David Johnston <rgorman@telusplanet.net> wrote:

allyn yonge wrote:

<SNIP>

What I don't get is the mystery of why the author wants Futaba to be at the
school for a year before the start of a story. �What is gained by it? �
Futaba acts in every way like a new student, totally ignorant of the most
obvious things going on at his school, and nobody else knows him either. �
So why have him be there at the school for a year instead of starting a new
school year at a new school? And bear in mind that since he's a high school
jock either he was in the Akane attack crowd, or he was a lone dissenter from
that idiotic fad. �In either case, he'd still know _exactly_ who Akane is. �

##Oh dear. I guess I wasn't very clear. This was my point. But you've stated it much better than I did. In _general_ it's better to simplify things. Nothing that doesn't move the story forward. now this is NOT a hard and fast rule. I break it myself on occasion. But it's always a risk.

I'm guessing that the author didn't want to deal with TWO Futuba transfer students (male & female)and decided to simplify by starting with MALE Futaba already enroled. Not a bad choice in some ways. A way to make this work might be to start Futaba FIRST semester. That way it wouldn't be unusual that Futaba wouldn't know about Ranma. Futaba wouldn't know about anybody. ^)^
####

@@cute. BUT more believable if the teacher told Futaba to
put the pictures away and sit down. I realize you've got to
get Futuba in the hall, but IMO, this calls for something more
drastic. Show the teacher as very rulebound/puritanical? Or have Futaba
do something more drastic. Futaba throws the pictures back to Hiroshi, who ducks and pictures hit teacher?

Then the teacher wouldn't give the pictures back. �

##I didn't think about that. OTOH, it wasn't meant as the final answer. Just an example of the sort of thing I was talking about. Give a little hint early on to clue the reader in on the fact that the teacher is a real a*s*h*l* with a hair trigger temper, or something of that sort. OR make a bigger ruckus.
####

I wobbled a bit, and then regained my balance to come
face-to-face with a beautiful girl, same green hair as
the boy who stood behind me, grinning like a maniac,
and a body that could start-and win-wars.

@@ "body to start and win wars" is cute.
Not real keen on "green hair". That's an anime dodge to make
it easy to tell characters apart. IF you must use it (and sometimes it does simplify thing. I use "redhead" often) when you get into 'unnatural' colours like 

�
Futaba-chan really does have green curly hair in every single colour 
illustration of her in the manga. �And in the black and white drawings
her hair is obviously lighter in tint, although possibly blonde. �
It isn't like Ranma, where the hair is just as dark in female form. �
This doesn't make a lot of sense with the science fictional premise, 
since hair isn't alive, but the women turn blond as males and 
Futaba's father becomes a red-head. �

But it might be worthwhile to have someone comment on Futaba dying her hair green. �"Show biz folks. �Go fig." �It's not unknown for real Japanese schoolgirls to die their hair bizarre colours, though.

##There are also "Black" Japanese, so called due to their deep tans. Goth girls and a hundreds of other variations. I don't mind the odd hair colour in and of itself so much as I mind:
1)Being used as a crutch (similar to "sweatdrop" <shudder>)
2)Used w/o explanation. It's used in anime because the CAN and they like to use the colours. plus it helps ID different characters. Note however that with few exceptions (LUM, perhaps?) in the Manga which is in B&W the characters don't talk about hair colour of green or lavander or other such shades. For which reason that, other than red for Ranko, I personally avoid them. Another exception might be magical girls in magical form. �If you accept magical transformations in general, the addition of coloured hair isn't much of a stretch. HOWEVER, while that sort of thing let's Futaba get away with green hair, IMO, SOMEONE ought to at least mention it.
(also, if Futaba & family and others of their 'clan' are supposed to be �hidden, the odd hair colour would seem to give them away as being different from 'normal'humans.)

I'm not fond of the odd hair colours. I think it detracts from the story in most cases. It certainly jars me out of the story. Again, IMO,
1)Have someone mention the odd colour.
2) Explain the colour.
3)Then, forget about it. ^)*
The odd colour IS handy as a quick identifier. That's why I use a redheaded Ranko. But going with Green or Yellow or . . . isn't worth it in most cases. IMO, only.

Hope this clarified what I was trying to say. ^)^

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