Interview with Takahashi - Ranma and the fiancee's....

[Neko-]

I recall from the last incarnation of the forum there was some debate on what Rumiko herself was considering the actual girl Ranma should end up with... There was a recollection of Rumiko ever stating that in some interview, but the actual contents or reference to the interview never was revealed.
As I browsed a bit on Urusei Yatsura's Tomobiki, I ended up on the Tomobiki-Cho where among other things an 'interview' with Rumiko was listed at http://furinkan.com/uy/articles/interviews/karvonen.htm
This interview was taken in August 1994, at the San Diego Comicon. So when I consider Ranma to have run it's entire length of TV episodes from 1989 through 1992, I'm not sure what the actual validity of this statement is, although it's probably based on the manga, which stood strong up to 1996.

Does she intend to tie up the loose ends? Will Ranma and Akane ever put aside their differences, and end up together?
Takahashi said, "I'm writing it as the goal for this story, so that in the very last story of Ranma, they will!" When will Ranma 1/2 end? Miss Takahashi smiled for a moment, and said "Well, Ranma will end when it ends."

Now I'm not posting this to fire up a heated debate on which fiancee is best for Ranma (which is why I'm keeping this out of Spamville), but I'd atleast like to inform all of you of this tidbit of information, aswell as it's link, since when it was requested it was unfindable.
Ofcourse with the manga ending the way it did, I guess everyone is still free to pick any of the girls anyways

[nuclear death frog]

It's an interesting thought, but at the time of that interview, the manga was still about *two years* away from completion -- enough time for five or six volumes. The entire Saffron arc was still to come; Ranma being introduced to Nodoka was still upcoming; Konatsu likely hadn't appeared yet; it's even possible (not sure of the dates) that the Battle Gi arc hadn't occurred.
An artbook published after the series ended, and an interview within it, make it clear that Ranma/Akane was Takahashi's intention from the beginning.

[bissek]

The series didn't end, it merely stopped. Ending would imply some sort of overall plot resolution. Ranma making a choice doesn't constitute an ending unless he also finds a way to get the girls not chosen to accept that choice. That is why post-Saffron fics are so doable.

[TerraEpon]

[quote="nuclear death frog"]Ranma being introduced to Nodoka was still upcoming;
[quote]
Er, no. That happened in 1992 or so -- the final TV episodes were of that.
Now, Nodoka finding out about the curse, yes.
Sometime in 1994 was when the Akane-Akari at Ryoga's house was published, as evidenced by the calender in that one.
-Joshua