This reads like it's a review of Ranma's Curse, not Life.  Simple
mistake so I'll go on the assumption it is.  BTW, I have very big feet
that make wonderful targets and taste good.
 
First off, I know I have made several mistakes in Ranma's Curse.  Most
involve the psychology of Ranma and what the Tendou daughters put him
through.  Normally, I'm more careful, but the story dictated otherwise.
Future installments will address the mistakes and their consequences.

        Well, someone finally did one.  A "Cologne wins" fic.

I never thought of it that way.  But did she really win?  Look at what
it cost her.  She was about to have her claim revoked by the other
Elders, she lost the respect of Shampoo (that becomes more apparent in
the future,) and her once proud family is completely and totally
disgraced.  No Elder will ever come from it again.  Some victory.

        What, you say, but she's dead!  Ah, but that's how she seals her
triumph.
        Cologne's killed Ranma.  No trace of the boy who defied her and
Amazon law is left.  Even if the amnesia wears off, all that will remain
is Ranko, a girl with some of Ranma's memories.  Since she's been
separated from anyone who knows or cares about her past life (Nodoka
arriving too late in the process to count), she's more likely than not to
suppress those memories and they'll have little or no effect on how she
lives her life.

Woah, there.  That assumption is going too far.  I realize it looks bad,
but let's take things into account, shall we.  Ranma and Akane have
promised themselves to each other.  Yes, Ranko doesn't really remember
those promises, yet.  Nodoka promised Akane she would do whatever she
could to keep the two together.  And Akane will take advantage of the
open invitation (why else would I hint that there is a sequel?)

As Akane told her friends, Ranko is confused and frustrated at her
memories, both the ones she knows well, and the ones that are beginning
to reemrge during the five months between the fight and summer
vacation.  That does not seem to be repressing them, otherwise Akane
wouldn't know what was really wrong.  Again, I made a mistake for the
sake of the story.

        Genma and Souun's lives have been destroyed for abetting Ranma in
his resistance.  Akane, Ukyou and Kodachi have been made to suffer for
daring to want the same man Shampoo did.
        Shampoo and Cologne's "face" in the village has been restored,
and Amazon law has been upheld.
        And best of all, because she dies in the moment she secures her
triumph, Cologne cannot be forced to undo the consequences of anything
she's done.  Nor does she have to worry about the possibility of random
chance spoiling her revenge where she can see it.  I suspect she died
with a big grin on her face.

More like adject terror.  The bakusai tenketsu doesn't work on living
things, yet it is what kills her.  Also, Ranma had effectively defended
herself against BOTH Shampoo AND Colonge.  Colonge's amaguriken was
nothing compared to Ranma's, and Ranma was going against two opponents.
Ranma had again surprised Colonge.

        I really would've liked to have seen a bit more soul searching by
the girls when they found out about the "man among men" pledge.
Something along these lines, perhaps.

The soulsearching comes in different forms as the sequel unfolds.  It
will address the threads I have left open.  I intend to explore more
about Akane's character.  I even address her "hatred" of boys.  I
probaly won't deal so much with Kasumi, but Nabiki will carry the load
of advisor for much of the series.  It'll bring out more of who she is
and the guilt over her treatment of Ranma.

Shampoo will be a major player in the sequel.  We'll see how she handles
what she has done.  We'll also see what her world views are, compared to
those of other, more travelled, Amazons.

        "Well, no wonder Genma overreacted so badly.  To him, Ranma
holding on to his masculinity was literally a life or death matter!  So
when Ranma seemed to be giving up, he took it as meaning Ranma wanted him
to die.  And of course he never explained, but we never bothered to ask
either.
        "And we did act to isolate Ranma from his father as much as
possible, and push him into dressing and acting like a more feminine girl
than Akane.  Ranma was so depressed, he would have done anything we
asked.

Actually, Genma isolated himself from Ranma when the Phoenix pill was
destroyed.  He viewed his son as a failure for not returning.
Unfortunately, you're right, Kasumi did force the issue faster than she
should have.  Then again, Ranma may have also embraced the change.  He
found people who were accepting him and loving him in a way he never
experienced with his father (and I don't mean the students, until after
Happosai.)

Nabiki explains this perfectly to Kunou in Part 3 of the Sequel.
"Ranko's more than just a name, it's her personality.  She was born the
day Aunt Nodoka accepted Ranma as her daughter.  Everthing else led to
her 'birth.'  First, Jusenkyo, then the Cat's Tongue, the bakusai
tenketsu, Happosai, and the Dojo Destroyer."

        "We could have compromised, let Ranma wear more androgynous
clothes, shorter hair, use masculine speech...anything to show he wasn't
surrendering to the curse, wasn't giving up his manhood.  It wouldn't
really have confused the daycare kids *that* much, and the other students
could certainly understand Ranma's need to appease his Dad.  But instead
we said "our way or the highway".  Is it any wonder our fathers chose the
highway?"

The way I see Ranma, he's an all or nothing kind of guy.  He's either a
man or not.  That's why his ego is so large.  It's his defense against
the curse.  Without it, he would consider himself a coward and loser. 
By the time he wins against, Happosai, he has accepted his curse, though
not entirely embracing it.  When the female students accept him as a
girl, Ranma begins to accept being a girl.

Also, when Happosai is introduced, Ranma tells Atsuki's mother about
himself.  He talks as though he were always a girl.  When he tells
Akane, Atsuki, and Kyoko this, he tells them it felt so right, it scared
him.

Genma chose the highway because he never could deal with things in an
approrpiate way.  He was focused on the immediate.  "I can pay for my
food with my son.  He will be your daughter's fiancee."  Ranma being
locked as a female may have scared him, as it did Ryoga, or he may have
felt it a failure.  Whenever Ranma "failed" in the original, Genma
overreacted, claiming Ranma never cared about his father, the Art, or
his honor.

Soun chose the highway for different reasons.  He wanted familiarity.
His travels with Genam offered that while Ranma's female body did not.
He wanted to be better at the Art than Ranma, after all, he was a
master.  He also wanted to tell his friend that Ranma accepted the
engagement.  There could be more reasons, but Soun is very much an
enigma.

        Mind you, I have to wonder just what good it does to continue if
there is no hope of Ranma ever recovering from the "locked in form"
problem...

As Master Pao said in Tofu's office, there's always hope for one so
young.  The sequel is meant to address the issues and adventures
surrounding the clan.  Their accomplishments and failures will have a
long reaching affect on them, and those they know.

Spoiler Alert!

The clan begins to see exactly how depraved and honorless Genma is. 
They meet an illitimate daughter.  They see his treatment of his
grandchildren, especially those born to the cursed parents.  And, though
we don't meet any by name, we find out how many times he's tried to, or
successfully, engaged Ranma/Ranko to others.  Is it any wonder Nodoka
struck her husband?

        Thought:  Perhaps Genma runs into Ryuu Kumon, who's doing his
"Ranma" impersonation, and feeling at least a little responsible for the
boy's problems, takes him on as the new heir to Anything-Goes.  After
all, now he has a lot to prove, to himself, to Nodoka, and especially to
Ranma if the boy ever returns.

I hadn't really thought of Ryuu.  He would make a great focus for a
story involving Ranma's and Akane's children.  After all, he looks so
much like Ranma, the troubled teens may take to him.  Who knows.  All I
know, at this point anyway, is that the children are not immune to the
curse.

Hopefully, I've cleared up a few things (without shooting too big of a
hole in my feet.)  I don't want to start a thread, so this is all I'll
say publicly on the series.  Ranma's Memories won't be out until after
the first of the year.

I thank you all for reading the story.  Enjoy the other fine works on
the list.

Bryan Neef