On Tue, 16 Jan 2001, Linda Shen wrote:
It's not fair to the reader to bring up
a "mystery" of why this woman looks like Ranma and then answer it with
"maybe
it's this character who happens to look like Ranma by pure coincidence".
Actually, the symmetrical appearances of onna-Ranma and Yuki play an
enormous part in the story, it is detailed in depth and is a major mover in
the plot. If it weren't important and thrown in there just for kicks, I
wouldn't have focused on it as intensely as I had.
I think we're talking about two different things. I'm not trying to tell you
that you shouldn't use coincidences. Every story is entitled to have some
unlikely events in it to make the story work.
What I didn't like is *how* you used the coincidence. The story artificially
withholds the information that there is a girl who looks like Ranma, just to
mislead the reader. When the reader finally finds out that she exists, the
natural reaction is that he was cheated; the reader was misled into believing
that there was a specific reason as to why this girl looked like Ranma, and
now finds out that there was none.
Also, if the Ranma cast knew Yuki in high school, then when an adult who
looks
like Ranma is seen, there should be some people who say 'hey, could that be
Yuki?' They shouldn't all be saying 'hey, could that be Ranma?' while not
even *considering* the possibility that it's Yuki. The reader might not
know
about Yuki yet at that point, but the characters do, and they should act
like
it.
=) I seriously contemplated this problem, too. There is a line later on in
the story that analyzes this more in depth, but think about it. Barring a
serious disaster with the Musk Dynasty and getting locked in female form
again, there'd be no way in heck that Ranma would stay in female form for
any more than necessary.
Umm, what?
My point is that characters who know Yuki would think "maybe that person who
looks like an adult female Ranma, is really Yuki". If anything, knowing that
Ranma wouldn't stay in female form makes it more likely for everyone to think
that it's Yuki, not less.