Brendan wrote:

On Thu, 6 May 1999, Thomas R Jefferys <wyrm@mail.utexas.edu> wrote:

    "Then... then I have been decieved... but why?"  Even Kuno knew
that Kasumi was a paragon of honesty and virtue.  Indeed, did not
even the vile Happosai refuse to molest her in her innocence?  What
could this mean --

Actually, this isn't quite true.  IIRC, Kasumi does get molested in the
"Copycat Ken" anime episode, by both Happosai and Ken.

That depends on what you consider "canon", m'dear Angus. I, for one, do not
consider "Copycat Ken" to be canon because the storyline has no close match
to the manga, which is the One True Word of Takahashi-megamisama. For those
who do not consider that episode to be canon, Kasumi has never been
molested by Happousai.

	The trick is that the author has stated that he considers that
episode canon with regard to the fict.  Ken got mentioned in part 4, and was
admitted to be featured in a future part as well.

Okay, I'll give you that. Kasumi has been molested by Happosai in this
continuity.

Or was it actually Copycat Ken? Kenjiko can use that excuse to get out of
it. Also, even if Kasumi was molested by Happy, does Kuno _know_ this? He's
not omniscient, you know (far from it). Kenjiko can use that excuse.
However, these are cop-outs.

I suggest that Kenjiko write Ken out of the story and drop that particular
episode from the canon. I find Copycat Ken neither interesting nor funny.
In fact, if I didn't know better, I'd say he was an SI avatar. Personally,
I think he's just a rehashed, beefed-up Tsubasa. CK was a villian of the
week and his week is up.

The great SF writer, Larry Nivan, once changed the orbital characteristics
of an entire planet, changing the climate and requiring a great deal of
revision, just so that he could seamlessly include one very-well written
passage. Good writing will frequently lead to lots of ideas (some of which
may be good) ending up in the dustbin, because story continuity is more
vital.

Since including Copycat Ken into the canon will break part 5, Kenjiko will
have to make a choice between dropping CK and comprimising Kasumi's
untaintable virtue. For me, the choice is not difficult.

Story-writing is full of such choices. Choose wisely, Kenjiko.

Angus MacSpon wrote:

Personally, I'm easy with either view on the manga/anime front.  The
anime is generally inferior to the manga, but that doesn't mean it's
all _bad_.

I consider 'CK' episode one of those bad parts; I could really live without it.