I must say, I really enjoyed reading "The Magical Mystery Hibiki Tour"  In 
fact, I'd love to see a graphic novel made out of it!  (That would certainly 
cut down on some of the confusion about who was saying what to whom.)
 

-----Original Message-----
> From: Christopher J. McFarland [mailto:homernet@nethere.net]
Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2003 11:50 AM
To: Ranma 1/2 ML
Subject: Ranma 1/2 Fanfic Reviews


You can find these and other Ranma 1/2 fanfic reviews at The Ranma 1/2 
Expressway. (http://home.nethere.net/homernet)
 

The authors of these fanfics have been sent a copy of these reviews

The Magical Mystery Hibiki Tour (PG-13)
---------------------------------------
(http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~jaelle/tourindex.htm)
Author:  Jaelle and Orla
Subgenre:  Romantic Comedy
Chapter 1 Quality: [**** ] (4 out of 5 stars)
Complete:  Yes
Series Quality:  [*****] (5 out of 5 stars)
Pro/Anti:  (Pro) Ryoga and Ukyo, (Anti) Konotsu and Akari, (Anti-Anti-Anti) 
Mikado Sanzine (but then, nobody liked him anyway)
 
Pairings:  Ranma/Akane, Ryoga/Ukyo, Nabiki/Kuno, Shampoo/Mousse, a few 
others...
 

Synopsis:
Ranma and Akane have announced their wedding date!  Quick, something's got to 
be done to break them up!  Ukyo and Ryoga come up with the perfect plan, take 
them on a trip, away from all the usual goings on, and worm their ways into 
their respective love's hearts.  They need some money, and the only way they 
can think to get it is from Nabiki, so they decide to form a business...The 
Magical Mystery Hibiki Tour Bus, guaranteed to show you sites you've never 
seen before (and some you may not want to).  To make it look real, they need 
some other customers, too.  After getting the van, picking up the other 
customers, with Nabiki along for the ride to supervise her investment, their 
plan is set into motion.  However, like they say in military parlance, no 
plan ever survives contact with the enemy...
 

HomerNet's review:
Why does this fic get the five stars?  One word...pre-readers.  This has 
obviously been read and reviewed before every installment was released, and 
the authors took the comments of the pre-readers to heart.
 
Perhaps a better reason:  Adherence to the "look and feel" of the canon 
series.  One can readily "see" the action in Takihashi-esque fashion as one 
is reading this fic.
 
With these points so readily in it's favor, why only four stars for the first 
installment?  I've never seen one of the animes some of the "tourists" are 
from.  I'm sure there's others out there who've never seen or read any of the 
"Tenchi" series.  Basically, we're left to wonder who these people are.  
Fortunately, the author is quick to correct this with complete physical 
descriptions and, doing what all good crossover authors do, only supplying 
you with enough information to say "Gee, this character sounds neat, I'd like 
to read more about him/her/it," rather than hijacking the characters 
entirely.
 
Also of positive note is that the authors are very careful to only deal with 
the people around whom the story and conflict centrally involve.  One of the 
big issues that most fanfic writers have is that they try and introduce 
fourty-bajillion subplots, at least one for each character, then try to tie 
them all together.  It never works very well.  This particular fic eliminates 
most of the "sub-plots," and those that do exist are strictly there for the 
furthering of the primary plotline, which they rightly should be.
 

==========================

Generation Ranma (G)
--------------------
(http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~jaelle/generationranma.htm)
Author: Jaelle and Orla
Subgenre:  Comedy
Chapter 1 Quality: [***  ] (3 out of 5 stars)
Complete:  No
Series Quality:  [**   ] (2 out of 5 stars)
Pro/Anti:  None
Pairings:  Ranma/Akane, Ryoga/Ukyo

Synopsis:
Things change, things stay the same.
Ryoga and Ukyo are happily married with two children.  Ranma and Akane are 
(usually) happily married with one child.  When Ryoga and Ukyo return to 
Nerima after establishing a second Ucchan's, the chaos begins, only this 
time, it's their kids... 
 

HomerNet's review:
After the fantastic "The Magical Mystery Hibiki Tour", I really expected 
better than this latest offering by the dynamic duo of Jaelle and Orla.  It's 
understandable that an author, like a baseball player, can't be expected to 
make home runs every time, but this follow up offering leaves you wondering 
what happened to the creative spark from "Hibiki Tour."
 
This isn't, of course, to say that this fic is bad, it's not.  The 
characterizations are excellent, and there's nary a one spelling or grammar 
fault in the entire thing.  The reader just feels...disapointed by it, that's 
all.
 

===========================

Reflections (R)
---------------
(http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=1029261&chapter=1)
Author: A. V. Morgan
Subgenre:  Drama
Chapter 1 Quality: [*****] (5 out of 5 stars)
Complete:  Yes (Kinda)
Series Quality:  [*    ] (4 out of 5 stars)
Pro/Anti:  None
Pairings:  Ranma/Akane, Ranma/Ryoga

Synopsis:
After the Mirror Mansion adventure, Ranma, Copy-chan, and Copy-kun begin 
exploring their unique situation.  Through the course of their adventures, 
however, they uncover the deeper history of the mirror, and some startling 
truths about themselves.
 

HomerNet's review:
This is another "Wow, this is fantast...wait," fics.  The writing, humor, and 
drama are all carried off expertly, and there isn't a single time where you 
think you could have written it better...until...
 
For those of you who aren't familiar with Star Trek, there is an episode of 
the classic series where Kirk and Spock are being held captive by a planet 
covered by 1920's Chicago wannabe gangsters.  In order to escape, Kirk 
challenges the gangsters holding him (who are playing poker) to play "a real 
man's game!"  When they invite him to show them this game, he makes up, on 
the spot, Fizzbin.  The interchange went like this:
 
KIRK:  The name of the game is called... Fizzbin. Each player gets six cards, 
except for the player on the dealer's right, who gets seven.
 
THUG:  On the right.
KIRK:  Yeah. The second card is turned up, except on Tuesdays.
THUG:  Tuesdays.
KIRK:  Oh! Look what you've got - two jacks. You got a half-fizzbin already.
THUG:  I need another jack?
KIRK:  No. If you got another jack, why you'd have a shralk.
THUG:  A shralk?
KIRK:  Yes, you'd be disqualified. No, what you need now is either a king and 
a deuce, except at night, of course, when you'd need a queen and a four.
 
THUG:  Except at night.
KIRK:  Right. Oh, look at that, you've got another jack! How lucky you are! 
How wonderful for you! Now if you didn't get another jack, if you had gotten 
a king, why then you'd get another card except when it's dark, when you'd 
have to give it back.
 
THUG:  If it were dark on Tuesday.
KIRK:  Yes, but what you're after is a royal fizzbin, but the odds of getting 
a royal fizzbin are astron - Spock, what are the odds on getting a royal 
fizzbin?
 
SPOCK:  I have never computed them, Captain.
KIRK:  Well, they're astronomical, believe me. Now, for the last card, we'll 
call it a kronk. You got that?
 
THUG:  What?As you read Reflections, you begin to wonder if the author isn't 
a master at Fizzbin, what with all the permutations to Amazon law he 
introduces, and the way he handles the relationships.
 
Those of a more...religious bent may find some of the psyco-sexual views 
posited as normal in the fic to be off the wall, or perhaps just plain wrong, 
however, these views are actually very close to how Japanese society views 
this sort of thing, so the author gets a thumbs up for that.
 
What really turned me off about this fic was the rushed ending, and the 
feeling that the author was trying to make all the relationships tie up in 
too neat a little package.  This person will be married to that person, that 
girl must be with this girl, this particular love triangle can be resolved 
through the judicious use of sub-space... I mean magic.  It's very 
off-putting.
 
-- 
Chris "HomerNet" McFarland
I have no tag line, except maybe, "Cry havoc!  And let slip the ducks of
ice cream!"
The Ranma 1/2 Expressway
"Hey, YOU try explaining Ranma 1/2 sometime!"
and
"Stranded" the Comic
"Refrigerator demons just plain suck!"
http://home.nethere.net/homernet