Mike Loader <mike@thekeep.org> wrote:

Doesn't wash. The Shadderkitty doesn't strike me as the patient sort (cats
aren't) or the sort who would only partially exercise his hold over Ranma
for a full ten years, in a uniform way. His control (IMHO) would be
chaotic, erratic, taunting, and as complete as he could make it.

Cats are quite capable of playing with their food before eating, and ten
years is *not* a lot of time for an immortal demon. But it's Krista's
character, so I'll defer to her as to whether the Cat would've done what
he did here.

really see it happen. He might have had a horde of cats waiting outside
the nekohanten, for all we know.

That Akane didn't see or hear.

She was a bit pre-occupied.

Okay. It's a projection that can seem absolutely real and perfectly
imitate others. And which can appear without being summoned. *shrug* It
might as well be the real thing. It is, in fact, even better than the real
thing cause it can't be hurt.

It also can't hurt others.

Why Akane? Ryouga, for instance, would have been just as easy to get and a
finer catch. Answer - it fits the story better to have it be Akane.

I'm pretty hard-pressed to see how it could've been Ryoga. Ryoga isn't
in love with Ranma deep down. He wouldn't have agreed to marry Ranma.
Ranma and he wouldn't be willing to mate with each other, even as cats.
(OTOH, once the cat had Akane, he may or may not have been able to use
*her* as a stepping stone to Ryoga, but that's another issue.)

Why does the Shadderkitty wait ten years and risk upsetting a powerful
Amazon spirit-dealer 

How powerful Cologne is in this regard is debatable. She's often
portrayed as a "powerful spirit-dealer" in fanfics, but I'm not aware of
any evidence for this in Takahashi's works.

It doesn't, I'm afraid. While your explaination are (to a degree ;)
reasoned, the fact still remains that it _feels_ like a Deus-Ex-Machina,
like something that only happened because the plot called for it. And feel
is the paramount element of a work of dramatic fiction.

But I liked it anyway. ;)

That's OK. Maybe we should just agree to disagree here.


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