----- Original Message -----
From: "The Eternal Lost Lurker" <lurkerdrome@sbcglobal.net>
To: "David Johnston" <davidwj@telusplanet.net>; "Shade"
<rowan_phoenix@yahoo.com>
Cc: "FFML" <ffml@anifics.com>
Sent: Sunday, November 30, 2003 10:25 PM
Subject: [FFML] Re: [Fic][Ranma/Love Hina] Chasing Dreams Chaps 1-2
This is of course one of the standard Ranma fanfic templates, the
"Ranma finds his life so unendurable that he escapes into another
series" fic. But still, it bugs me every time Akane's personality
is erased to make it happen. Would Akane verbally abuse Ranma
when he's standing there with a letter informing him that his
grandmother is dead?
The fic seems to indicate that nobody but Ranma read that letter.
Or even cared.
This is a key problem with this scene... that noone seemed to be in the same
room with anoyone else, able to see or notice what the other people in the
scene were acting like or how they were emotionally expressing themselves...
see below for what I mean.
Akane's suspicious nature could be used here; knowing she doesn't know
what
the letter said, it's likely she assumed that the whole money thing was a
trick to get her and Ranma married.
Her mind DOES work that way.
--------------------------------------
The Eternal Lost Lurker
www.lurkerdrome.com
I disagree.
Lets examine the scene carefully.
Ranma has returned to the Tendo home amidst the fathers celebrating over
money. Ignoring for the moment that Nabiki would have been more interested
in finding out where the money came from than the money itself (information
on where the cash came from would have likely been priority numero uno for
her, because where some money came from... more might be able to be gotten),
we have Ranma find the note about Hina-obachan's death. Now, in the scene we
have Nabs and Akane arguing a bit over the marriage stuff, with the typical
"Ranma is an idiot, the other fiancee's can have him for all I care" stuff
coming from Akane. We have a coment from her clearly stating that Akane is
looking right at him.(For him to stop staring and say something) So, Akane
has had plenty of time to do the visual look over of him, and she would have
seen how his eyes are filling up with tears and make note of the letter in
his hands as well as his physical responce to it. Whether it was shock,
anger, or the more likely great emotional pain and distress, it would have
been clearly painted on his face, because no matter how you slice it, Ranma
does not hide his emotional state well at all. (Consider the whole Gambler
King storyline, this established it as fact, not opinion, that he doesn't
hide his emotions well.)
Anyway, back to the story.
When money shows up (likely the whole thing would have come from either a
lawyers office, or from the Hina family forwarding him the letter)
unexpectedly from a lawyer or a relative... there's almost never good news
attached (unless it's a birthday or special gift) It wouldn't take Akane
having to be a rocket scientist for her to be able to do the mental math.
Ranma, plus unexpected money, plus him tearing up right there in front of
everyone, plus a letter clutched in his hand clearly equals distressed
ranma. Also, please note, as I said previously, in the manga and the anime
it's clear that Ranma does not hide his emotional states, he's just not a
stoic individual.
Given all that, Akane has frequently shown in the manga that, while
judgemental of Ranma, she is very much a person given to and capable of
sympathy for others (unless they are trying to date her by beating her up).
Therefore I state that she would have noticed his physical reaction to the
distress caused by the letter since she was looking right at him at the
time. (Again, note her comments dirrected right at him, it's clear that she
has noticed that he was staring off into space for some time, so hence she
MUST have been looking at him) Plus, by this point in the manga (after the
S.S.H and before Ranma's mother shows up) she has had to endure her father's
and Genma's antics regarding her and Ranma already, so in my opinion, saying
that the threat of impending marriage preoccupied her is not a valid
arguement.
Now, as to the presupposition of Ranma being used to fill Keitaro's role,
well... lets examine the facts here as well. The other residents of the
Hinatasou are all there... except Kei.... Somehow I don't think Ranma is
there to fill Motoko's, or Shinobu's place in the Hina universe. It stands
to reason therefore that with Kei not in evidence, that Ranma is playing
"stand in" for the what would otherwise be occupied by Keitaro. Whether this
role is handled how Keitaro would handle it or not is not really relevant,
the fact that Kei is not there and Ranma is says that it's a 'Ranma is
taking Keitaro's place in the LH fic'. Now, as a LH fan I find this
tremendously disrespectful of the character and story of Love Hina to
simply edit him out. His role in the manga or anime was key. He provided the
element of growth and maturity that IMO Ranma simply cannot fill because
Ranma is not about growth, but about trying to remain childlike in nature.
(IMO this was precisely why Rumiko Takahashi ended Ranma like she did, to do
otherwise, and continue the story, would have required that Ranma start
thinking about the future, start making choices, and growing up. As it was
she ended it on a note where the characters live forever in a sort of
eternal spring, even though that spring is obviously giving way to summer
following the events of Pheonix mountain.
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