Melissa:
> Anyway, my point is that, even though it may not necessarily be a smart
way
> to write, I have heard that it sometimes happens.  I don't really think
that
> anyone other than Takahashi can tell you how much time really passes in
the
> Ranma universe as I think most everyone will have somewhat of a varying
> opinion, and I doubt she's ever even really given it much thought (I think
> it's safe to say she has long since moved on and is busy concentrating on
> her new work).

    Of course the whole story takes place in this timeless world where you
can have multiple new years within the same year.  But there is clearly
enough content to warrant several years of real time despite the fact that
time never goes anywhere in Ranma 1/2.

    Inuyasha has the same problem too.  There's no amount of suspension of
belief to believe all the events in Ranma 1/2 or Inuyasha just took place in
matter of months.  That leaves you with unchanging characters beyond a
superficial level (i.e. Kagome & Inuyasha becoming better friends or
whatever is not a change, they should have started out that way).

> Now, to go off in a different direction... Although my boyfriend would be
> fast to agree with you that the characters are unrealistic, I disagree.  I
> personally feel as though their consistency makes them more realistic.
> Honestly, people are stubborn and it's hard to change.  I don't think many
> have much tendency to change until they get out of high school.  Their
world
> is still pretty small, and they are comfortable in it.  And to be honest,
I
> think Akane shows a great potential to change.  She has self-esteem
issues.

    Akane's problem has nothing to do with self-esteem.

    She is merely locked up in her role because the story dictates her to be
a clumsy girl in love, even though it doesn't really fit her personality,
and it makes her eternally unchanging, and therefore boring.

    Akane's world does not revolve around martial arts or drolling boys.
She was the envy of her class at the start, and she still is at the end
(e.g. when Akane fell asleep in class, people remarked that's very unusual
for a good student like her).  But that's why the 'change' facade is weak.
Akane is the same person at the start as she is at the end.  Her
relationship with Ranma is basically the same at volume 1 as it is in volume
38.  Look at how the series's ended with Ranma and Akane running off to
school.  That is no different at all then when at first Akane offered to
carry Ranma home after a visit to Dr. Tofu's.  Despite way too much dramatic
cataclysmic events that are supposed to bond the two together, Akane is no
closer with Ranma than she is at the beginning.  It can be said that Akane
probably liked Ranma from the start, and thus the love did not really grow,
and that'd be fine if the series didn't attempt to try to illustrate
otherwise.  Perhaps saying it hasn't changed from volume 1 is a bit of a
stretch but it certainly hasn't changed from the low teens (Hiryu Shoten Ha
arc and up).  So for roughly 20 volumes she stays unchanging.

> I see your point, but I do think that their relationship does progress
very
> slowly.  They are still falling in love, but their friendship seems to
> slowly progress towards that love.  And, even though I've seen summaries
of
> the end, I don't feel as though I can judge the relationship there myself

    It is not slow at all.  The Hiryu Shoten Ha arc is as well-developed on
their relationship as any other arc.  It might even be earlier but HSH arc
is the first very obvious landmark to see where their relationship is going.

> until I've read the whole thing.  But my impression of it was leaning
> towards them finally taking the next step in their relationship.  However,
I
> do not think that this step would be for them to become a couple, just one
> step further from just friends, and one step closer to romantically
involved
> (I have no idea how many steps it would actually take them to reach that
> point, though).

    It is not slow when it is unchanging.  It is merely static.

    Ranma and Akane have been 'better than friends but less than lovers' for
a very long time.  I'd argue you can say that by the Ryouga's entry, though
to be safe I'll use HSH as a reference point (v13).  There is no indication
if the two will ever progress beyond that, even if it appears to be the
likely outcome.  There is no indication if the two will ever get out of the
'falling in love' phase.

Don
"You are going to invite ME to your house, big brother Shirou?  Even though
I wanted to kill you all this time?" Ilya
"Shirou, inviting Illyasviel to this house is about as intelligent as a pig
asking a lion if it's hungry." Saber's response to the above decision