On Sat, 22 Jan 2000, Rebeka Thomas wrote:
FYI, mallets are not exclusive to Akane. Ranma's used them quite a bit, as
have a good portion of the other characters,
As have Misty [from PkMn], Ataru [from UY], i *THINK* Asuka [Eva]....
...Youta from Video Girl Ai, Sana-chan and her mother from Kodomo no
Omocha (the mallets there tend to be squeaky toys, but the principle
remains) and quite a few characters in just about any heavily comedic
series.
Akane [R1/2] -and- Misty [PkMn] have both used "Soun's" demon-head thing, as
have many other Pokemon characters, including some who were only in one
episode....
I think I've seen Lina Inverse doing it, but I can't name a time or
place...
The "mallets as ki attacks" thing has been done by many, and it generally
fails to be very believable. If you want a ki attack that materializes
pseudo-solid objects, a better choice might be Mousse's "hidden weapons"
style.
To tell the truth, I've never really liked this as a mystical power either
-- it always strikes me as too easy a way out. In his early fight where
he stripped down to just his pants, he didn't end up pulling anvils out
from his back or anything, but instead used a fishhook and line tucked
behind his ear and along his hair. Sure it may be implausible that he
keeps all of these heavy, unwieldy things compacted inside his robes
somehwere, but it *also* is implausible for him to be conjuring up weapons
literally out of nowhere. Which is *more* implausible, and perhaps more
importantly which makes a better story, is of course up to each individual
author to decide, but I find that in many cases, the seemingly more
'mundane' options open more doors than they close.
--
Scott Johnson |
zagyg@io.com | This space intentionally left blank.