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    I've been thinking about what I DO like Ranma 1/2, romantically, 
after the previous post.  I mean, I still like Akane, so there must be 
something about her more than just a cute face (those are plenty in 
Anime).  After some reflection, here's what I think:

    Akane has always been the aggressor in the relationship.  What I 
mean is, she is the one who takes the initiative in her relationship.  I 
like it when she's aggressive.  Although this typically means dealing 
with Ranma, it is not limited to him.  For example, in the Sakura mochi 
(I think?) she says, "Well, I do like Ryouga." when she thinks she's 
supposed to end up with Ryouga.  Although she'd probably not say such a 
thing in front of him, I also don't find this kind of honesty out of 
character from her.  Take the battle dougi story, she's the one saying 
that she could seal her dougi if it gets in the way of their 
relationship, not Ranma.  In Shinnosuke's story she was the one who held 
Ranma's hands at the end.

    In some sense, I dislike Akane in love because she cannot be like 
herself in love, due to the nature of the story.  The Reverse Jewel 
story is probably the best example of this.  For every act of 
aggressiveness, she necessarily has to be counterbalanced by another act 
of 'smack Ranma without listening to what he says'... or more than one, 
actually.  Akane is most beautiful when she's the one in charge in a 
relationship, but she gets hit not only the standard 'boy protects girl' 
kind of stories (which is fine), and also she needs to have 
stereotypical reaction to Ranma's rudeness (which is understandable).  I 
don't mean Akane has to be freely admit she loves Ranma throughout the 
story or anything like that.  I mean she could be at the last story arc 
in volume 35 (I think) when she tells Ranma there's no need to pretend, 
just admit he is wrong so she'll put his name back together with hers.  
She is supposed to be the one in control in this relationship, and yet 
she never has that control, and relegated to a stereotypical 
damsel-in-distress + tomboy role.  It's a great disservice to an 
interesting character.

Don, who wonders how many seconds Ranma will live if he ever runs into 
Ilya, elegance personified and hater of everything rude
"Big brother Shirou, stop wasting time sparring with Saber and play with 
me today!  What second-rate Magi can possibly threaten you after you 
defeated me?  No?  I knew I should've killed all the others first!"
Ilya, Fate arc.
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