On Mon, 7 Jul 1997, David Johnston wrote:

KOUMA RYODACHI wrote:

I think we discussed this already, but how can they be brothers if
they don't share the same surname?

This one is very simple to answer.

Remember that when a marriage takes place in Japanese society, and
the daughter wed is the heir to the family estate and holdings, then
in order for the husband to gain ownership of the land and holdings,
he must assume her surname.

Must overstates the matter.  The husband *MAY* assume the wifes family 
name, but it is usually only done if the wifes family has much higher 
social standing or is in danger of dying off.  And it will normally cost 
the wife's family a lot to obtain the husbands agreement to this.

Therefore, Genma could very well have been born Masaki Genma, and
changed his name to Saotome Genma after marrying Nodoka.

It's not entirely impossible.

You are aware that in at least 1 of the Tenchi continuities (TV I 
think) it is specifically stated that Nobuyuki took his wifes name.  This 
would actually fit much better than Genma taking Nodoka's surname.

Particularly since Nodoka's katana indicates that her social status
is very high, while Genma isn't exactly the classiest man in Japan.  
So does that mean that Ranma will become Ranma Tendo?  (Although 
strictly speaking, Akane is only the heir because she is going to 
marry Ranma.)

All the Katana indicates is that either Genma or Nodoka has Samurai 
ancestry, it is of little relevance to their *current* social standing.  
You must remember that wandering martial artists seeking to improve their 
"art" are accorded more respect in Japan than would be the case in a 
western society.  A poor samurai family probably would not consider a 
family of martial artists [too far] beneath them unless there was 
something inherently "wrong" with the family's style.

Also remember that Ranma has stated a number of times that he is the heir 
of the "Saotome School of Martial Arts", one could imply from this that, 
*if* Genma and Nobuyuki are brothers, Genma took an interest in martial 
arts while Nobuyuki was more intellectual.  The result was that Genma 
became the heir to the family martial arts while Nobuyuki went his own 
way and took the Masaki name when he married the heir to the Masaki 
shrine, leaving both the Saotome and Masaki family's satisfied.

It doesn't really matter that much, semi-plausible rationalisations can 
be made as the author wishes.

However this would lead into the fighting styles of Tenchi and Ranma - 
Tenchi is mostly trained in the "Masaki family" (read: Jurai) style of 
swordplay (or armed combat as the author has made it) as his main teacher 
was Youshou, Tenchi may have a little of the "Saotome" style of unarmed 
combat, but would not be as good with it as he could be.  Conversly Ranma 
has intensive training in the "Saotome" style, which seems to include 
basic training with most weapons, but should have almost none of the 
"Masaki" style, unless Youshou gave him some training in an earlier 
visit.  

As they are depicted, one tends to think that Ranma is the better 
combatant and would win if they fought with both using their own favoured 
method.  Although this does leave Jurain powers out of the equation.

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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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