Sow:
<<You seem to be forgetting that our anime
 heroines are young, 16-year old girls who still harbor fantasies about
 falling madly in love with a guy, and living happily ever after>>

<huge snip on two kinds of romantic fiction>

Um... and the point of this is...?  I mean, in relation to my post?

Nahhh... just kidding.  Yeah, I notice that a lot in movies, but rarely in
anime/cartoons/whatever.  Just in movies, or in young adult books, maybe.
Ranma  (and all the characters) certainly don't fit in either category.
It's just a romantic comedy, with all the guys (almost) in love with one
girl, and all the girls (almost) in love with one guy, and this guy and this
girl are in love with only each other... which is nice, really, kinda sweet,
even, but I sometimes I really wish R.T. had tied the knot between them, so
that would put a stop to all those
Ranma-chooses-another-fiancee-aside-from-Akane stories... (no offense to
fans of other fiancees)

Of course, that's just when I get in the mood for a real RAnma-Akane happy
ending type story... in that case, I'll just re-read my favorite fanfics...
^_^

Stiffanie Flores


        Ever notice there are, basically two kinds of romantic fiction 
(manga, movies, prose, it's all included)?  (a)Intended for males, in which 
case the main character is spindly, goofy/plain-lookin', inept, and hung up 
on a beautiful girl who's madly in love with the handsome, suave dude who 
don't even see her, and is usually a stuck-up arse; (b) intended for girls, 
in which case the girl, who feels herself to be spindly (or fat), 
goofy/plain-lookin', and inept (tho' usually they aren't, or in live action,

they just put on glasses and pull their hair up with a hairband/clip/pin,
and 
let it loose later, makeup magically appearing), who are madly in love with 
this gorgeous jerk who ignores everything she does to get his attention, 
while this weird, annoying, nerdy guy keeps butting in trying to get her 
attention.  Ranma, by virtue of everyone therein being absolutely mad, 
freaky, or just plain degenerate ('cept Akane, and yes, that's me being 
delibrately pigheaded), escapes either wholesale.  The closest you get to
the 
effete, jerky, pretty-boy, with the oh so cool air, is Kuno and who the heck

wants to date him (raise your hand and I'll shoot, so help me God)?  Ranma 
falls easier under the "for boys" category, because he is inept with girls, 
and block-headed, and the only thing he's good at is martial arts, but Ranma

is never actively pursuing someone (with romantic inclinations; he chases 
Happosai a lot, otherwise), and is not a romantic figure (romanticized, 
maybe, well, for some, yes).  Mousse, if he'd shut up and stand still, has 
possibility as our romantic stereotype, similarly Ryoga needs to stand still

and keep his mouth shut (Ryoga, I luv him so, has a habit of sticking his 
foot so far in his mouth he could kick his ass from the inside); neither of 
them is good for the stereotyped romance.  Shampoo (I'll just say "owch!" 
now, because with her it'll come to that eventually) is too "forward," for 
romance, her intentions being skewed, and her mentality being kinda "get to 
the point already".  Ukyou is, um (please nobody hit me for this), a tad on 
the shallow side, in a forceful and cute way, making her emotional outcries 
not really heartwarming or touching enough.
        Oh, wait, I have it, the true romantic couple in the Ranmaverse:  
Kasumi and the Doc!  They're so, so cute together, and funny.  If it's 
heartwarming, touching, and hey, Tofu needs her because otherwise he's lost
- 
it's romance!

Smimmergirl

    <<I've always had this idea of Ranma as even though he's
not exactly Mr.Pimpster here.. (okay, some would argue he is, but
he's about as chaste as the come) he still would be the take-charge
kind of man once he got.... er... started>>

        Somehow, I think not.  I think, more than anything, Ranma would 
either (a) be confused, (b) come up with some excuse, or (c) Anything Goes 
Special Technique - run, run, and run faster!  I think, of all the
character, 
sex just ain't in his bag.

    <<If a chick bitch smacks you for being a jack-ass, (weither you were or
not)  As long as she is only going to give you a few bruises, you take
your lumps, and run like a mofo ^_^.>>

        Agreed.  I put up with it so much others have actually asked me how 
and why I can put up with so much ("Getcher feet off the table." <knocks my 
feet of table, smacks me inna back a the head> "But it's my table!").  And
of 
course, much to my dread, getting to college, girls in the dorm learned the 
easiest way to get me to go wherever they wanted, was to physically haul me 
there.  I just *can't* bring myself to fight back harshly against something 
non-violent like that.  I quit wearing ties because too many gals mistake 
them for leashes ^_^.

    Read much Kuno stuff, got to thinking... Kuno does know, he must!  
However, Kuno knows the world revolved around him, and things will work
their 
way to please him eventually, so the best thing to do is wait for this male 
Ranma to go away once the universe rights itself in his favor.  Trying to 
clobber him is merely his way of quickening (great, now I've got this image 
of Kuno, standing in lightning, "There can be only one!") the processes of 
nature.  And, if you think about it, Ranma is really keeping girl-type from 
Kuno.  Heh.

Czarfire1

    <<This is also because most police would never believe a guy who said he

hit 
a female in self-defense regardless of the truth.>>

        While funky, there's a helping handful a truth to this.  Not just 
cops, but darn near everyone sticks to the idea that such things don't 
happen.  I had to quit swordplay with a gal once, 'cause she got engaged,
and 
everybody was convinced he was beating up on her.  He tried explaining, no, 
no, it's from a wooden sword, not a fist, immediate result?  You hit her
with 
a wooden sword!  Poor guy, who went on to learn why marrying a photographer 
might not be a great idea, though the rest of us got a kick out of the pics 
from that show.
        For those worried, no, the poor sap wasn't photographed doing, er, 
stuff, and the photos made it out without his permission/knowledge.  He
knew, 
and she managed to convince him that they should be in her next show.  Man, 
maybe someone should have been worried about him gettin' beat up.

        Ooh, it's too early in the mornin' fer this.  I gotta go skin some 
eggs and rustle up bacon and toast, so I'll leave off my post with this
pearl 
of wisdom:

                I am hosting a Con next fall (the week of Sept. 13, which if

you are a Neon Genesis fan is an important date, otherwise, hey it's just
the 
date it'll be, a'ight), down near LA.  Free entry, free food/drink (we will 
be carding, but I even got some donated kegs; I'll just lounge over in a 
corner with some cream soda, if ya don't mind, but the beer'll be there), 
free screenings, including new animated shorts, re-edited anime music
videos, 
maybe some live bands and DJs (more than likely at least one band), and 
CosPlay, etc.  No special guests planned (sorry), because I'm arranging it 
all myself, and I haven't the cash to fly someone in from Japan.


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