Jitou wrote:
For the record, I would say that I like the so-called
"stock openings" for Ranma. Especially if the fic is an
original flavor fic. They may be used over and over again
in Ranma fics, but the reason why that happens is
because that IS what Ranma is all about.
Let me ask you a question. Why do you suppose that
Takahashi didn't start every story with Akane malleting
Ranma because Ranma wouldn't eat her breakfast?
Why is it that not every story even featured Akane getting angry
at Ranma?
Given that Ranma and Genma probably battled it out every morning,
why were we only shown that battle a couple of times?
Perhaps the biggest problem with the fanfic stock opening is that it
really isn't what Ranma is all about. Ranma isn't about things that
happen every day, in an unchanging and monotonous cycle. He doesn't get
hit by the old lady with the water every day, Akane isn't angry every
day, he doesn't even fight Kuno every day. Even the things that do
happen every day, like "Ranma trains in martial arts" happen in
different ways and aren't shown to us every time they happen, especially
when they aren't significantly different from the last time. Further,
when they are shown to us, it is generally for a reason having to do
with the story at hand.
For example even though I hate the mallet, I can't deny that it makes a
certain amount of sense to start out with a Akane mallets Ranma scene if
the actual story is about the revelation that Ranma is secretly Loki's
son and Akane is secretly Thor's daughter.
But a stock "Golly, Nerima is a wacky and yet really repetitive place"
opening turns me off seriously.