On Wed, 16 Jun 1999, LaShawn Wanak wrote:

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! CLIFFHANGEEEEEERRRRRRRR!!!

Fun, ain't they? :) For the writer, anyway.
 

Okay, now that I got that out of the way, I can C&C. This series gets 
weirder and better with each canto. There's something fishy happening with 
Akane (pardon the pun), but now that she's serving the Lady, I betcha 
things are really going to heat up now.

Pun? But yeah, sorta. I expect things will keep escalating til the end of
the series.

Speaking of the Lady, there's one little nitpick I have. Akane can't be so 
dense to wonder who the heck the Lady is. Byen mentions her name several 
times, but Akane doesn't asks who she is. It's hard to go charging into 
someone's house without learning who the person is first (well, okay, it's 
not so hard...but...you know what I mean.)

That's because Tofu told her who he is at the end of Canto Two... well, at
least as much as is known. She's a bit of an enigma.

Melding mythological traditions was one of the most enjoyable and
interesting aspects of this project for me... both celtic and Japanese
myth have a Fair Lady, with unnervingly similar descriptions and
attitudes. 

The second nitpick I have is how Akane let's Ryouga leave without getting 
medical attention. Of course, I applaud the torture scene--and wince at it 
at the same time. Poor, poor Ryouga. What a fitting, yet horrible 
punishment. And what a horrible way for Akane to find out about his love 
for her and P-chan. However, was Akane so heartless that she lets Ryouga go 
without at least steering him towards a hospital? He couldn't have been in 
that good of shape, was he?

Well... yes and no. Physically he's not that bad off... he's taken worse
damage from a tough fight with Ranma. A skillful torturer, as the
Akane-doppelganger was, can put her victim in incredible amounts of pain
without actually doing serious harm. The lasting damage is mental, not
physical.

She's not at her most benevolent when she sends him away - it certainly
wasn't the right thing to do - but she was on the verge of mental collapse
herself, and... well... people don't always do the right thing, especially
under trying circumstances.

Other than that, this canto was great! Cologne, I bet, will have a fit once 
she learns Akane is now serving the Lady. Akane is getting in way over her 
head, and her stubborn pride in becoming a good martial artist isn't 
helping. Her relationship with Ranma have been severely affected. Ryouga's 
probably going to go ballistic with depression. Tofu's real personality is 
revealing itself more, and Tetsuko appears to be more than she seems. I 
can't take it anymore! Hurry up with Canto 4!

It's coming... learning Spanish the hard way, which unfortunately is
taking up more of my time than I'd like. I'm trying to become bi-ignorant.
;)

Thanks for the comments.

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