How might Nerima change?

[Heaven's Deamon]

Personally I think having her read at least some manga might be good, such as reading R.O.D. or seeing the OAV or series, and thus being inspired to try applying the iron cloth tech to paper as a result.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

I'm not saying Yemon would do it as a hobby or anything, just that on occasion he might need alchemical components or ingredients to handle some mystical threat or the other, which forces him to raid Kodachi's garden as it's the only real source of such things.

Also, just one thing about the romances: I want to try and avoid the obvious bias that afflicts the Ranma canon. While I love manga and anime both, both suffer the flaw that it's obvious Akane is going to win- even in the anime, there's never the slightest implication that one of the other girls might be succeeding in working her way into Ranma's heart. I want to try and make it appear that Yemon is considering all of the girls who are after him equally, though he'll undoubtedly have biases.

A pretty good assortment of interests, hobbies and quirks. I think we just need to figure out what she looks like and she's done.

I'm unsure about whether or not Hinako is going to have married Soun. In fact, without Ranma, Soun might not have even met her in the first place. As for Akane and Nabiki's children, I'm unsure about their roles (if they even get included), so we might want to discuss them after Michiko is done.

Good point about her being likely to have brothers & sisters... actually, remember how I mentioned that season 4's finale was a nightmare of Ranma's where Ryoga and Akane had quadruplet sons? Well, maybe Kasumi has had several pregnancies, and one (or more) sets of multiple births? This actually 'encourages' Michiko to wander, as it gets her out from under Kasumi's feet and away from her crowd of siblings.

Then again, probably not. Still, Michiko is likely to have younger siblings. Maybe, say, two brothers and two sisters? Two sets of opposite-sex fraternal twins, born from two different pregnancies?

Good point about the friends... maybe some "joe average" types, ala Yuka and Sayuri? Or perhaps even some characters she's met on her travels, which might open up the possibility for 'storylines'?

[Jupiah]

Sorry if I implied a romantic bias, but didn't you wanted to have Yemon pine for a girl that was interested in one of his rivals, for an ironic twist? Maybe I misunderstood you somewhere.

I'm glad you like Michiko. I must say I've grown rather fond of her personality, even if she's only partially developed - honestly, I think I'd rather read about her adventures than Yemon's. Now we just need to develop her techniques and fighting style.

About Hinako - I thought you were going to have Ryoga step up and (unintentionally) fill in the role of Furinken's top delinquent, eventually driving the principal into hiring her to stop him, although perhaps much later than in canon. Did you change your mind about that?

An idea I had about Natsumi and Kasumi. In this canon, without Ranma to interfere, they would have won their fight against Akane and become the heirs to the dojo due to a rash bet they had goaded Akane into making. Over time they make up with Akane and become friends with her and her family though, and they cede the dojo back to Akane, admitting it was wrong of them to take it as they aren't Soun's children and weren't trained by him. Soun is so touched, he adopts the girls, much to their joy. Fastforward 20 years, and "Auntie Natsume" and "Auntie Kurumi" are both married with children, but they still live near each other in the Nerima area and keep in touch with the Tendos regularly. They even have a joint "sister school" to the Tendo Dojo, although I'm uncertain what to call it. They both have very minor roles in this fic, but I though it would be nice to describe what happened to them. What do you think?

Some vague ideas I had about Kasumi's other children:

Maybe the eldest male takes after Ryoga, and is the heir to the dojo - despite her skill, I don't think Michiko would be interested in the position. Out of all the children, he spends the most time with Ryoga, is the most similar to him personality-wise, and is almost as skilled as his father. He might be sort of a friendly-older brother type to Yemon, as one thing he didn't inherit from Ryoga is his ability to hold a grudge. He would be mostly a supporting character, becoming one of Yemon's few non-rival male friends, sparring and training with him regularly, but rarely ever having conflicts with him, except maybe when he feels Yemon has upset his sister. He is very protective of all his younger siblings.

Maybe there is another older brother who fulfills Kasumi's dream and finishes medical school - perhaps becoming Dr. Tofu's apprentice and next in line to take over his practice when he retires. He's the least affected by his curse, usually only taking 2-3 times longer than he needs to get somewhere (so he always leaves very early) and rarely getting completely lost. He's still a martial artist (all Hibiki's are to some degree), but like Tofu, he's a healer, not a fighter. He would play a relatively minor role, mostly during visits to the clinic for medical care. Michiko is closest to him out of all her siblings, as he's also very intellectual, and they share many of the same interests. She often stops by the clinic to chat with him.

Perhaps there is a set of young twin sisters that are relatively normal girls (aside from their direction curse and martial arts skills). They are about as good as canon-Akane is at martial arts, and are unique in that they always get lost together - even in the wilderness they never get seperated. They're both very close to Aunties Natsume and Kurumi and visit them often (well, as often as a Hibiki can), even helping teach at their dojo. They'd be pretty minor characters, though. It might be funny to write them as both having a crush on the older Yemon, and often playfully teasing their older sister about him.

Michiko's friends... probably not many at school, as she rarely attends. Maybe one ordinary female friend, a neighbor perhaps, that grew up with her. They don't see each other often, as Michiko gets lost so much and the friend has a job and has to help care for her family. They're still very close though, often talking on the phone and sending letters to each other. Michiko often mails her presents from the places she visits.

Perhaps she has also made a lot of friends from her many short adventures in all the different towns and villages she has visited. They are never introduced into the story, but she writes them occasionally as many of them are penpals with her.

Just some quick thoughts I decided to jot down. Feel free to critize and comment.

Also, I don't know about Mickiko getting inspiration from the anime ROD for her techniques... it reminds me of a terrible fic I read where Ranma learned a bunch of signature techniques like the Kamehameha, the Spirit Gun, and the AT Field from watching anime. It seems a bit unrealistic and cliched. I think it would be easier to justify it by saying that Ryoga taught her his Buzzsaw Bandanna trick, but she didn't want to carry around a million bandannas, and they just weren't her style. She realized that she always carries around a million books though, and decided to modify the technique to work with them. It was convenient at first, but she eventually decided to just work with her own strengths instead of trying to force her father's techniques, and developed it into a full style of it's own.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

Oh, I wasn't saying we should skip the idea of having Yemon fall for Michiko because of her different reaction, just that I want to make sure it isn't blatantly obvious that they're "destined to be"- that it appears the other girls after him also have a chance at winning.

An interesting idea about Natsume and Kurumi, but one problem: like any Ranmaverse teen martial artist, Natsume is obsessed. Obsessed with "taking what's rightfully hers". Kurumi might have been doubtful, and she probably would have given it back if it were up to her, but Natsume is canonically depicted as refusing to give it up without being beaten first. Whenever Kurumi brings it up in the OAV, she talks her down- what the dojo represents means far more to her than anything else, bar her sister.

All in all, I think it might be best either to leave them out of the story or to 'twist the timeline' and have them appear as other teens. As I've said before, it makes far more sense that Happosai could have found, inspired and trained them *after* escaping from Soun & Genma's trap then before. Hell, they could even serve as a reason why Happosai has scaled down his antics in town: figuring that the girls will be better than nothing, he's been leaving town at unpredictable intervals ever since he started them on their mission to succeed him, posing as their father and giving them training, then leaving when his perversity threatens to overwhelm his attempts to mask what a lecherous freak he really is. This then brings them into town to prove to "daddy" that they're finally ready to be named heirs... which could easily bring them into conflict with Yemon, Michiko and/or her elder brother.

I like your ideas about the kids... just one thing: for the medic brother, I think it's unlikely that Tofu would have hung around in Nerima after Ryoga and Kasumi hooked up. He definately would have left after their firstborn- while he would accept his crush as hopeless, seeing her happily married to Ryoga would have been just too painful. That doesn't mean he doesn't run the former clinic of Tofu, just that it's likely he has a different sensei/superior. Also, maybe the medic-Hibiki was actually the first child Ryoga and Kasumi had, but he proved himself to be healer and not a fighter so the position as heir was passed to the second son, Michiko's twin. What do you think of that idea?

Nice ideas about her friends too, and I agree that having Michiko -or any of the Neo-crew- learn techniques from Manga/anime just doesn't seem right.

So, we need her appearance and her "fighting data" and then Michiko is finished? Alright then... so, what should we make of her? We've vaguely established that the primary foundation is her Hibiki strength and endurance, backed by Iron Cloth-based techniques adapted to use books & paper and perhaps a basic 'ki seal' or two, which is an area she'll explore as the story progresses... what else do we need for her? Hmm... as Ryoga is primarily a ground orientated fighter, as the Tendo style (for what it's worth) seems to be, it seems likely to me that her mid-air capabilities -especially offensive capabilities- are relatively poor, especially compared to Yemon.

[Jupiah]

Oh, I see what you meant. No "destined pair" is good.

Perhaps Akane finally started getting serious about martial arts after losing to Natsume and trained to catch up to her. They eventually go from bitter rivals to grudging allies, and out of mutual respect to decide to share the dojo. Either that or Ryoga beats them up and takes the dojo back after he starts dating Kasumi and Soun names him the Tendo Dojo heir, in which case they would probably leave on more hostile terms than they did in canon. Of course, you could also have Ryoga help her fight them in Ranma's stead, and have the fight end pretty much the same as in canon.

Actually, the whole timewarped Natsumi and Kurumi plan sounds better when you add such an interesting twist to it as the "trying-to-reform-by-training-the-orphan-girls" Happosai to it. It makes more sense in this fic than it did in canon as well - Happosai is training them to be the Tendo heirs because Ranma was stolen from him and he doesn't approve of Ryoga. The only problem - if you use Michiko's heir-to-the-dojo, almost-as-strong-as-Ryoga brother in this fic, the girls are unlikely to be able to really challenge him, unless you make them much stronger.

I'm fine with switching the medic brother to eldest and making Michiko and her other brother twins, and you have a good point about Tofu. Makes me wonder what he's gotten up to after leaving Nerima... maybe you write a short about his fate in an omake, just for the sake of his fans (like me!).

Your description of her fighting style is excellent, we just need to flesh out the individual techniques. It seems the umbrella got dropped at some point, but that's fine, I like her using books as weapons better. I agree that airial combat should be a weakpoint for her. Perhaps her mobility and speed are also poor, but she makes up for it with a wide variety of techniques that are effective at both offense and defense (defensive paper walls that can easily become paper spears or exploding-seal bullets)? Perhaps she tends to think more tactically and try to use the environment to her advantage and set up traps with her seals, compared to Yemon's fast, unpredictable, make-it-up-as-I-go blitz style? If you agree, than I imagine a fight between her and Yemon might run similarly to the fight between Lee and Gaara in Naruto, except with a lot more ranged attacks and ki blasts.

Can you write up a rough draft for her appearance SpaceKnight? Not that I'm complaining, I greatly enjoy working on this with you, but I've been doing a lot of typing and brainstorming about this (my fingers are starting to cramp! XD)

[Heaven's Deamon]

If the Tendo represenitive would be to strong for the sisters, maybe they could decide to "test" them and Yemon by passing it off. IOW "Go beat that guy, when you do I'll accept your challenge" (Also a way of making sure he's good enough for Michiko)

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

Glad you like my 'redemption/desperate for an heir' version of the timewarped Natsume & Kurumi. As to making them stronger... given that, without any formal master, they became the most formidable teen girls on the entire *series*, just how much of a stretch is it that they've gotten even stronger because Happosai shows up about once a month or so to give them personal training?

I've never been particularly interested in Tofu (and if you're a fan of him, then I'd suggest the anime, where he shows up more- you even get to see him in action, albeit against the Frog Hermit, in the 7th season), but I might try my hand at such an omake.

That sounds like a good fighting style/setout to me. Much better than simply "tries to outlast her opponents and pound them into the gravel". So, she is slower, less agile/dextrous than most and not very good at mid-air maneuvering/combat. However, she has formidable strength and endurance and the intelligence to fight tactically, so she uses both the surrounding landscape and her 'ki seals' to try and compensate for this- trying to maneuver enemies into locations where she can fight best.

For appearance... okay, Kasumi and Ryoga have brown eyes, so it's doubtless she'd be the same. Hair could be black or brown (the real-world quirk about black hair genes being dominant clearly does't apply, as Kasumi and Nabiki both have different shades of brown inherited from their mother), whichever... hmm... she may have inherited the Hibiki canine deformity gene (the fangs) to a lesser extent, so she may have only "cute little fangs" (or a single fang, cute or otherwise), or even not have them at all (which makes her stick out, if her siblings all inherited it). Now that I think about it... isn't there a girl in some anime/manga who has the "single fang" trope and, in a dose of realism, suffers a lisp because it? Maybe borrow that if we decide she just has the one fang?

Skin is likely tanned from all the time outdoors, something which can be a source of both pride and embarrasment to her. It's hard to say if Kasumi's height is because of her age (at 19, she's the oldest teen) or her genes, so Michiko could also be quite tall for her age. Build is likely 'lean but muscular'; while not abnormally developed for a girl, her Hibiki strength and constant exercising has clearly cut its mark into her, with visibly developed muscules. This is something of an embarrasment to her, so she tends to wear clothes that hide it (long sleeves, long legs on her pants). Clothing is likely to be practical for her life outdoors, though undoubtedly it has a few 'touches' to add some feminity (patches sewn on by her mom, for example). Hmm... it might look stupid, but perhaps an old-style "peasant hat"? One of those wide-brimmed straw affairs that were worn because they gave the protection of umbrellas whilst still leaving the hands free?

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

Just some random ideas for Michiko's brothers and sisters.
*Her little sisters get on pretty well with Yemon, who treats them in much the way he treats his own little sisters back home in Joketsuzoku. Perhaps because of this fondness, they come up with childish (they are the youngest in the family, aren't they?) plans to try and 'nudge' Michiko into a relationship with him.

*This idea is probably unuseable, but what about the idea the eldest Hibiki was born an albino, which is one of the factors that convinced him to pursue a career in medicine (being a medical oddity himself)? Couple that with a generous dose of Hibiki Fang Gene, and you have a guy who, though he wouldn't hurt a fly unless provoked and might even find violence abhorrent, looks like an escapee from some vampire anime/manga. Much to the fear of those who don't know him (imagine coming to on the hospital bed and seeing him standing over you)...

*For Michiko's twin brother, perhaps he's usually absent from home because he's always with Ryoga? After all, as the official heir to the style, he'd want to learn everything Ryoga has and generally study under him, so he tags along with him on his wanderings.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

More random thoughts from me. Firstly, Jupiah, didn't you once mention you own the complete anime series for Ranma? Well, would you mind taking a look at two episodes for me? Firstly, season 2 episode 10- tell me if the final technique the Dojo Destroyer uses on Ranma & Akane mightn't make a good 'base' for a technique for Michiko (using sharpened pages instead of signs). Secondly, season 5 episode 22 "Kuno Becomes a Marianne"- tell me which you think might make a better 'matchup' for comedic purposes: Kuno and Mariko, or Kuno and Azusa Shiratori.

Speaking of Kuno's kid, this was an idea that came to me yesterday and wouldn't leave me alone. I know you'll shoot it down, but I figured the best thing to do would be to stick it out in the openm so you can dispatch it painlessly and we can get on with the real work. The base idea assumes the Neo-Kuno is a girl, because I don't think it'd work with a guy (I know it wouldn't work anyway, but it'd work even less). It's basically a play off Kuno's desire for two "true loves" in the canon: this girl is in love with Michiko's twin, and pursues him in roughly the same manner her dad and aunt pursued Ranma. Michiko, naturally, is sympathetic... but a rather larger amount of sympathy is kept for herself, because the Neo-Kuno is also chasing her! She makes no secret of the fact her intention/desire is a... what's the word? Menage et trois? with the twins, a fact that makes her even more repugnant to them then she would already be (especially to Michiko, who's straight).

[Jupiah]

Yeah, I do own all of the anime, unfortunately. I'm just glad I downloaded it, I'd have been really dissapointed if I had payed for it. Take the episode you just had me watch, "Danger at the Tendo Dojo" for example. There is almost no slapstick comedy in it at all. This is my biggest sticking point about the anime. The slapstick humor was a huge part of the comedy in the manga, but almost all of it has been removed! And the bit that remains just aren't funny anymore, because they've made it realistic. After Ranma agrees to date Shampoo, instead of strato-punching him through the roof like in the manga, she spins him around and tosses him into a wall. It feels less like a gag and more like "abuse".

There's other things too. Like the fact that Genma and Soun are a lot more pathetic and much less funny than in the manga, but they get 3-4 times as many lines. Why? All they do is whine about Ranma and Akane not getting along! Ranma and Akane also argue far more in the anime, but their banter is much more inane and immature. It's embarrassing to listen to them.

Then there's the fact that Ranma and Akane are both much weaker than they are in the manga. In the manga, when Akane punched a wall and injured her hand, the wall was annihilated. Nothing left but rubble. In the anime, she left a shallow indent and some cracks. In the manga, after Ranma finally made it back to the dojo, he beat the destroyer in with ease. Dodged his boards with no difficulty and took him out with a flurry of kicks. In the anime, he, well.... how do I say this? Duel-Jet Stream Raging Water Attack? Where the hell did that come from? Ranma and Akane suddenly pull some team-attack we've never seen or even heard of them knowing before, and pull it off perfectly? It so incredibly contrived. This was literally the last episode I could stomach when I was watching the anime after I downloaded it.

I also just rewatched "The One to Carry On" part one and two, and honestly, I'm not seeing this claim that Natsumi and Kurumi are the strongest teenage girls in the series. Maybe in the anime. I guess my minds just stuck in the manga, cause I know manga-Ukyo and manga-Shampoo could have taken em. Hell, Kurumi fought equally with Akane at the end, and manga-Shampoo can take out Akane in seconds.

And, it bugs me that they made Ranma so weak in that OVA. He's taken far worse blows than the Ring of Fire and gotten right back up, seemingly none the worse-for-wear after a few seconds. The Golden Pair's Couple-Cleaver and Ryoga's Perfect Shishi Houkoudan come to mind. That's one of reasons that I disliked the anime so much. Ranma is simply far less powerful in the anime, for no apparant reason.

I like the movies and (most of) the OVAs, but I can't stand the anime. I'm really curious about why you prefer the anime SpaceKnight. Is there something redeeming about it I'm just not seeing? Have you ever read the manga?

Err...
I'm really sorry about that rant. I didn't intend to write all that at first, and sorry if I offended you. Time to get back on track.



Like I said, I don't think Natsumi and Kurumi are especially powerful, but I'll grant you that they could be a lot more formidable with regular training from Happosai. So I'll accept them giving Ryoga Jr. a good fight, especially if he gets cocky and accepts a 2-on-1 battle.

One thing though. The whole "pretend to be their father, Soun Tendo" thing won't work, since Happosai visits them regularly and their momories of him won't be so vague. So it'll have to be a grudge match, with the girls playing the part of dojo destroyers, acting out Happosai's vengeance for losing his heir. Perhaps they take the Tendo-Hibiki sign after they beat Ryoga Jr. and Michiko attempts to get it back, and loses? Desperate, she turns to Yemon for help , and he trains her for a couple of days and helps her think up a new trick to use. She challenges them again and wins the sign back. This could be a turning point in their relationship, where Yemon first starts to become attracted to her.

What to do with the girls afterwards though? Perhaps Michiko's younger sisters befriend them and they leave on peaceful terms, promising to return and challenge the Hibiki's again when they get stronger?

I like your ideas for Michiko's appearance. I'd make her hair brown, and she'd likely wear it similar to Kasumi, because she tries to emulate her mother, hoping it will make her more attractive. I'd just give her normal Hibiki fangs. I think she's unique enough already, and you might want to save some of those quirks for her siblings. Giving her a lisp would just be silly, I think.

Tanned, tall, athletically muscular all sound good. If she wears long sleeved clothes to hid her muscles, than how did she get so tanned? Probably be better to stick with one or the other. Simple, tough clothing would be best for someone often on the road, probably a modest earth-hued tank-top and shorts, with hiking boots and a large backpack. A wide-brimmed straw hat sounds good, along with a water-proof cloak that she'll wear when it rains.

Nice ideas for her younger sisters, and being with Ryoga is a good reason for Ryoga Jr. to be absent often.

I don't know about about having the medical brother be a vampire-looka-like. I feel that it has a lot of potential, but it sounds like it would be difficult to write without making it feel unnatural. If you can pull it off, though, go ahead.

I'd pair Kuno with Mariko. In the manga (don't know about the anime) she's the only person who ever actually shows interest in him. I tried to watch that episode (it's in season 4 by the way) but it hurt my brain too much. I know Azusa is a kleptomaniac, but I didn't realize she was retarded too. It was embarrassing to see her honestly think a giant ceramic statue was a tanuki-turned-Kuno. Honestly, even Kuno has better standards than that. And seeing Sasuke wearing lipstick and acting cutesy has got to be one of the creepiest things I've ever seen. *shudders*

Hmmm, using the Dojo Destroyer's "wooden board swarm" attack (how did he do that anyway? They didn't explain it at all, it looked like he was using the force or something)... that could work. It would make a lot more sense with paper than with wooden boards anyway. Actually, Konatsu has a very similar technique in the manga, the "Heartless Bill Whirlwind", where he creates a weak whirlwind filled with paper receipts around his foe, that gives them a bunch of papercuts to distract and confuse them. It could easily work for Michiko.

I really don't think that "menage et trois" for Kuno's kid would work. The Kuno's are descended form a long line of samurai. In feudal Japan, it was fine for a samurai to have several wives, which is why Tatewaki was willing to chase two women, but it wasn't fine for a woman to be involved with more than one man, or to have "unnatural" relations with other women. It's stupid and sexist in my opinion, but the Kunos alway struck me as very traditional and damn proud of that fact. Kuno's daughter would be raised to be just as feudal-minded and arrogant as her parents, so this wouldn't work. Unless of course, you want to write her as having a more modern personality, and rebelling against her family. In that case though, she'd probably get disowned. I still doubt the twin-fetish would work, as if she hated her family she'd likely be too sane to do something creepy like that.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

To also go off topic, I first saw Ranma 1/2 when I was in the video store and saw a VHS of the anime on the shelf. I didn't hire it, but my curiosity was aroused. My first real exposure was actually the manga: I found the complete volume housing the Pantyhose Taro story at my library, and I managed to find a few others through the same place. To really see the series, I downloaded whatever episodes I could find on Bearshare, though I couldn't find any for the 7th season.

The manga is alright, but I just prefer the anime... I can't really say why, but one reason is it's more realistic in my opinion. The manga-Ranma is a manipulator and a schemer, kind of like a less-selfish Genma Jr. Anime-Ranma, however, seems more the sort of person you'd expect from a decade and 4 years on the road with no real contact but Genma "stupid bastard" Saotome: brash, agressive, more prone to violence. Ranma was raised to be a great fighter in either version- so which makes more sense to you? To react to any challenge with agression and to favor fighting, or to try and scheme & manipulate others?

Akane being weaker also fits into the 'more logical' slot: she's a hobbyist who spends a few hours each day smashing bricks and beating on dummies. So how in the world is she supposed to be anywhere near as strong as a Chinese Amazon, or guys who have been fending for themselves in the wilderness all their lives? Akane doesn't live martial arts 24/7- she lives an ordinary life (bar the sex-changing fiance & attendant weirdness) and slots martial arts into the empty spaces of it.

The fact the anime does a better job on the fiancee/rival thing also helps. In the manga, Ranma's *rivals* are actually *nicer* to him (and nicer people in general) than his *fiancees*. While she doesn't get so many Uglies in the manga, anime-Ukyo has never hinted at wanting to control/manipulate him the way her manga-version does in the Hiryu Shoten Ha storyline. If you like Ranma/other girl matchups, it's much easier to work from the anime: give me the self-sacrificing anime-Shampoo, who ends a date to save her rival and is willing to fight to the death for his sake, over the petty bitchqueen manga-Shampoo anyday.

Ranma's weakness to the Ring of Fire is actually quite logical: you've got to remember this is a two-pronged elemental attack, as oppossed to blunt force like with the Shi Shi Hokodan. Ranma isn't being blasted with raw concussive force, he's being simultaneously burned and flash-frozen. As to why I say Natsume & Kurumi are strongest girls- even in the manga, not even Shampoo, the toughest girl there, has pulled off a ki attack, and Ranma & Ryoga's are both emotion based concussion blasts. 100-foot punches, basically.

I agree about despising the Dual-Jet attack: that move feels almost as contrived to me as the whole Ranma/Akane matchup, and I apologise for forcing you to watch that nightmare in action. It does make a little sense- after all, a guy with 999 consecutive wins, each time fighting against every single student in the opposing martial arts school, should be tough enough that a single punch won't fell him, don't you agree?

The final reason I prefer the anime is because it's easier to use as a base for fanfics: there are more (and more obvious) moments where you can ask youself "what if?". What if Shampoo had asked Ranma to sign her wedding license while he was tied up with the Red Thread? What if Ranma had actually gotten sick of the Tendos and moved into Ukyo's after they kicked him out? What if he and Nabiki had both had those love-potion bandaids stuck on them and then been locked in a closet together? Plus the relatively open ending (compared to the manga) and it's lesser baggage gives you more room to expand if you decide to try a continuation.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

Now, to get back on topic... for Michiko's appearance, I agree that normal Hibiki fangs probably works better. Also, long-sleeved/skin-covering clothes to hide her muscles (and make her seem more lady-like ala "a girl shouldn't expose unseemly amounts of flesh") seems better, which means it's probably only her face that's tanned, if that.

Hmm... that's a very good question for Natsume & Kurumi. Perhaps it might be best to finish up Michiko and her siblings first, then work on 'ironing' them out, okay?

For the vampire-lookalike, it was just an idea, so if you think it's useless, then I'm fine with skipping it. And I was anticipating you shooting down the "Kuno's kid wants Michiko & her twin brother both", so that's no loss either. And I agree- Kuno dumped Azusa in the anime (even if it did happen off screen), so he's not likely to have tolerated her any more in the background of this one. Kuno/Mariko it is. Come to think of it, their relationship could actually be considered more stable in the anime: in the manga, once Mariko loses the match, there's a panel of her walking past a beaten-up Kuno in disgust, her crush clearly long-gone, while the anime never gives us any sign that she's lost her crush on him.

The only reason I suggested Asuza was because I had this weird idea for a style for their daughter to use: "Martial Arts Sword Skating". Basically, sword-fighting while wearing rollerblades. Very flashy, kind of dangerous and pretty stupid (even for Ranmaverse standards), but that's kind of Kuno's whole character, now isn't it? It evolved from a vague idea that the daughter/son of Kuno and Mariko would practise a very flashy and "animeish" sort of sword-play, which probably looks more impressive than it really is- though, given the Ranmaverse laws, it's still dangerous enough it's a viable style.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

Just something I remembered: if Michiko's eldest brother is at least apprenticed to a doctor, then given it's been 20 years since Ranma lost on Snow Mountain, he's likely 19-18 years old, yes? Given that, do you think it's likely either Ryoga and Kasumi's wedding was somewhat 'rushed' or Kasumi ended up an 11th hour bride (I think that's the term- a bride who's implicately getting married to ensure her child, which she's visibly pregnant with, is legalized)? If yes, do you think they probably don't have any pictures of the actual ceremony?

On a similar random nature: do you think Soun is likely to still be around? He'd only be in his mid-60's, no great shakes even for as lowly a martial artist as him, but then again something could have happened that caused him to bite the dust. Possibly even something as mundane as 'dying of a broken heart', or having an accident while extremely depressed (something that would have come to him even easier than normal, given the various blows this timeline threw at him) and not having the will to heal and passing away in hospital.

This situation is completely hypothetical, but if the various members of the Neo-Crew were shunted not only backwards 19 1/2 years in time but also sideways across to the "base" timeline that forms the anime canon, how would they react to/get along with their teenaged parents? Similarly, how would the various members of the NWC react to the various shocks the Neo-Crew's explanation of where they come from?

[antimatterenergy]

I have not been following this topic and just happened to do a quick skim.

In the anime, Gosunkugi is given the full name of "Hikaru Gosunkugi", which is spoken that way in the dub. So, which name is the family one? Would Miyo be "Miyo Hikaru" or "Miyo Gosunkugi"?

That's added by VIZ in Japanese (both Manga and Anime) Gosunkugi's personal name is never given only his family name Gosunkugi. In Japan unless your close friends/lovers/family you don't generally use personal names. Also in Japanese it's family name then personal name i.e. Tendo Akane instead of Akane Tendo but that doesn't apply to Gos's name since the Hikaru was added on by the US translators and put in the order that names are given in the US.

Is any character going to use technology to fight? This is set in the future and in at least the manga they had modern technology Akane destroyed 2 microwaves, every house had a TV and VCR, we saw buses (Akane took one to Ryoga's house), Trains (Ranma and Ryoga rode on the side of one), Planes (flying over Hong Kong when they went there), Helicopters (rent one during 10 yen bet and Hawaiian virus island rescued them), ambulances (for the guy who fell from a helicopter without a parachute, electronics store passed during time Ranma pretended to be Ryoga's sister, Shampoo and Miss Hinako had a video game systems, one of the late volumes had them pass up a software store, etc... For combat I was wondering if a character would have a more advanced version of Gosunkugi's mechanized body armor, more advanced jet pack then the one principal Kuno used, electrical weapons like Kodachi used, gas masks to stop gas attacks like Akane wore during the girl replant arc or Happosai wore when he used tear gas, use of tear gas, mini bombs like Ukyo's gun powder explosives, memory metal like Kodachi had, etc...

The manga is alright, but I just prefer the anime... I can't really say why, but one reason is it's more realistic in my opinion. The manga-Ranma is a manipulator and a schemer, kind of like a less-selfish Genma Jr. Anime-Ranma, however, seems more the sort of person you'd expect from a decade and 4 years on the road with no real contact but Genma "stupid bastard" Saotome: brash, agressive, more prone to violence. Ranma was raised to be a great fighter in either version- so which makes more sense to you? To react to any challenge with agression and to favor fighting, or to try and scheme & manipulate others?

I prefer the manga and really how Ranma acts would be dependent on how he was raised. Was he raised solely in the wilds or did he spend most of the time moving from dojo to dojo, trainer to trainer surrounded by older people most of the time, and staying only long enough to learn the style/get chased out of the city. With occasionally living in the wild for a few weeks/months at a time and generally living out of his tent. Being pulled from school to school. Never staying any place with people his own age long enough to make real friends/develop better social skills. Observing society but apart from it. Is Genma a manipulator and schemer? Because if he is it can be expected for him to pass on those traits to Ranma.

there are more (and more obvious) moments where you can ask youself "what if?"

I don't know about that. I can think of a lot of what ifs. What if the Koi rod did not pull off the koi mark? What if Ranma lost to Herb? What if the leaf of destiny was destroyed? What if the mirror clone was permanent? What if the noodle of strength was actually that and not just to strengthen your stomach? What if Kima actually tried to be reasonable and explain why they needed the map and would give it back afterwards? What if Ranma defeated Akari's pig? What if Happosai stayed a baby Ranma had to take care of? What if Ranma's mom didn't find out about the curse? Would Ranma's mom still hold being manly over Ranma's head since she did try to pull out her sword and said Ranma didn't look manly after moving into her house (he was depressed)? What if Soun did not interrupt the moment in the closet during the magic dogi arc? What if the fiancees' teamed up to get rid of Akane (all the fiancees besides Akane have gotten along sitting at a table with Ranma and his mom)? What if Kodachi convinced Ranma's mom she was the best choice? etc...

[lwf58]

That's added by VIZ in Japanese (both Manga and Anime) Gosunkugi's personal name is never given only his family name Gosunkugi. In Japan unless your close friends/lovers/family you don't generally use personal names. Also in Japanese it's family name then personal name i.e. Tendo Akane instead of Akane Tendo but that doesn't apply to Gos's name since the Hikaru was added on by the US translators and put in the order that names are given in the US.

Hikaru is his given name, Gosunkugi is his family name. (五寸釘光 - Gosunkugi Hikaru.)

The name Hikaru was not given to him by Viz. It's canon. I knew it long before the series was imported to the US, from back when the only copies of Ranma 1/2 available were raw Japanese imports.

His name means, roughly, "shining 6" nail", a deliberate reference to his penchant for trying to nail voodoo dolls to trees or walls. Gosunkugi (五寸釘) is made up of characters meaning "five", "sun" (an old Japanese measurement used for nails, chisels, and other tools), and "nail/spike". 1 sun is equal to about 1.193 inches.