"St. Suika Roberts" <wroberts@tvi.cc.nm.us> wrote:

GK> Bake- is a Japanese prefix that indicates a ghost or spirit; as in
GK> bake-neko, the ghost cat.

I think it probably should be `Ranma no Obake' as obake is the general
form. . .

Maybe, but it loses a lot of its pun value that way.

The doctor didn't mention that they could get an amniocentesis done 
and check for deformities before the birth?  What a strange omission.

GK> Um... his HMO wouldn't pay for it? :-) Actually, just a case of author
GK> ignorance.

Probly the doctor should mention that it could be done, but that there
are occasional side effects that could be bad for the child.

What I'm leaning toward is a rewrite of the scene with Ranma and the
doctor, such that the doc doesn't get the idea that there might be
something like that wrong with Ranma's fetus, and therefore there's no
reason for him to suggest the test. The possible inbreeding will be
something Ranma will worry about on his own.

Also, I think Ranma would have more sense than to go to a hospital; I
know that Japan doesn't have as well-developed a midwife community as
the States, but even there they will have doctors who make house
calls.

Why would going to a hospital be stupid? I don't get it. Remember that
in Japan, a hospital is not likely to perform a total cash-ectomy along
with its other services -- as a US hospital would.

Probably the best method would be to have the ob. show up, do a
belly-feeling (to make sure that the child is in the right position),
and have the child at home.

If he is stupid enough to have a hospital delivery, he will object to
being shaved, and probably make it stick.

I'll think about that; I still don't understand why he should object to
the hospital.

Also, we're talking about someone who gets embedded two feet into
concrete walls without passing out; I think she would object quite a
bit bit to anesthesia, not because of any macho posing but because of
just how many nasty encounters she's had with it.

As long as Kodachi's not the anesthetist... :-)

(background for this: both me and my little sister were home births,
doctor showed up for mine, the midwife didn't show for my sister's.
My mom is about Ranma's height, and reports that labor was `not nearly
as bad as a headache, about like stubbing a toe.'  Can't personally
say, not having experienced this myself, but it seems that the person
who has a really nasty labor is a rarity.  

True. I deliberately decided to make Ranma's birth an exceptionally
painful one, because I wanted to show how he'd deal with it.

I kinda think that Ranma would have looked at the whole thing as a
martial art problem and done a lot more research than is evident
here.

Interesting thought. I'll think about this when I'm working on the
rewrite of this chapter.

	Suika (who would have responded earlier, but only read this
	today.)

No problem, I appreciate your taking the time to read and comment on
this chapter.


Gary Kleppe
http://www.execpc.com/~kleppe/comics