The fanfic continuity/ original series differences FAQ
project ranma
a 'whenever I feel like writing' production
by Ryo

Okay, this is just a little project I decided to start because I'm a big
fanfic reader and, more often than not, writers tend to misinterpret
characters personalities or they don't reinact scenes from TOS well when
they claim they are. I have currently read up to Vol. 13 of the Viz
translated mangas and read unofficial translations for the rest of the
series. When I try to compare the characters from fanfics and their
counterparts from TOS, I'm surprised to see that there are alot of
misconceptions that have become the norm in fanfics. Some examples is
Akane's temper or Kasumi's obliviousness. I will try to offer accurate
information about the original series and the characters therein in this
(hopefully) continuing series of FAQ's. Now I don't deny that some (okay
most ^_^) of my views on characters or storylines might not match with
other peoples (I'm definitely no lover of Akane, actually, I hate her) ,
but I WILL promise to try to stay as accurate to TOS as possible. I just
hope someone can benefit from these little endeavors and that when
people claim they follow 'TOS', its actually true, instead of just whats
become the norm in fanfics. Thank you.

-Ryo


I. Characters
    A. Akane Tendo
        Okay, now you might be wondering 'Why aren't you starting this
section with Ranma!?'. Well, thats because by far, Akane is portrayed
the least accurately in the most fics I've seen and I think she deserves
some recognition (although I don't like her personally... alright, I
admit it, I just didn't feel like writing about Ranma right now
alright!?). The most obvious misinterpretation involving Akane would
have to be her temper. Admittedly, Akane does get mad at Ranma alot (and
I do mean ALOT), but in most cases, its Ranma that eggs Akane on and not
the other way around! Akane DOES overreact alot (like when Shampoo
glomps onto Ranma, or when Ryoga starts a fight), but Ranma does his
fair share of the arguing. Akane also does her fair share of helping
Ranma, her attempt to help Ranma in the first fight with Ryoga or her
assist during the rhythmic gymnastics match with Kodachi). It is also
shown in the manga that Ranma and Akane can actually talk in a civilized
manner, how long they can let them last, however, is another story. I
find it very unfair that Akane gets the bad treatment from writers when
Ranma acts just as bad (although I can understand if they favor another
girl, but its still not right =\). Overall, Akane really isn't as bad,
as writers make her out to be, but she isn't any saint either ^_^.

    B. Shampoo (or Xian Pu if you prefer)
        Okay, there are alot of misconceptions when dealing with this
girl. Firstly would have to be her 'bimbo' status ^_^. Some writers tend
to forget that she IS chinese and actually learned the Japanese language
during her 'chase' with Ranma across China (It is implied that she
didn't know any chinese until leaving the amazon village since she
didn't know any when she first met Ranma and required the guide to
translate). Some writers have opted to say that she is really hiding her
true intelligence and, in fact, can probably speak fluent Japanese,
which is a possibility, but I personally just can't buy that from what I
see from Shampoo (I just don't think she could stand to imply that
Mousse is smarter than her since he speaks 'perfect' japanese, don't
you?). Shampoo has a jealousy streak that can at least rival Akane's,
but tends to strike out at her rivals instead of Ranma himself. She has
been known to use her cursed form to freak Ranma out though ^_^. She is
also, easily, as devious as Nabiki which can be shown in her actions
with the 'instant Nanichuaan' (did i spell that right?) fiasco. While
dealing with Mousse, She has said that she hated him before (during the
story with the 'spring of drowned duck' water) and any tender moments
dealing with the two have always dealt with her taking pity on him. Its
hard for me to buy into the idea of the two falling in love, even though
it was probably Takahashi-san's idea to put the two together...

    C. Genma Saotome
        Genma is easily one of the most mis-interpreted characters in
the whole Ranma series. The only things that can be said about him would
be that he's a good martial artist (he trained RANMA for crying out
loud!), he's a glutton, and a coward. He does have a sense of Honor (no
matter how warped you think it might be) and he does care about his
son's wellbeing (but this could also be said to just be him saving his
own neck from Nodoka...hmmm...). Not much is said about the infamous
training trip in the Manga other than meeting Ukyo, The neko-ken (which
was done when Ranma was 10 by the way), Ryoga, Jusenkyo, and meeting the
amazons. The actual length of the trip is variable since its not stated
in the manga, but it could be anywhere between 10 to 13 years (since the
only condition would be that Ranma was old enough to put a handpainting
on the seppuku document, which is pretty dang young). The whole
situation with Kaoru, the 'rice and 2 pickles fiancee' isn't mentioned
in the manga, but an anime only character, but the time the arrangement
took place would have to be before Ranma could crawl, so either Genma
took small training trips before he left on the long one, or he and
Ranma have actually been on the road all of Ranma's life. overall, Genma
is an idiot, a petty thief, and a coward with some sense of honor.

future sections planned:
Ryoga Hibiki
Kasumi/Nabiki Tendo
reviews on important storylines
reviews on relationships (lovers/rivals/enemies/whatev ^_^)

I'm still debating whether to cover ALL the characters in the series or
just the characters that are misinterpreted the most, depends on the
kind of feedback I get. I know that there is probably a TON of
grammar/spelling errors in this thing, I've never been very good at
that. C & C would be greatly appreciated (and I'll probably get at least
a few flames for my opinions I'm sure ^_^) Idea's on future questions
are also needed. If someone is interested in helping out with the FAQ,
I'd appreciate it too.