--- Brian Randall <brian@azurite.org> wrote:

Brian Welch wrote:

        Motoko backed away nervously at the anger Ranma was
radiating, and stammered, "Now, now, now, there's no reason to be
upset!"

Do you mean Keitaro here? I can't imagine Motoko backing up, much
less stammering in this kind of situation. 

	It's her; the joke is that she's acting like Keitaro at the
moment. 
Note that it doesn't last. :p

As much as I'd like to say "She would never do that!", Akamatsu has
had her act even more bizarre from time to time. So, I can't really
argue against your point. ^_^

        Ranma smirked, dropping into an easy, relaxed stance.
"Okay, then go ahead and take me down -- hit me with your best 
shot."

        Motoko charged him angrily, crying out, "Shinmei Ryu --
Ougi Zangan Ken!

This story takes place before Motoko learns the Zan Maken Ni No
Tachi? Considering that Ranma blocked her attack at the baths,

the Ni

No Tachi would seem to be the attack of choice since by its

nature

it's unblockable (at least conventionally). 

	Can't remember that attack specifically -- that's the one that's 
supposed to go through a person, and then attack the evil behind 
them, right? I may have actually made a mistake there.

Yes, it can pass through someone and destroy what's on the other side
of them (evil or not), shred clothing (this is Love Hina, after all
^_^;) without harming the person, or rip an evil spirit from
someone's body without touching the person themselves. Basically, it
only manifests against its intended target so there's nothing to
block. 
 

	Hm. I can probably recover from this.

Motoko doesn't learn the technique until half way through Volume 5,
and can't seem to get it to work reliably until V10 after her sister
shows up. By V12 it's her favorite technique, and she uses it against
Kanako a lot. (But then, she uses a LOT of techniques against Kanako
that she never uses when fighting anyone else!) 

The more I think about it, this story seems to be set before V12, and
it may be before V10 as well. So, Motoko might not feel confident
enough with the technique to use it against Ranma. 
 

        Motoko simply stared, jaw hanging open and eyes wide.
"You... you... you... _you_ were holding _back_!" she protested,
shaking with anger. "That's not fair!"

Ironic, when you consider that Motoko herself holds back against

Seta and Keitaro. Though she'd never admit it, even to herself.

	Hehe, true enough. :p

Yeah, if she weren't an emotional basket case every time she fought
those two, she'd wipe the floor with them without breaking a sweat.
The only ones she really cuts loose against are Kanako and
occasionally Tsuruko (her sister).

Good story you have going, here. I'll try to think through my
comments more completely next time before I offer C&C. ^_-

Brian Welch

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup
http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com

             .---Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List----.
             | Administrators - ffml-admins@anifics.com |
             | Unsubscribing - ffml-request@anifics.com |
             |     Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject     |
             `---- http://ffml.anifics.com/faq.txt -----'