From: Jorge Pratt <terbril@hotmail.com>
Date: Monday, August 11, 1997 8:08 AM
I wrote (in part):
I would not like to see this patent falsehood become a default part
of the Ranma fanfic "canon", in the same way that for a time (and to
some extent, even to this day) the notion that Nodoka was a fearsomely
skilled fighter with her sword became "fanfic canon".
Let me begin by apologising for coming across as a canon-nazi in this
paragraph. It is not a "patent falsehood" that Ranma's curse ages;
I should simply have stated that it was my opinion and left it at
that.
Jorge Pratt, an author whom I admire BTW, said in reply:
To this I *do* have to object. While it isn't easily recognized, you
have to agree that Mrs. Saotome *is* skilled with the katana. Perhaps
she's not adept at organized swordfighting styles such as Kenjitsu, but
>from the way one sees her handle the sword it's clear that she *can*
hold her own with it.
I think it's much more accurate to say that she *becomes* skilled with
the katana. When we first meet Nodoka, she is extremely clumsy with
her weapon; she does not even know how to hold it properly and it
regularly flies out of her hands to give heart attacks to Ranma and
Genma. Later, and I'm thinking of either vol.34 or vol.36 here, she's
suddenly handling it competently. One of the Tendos notices, and
Nodoka says she's been learning. I would venture a hypothesis that
she has done this because she's come across some fairly convincing
evidence that Ranma is most definitely *not* otoko-rashii (manly), and
it's likely she'll have to use her weapon.
First of all, there's the whole "seppuku" thing. As the description
Genma made of the oath would indicate, Nodoka is to become his and
Ranma's "second" (I forget the actual Japanese term.) This means that,
once Genma and Ranma cut themselves open with the tanto blade, Nodoka
would have to step forward and cleave their heads off *as painlessly and
swiftly as possible* with the katana. Now, I don't know about you but
>from my POV that alone is quite a feat. I own two Chinese swords and one
katana, all three of which I *regularly* train with, and from my
experience I can tell that swinging a sword in that manner is *not*
easy, by any means. In fact, several books I've read point out that the
"second" during seppuku *must* be skilled with the sword.
Yes. It, too, have done some sword work, and agree with you that being
a second would be no easy thing. A properly-sharp sword would help,
as would a correct stance by the suicidee. (The fact that one would tend
to lean forward in pain helps; do you think it's accident that the second
stands *behind* the person commiting seppuku?) But the fact remains that
the human neck is a hideously difficult thing to cut through. Most stories
about removing a head in one blow, except in special circumstances, are
just that: Stories.
Of course, one should always remain congizant of the difference between
expectation and ability. If Nodoka had had to act as a second before
she learned which end of the katana was sharp, I'm sure she would have
acted willingly enough, but probably botched the job *horribly*. I'm
sure there are horror stories of this happening; there are enough of
botched beheadings both old and new from European middle ages and from
the Arab states from all time periods.
Then there's the volume 34 you pointed out as well. Please refer to
parts 6 through 8. There you see Nodoka fighting with the katana. Now,
in page 122 of the book you see her grasping Ranma's braid through a
narrow slit between the door and the doorframe while she uses her other
hand to stab *several times* towards the place where she thinks the
"pervert" is standing. Look at the way she thrusts, back and forth, even
before Ranma can come down from his leap. Given that the katana is a
sword meant to be held with both hands (the long handle makes this
obvious, but also the techniques *need* both hands most of the time, as
opposed to the Chien which is almost always held with one hand,) then to
see her use it needing just one is a sign that she's indeed skilled
enough to fight one-handed.
So sorry, I don't agree. A katana is a well-balanced weapon that can
be wielded quite handily, though not with much force, one-handed. Even
someone who doesn't know which end is sharp can stab with one, if not
terribly accurately.
Also, both in vol. 33 and 34 you see Nodoka quickly taking her sword
whenever she thinks there's a threat. In vol. 33, at the onsen, when
Ranma fell in the hot water and Nodoka realized there was a man in the
women's bath, she immediately reached for her sword. Likewise, in vol.
34, she used the blade against the youth she believed had molested
"Ranko-chan." This attitude shows that she's at least confident enough
in her abilities with the sword that she can take on other people,
possibly even dangerous people.
Or it could simply be a crutch, because she is very familiar with the
weapon from long possession. I think that if she had no training,
she would be all the *more* likely to drag out the weapon than if she
did have training.
Ah, but there's the way she let the sword fly towards Ranma-chan in vol.
22, her first appearance. There are several reasonable explanations for
this happening: a) She's handy with the sword, but at that time it
simply slid off her hand (possibly because she unsheathed it too
suddenly. It has happened even to my shifu, who has mastered nearly
every Chinese weapon there is, so it's not unlikely. Heck, once he was
performing a two-sword form and all of a sudden one of the weapons went
flying ^_^;; fortunately, training Chien bend when they hit something,
but they have pretty sharp edges, though.) b) The tension of meeting/not
meeting Ranma at the Tendou home made her feel nervous of the blade
itself, as it reminded her of the seppuku oath. Thus, she unconsciously
wanted to let go of the sword so she didn't have to have any unnecessary
contact with it. And c) she simply gained her skill during the 11
volumes that were between 22 and 33.
I think it was clumsiness, but that's a matter of interpretation. I'm
sure there's a good 'fic in your interpretation, Jorge.
--
David Eddy -- Senior Consultant, Progress Software Melbourne
dje@progress.com
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Towers/8341