I don't know what to say... at first I thought it was the mood I was in
when I read it... but Mr. Flair's commentary more or less confirmed my
thoughts on part 17.

Uh-oh, I'm confirming someone's thoughts.   D'oh!   :)

<snicker> Beware. My thoughts are strange and spooky.

It feels incomplete. The lack of Shampoo/Mousse exposure was noticed by

My response to it being incomplete is this:  Think "The Empire Strikes
Back."  There were a bunch of unanswered questions left in that movie.  Or
even your now typical "to be continued" television show.  It's to keep you
hanging on for more.  The story isn't done, so there will have to be some
unanswered questions.

Yeah... I considered making an "Empire Strikes Back" reference... but
forgot. <oops>

It does feel that way though. 

'Course, this is my own thought and not Mark's, so-o....

True... maybe the villains WILL win. Now that would be twisted. ^_^;

Ranma would know how Ranko felt.

rid of him. As it stands, at the end, I felt nothing for Mousse... which
is strange since I like his character in the CALS continuity.

I don't believe that Mark'd build up Mousse from being a whiny
Shampoo-follower to just let him disappear off the face of Tokyo without
some kind of reason.  It's still annoying though.  I'll just have to wait
'til the next release, I guess.

The Return of Mousse... as a villain. Just what we need. 

Of course, he may have been picked up by angels and will return wielding a
sword of light (or something equally awesome).

All in all, the climatic impact that I was expecting (considering your
previous writing) was not there. Everyone seemed to limp away from the
battle, with no real winner (except maybe for Riana). She limped, but she
got everything she wanted (including Wynneth... another powerful pawn).
Seems to me that Doors was a big "Demons bashing the Ranma cast" fest.
Through the whole thing, they really did nothing but lose. The demons
constantly did more damage to themselves than the heros did. The heros

were

basically worthless.

This is true.  But occasionally, the dark side wins.  Good doesn't conquer
all.  In the entire battle though, there was little interaction with the
Ranma cast and the demons.  They were more like observers than anything
else.  (Except Kunou)

My point in this little paragraph was that in the seventeen part "Doors",
the heros made little advancement (Actually, only Nabiki learned anything). 

As I think back, this story was more about the demons than anyone else. 

At this point, the demons are still far far stronger than the rest and the
heros have 2 of their "best" fighters semi-useless (Ranma who's
incapacitated at this time and Reiko who knows she will turn against the
heros at Wynneth's call). And of course, Mousse is gone.

Thanks for reminding me about this one, I had forgot to ask about this last
night.  Where's Happousai?  I've found two references to him in the entire
series to date, but nothing really telling where he is.  Training trip?
Locked away?  Panty raid in Egypt?  Despite his lechery, or maybe because of
it, he is an incredibly formidable opponent.  And even HE would put aside
past quarrels to assist.

Unless he is really a demon (or demon sympathizer himself). Another demonic
faction has been keeping it's eyes on Kunou... and the people Kunou comes
in contact with.

Who's to say that Happousai's imprisonment wasn't as strong as the two
fathers thought. Considering that Happi showed up "shortly" after Ranma met
Kunou, it could be that he was charged with keeping an eye on the Kunou and
the people he interacts with. 

Something to think about, eh?

P.S.: Kunou needs to have his ass kicked up around his ears a few times.
The fact that he turned his nose up at his mother (who is barely a
combatant) after she saved his life is truly low (not that I disagree with
how he is portrayed though. He's an asshole... and I think that this

grudge
His level of respect for her was raised immensly though, remember that.  He
all but said so to his father.  And Nabiki managed to get a few parting
shots to him, which should make him start thinking about changing his tune
towards his mother.  (I hope, hey, that'd be a good Mother's Day story!)

You'll notice though that Kunou's opinion only truly changed after Nabiki
nailed him. Had she remained silent, he would most likely would have swept
the memory under the carpet like he did with the rest of his responsibilities.

And here's hoping Hinako is finally gone...  :)

Yeah... I'm sick of her too. Big trouble in a little package. ^_~


See ya

  ___________
 / Here lies:\  Save the Whales -> Harpoon a Honda
|   Andrew    | 
|             | The light at the end of the tunnel may be an 
|   I think   | oncoming dragon.
| he's hungry | 
|             | What UNIVERSE is this, please?