At 08:44 PM 10/4/97 -0400, you wrote:

Jeremy 'Loki' Blackman:

That's because the Ranma 1/2 universe offers countless possibilities for
fanfiction.  The folks who complain about seeing too many Ranma fics -

why?

 Because they 'dominate the fanfiction?'  

Did you ever stop and think that there might be a *reason* why this is the
case?

Maybe I'm misunderstanding your intent, but this seems to be implying that
Ranma is somehow 'more worthy' than other series, and this is why it's got
a lot of fanfiction based on it out there?

You're misunderstanding my intent. :)  My above comment was referring to
the fact - actually, it's an opinion - that Ranma 1/2, because of the
various intercharacter relationships (i.e. you can take the series off in
*many* different directions; this is also due to the varying level of
seriousness throughout the manga) and since it was left unfinished (unlike,
say, Escaflowne) and open-ended, is a very easy anime/manga to base
fanfiction off of.

I think you'll find that there is a great deal about Escaflowne that has
been left open ended.  Indeed, there are aspects to the end of Escaflowne,
in terms of the interpersonal relationships of the characters, that mirror
those of Ranma.  There is more depth to the Wscaflowne characterisations,
though it is a drama series, and not a comedy.

Don't take this the wrong way, but the main reason Ranma is a popular
topic for fanfiction is probably that it's easy to get ahold of
translated, a lot of people have seen or read it, and it's also often (as
a result of being easy to obtain) very often the series that is used to
introduce someone to anime.

For the same reason Sailor Moon (particularly dubbed Sailor Moon) stories
have begun to pick up recently...what with the dub having been on the air,
it was easily accessible and so people were familiar with the characters
(or figured they were, anyway - but that's another discussion entirely). 

Does this mean Ranma is any more worthy than a lesser known series like
_Futaba-kun Change_?  

No. :)  Actually, I've heard of Futaba-kun Change, and I think Futaba and
Ranma should get together sometime. <g>

Not really necessarily... but how many folks are
familiar with FKC?  Not nearly as many as are familiar with Ranma, believe
me.  

Likewise, I think _Shoujo Kakumei Utena_ (Revolutionary Girl Utena)  would
be an excellent series to write fanfiction around (tangled plot, character
depth, series director in need of medication as badly as Anno was while
making Evangelion) but as it's never been translated, I don't think it's
likely to become a popular fanfic category anytime soon.

It's not that I think Ranma's more worthy than any other series, it's just
that Ranma is a lot easier (and easier to change the course of the story)
to write than many other popular series.

That's my opinion, of course.

May it be each to their own.  I, for one, would certainly like to see
someone write an Utena fic.  ^_^