Mina-san, Ohayou!

Recently, in reaction to an essay about alternative universe fics 
by Scott Jamison, it was brought to my attention once again that
many people are put off by the first volume of my fic _Ranko 1/2_,
or more specifically by how close it is to the original manga.
I've known this for quite some time and have always advised new
readers to skip the whole of volume 1, if it is too boring for
them.  However, there *are* some important plot points in the
first volume that should be known before one proceeds to the
later volumes and their more original content.

Enter Richard Lawson.  He suggested that a summary of the first
volume be written, to bring new readers up to speed without
necessitating their reading the whole first volume.  He even
volunteered to do it, himself, and I was only too happy about
that.

After what seems like 1000 e-mails back and forth, discussing some
(well mostly one) minor points, the result was this:




                            The Story So Far

                            by Richard Lawson


Hi.  My name's Saotome Ranko.  Yeah, I know - you might interpret my
name to mean "wild girl".  Do so at your own risk.  I admit, though,
sometimes it seems apropos.

Yes, I use words like "apropos".  Gotta problem with that, buddy?

So, you know, Pop and I have been training for years.  I know a thing or
two about martial arts.  Hell, I could kick your butt a dozen times
over, so don't try anything, okay?

Anyway, Pop went and got me engaged to one of his friend's children. 
Except there was a problem: we're all girls.  Too bad, you'd say.  End
of engagement, you'd say.  That would be the smart thing to do.

The words "smart" and "Saotome Genma" rarely appear in the same
sentence.

First of all, he raised me like he would a boy.  Kept telling me all
about some stupid prophecies and "my true gender".  Overall, a really
weird experience.  I'll tell you about it some other time.

Then he took me to a place called Jusenkyou.  I was unaware of the
nature of the pools we were training over.  I ignored what the Guide was
trying to tell me.  Real dumb of me, I know.  I sometimes underestimate
Pop - that so-called mind of his actually comes up with schemes so
stupid you don't anticipate them.  He maneuvered me into position, and I
got sloppy and let him hit me and I fell.

Into a pool.

You don't want to know what I found when I opened my gi afterwards.

So now, whenever I get hit with cold water, I turn into a guy.  Hot
water turns me back.  Pop got the "son" he always wanted.  Calls me
"Ranma" when I'm a boy.  "Wild horse".  Stupid name if you ask me.

Of course I didn't sit still for that.  Pop got plunked into a pool of
his own.  Now he turns into a panda.  Poetic justice, old man.

Okay, Pop takes me (as a guy) to Nerima to meet with his friend, Tendou
Souun, and his daughters, Kasumi, Nabiki, and Akane.  Worked out with
Akane a bit.  She seemed like a nice girl.

Oh yeah, they chose Akane for me.  Akane, apparently, hates boys, so
since I'm really a girl, it's okay.  If you don't follow that, I don't
either.  Tendo logic, I call it.  I've run into it more than a few
times.

Akane and I didn't get off on the best foot after a couple of
unfortunate incidents in the bath.  We did go to school together - oh,
by the way, Pop registered me as Saotome Ranma, male, at Fuurinkan.  How
else can I be known as Akane's fiancé?  Saotome logic, I call that. 
I've run into it more than a few times.  

Anyway, I promised Pop I'd go along with it.  Why, you ask?  Ask me
again some other time.  Something to do with respecting your elders and
how much the engagement means to Pop.

Anyway, um, going to school that first time, we met Tofuu-sensei, who
Akane's got a crush on.  Then she got attacked by a bunch of boys at
Fuurinkan.  Why, you ask?  Ask Kunou Tatewaki.  I met him, too.  He and
Pop could have a stupid contest, and no one would be able to choose a
winner.  Anyway, he and I fought.  Kind of a draw the first time, but
only because I wasn't really trying.  Unfortunately, after an incident
in the hall and an inadvertent jump into a heated swimming pool, he met
me as a girl and fell instantly in love with me.  He's in love with
Akane, too.  Jerk.

We had some more fun with Kunou.  Nabiki sort of sent him after me -
maybe she thought I liked him; after all, I had a dream about him.  I
dunno - sometimes it's hard to figure Nabiki out.  Anyway, the second
fight I had with Kunou (as Ranma) ended decisively.  I'll let you figure
out who won and who had footprints all over his face.

Akane and I actually worked well together, despite some rather perverted
assumptions she made about me.  Tofuu used a dirty trick to try and get
us closer together.  I don't think it's right that he uses his knowledge
of pressure points for things like that.  He's got a thing for Kasumi,
though, as I found out.

But anyway, Akane turns out more and more to be an okay person.  We work
out together all the time, and even if she ain't as good as me, it's a
lot more fun with her than it is with the old man.

Anyway, about that time Ryouga shows up.  Hibiki Ryouga, a guy I met at
school.  Yes, at a boy's school.  I told you about my stupid father,
didn't I?  He's mad at me because he challenged me to a fight (over some
silly stuff that happened between us at school), then showed up four
days late and was surprised for some reason that I wasn't there.  Hibiki
logic, I call it.  I've run into it more than a few times.

Ryouga challenges me to a fight.  He finds out about my curse, which
makes him angrier for some reason.  *Then* he finds out that I'm really
a woman - he didn't know.  Master of perception that he is, he thought I
was a guy turning into *another* guy.  Ryouga could challenge Pop and
Kunou in the stupid contest.  

During our fight, Akane's ankle gets twisted a little and her hair gets
chopped off.  Man, that really bummed me out.  I let her pound on me
until she felt a little better.  I, uh, regret it.  Believe me, Akane
can pound.  Don't know why I thought that would be a good solution. 
Ranko logic, I call it.  It's gotten me into trouble more times than I
care to admit.

Akane has a bit of a crisis then - her hair was sort of her symbol for
her affection for Tofuu-sensei.  Since it's obvious he and Kasumi are
nuts about each other (even if they don't admit it), she finally gives
up on him.  It ain't easy for her, but I'm there for her.  We have a
nice talk, and Akane feels better.

We're friends, I guess.  I think Akane might be the first real friend
I've ever had.  And it's a nice feeling.  The kind of feeling I haven't
had in... I dunno.  Ten years?  It's great, anyway.

I could actually come to like living in the Tendou home.


                             ~*~


Lots of thanks to Richard for this wonderful summary.  It exceeded
my expectations thousandfold.

I will be putting this one on my web page and refer readers who
want to skip volume 1 to it.  Of course, I still prefer them to
read all of the fic, but with such a great summary to provide them
with all the necessary information, it doesn't bother me if they
decide to leave out a bit. :)


Sebastian
-- 
          http://enterprise.mathematik.uni-essen.de/~bastian/
                           Comics reviewed.
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COBOL is not a language. Any code that sounds like a textbook for
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