Hey, everyone. Sorry this is late; things happened to delay it.
Tonight's subject for review is John Biles' classic work, "Putting Your
Heart in the Right Place", found in the archive at
ftp://ftp.cs.ubc.ca/pub/archive/anime-fan-works/Ranma/ranma.right.place
or (for those using an FTP server, rather than a browser)
ftp://ftp.cs.ubc.ca/pub/archive/anime-fan-works/Ranma/ranma.right.place.gz
Archive date is 1994. It was started in the summer of 1993, and took a
year to complete. Biles' work is the first major 'solve-everything' work,
as they are generally known, and it is probably the best of the earlier
ones. It is in script format, a common method of storytelling at that
time, and is divided into fifteen parts.
At any rate...
Style: This is a work that could have seriously used prose format. There
were some scenes, particularly the more comical ones such as the 'mouse
race', where script worked well; however, the scenes that made this work
great would have been better portrayed by elegant prose. The night in
Ranma's room as he decides his fate would have been greatly enhanced by
more detailed personal expressions; the surreal moments during the spirit
fight to save Akemi cried out for more painstaking detail. This is a
beautiful work; however, looking back with 1998 hindsight, it could have
been so much more.
Also looking back at it, you can see the hints of the writer John Biles
would become. His silly side, which makes appearances in this work, would
receive full attention in works like 'Lemon Sherbet' and 'Shampoo's Quest'.
His gift for drama would later come out in full force in his Sailor Moon
works. While his skills were well-recognized here, they were still
embryonic in comparison to his later tours-de-force.
Plot: This is a work that got out of the hands of the author, and took a
life of its own. Mind you, that is a good thing in this case. It started
out as an idea of 'Gosunkugi learns magic', and became a work which
encompassed the main cast. Starting out modestly, it grew to become an
epic both in terms of quality and impact. He managed to tie most major
problems inherent in Ranma 1/2 together, and make a highly entertaining
story out of it. There were occasionally times when he became too silly;
however, overall, the feel wsa consistent throughout.
Characterization: This is impossible to judge, for one simple reason.
Right Place, in some ways, influenced characterization in Ranma 1/2 fanfic
as much as Takahashi did. Biles' portrayal of Nodoka as understanding is
more common than the unpredictable, machismo-obsessive woman in the manga.
Tsubasa was a rather simplistic, oneshot character in the manga; Biles
breathed depth into the cross-dresser. To put it simply, Biles, like most
early fanfic writers, suffered from information deficiency when it came to
the series, and acted by filling in whatever gaps he had. He filled them
in remarkably well, creating sympathetic characters that the audience could
readily identify with and cheer for.
Overall: In 1995, when I started to look at Ranma fanfic, this was The Work
to read. Of the two other 'solve everything' works I plan to look at in
this series, one was not that popular (for reasons which will be
explained), and the other was still a year away. I don't think it's
possible to overestimate its influence on fanfic over the past half-decade.
Age has not been kind to this work, unfortunately. It has been surpassed
several times over. However, its influence on Ranma fanfic will always be
felt.
Rating: Three-and-a-half bwees. I wish I could have given it four;
however, it still lacked a lot of the punch found in later Biles works. If
you want more, there is a sequel series, 'Furinkan Summer', recently
completed and available on John's home page, at
http://www.tass.org/~rhea/falcon.html
Next week: Some work by Shannon Richmeyer. I still haven't decided which
one yet; there are two worth studying, both of which are remarkable early
specimens of 'serious' Ranma fanfic.
-- Nick
http://www.thekeep.org/~nightelf/fanfic/index.html