I gotta be out of my mind for stepping into this.

The difference between a 'bash' and an extreme but acceptable
characterization is oftentimes in the little details - a moment of
hesitation here, a contemplative, self-is-divided scene there.  The
reason is simple: moderation.

People are not one single emotion, or one all-out driving force. 
Rather, they are exercises in equilibrium.  A lover may be angry if
their expectations are not met in some way; an enemy may show mercy or
respect to an adversary; friendships may contain strands of jealousy,
envy, or frustration.  People are pulled by dozens of motives and
emotions; the hallmark of a good writer is one who shows as many of
these strings as possible.

And this, unfortunately, is where The Chaos Chronicles falters. 
Takahashi shows a number of strings between Ranma and Akane; most of
these are missing from this tale.  This is also likely where the 'starts
too soon' argument comes in; had even one scene showing the aftermath of
a Ranma-Akane fight been shown effectively, the motives of the players
would have come across well.  

Ironically, what paints this as an Akane bash to some isn't so much
Akane's portrayal in the work as it is Ranma's.  Akane shows anger; she
also shows a good deal of sadness at Ranma's departure.  She is never
shown acting out on that anger.  However, what does paint this as an
Akane-bash is Ranma's evaluation of their relationship when talking with
Nodoka.  It is totally one-sided; the love that could balance the
violent acts is not shown.

The situation, on its own, is not implausible; whether the Knights like
it or not, the relationship could easily be seen as an abusive one,
especially if the anime is a major source of characterization.  Love can
fade; it is all too easy to push a relationship too far, and nobody
likes getting hit, especially for little or no reason.  If the 'death
throes' of that relationship were shown, especially with some good
introspective scenes from Ranma, Akane, and/or Nodoka, the ending would
have been completely believable.  Unfortunately, the strings were not
shown; all we saw was Ranma complaining about Akane's abuse, and him and
Nodoka breaking off the engagement as a result.

Going on...

Miller, Bert wrote:

I haven't read the story under discussion, but, from the C&C I've
seen, I probably wouldn't enjoy it either.  Sounds like the author
should read Nightelf's "Sunrise" for a clue to a better starting
point:  just kill everybody except the characters he wants.

You know, I never quite thought of it this way... 

Beyond that, there is one other thing to remember: there is no law that
says you have to use a character, unless they are necessary to the
plot.  If you want to just leave Character A aside and concentrate on
Character U or S for awhile, you can.  Some beautiful R1/2 fanfics out
there don't even have Ranma show up; if writing a scene with them would
distract from the story you want to write and would serve no useful
purpose, why put it in?  I've trashed dozens of scenes; heck, I even
trashed about half of the original draft of Sunrise.  In short, though
you wouldn't realize it with some works, brevity is a good thing. 

That said, Mr. Corley, I'd say you have a lot of revision ahead of you
if you want this thing to shine.  It's got potential; however, you need
to focus on the emotions that tie the main characters together if you
want this thing to advance to a higher level.

-- Nick