--- Graham Kemp <gj_kemp@hotmail.com> wrote:
The problem, to my view, is that by saying
that
this is a "parallel universe" where the canon
doesn't
apply you've taken away any reason to care about
what
happens.
By definition parallel universes should be, well,
parallel:
only changes logically dependant on the initial
splitoff
should occur. Having everyone start acting wierd
just to
give Ranma a bad day _on_ the same day he finds out
he's
been switched at birth, is too much of a coincidence
to swallow.
My guess is that there's major brainwashing involved
in at least half the cases.
This isn't the Ranma or Genma or even
Morisato
family that we recognize from the manga/anime. And
so
far they seem to be far inferior counterfeits.
Got that right. IMO, since this story seems to
diverge durring the
canon (or at least that's when the effects of the
divergence show up),
characters should remain 'in character' as much as
possible.
Up until the Akane/Ryouga scene, the author goes
with "fanfic cliche", then suddenly everyone is
completely off even that...
For a better hook, you might have considered
the
Morisato daughter showing up and demanding that
Ranma
"give my life back!" Skip the cliche "awful day"
and
move straight into the switched identities. This
would also allow for a better confrontation with
Genma, as both kids demand answers, rather than the
very weak "spill everything" scene here.
Now _this_ is an angle worth developing:
"Give me my life back," Megumi Morisato II yelled at
Ranma. "You
have no idea of the craziness I have to put up with.
I can't stand
it! I want a normal life! ... Will you stop laughing
at me!"
"Bahaha!" Ranma forced himself to stop laughing and
picked himself
up off of the floor. "Sorry 'bout that. You've just
got to see what
your getting into."
Mr. Robinson informs me that he tried having the
daughter show up in the first draft, and was met with
stony silence. But I'm betting he tried to play it
straight, rather than for comedy...Am I correct?
It would be interesting to find out what a daughter
of Genma and
Nodoka, raised by Keichi and the goddesses, would be
like.
Especially if the goddesses have been working under
the assumption
that she was a demi-goddess from day one.
Indeed it would!
The other way this story *might* work is if
Kami-sama had decreed that this had to happen so Genma
could give Ranma the martial arts training that will
come in handy later in some sort of ultimate
battle...and everyone else has been visited by
"An-jelz ub de Lawd" and coerced into behaving as
moronically as they're shown here... It'd still make
it a bad idea, though.
One thing these "switched at birth" stories never
get around to explaining is how come Ranma, if he's
not related to her, looks so much like Nodoka,
especially in female form....
SKJAM!
...
Graham.
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