It pains me greatly to have to criticize a writer whom I respect,

admire, even - dare I say it - venerate as much as Mr. Kleppe, but I

feel this work falls grievously short of his usual high standards



***Many of my own thoughts echoed, however...



Gary Kleppe writes:

"'My decision is that I prefer the creamy smooth kind of peanut butter.'

Signed,

'Ranma Saotome.'" Nabiki folded the paper and inserted it back into the

envelope.

   I'm sorry, this is totally unbelievable. Can Mr. Kleppe adduce a

single incident which evinces this preference on Ranma's part? I think

not. The evidence of thiry-eight volumes of manga is overwhelming -

Ranma is a brave, unconventional risk-taker, exactly the sort of person

who prefers chunky style. I simply cannot accept this statement without

at least 100KB of back story showing us how Ranma came to this unusual

choice. And what of Nodoka? How has Ranma convinced her that this is

in any way manly?



***Indeed a truly manly man would *want* the extra effort of chewing the
peanuts and prefer the texture of the treat.  Nodoka would most certainly
prefer her men to eat only chunky.

A mangled blob lay on the floor of the Tendo living room. It struggled to

raise

its head, and it spoke.

"Then again, chunky peanut butter's pretty good too...."

   The ending tries to restore matters to the previous status quo, but
it's

too little, too late. Our minds boggle as we try to comprehend the manifold

ramifications of Ranma's choice. Nothing will ever be the same again. I

fear Mr. Kleppe has stepped back from the brink at the last moment, fearful

of antagonizing the COTOTPB(*). Let me urge Mr. Kleppe, and all other

authors who may be facing similar situations in their writings, to have the

courage of their convictions, no matter how wrong-headed they may be. Just
be

sure to prepare your readers when you make such a drastic departure from
canon.

Looking forward to the revised, greatly expanded version of this story.



***But then again smooth peanut butter would be the choice for the
sophisticated of the samurai-philosopher described by 17th century
philosphers in re-examining budhism, confucionism and bushido.



***And besides the average Japanese supermarket would only carry a Japanese
brand peanut butter which is a smooth creamy peanut whip.



J

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