F_Forward Gone Nuts wrote:It's been established in several threads on this board that simply breaking off the engagements or the Seppuku pledge would result in a massive loss of face that, in this particularly warped world, would probably be tantamount to a death sentence. That, and having Nodoka randomly turn out to be clan head with the power to cancel the engagement is really, really uninspired and boring.
But what if one were to attack the nature of the contracts themselves? What if it could be proven that the Ranma who put his handprint on the Seppuku contract was actually an alien in disguise at the time? Or that the Genma that agreed to Mr. Kuonji's deal was actually... I dunno, a magical clone?
I'm not putting these forward as actual plot twists; merely suggesting them as a painless way of weasling out of the massive net of "honor" and the like. Given that Ranma and co. once put on a freaking play to trick Happosai into changing Pantyhose-Taro's name, I don't think that setting up a massive Scooby-Doo Hoax like this is too out of character.
So, resident experts on the nature of honor in RL Japan and how it relates to the Ranma-verse... sound feasible?
Well... I have seen something like that... in several different storylines.
for example, in two different storiess, The real Ranma died, and Ranma was not the real Ranma, but someone used in his place... as such, all of them except Shampoo were not valid, helped when they were able to go to his grave... Turned out on top of that, in one he was an alien and ended up with Nabiki.
In a variation of that, one turned out Ranma and Ryoga were switched at a young age. All engagements were switched to him.
In a completely different approach... Nabiki figured out that the seppuku contract was not in fact a seppuku contract, ut a way for the Saotomes to divest themselves of dishonor and it being a clever (for them) attempt at premeditated murder.
In another, a fake contract holder showed up, with a contract predating all the others, and blaming Ganma... Since everyone had seen so many of Ganma's blunders and acts of stupidity, no one would believe him.
There have been several stories that had others (without Ranma consulted) arranged to have Ranmas name changed to that of his grandfather or other distant relative... since all agreements other than Shampoos were specifically with a heir to the saotomes...
The most innovative and humorous approach was where ranma had a run into with a high ranking judge... he decided to help Ranma turn the tables and trick his parents into signing a seppuku contract to the effect if they do not raise him properly and keep the family honor in line, he can kill them... Thus they will have to clean up the mess they made of his life. Regrettibly, this has not been continued... but I still pull it out to read on occasion for a laugh... Heh... even promised to practice being the 2nd... so they would have nothing to worry about...