The FFML Reviews List
=====================
This list is sorted by series, and within each series, ordered
alphabetically, according to last names. The synopses here
represent whatever has been sent to us, from Saturday to Friday.
Reviews given are done by the person listed in soft parentheses above
the review. If you have any comments or criticisms, please direct them
to that reviewer.
Paul <arezina@acad1.stvincent.edu>
Helen <Helen@eiw-ca.com>
Shunsuke <shunsuke@mailcity.com>
* * * * *
[Crossovers]
- - - - -
Title: Decision
Series: Tenchi Muyo!/Ranma .5/King of Fighters
Genre: comedy?
Authors: Firefly and Scuzzy
Emails: firefly1@hotmail.com (Firefly); lair@trinidad.net (Scuzzy)
Homepage: http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Towers/7210/triad.html
Date Sent to FFML: early July '98
Summary:
Tenchi Masaki has finally made a decision...
{Shunsuke}
I really don't know what's going on here, and I think the author
is making the mistake of assuming people know the events he's
alluding to. Bringing in characters from other series doesn't
do much except to suggest Tenchi's actions by their presence,
which, for me, doesn't help. Yes, I know all about Happosai,
but unless the author is suggesting Tenchi is becoming a lech,
this didn't make sense.
- - - - -
Title: Their Name is Legion Chapters 1-3/?
Series: Ranma 1/2 and Legion of Super-Heroes
Genre: Crossover
Author: Scott K. Jamison
Email: majks@cyberx.com
Homepage: http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Flats/5990
Date Sent to FFML: July 20, 1998
Size: Various
Summary:
The Legionnaire called Apparition finds herself in Nerima,
Japan, and meets Ranma. When her friends come to pick her up, they find
themselves embroiled in a battle with a newly-upgraded villain....
{Paul}
One of the main problems with LSH is that there are at least three
different series, by my count. There's the first, started by
Superboy and an improbable trip into the future... which segues
into the second, dealing with clones of the Legionnaires and/or
alternate timelines, and the third, freshly reformatted after Zero
Hour. And, since I more or less exhasted my dad's comic collection
with the first two, I was having a hard time placing this. But I
am saturated enough to recognize main characters and suchlike.
AAAAnyway. It's a valid premise, something a lot of other crossovers
lack. And there's very little in the way of fighting, which is also
something a lot of other crossovers lack. And someone actually takes
advantage of the tech jump which comes from crossoverage, which is
definitely something other crossovers lack. Though I think pantsuit
boy has been reading one too many old DC Comics.
"Crossdresser Lad"? BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...
But I kept getting the feeling of "haven't we been this way
before"...simply because a lot of bad crossovers happen this way. Ah
well. 14 or 15 out of 20.
- - - - -
Title: Their Name is Legion 4/?
Series: Ranma 1/2 & Legion of Super-Heroes
Genre: Crossover
Author: Scott K. Jamison
Email: majks@cyberx.com
Homepage: http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Flats/5990
Date Sent to FFML: July 22, 1998
Size: 9 Kb
Summary:
The mysterious villain kicks around Ranma and the Legion for
a bit, then delivers an ultimatum.
{Paul}
You know, given a few of Tarou's quotes in the manga... "With these,
even world conquest won't be impossible!"... he actually makes
pretty good Golden Age supervillain material. Which is kind of
weird, considering he doesn't even really WANT world conquest. A
nice bit wherein the LSH just sort of tries not to laugh at Tarou's
demands. Of course, considering the guy can level them with a
thought... but still, it's definitely getting surreal...but then,
surreal is sometimes the norm for the folks at DC. 15 or 16 out of
20.
- - - - -
Title: A World Without A Future; Day 2
Series: Crossover; SM, TM!, BGC, YUA, DC Comics
Genre: Futuristic Post Apocalyptic Horror
Author: Adam Christopher Leigh
Email: Omicron@sprynet.com
Homepage: http://dogbert.simplenet.com
Date Sent to FFML: July 21, 1998
Size: 44 Kb
Summary:
The Sailor Scouts were working to bring about a Utopia, the
Crystal Tokyo of everyone's dreams. They Failed. This is the future,
a world reeling from the impact of an Asteroid that hit the Pacific
Ocean 20 years ago, a city named after a once prosperous one, isolated
from the blizzard in a large cylindrical column. Americans, Japanese,
Chinese, Jurains, wrapped together in over 40 million tons of decaying
metal, all alone in the cold.
Day 2 brings the cast of Bubblegum Crisis into the picture and the
incredible story of their origin. Meanwhile Ami explains a bit about
how NewMetropolis works to Makoto.
{Paul}
And the cinema just keeps on rollin'. Excellent description, very
nice plot, very, very little to falter here. Vivid writing backed
up by equally vivid thought. 18 or 19 out of 20, easily... possibly
even 20 of 20. The tendrils of life begin to find each other...
- - - - -
Title: Storm Warnings
Series: BGC/HL
Genre: Xover
Author: Trboturtle
Email: trboturtle@aol.com
Homepage: http://members.aol.com/trboturtle
Date Sent to FFML: July 25, 1998
Summary:
A woman is shot by a senior member of GENOM, and Ducan Macleod gets
a call from an old friend.....
{Shunsuke}
The "Highlander" part of this series clearly follows the TV
storyline and not the movie, so part of whether you like this
will be personal preference of source material.
This first two parts are written as setup for later parts, not
really delving into the action side of things. There's not too
much BGC related stuff yet aside from references to boomers and
the GENOM exec, but this is a promising start. I questioned
what GENOM would possibly gain from killing immortals, but out
of interest, and not criticism.
- - - - -
Title: Switch: Odds and Ends: Tree
Series: Ranma 1/2 (with cameos from Here is Greenwood, Sailor Moon S,
Maison Ikkoku and The Three-Fold God's Path)
Genre: Alternate History (Delusional)
Author: Nikholas "Switch" F. Toledo
Email: niftol@i-manila.com.ph
Homepage: http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Flats/3145/switchf.html
Date Sent to FFML: July 24, 1998
Size: 36 Kb
Summary:
A divergence. Hidden messages and innuendo abound.
{Paul}
"When Ryouga Met Ukyou." Again and again and again! If you're not
used to Switch's even-more-fragmented-and-funny-than-Adams-and-
Pratchett writing style, you'll be hopelessly lost. Heck, _I_
think I'm used to it and I'm hopelessly lost. But it's a nice
collection of little comic vignettes with no purpose other than to
back up a rather unlikely pairing. 9 of 10 for sheer humor... 15
or 16 of 20 overall.
* * * * *
[Iczelion]
- - - - -
Title: Where Does My Heart Beat Now? - Part 3...Take 2
Series: Iczelion
Genre: action / drama / little bit of "shojo ai" romance
(I hope to heck I got that right)
Author: Brian Yaple
Email: BYapes@erie.net
Homepage: http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Pagoda/8768
Date Sent to FFML: July 22, 1998
Size: 17.5 KB
Summary:
Second try, same as the first, only stretching out the battle and
drama a bit.
{Shunsuke}
I have pretty much the same things to say as before about the
parts that didn't change; as for those that did, well...the
author added some silliness and changed a few bits in the combat
scenes, but there's really not much different. Personally,
though, this worked better when it was just serious.
* * * * *
[Ranma 1/2]
- - - - -
Title: Sword and Sorcery, chapter 18
Series: Ranma 1/2
Genre: Fantasy
Author: D.Fire
Email: phongb9@idt.net
Homepage: http://idt.net/~phongb9/
Date Sent to FFML: July 23, 1998
Size: 38 Kb
Summary:
Tossed into another world, one where magic isn't so uncommon, the main
characters from Ranma 1/2 grow up into new lives and new identities.
When memories return, Ranma (now known as Raeni) searches for his
compatriots trying to untangle the prophecy that brought them to this
world.
{Shunsuke}
A logical continuation of what happened before, but more of a "fill
in the blanks" story, this feels to me. The author still seems to
be working on set up rather than getting into the action and big
events. You can only do this for so long before something has to
happen, so I hope things begin in earnest soon.
- - - - -
Title: Ranma: Someday Never Comes
Series: Ranma 1/2
Genre: Next Generation
Author: David Homerick
Email: dhomeric@jps.net
Date Sent to FFML: July 19, 1998
Size: 25 Kb, 7 Kb
Summary:
Twenty years after Ranma 1/2, Ranma and Akane Tendo and Ryoga and
Shampoo Hibiki are eking out a living in an economically devastated Japan.
Meanwhile, a young man named Hidoshi Unryuu embarks on a quest to find his
father -- and kill him.
{Paul}
This is definitely not what I expected out of the future... but it
kinda fits. The interactions between the "new" characters have been
set up rather nicely, for the most part, and the "old" characters
are still acting recognizably like themselves, though age and love
have done wonders to smooth a few rough edges. All in all, a rather
nice depiction of what could be. 15 or 16 out of 20.
- - - - -
Title: Twilight Existence 14/?
Series: Ranma 1/2
Genre: Alternate Universe
Author: Scott K. Jamison
Email: majks@cyberx.com
Homepage: http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Flats/5990
Date Sent to FFML: July 25, 1998
Size: 12 Kb
Summary:
In this Alternate Universe, the Jyuusenkyo springs change
minds as well as bodies. Thus Ranko Saotome is a personality of her own,
who must deal with a life shared with a brother she cannot meet.
Ukyou Kuonji joins the cast, and he seems to have taken a shine
to Ranko (and vice versa). But what does the okonomiyaki chef really
want?
{Paul}
I was wondering when you'd get around to this... without a Ranma to
slake her thirst for revenge (and, coincidentally, entirely reverse
it), Ukyou is turning her attentions to the next best target...
Ranma's sister. Reality is going to come down HARD on Ranko, and I
don't envy her at all for it. 17 or 18 out of 20, because this is
so darned interesting...
- - - - -
Title: Hearts and Minds Prelude 2 - Kuonji Ukyo: Name and Likeness [revised]
Series: Ranma 1/2
Genre: Continuation
Author: Gary Kleppe
Email: kleppe@execpc.com
Homepage: http://www.execpc.com/~kleppe/comics.html
Date Sent to FFML: July 20, 1998
Size: 32 Kb
Summary:
Seven years after the end of the Ranma 1/2 series, Kuno
Tatewaki comes to Ukyo's restaurant, in search of fighters to help
defend the Amazon village. We flash back to see what Ukyo's been doing
since the end of the manga: A visit from Ranma and Akane, pursuit from
two unwanted suitors, and an offer from a company wanting to start a
chain of restaurants based on hers.
Oh, and Ukyo kisses Sanzenin Mikado, and he's not happy about it.
{Paul}
This is a character study thinly disguised as a story. One must
feel genuinely sorry for Ukyou... her dreams are just sort of
ripped away from her and no-one at all seems to care... and then
she finds that she wasn't dreaming of such great things after all.
Kuno's slowly-growing web of quasi-normalcy draws her in at the
very end, after some truly tortuous times. Light on description,
but heavy on the thoughts and feelings of the major players...
that's what makes a character study, no? 17 or 18 out of 20.
- - - - -
Title: [Wheel of Fire] #3: End of the Beginning
Series: Ranma 1/2
Genre: Continuation
Author: Razorclaw X
Email: spiceoflife@hotmail.com
Homepage: http://www.crosswinds.net/anaheim/~slythe/ranma/ranff.html
Date Sent to FFML: July 24, 1998
Size: 50 Kb
Summary: Now that Ranma and Akane's affairs are reasonably in order,
they decide to tie the knot. Of course, when three-thousand years of
Chinese Amazon tradition is at stake, anything can happen!
{Paul}
Everyone's going sane! Everyone's... hey, why am I panicking? Sane
is GOOD. I think. Of course, Kodachi going sane is perhaps not so
good. And the wedding drawn up in sanity but descending into
insanity is definitely not so good, but funny nonetheless. So tell
me... was it here or in Lord Archive's series that the Wedding From
Pandemonium, Mark II was first coined? Funny in places, lots of
hard-right-turn character development in places, but overall... 14
or 15 out of 20.
- - - - -
Title: I don't like Mondays
Series: Ranma 1/2
Genre: Song-fic / Sad
Author: Ryoucilo
Email: bogue@negia.net
Date sent to FFML: June 19, 1998
Size: 6 Kb
Summary:
A fic set to the song by The Boomtown Rats.
{Paul}
I am utterly convinced that there are two seperate people using
Ryoucilo's account. The second writes pieces like this. Of course,
I don't know the song all that well... but I've heard it, at least
tangentially...and this is completely and utterly chilling, but a
distinct possibility. With all the wackos in Nerima... someone,
someday, may decide to start packing heat. And this is what happens
when bullets take the place of chi blasts. 10 of 10 on the short
scale.
{Shunsuke}
Hmm...shades of TBE. This is a "video description" type songfic,
which doesn't really let the reader know what it happenning. You
can see the events clearly, but there's no explanation, no dialogue.
For some songfics this works, but here doesn't convey any sense of
horror or dismay at the events that happen. Having the characters
talking would have done more to drive home the emotions.
- - - - -
Title: The Great Song of Indifference
Series: Ranma 1/2
Genre: Songfic
Author: Ryoucilo
Email: bogue@negia.net
Date Sent to FFML: July 20, 1998
Size: 6 Kb
Summary:
A fic set to the song by Bob Geldof.
{Paul}
And the first writes pieces like this. 10 of 10 for COMPLETELY
different reasons. I recognize a bit from "Kasumi's Guest" in
here... this just blows the whole thing up to even more extreme
extremes. Complete and utter insanity, and the Kasumi-on-Prozac
self taking it all in gleeful, empty-minded stride.
You know, I've got a theory that whenever something is written...
it IS happening, in some alternate dimension. *shudder at the
implications*
{Shunsuke}
Much better than the other, even if this song isn't as well known
as the other. This songfic is a laugh, wholly apporpriate for the
song, and the descriptions are much more evocative of images.
- - - - -
Title: The Mail Order Groom/ Boarder/ Servant
Series: Ranma 1/2
Genre: New Character / Comedy
Author: Ryoucilo
Email: bogue@negia.net
Date: July 18, 1998
Size: 8 Kb
Summary:
Kuno sends away for a mail order groom for
his wacky sister Kodachi. But what he doesn't know is
that the groom doesn't know he's supposed to be the
groom! Doesn't that sound like it's zany and fun?!
It doesn't? Well screw you!
{Paul}
Still more of the first Ryoucilo. And the sick thing is that I was
actually accepting this as remotely possible. 8 of 10 on the short
scale.
{Shunsuke}
This is *definitely* not a self-insertion (or if it is, the author
has got one hell of a low opinion of himself ^_^).
Obviously nobody bothered to read the fine print here, or if they
did, they didn't know the language. At least the guy's not a lech,
but I can't imagine Kodachi taking a shine to him, other than her
shoes. I like this start, and as a short series, this could work.
- - - - -
Title: Lost and Forgotten Book 0, prologue and Chapter one
Series: Ranma 1/2
Genre: Original flavor/SI
Author: Jeremy Thompson
Email: jthompson@badlands.4eyes.net
Homepage:
http://www.geocities.com/~azatlan/Special-Series/lost-and-forgotten.html
Date Sent to FFML: July 24, 1998
Size: 20 Kb
Summary:
This is a part of Lost and Forgotten that covers the events
between the prologue and Ryoga and Jude arriving in Nerima. It details
Ryoga saving Jude from the wreck and their first day of wandering about the
country-side.
{Shunsuke}
The writing here is nice and easy to read, and the events have a
good flow and pace, it's just...well, this didn't really add
anything new to the already existing parts. It's good stuff, but
I'd rather see later parts of the series.
- - - - -
Title: Birthdays-Ranma
Series: Birthdays
Genre: WAFFy
Author: Michael Won
Email: skeezy5@geocities.com
Date Sent to FFML: July 18, 1998
Size: 14 Kb
Summary:
2nd part of Birthdays series. A fairly short, WAFFy piece
about Ranma and Akane. Alternate Gag ending provided for those
who can't stomach WAFFy stuff.
{Paul}
Hmm. A lot happened between Manga and Now. Then again, if Palmer-san
can come up with "Winter", I have little doubt that this is also
legit...especially since the two don't actually do anything more
serious than close-proximity whispers. This is, as the author said,
the sort of Ranma and Akane we saw before things started getting
absolutely and irrevocably nutso. Simple imagery and a few simple
acts which are nonetheless terribly difficult for their
performers... 9 out of 10, as this was obviously intended as a
vignette and little more.
{Shunsuke}
The author says Akane and Ranma are OOC, but the only thing OOC I
see is no interruptions. ^_^ Whether he intended it or not, this
deals with the question of "Would they get along better without
the outside pressure?" posed in both "Seasons" and "Camping".
Being someone who agrees with that view, this works for me.
* * * * *
[Sailor Moon]
- - - - -
Title: Crystalbrittle
Series: Sailor Moon
Genre: Dark/Original Setting
Author: Ken Arromdee
Email: arromdee@inetnow.net
Homepage: http://www.inetnow.net/~arromdee/fanfic.html
Date Sent to FFML: July 22, 1998
Size: 33 Kb
Summary:
Middle section of the Crystalbrittle story, showing life in Crystal
Tokyo without a Serenity for a time, as the people learn how to govern
themselves.
{Paul}
One of the few quirks of time travel is that it's also, potentially,
travel across parallel realities, to a world where someone from the
future just happened to pop in one day. Of course, that means the
world left behind is more or less hosed. And this is what happens
when, despite every precaution, evil surges back. Though I
occasionally get the feeling the author is talking through his
characters, there are certain things that need to be said... and
the picture of life in a devastated Utopia is definitely close
enough to reality for my tastes. 16 or 17 out of 20.
- - - - -
Title: Perfect World, Prologue
Series: Sailormoon
Genre: Darkish/Mystery
Author: Lady Ice
Email: ladyicei@aol.com
Homepage: http://members.aol.com/LdySeitari/serenity.html
Date Sent to FFML: July 22, 1998
Size: 10 Kb
Summary:
Nearly 1,000 years have passed since the defeat of
Crystal Tokyo and Neo-Queen Serenity. Tokyo is
currently in a state of chaos, and the people turn to
the mysterious Sachiko Tsukino, who claims to be
the daughter of Princess Serenity, to lead them into a
new golden age. Meanwhile, another woman claiming to
be related to the royal family begins her search for the
resurrected Sailor Senshi...
{Paul}
Now this one is... different. It seems almost an understated future
after the previous piece... and it's only a prologue, so it's a bit
too difficult to tell if the plot will go somewhere familiar or
break new ground... but the premise seems very sensible. One
wonders if Minako merely stepped aside... 9 of 10 on the short
scale, for this IS a short piece.
* * * * *
[Tenchi Muyo!]
- - - - -
Title: Onnakeikan
Series: Tenchi Muyo!
Genre: Tragedy
Author: Trakal
Email: Trakal@map.com
Homepage:
http://members.xoom.com/~tanteia
http://members.spree.com/trakal
http://www.geocities.com/tokyo/pagoda/2723 (no updates in a long time. kinda
left it
just hanging after they started using those popups.)
Date Sent to FFML: July 25, 1998
Summary:
The new young wife of the Galaxy Police Commander, herself a mental
reincarnation of the Operative, gives birth to the Operative's physical
reincarnation...
and also to the reincarnation of the greatest evil the universe has ever
known. She knows
the danger and wants to destroy it, but no one will listen to her...
... and the newborn evil won't be a baby forever!
{Shunsuke}
This has the right amount of buildup to the horror of what the girl
gives birth to, but doesn't quite carry it off. The ending is not
really a surprise, and the short length of the story leaves a little
out in terms of describing the girl and her personality. Still, it's
an interesting idea, and would be great in a longer story, sort of a
"Rosemary's Baby" meets "The Omen". ^_^
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
End of the Reviews List for the week of: July 18 - July 24, 1998
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