On Fri, 25 Jul 1997, Eric Adams wrote:

Mr. Otakki wrote:

If anyone out there cares to, I'd appreciate some notes on what the more
serious aspects of the characters in Ranma 1/2 should be/are (you can
even include references for my sake).  Be it notes on just one or two, or
a large novel of notes, I'd appreciate it.  I think it'd help me out a
great deal in creating meaningful dialogue and character development.

One last thing i do want to mention is taht i doubt any of the
characters truly now what love means.  First off i find it ironic that
for as annoying Mousse is to Shampoo she is almost as annoying and
probably moreso to Ranma.  Ukyou had devoted too much of her life to
Ranma and knows little outside it, Mousse is far to obssessive,  Ryouga
lies to Akane, Ranma is to mean to Akane and Akane to violent towards
him.  The basis for love is there but i don't think it exists amongst
the characters the way they claim it does.

I'd venture to say that most of the human race doesn't know what love
means, considering that we don't treat each other very well to begin
with...  ;)

Seriously tho, if you stop and think about it, love is a commitment, not
a feeling.  In the States, at least, the marriage vows contain wording
along the lines of "love, honor, cherish...til death do us part."  Not
only do people tend to ignore the "til death do us part" bit, but they
also gloss over the "love" bit.  Look at the wording.  It's something
you *do*, not something you feel, although the romantic spark should be
there (and is, I think, for most of the Ranma characters).

Here's a question for the fic writers out there.  Is Ranma, et. al,
afraid of commitment?  Or have they just not thought about it?

Damon Casale, damoo@universal-net.com
* Damon notes that he's never commented on Ranma, except to say "I don't
like it" until now...  ^_-