Message-Id: <200406040508.i54585a2025608@mail.ucla.edu> From: "Don Wang" To: Date: Thu, 3 Jun 2004 22:08:06 -0700 Content-Type: text/plain; In-Reply-To: <1086306091.40bfb72b0e76e@www.pinku.net> Subject: [ranma:96182] Re: My Goodness... (Was: Re: Did Viz ever finish...) Reply-To: ranma@gold.win.jp ML-Count: 96182 Precedence: bulk Laura: > May as well introduce myself, though it seems that this ML is rather quiet > these > days. I used to post here as an annoying high school-aged brat in 1997/98 > under the nickname, "Pimpin' Imperial Majestrix of SD-ism Laura" (PIMoSDL > for > short). > Wow, it's been -many- years since I've typed that. Anyway, nice to meet > you > guys. On to something relevant. Wow, that goes like way back! > In hindsight, while Ranma's got a lot of dramatic moments, a romance, etc, > I > think the point of the exercise was to have a wacked-out comedy. > Personally I > don't really hold Ranma too responsible for deeper things that I get out > of > other stories like social commentary, a > gripping/dramatic/painful/beautiful > romance, the meaning of life, etc. When I think about why I still love it, > it's because first and foremost it makes me laugh. It makes me feel good. > The > characters never betray their personalities, so much to the point that you > don't expect it which makes things so very tragically funny. Ranma was a series whose only real purpose was to be funny, but I feel that since it went on for 38 volumes, some kind of development is necessary. This isn't like Detective Conan where things can just arbitrarily go on forever. The Ranma of volume 38 is still no different than the Ranma of volume 1, and yet there is supposed to be character growth... > I'm of the opinion that it's fine the way it is. Considering the way it > ended > and how characters only slowly progressed (personality-wise) in the > duration of > the manga, I feel as if the implication is that it is a story that > presents a > set of characters to you. They act a certain way. They -always- act this > certain way with only a little bit of room for growth. Because they are > so > faithful to their personalities when you combine them it makes a mess. > Their > life is doomed to be on comedic crack. Yes the character's personality is tied to the humor nature of the series, but Ranma 1/2 really isn't just a comedy. No matter what Takahashi says, a significant of portion of Ranma 1/2 is about its characters and their relationships, not just slapstick comedy. > What I gathered from seeing an ending that implies that life for them will > continue as it always has is that there's not much to the story past a > group > of *cough* colorful people who live a very interesting life. I'm not > saying that > people should feel the same as I do about it, but for me it's a good way > to end > the story. To me it's like saying the story and characters that I was so > enamoured of will always be this way. The ending is just the status quo. Nothing even changed, for all practical purposes. It's rather unsatisfying, at least for me. But then I don't know if Ranma marrying Akane would be any better... most likely not, since the story has not progressed to a point where such a conclusion would be logical. > Well yes, there's a lot for the fans to work with. (Good) Fanfic writers > are > great at giving these characters more dimension, or simply emphasizing the > parts > of their personalities that are only implied and because of that Ranma > fanfiction remains as some of my favorite fanfics to read. I have yet to > see > anyone write a fanfic that is truly on the same vein as the original story, > actually. Not necessarily a good/bad thing. It's more like creating your character who happened to be named Ranma or Akane or whatever. The flexibility given by the series is pretty much nonexistent. There's really no potential, no room to stretch, the characters are what they are. You either stick to them and have something that looks exactly the same as Ranma 1/2, or you have something that does not look like Ranma 1/2 at all. It's rather inconvenient, but I guess it's one most are willing to put up with. It is not a bad environment, really. Don Fate Stay Night glossary: The Great Demon King - This is happens when Rin Tohsaka gets angry. Emiya-kun - How Rin refers to Shirou Emiya in an intimate way, as in, "I never knew Emiya-kun liked little girls." --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.691 / Virus Database: 452 - Release Date: 5/26/2004