On Wed, 15 Apr 1998, Luigi Mattera wrote:

  When you talk about real life, heavy blunt weaponry like maces and staves
are at times worse than bladed weapons.  No, they never cut the person they
strike.

They DO:
a.  Shatter bone
b.  Destroy organs
c.  Cause internal bleeding.  (Very NASTY!)

And heavy bladed weapons don't destroy organs, or cause bleeding?

  Mousse USUALLY swings BLADES, and Ranma ALWAYS dodges.  He dodges because
ONE hit from Mousse will kill him.

Actually, he dodges mostly everything (except for mallets).

  Shampoo isn't as fast as Ranma.  She isn't as nimble.  She isn't that
good of a fighter.  Better than Akane and Ukyou, but they are the weakest
of the regulars.  Akane flat out gives up training, and Ukyou spends more
time cooking than training.

Ouch.  Dangerous statement, that.  Ukyou spent ten years in vigourous
training for revenge.  And as I understand it, cooking -is- her martial
art.  Shampoo not that good of a fighter?  She's the reigning chamion of
her village, which is devoted to fighting.  Statements to the effect that
they are not very good as fighters are questionable.

However, I'll say that attempting to determind the skill level of Ranma
1/2 characters in more than a general sense is futile.

There's a very good reason why Shampoo, Ukyou or Akane cannot solve most
of their problems with their fists.  The name of the series Ranma1/2
correctly implies that this story is centered around Ranma.  If anyone
were able to solve the trouble that heads their way without him, then the
series would lose its focus.  Inconsistancies in skill, such as Ranma
unable to dodge mallets, when he can dodge Akane's unhanded attacks(which
are most likely faster), can be found in abundance to keep the story
moving. 

Even Kuno was said in the beginning to be "a skilled opponent".  In a
sense, the manga contradicts itself when person after person is able to
defeat the Kendo champion.  However, from the perspective of the story, if
a potential opponent cannot defeat Kuno, then what chance does he have
against Ranma?  It's quite improbable that -everyone- can defeat Kuno, but
for the sake of keeping the story moving, it's necessary.

I believe that there is another reason why he doesn't out
and out attack her, and I think it has to do with Cologne. 

Just out of curiosity, is it ever mentioned in the manga that Mousse isn't
going full out, or is this a fanfic perpetuated belief?  I've my own
beliefs on this matter, but I'm not interested in character debates.


-Natsume Ranma Ranma
-------
Oyaji-san!  Mallet-san!
I authorize you to take...MALLET ONE!