'' really doesn't work, because the fool is so transparent.

The greatest difference between Ataru and Ranma is that Ataru is always
completely honest with himself and everybody else.

Does anybody else think there is any other man who'd be willing to play
Ryoko's games for a lifetime without complaint?

Ataru is the "best catch" for any of the girls in the UY series, if only
they could capture his undivided affection, but that's unlikely as long
as the Oni-ko lives.

	Henry J. Cobb	hcobb@slip.net          http://www.io.com/~hcobb