Hello, and welcome to Classic Fanfic Review. Essentially, we pull an
oldie-but-goodie from the old fanfic archives, study it for style, plot,
characterization, etc., and suggest it for you all there to read.
My first one will probably have Gary Kleppe laughing in his seat: "Ranma
1/2 Final Solution: What a Couple of Dips" by Joe Rispoli and Mike
Termena. For a copy of it, go to
ftp://ftp.cs.ubc.ca/pub/archive/anime-fan-works/Ranma/ranma.final.solution
in the RAAC archives. Anyway, on with the review.
Honestly, I'd planned to review this when I first came up with this idea a
few weeks ago, as this is the oldest Ranma fanfic that I know of. Dated
August 1, 1990, it seems primitive in some ways, but is still a good
overall read.
The setup for the story is one that has been used many times since, in
various forms. Ranma, due to various events, becomes stuck in cursed
form. This brings all the problems concerning relationships into sharp
focus, and forces Akane to make a difficult choice: to stay with Ranma, or
to leave her. The result will surprise some.
Like later authors, Rispoli and Termena make what is sometimes considered
a mistake, though is debatable considering the circumstances: they limit
the scope of the work. Like Richard Lawson in 'Thy Outward Part' or
myself in 'Iris', the two focus primarily on the relationship in question,
and rarely move out of that microcosm. This has its advantages as it
showcases the main focus of the story; however, as I so recently found
out, it will disappoint Ukyou and Shampoo fans. The absence of Shampoo is
of particular interest, as much of the action of the story takes place in
China, near Shampoo's homeland. In the end, I can't fault them for this,
though others might.
Characterization is... well... spotty in areas. Rispoli and Termena take
some liberties in characterization that would leave them crucified today,
most notably in Nabiki and Akane. Akane's characterization has been
debated to death recently; in this case, it can simply be faulted for its
inconsistency. In the opening, Akane gets the class to engage in
splashing Ranma repeatedly with hot and cold water as punishment; by the
climax of the story, she's more serious, and realizes just how much she
cares for Ranma. Nabiki is silly and sentimental, to the point that it
ceases to be Nabiki and becomes a caricature. (On a side note, they make
a freshman mistake with their spelling: "Nibiki"). Other characters are
within reasonable limits, though some may wonder at Genma's understanding
at Ranma's fate.
The work is in script format; however, this doesn't affect the work too
much. They use the between-line notes skillfully, setting the scene of
the work quite well. The reader can feel their own heart beating as Ranma
runs away; they can share in the tense, almost horrified emotions once
Akane makes her 'final decision'.
Some of the ending scenes could have been done away with; the authors made
a crossover with Urusai Yatsura toward the end, which distracts from the
more emotional sections of the end. Essentially, they were still bound by
the sentimental-comical feel of Takahashi's works, a 'requirement' then
that would not be effectively broken until the popularity of 'Stepping
Stones' years later. As such, the silliness there detracts from the
overall WAFF of the ending - an ending that is, truth to tell, powerful
and beautiful for its time.
Many of the mistakes in this story can be forgiven, and should. Back
then, Viz was a little company putting out Mai the Psychic Girl manga, and
fansubs were the only way to distribute Ranma anime. Nodoka didn't even
exist at the time; her introduction was still a few months away. To put
it bluntly, there wasn't that much source material out there, and the
Dayton Anime crew did the best they could under the circumstances.
Overall, I give it two-and-a-half bweees out of four; it's no masterpiece,
but it's a nice treat to read. There is a sequel series by Ridgewolfe,
called "Ascending Changes", if you are interested in reading a
continuation of the work.
-- Nick