NARRABUNDAH 1/2 - FAQs
Version 1.0
(3 October 1997)
NOTE: In many cases, authors and other personnel are referred
to by their last name to prevent confusion.
GENERAL
What's the basic premise of the series?
The place: Tokyo's Neribanda district in Japan.
The year: 1995.
The last thing sixteen-year-old Sigmatome Ratbat expected
upon going on a martial-arts training trip with his father Len
was to find himself at the legendary Chinese cursed-springs
training ground of Jusenkyou.
Naturally, since he didn't expect this, it happened.
He even less expected (or rather he had expected, but hoped
even Len would be smarter than this) was that Len couldn't
speak a word of Chinese outside of 'prawn crisps'. Due to this
linguistic oversight, neither of them knew that anyone who
fell into the cursed springs would take on the form of who or
whatever had drowned in the spring centuries before. Len
stepped straight into the spring where a panda had drowned,
and instantly became a large black-and-white bear. Ratbat
avoided this fate, but himself fell into another spring -
where a young girl had met her end.
Hot water will return them to their original forms, but this
is only a temporary fix. As soon as they get wet once more
with cold water, the curse is re-activated...
They return to Japan, where Len springs Ratbat with another
piece of news - before he was even born, Len had made plans to
unite the families of himself and his friend Tendo Bobbi -
thus ensuring a pair to carry on the Tendo Dojo, the training
hall Bobbi owns - by marrying two of their children. Ratbat's
luck at avoiding this fate is no better, and of the three
Tendo daughters (domestic and studious Fiona, materialistic
and Gothic Niki and tomboy otaku Suzy), he finds himself
engaged to Suzy. Neither of them are particularly impressed by
this to start off with, but we're left to wonder if they can
stay antagonistic forever...
How did the series come about?
It's based on an anime series called Ranma 1/2. It's a much
closer match to that than Star Trek: The Last Generation
(another Recycadelic Cacti production) is to Star Trek, in
that people were actually transposed character for character,
hence the surnames (mostly) still being those from Ranma.
Urac Sigma had spent some time playing 'who would Narrabundah
people be compared to Ranma 1/2?' with variously Leila Fetter
and Euan Bowen, and this continued for some time with nothing
ever coming from it. Then, after some time, Sigma had a
similar conversation with Suzy Styles, who, upon hearing about
the previous matches made (some of which were soon unmade due
to the sheer amount of time elapsed and water passed since the
first playings with the idea), became incredibly enthusiastic
about the concept. Sigma toyed with the idea of writing it as
a one-off Elseworlds spin-off from both her lang College saga
and Star Trek: The Last Generation. She soon realised that
there was no way to fit everything into a single instalment,
and thus was the series born.
So, we should be imagining this as animated?
Spot on.
LANGUAGE
Why is there so much stuff in Japanese?
Because, being in Japan, the characters are actually supposed
to be speaking Japanese most of the time. However, since the
majority of the audience don't speak Japanese (and, for that
matter, Sigma's own leaves a lot to be desired), the majority
ends up 'translated' into English. What is on the page, that
is, the translated speech, is known as 'Japaneigo'.
Why not just put it all into English?
A whole bunch of reasons. The concept of Japanese-speaking
characters that never spoke Japanese didn't really appeal, for
a start. Some phrases or concepts just sound better in
Japanese (for example, Ranma's Akane beating Ranma round the
head with a mallet screaming 'Ranma no baka' loses something
when it becomes 'You jerk, Ranma!'), or quite simply don't
work in English (such as honorifics).
Mostly, the attempt is made to put Japanese terms into a
context. For example, if Ratbat asks 'Dare?' and Suzy responds
with 'Who do you think?', it soon becomes apparent that 'dare'
translates to 'who'. Languages besides Japanese that are also
translated for the reader's benefit tend to end up in a
different font.
Meanwhile, the episode titles are just in plain old Japanese
and end up subtitled in a footnote.
What are these 'honorifics'?
Honorifics are name suffixes, a small word placed on the end
of someone's name to indicate their position relative to the
speaker. The following are the most commonly used in
Narrabundah 1/2:
-san Best compared to use of 'Mr' or 'Ms' in English,
although that isn't an exact translation. Used for those of
equal status to oneself, often even with given names.
-chan Although traditionally used for little girls,
it can be used for anyone sufficiently within the affections
of the speaker (significant others, one's own children, etc).
Girls usually address each other as [Given name]-chan.
-kun More masculine than '-chan', used for those
equal or lower to oneself. Usually used for males, although
this rule is also known to slip.
(NB: While it is perfectly valid for various people to
address Ratbat in her male form as 'Ratbat-chan' or in his
female form as 'Ratbat-kun', the text tends to stick with
tradition in these cases for simplification of
identification.)
-sensei Literally means 'teacher', and is used to address
those who are in a position where they would be considered to
be wiser than the speaker. Most commonly used to doctors,
teachers, lawyers, etc.
-sempai Used to address one's superior on one's own scale.
For example, Kunou-sempai, head of almost every club at
Narrabundah College.
-sama Very respectful. Used for such beings as
guests, customers and God. In Narrabundah 1/2, this is mostly
used sarcastically.
Commonly used Japanese words and expressions in the series
(I'm too lazy to form it into a question.)
Chichi Dad
Chikusho!Damn!
Chotto mate Wait a moment
Dame No [contradiction]/Don't
Dare Who
Dette ikeBugger off
Doko Where
Gomen(nasai) Sorry
Haha Mum
Hai Yes
Hentai Pervert
Hontoo Really/truly/honestly
Iie No
Ja... Well... [at the start of a sentence]
J� ne See you
Kuso Shit
Nani What
Nan da yo? What's this?
Okaasan Mother
Onna Girl/woman/female
Otoko Boy/man/male
Otoosan Father
SumimasenExcuse me
STORY
Isn't it a bit old-fashioned to have an arranged marriage?
Even though this is still known to happen in Japan, it's
still not exactly common. This is one of the reasons that our
heroes often seem less than thrilled about the situation.
Did Suzy kill her mother?
Even speaking in my impartial FAQ-keeper mode, this question
does beggar an 'uh?' Suzy's mother is Bobbi. She's still
alive, and has appeared in almost every episode of the series
to date!
Actually, this confusion arises partly because in Ranma, the
Tendo father is still around and their mother long dead, and
people understandably get confused. The part about Suzy
killing her (I.4) is a flashback Fiona had to Bobbi
overdramatising last time Suzy cooked.
How come Len and Ratbat don't just [insert really obvious
solution to curse here]?
Mostly the solution suggested is that they just keep jumping
in and out of pools until they found the spring where a man
had drowned. There are five possible reasons for this one:
A) After Ratbat knocked him over and out, Matt the Guide
chucked the two of them out of Jusenkyou.
B) There may not even be a drowned-man spring.
C) There are too many ponds at Jusenkyou to even think about
doing that.
D) Len's not known for being wise, so it's possible that he
didn't think of it. While Ratbat isn't exactly a brainiac, she
might well have thought of this one, but keep in mind that
she's secretly gender dysphoric - she doesn't want to become a
man!
E) Something about Jusenkyou we don't know yet.
As for Ratbat following straight on with the plan he details
to Suzy in Volume I, chapter 6, and double-dipping in the girl
pond straight away, she might not have thought of it then, or
simply just been too overcome (also, remember, Len can't see
her do it on purpose).
When Ratbat thought she'd lost her virginity to Euan, why
didn't she just physically check herself?
A) Maybe for some reason she didn't think of it.
B) She's quite active, and there might not have been a
physical to check.
Where are all those places Euan went to on his travels?
OK, in chronological order...
I.2:The pub was the Gore Crow Hotel in Carbury, England, from
the Doctor Who story Battlefield.
I.3:The spaceship was the Ark, headquarters to the Earth-
based Autobots in Transformers.
I.4:The lab was Deep 13, home of the Mad Scientists from
Mystery Science Theater 3000.
I.5:The school was Ryokuto High, from Koko wa Greenwood.
I.6:Euan then went to Neribanda, home of the action in Urusei
Yatsura (and Ranma 1/2, but Lum is from UY).
I.7:Before accidentally releasing Graham, Euan found himself
in Graviton City from Project A-Ko.
I.8:The house was the Simpson home in Springfield from The
Simpsons.
I.9:The cop was at Sun Hill police station from The Bill.
I.10: The boarding home was none other than the eponymous
Maison Ikkoku.
II.4: The museum was the Louvre. As in, that big thing in
Paris.
II.6: This is probably highly obvious, but this is
supposedly the offices from Recycadelic Cacti Productions.
II.8: Here Euan entered the Doctor's time and space
machine, the TARDIS (from Doctor Who).
CHARACTERS
Do Suzy and Ratbat really hate each other?
Not really, no. At first, they reacted badly to the concept
of the engagement, and therefore each other. Soon, however,
they learnt to at least get along.
Are Suzy and Niki really 'into it'?
For all intents and purposes, they appear to be joking
around, but occasionally (most notably in I.9 and II.4), it
seems that they wouldn't mind going a bit further. Usually
it's Niki that thinks this. Most likely Suzy's too budy
pretending she doesn't fancy Ratbat to think about it...
Is Euan gay?
No, at least, not anymore. He and Ratbat were on together
once, although each wanted different things from the other.
Actually, since the only 'guy' he ever went for was actually a
girl, maybe he's not really that gay after all...
SERIES AND PRODUCTION
How many episodes have there been so far?
Volume I: 10 chapters.
Volume II: 10 chapters.
One Lemon Extra.
Volume III: 2 chapters so far.
So, to date there have been twenty-three instalments.
Did the Lemon Extra really happen?
At first Sigma wasn't sure, as she wasn't sure if she wanted
to lose the everyone's-a-virgin status of the cast. She soon
got over that, though. It probably did happen. (Or, if Styles
completes Lemon 1A, the alternate version, something like it
did.) Events of Volume III might yet confirm or deny this...
Speaking of which, will there be any more lemons?
The first lemon was written almost as a so-there act by
Sigma. Only about a day later did Styles say that she
originally intended to 'race' Sigma on the writing of that
encounter. Later, Sigma proposed remounting the challenge
under a different format (something that is expected to happen
later this year). Styles, when last asked, also planned to
complete her version of the encounter between Niki and Ryouga.
In the meantime, Sigma is thinking of writing a 'third' lemon
to make sure that all three genderal pairings have been
covered. As the first one was boy/girl, if the 'contest' one
is going to be girl/girl (very possible at the time of
writing), this last one will likely be boy/boy.
How often does the series come out?
During Volume I and most of Volume II, episodes came out at
the rate of one a week. Nicole Wylie has been releasing
chapters of Volume III at an irregular rate. There is no fixed
period for the gap between volumes.
What's the current schedule look like?
Sigma is doing only editing work on Volume III. Wylie is
writing the first part of the batch, and when she completes
her story arc, Styles plans to write the additional episodes
to bring it up to a full ten. Sigma is currently working on
the 'Movie', which is set between Volumes II and III. Volume
III came out first, though, when it became clear what was
going to happen faster.
MISCELLANEOUS
Why does Kunou call Ratbat 'the red-haired Helen' when her
name isn't Helen?
Knowing Kunou's classical background, it's a reference to the
legendary Helen of Troy, whose beauty was apparently so great
that her face could launch a thousand ships.
Why did the usual name for the Blue Thunder switch from
'Jarrah' to 'Kunou' after Volume I?
At first, it was an attempt to keep him closer to his real-
life seiyuu. But all the other characters starting calling him
Kunou anyway, and Sigma thought of him as Kunou, and since he
was basically a direct re-incarnation of Kunou Tatewaki (from
Ranma, surprise, surprise), Sigma switched over.
What does 'chiropteran' mean?
In many sagas by Urac Sigma or from Recycadelic Cacti, there
are two classes of human known as 'chiropteran': some evolved
from bats rather than apes - chiroptera sapiens; and others
just have physically batlike qualities by some random mutation
or another. The usual descriptive, 'chiropteran' is the actual
word that means 'of or pertaining to bats' (by the same token,
chiropteran characters often call other people 'simians',
comparing them to monkeys). The most noticeable physical
differences common for both types are: four nipples/breasts
(the lower two generally being smaller), pronounced fangs,
slightly more finger webbing and prominent ears. Less obvious
are such things as better night-vision. They also tend to have
weak eyes when it comes to standing up to light. They
generally need sunglasses in anything above overcast-level-
daylight - normal interior lights tend not to bother them,
although some even need them all the time except in absolute
night. And no, they can't fly.
There's a whole host of other things that pertain to the
evolutionary chiropterans, but so far there haven't been any
of them in Narrabundah 1/2.
Ratbat is of the 'random mutation' type of chiropteran,[1]
sharing those physical traits with Urac Sigma,[2] while the
other kind are just made up (at least, as far as we know).
_______________________________
[1] As neither Len nor Nicole are chiropteran, but then, neither
are either of Sigma's parents, and if you've ever seen her you
know we ain't just whistlin' Dixon...
[2] Or, to those of us with lesser fantasy lives, Siggy's a
freak... (I'd believe you if I hadn't met another one... - US)
===
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