Richard Robinson wrote:
I wonder if Nodoka would allow Akane to be cured.? Nodoka seems to
behave like a True Believer in a very aggressive church. I think the
ease and speed with which the Tendo's accepted conversion to be VERY
suspicious. Personally I suspect some degree of Mind and/or Emotion
control.
Especially as you have shown this to be a Vampiric power.
Well, I have to comment here. First off, if there is a cure in the first
place, I'm reasonably certain that Ranma would go out of his way to make
sure Nodoka never found out what he was up to... much as he's doing now in
general. Part of the tragedy of this story is that Nodoka, the person
Ranma at one point was willing to do just about anything for is now firmly
at the bottom of the list of people he trusts. And she knows it, and
can't do much to change it.
As for the quick conversions, I'm of two minds. Each of them had a
tangible reason for taking the plunge, so to speak. However, vampiric
mind control is subtle... Ryoga had no idea Nabiki was manipulating his
thoughts until he was told. Further, Nodoka would only need to give them
a slight 'nudge' to push them over. Maybe she believes that the dire
situation would warrant it, especially as she is a firm believer in the
virtue of vampirism. Or maybe she did it unconsciously, her powers
reacting to her own desires.
That's another point that makes 'The Clan' so good... we can't be sure
that the decisions made are made freely.
I just don't trust a Nodoka who tries to talk Ranma into becoming a
girl permanently. After fighting to make him her idea of Manly, (
E.G.: Happosei JR.)
I don't think anyone's sure what would happen should Ranma become a
vampire (and he's not eager to find out). It is true that in the
beginning Nodoka stated point blank that if Ranma had been born a girl,
she would be a vampire by now. This version of Nodoka does seem quite the
zealot when it comes to vampirism.
As to why Ranma resisted, well he is the son of the controller and
Ranma could raise enough stubbornness for himself and two other people
and still have plenty to sell.
Very true... one of his defining characteristics is that he hates having
his decisions made for him.
Incidentally, why is Ranma so dead ( so to speak ) set against
Vampires. Also is their a reason why Raveners must commit suicide to
die or is just the nature of the beast or a part of the spell creating
them.
I suspect that this will be addressed later. It does stand out -- Ranma's
usually pretty tolerant. I am curious as to what would happen should
Ranma be seriously wounded, and the quickest (or only) way to get him to
health would be to make him a vampire. What if, in spite of this, he
refused. Would Nodoka or Akane turn him anyway, when he's in no position
to resist? I don't think it's easy to say one way or the other.
I also wonder if the female helper isn't a relation of either himself
or the girl from the pool. It seems odd, but I don't think anyone has
ever had any relatives of the girl, ( or Descendants ) show up. I
don't count reincarnates.
There are plenty of families who can trace their family tree back
further than the time since the girl drowned. Do the Vampires breathe?
Can they be drowned and die forever or are they like the movie version
where death is reversible? Perhaps this IS the redheaded girl, Ranma
turns into.
I've noticed the nameless girl's resemblance as well. Interestingly, no
one else has in the story.
All I can say is, this story is very gripping, one of the ones I jump to
see the next chapter to.