THEN SUDDENLY: Now you are the Akane-bashers.

[thepanda]

LEt's see ... Ranma is kicked out of the Tendo dojo for some reason.  Goes to the kunos, gets rejected by Kodachi, turns into a girl to try and seduce Kuno, transforms in the middle of a 'lo---

Don't remember the rest.

The one I vaguely recall was a Ranma/Ryoga ship, with Ranma doing his disguise thing and banging Ryoga. For some reason I'm thinking it was really short; spamish even. Might have been a ficlet from one of those timed writing challenges back in the day.

[thepanda]

...snap.  Ko, did NOT see that in the list.

You're right.  That one I don't think I've ever seen done.

Wait, wait. I know I've read part of this one before. Something something Nodoka takes Ranma for a training trip after finding out about the curse something something Ranma's Girl? No, that's not it. Was supposed to be original flavor. Not Ranko 1/2. Gah! On the tip of my tongue. . .

[Jason_Miao]

Mmm ... it's amazing how far one happy idea can take you ... but once again, I seem to be late to the party. -_- If everything has already been said many times over, it discourages from even trying to get into the fandom

Not everything that could be written has been written.  People have been saying that about Ranma fics when I started writing over ten years ago, but people are still writing good stories.

... and because martial arts just isn't for me I'll be content knowing that there's something awesome in the past, as there clearly must be based on the amount of enthusiasm. ^_^

Oddly enough, most Ranma fics aren't about martial arts.  I have a Ranma story written with wuxia influences that I've been slowly developing for the last couple of years (buried somewhere in the writing section), inspired because there is a distinct lack of Ranma stories that actually fit the genre.

[Jason_Miao]

Gah, tangentially related, that brings back this one time I ran into a guy who said Ranma being locked in girl-form and liking girls made him a lesbian.  That made me want to hammer my head into a wall.

Depends on whether you consider someone being female as a matter physicality or self-identity.

I tend to pick whichever one is funnier, or otherwise works better for whatever story I'm planning.

I'd like to think what I've written for Ranma doesn't fit a neat category like those...but it probably does.

Breaking categories is fun. :)

[sarsaparilla]

So, despite my reservations I decided to give it a try and read about halfway through the manga, only to have my initial understanding of the series proven wrong. It's not a martial arts work after all, but instead a combination of romantic and slapstick comedy disguised as a (very goofy) martial arts story. Well, sociopathic comedy is not among my favorites either, but concerning the topic of this thread I was genuinely baffled as to what there even is to hate in Akane, as she seemed to be one of the few sympathetic characters in the whole series, showing genuine affection only to get her chain yanked at every possible occasion (well, cannot really blame Ranma that much if a childhood of abuse has left his mental maturity at maybe half of his physical age). If anything, I felt pity for her (and Ryoga, another character who doesn't really deserve what he gets, or fails to get).

In the anime, she's just a psychotic tsundere locked in tsuntsun mode -- with the switch broken off and thrown away for good measure.

I see. Sounds like I'll better stay clear of the anime, then. I wonder whether I can even endure through the manga because the constant physical confrontation is very tiresome.

Ok, it's a good series overall but I'm still not going to start writing Ranma fanfic, as sociopathy makes me wince instead of laughing (I know, I'm a bore -_-).

[Brian]

Akane's often given some harsh judgements specifically because the fan community likes to forget that this is a slapstick comedy when they write fanfics.  I'm not immune to that myself....

Anyway, you haven't gotten to the Battle Dougi arc. :x

I don't disike Akane, myself ... I just like Shampoo and Ukyou better. :p

If you don't like the martial arts angle, I think ... you will probably feel like quitting (or at least skipping) the Ryu Kumon arc.  Probably, the Herb arc will be a bit more bearable.

Ok, it's a good series overall but I'm still not going to start writing Ranma fanfic, as sociopathy makes me wince instead of laughing (I know, I'm a bore -_-).

That's exactly the reason that Meet the Suzumiyas leftme shivering and horrified, not amused.

But then, I evidently take everything too seriously. >_>

[Jon]

The popularity of Ranma fanfic stems in part from the way you can impose almost any narrative construct you like. Want a coming-of-age/romance story? Easily done. How about a rollicking space-opera adventure? Works! Perhaps you'd like a Sailor Moon crossover that either keeps the gender-based comedy or milks it for angst? Been done to death. Maybe you'd like a story that explores what it means to be superhuman in a mundane world? Seen more than a few of those. It's almost like Tezuka's Star System; they are actors in whichever role you like. Even the metafiction roles.

[Brian]

Honor and Love?  That takes me back!

[Muphrid]

So, despite my reservations I decided to give it a try and read about halfway through the manga, only to have my initial understanding of the series proven wrong. It's not a martial arts work after all, but instead a combination of romantic and slapstick comedy disguised as a (very goofy) martial arts story. Well, sociopathic comedy is not among my favorites either, but concerning the topic of this thread I was genuinely baffled as to what there even is to hate in Akane, as she seemed to be one of the few sympathetic characters in the whole series, showing genuine affection only to get her chain yanked at every possible occasion (well, cannot really blame Ranma that much if a childhood of abuse has left his mental maturity at maybe half of his physical age). If anything, I felt pity for her (and Ryoga, another character who doesn't really deserve what he gets, or fails to get).

In the anime, she's just a psychotic tsundere locked in tsuntsun mode -- with the switch broken off and thrown away for good measure.

I see. Sounds like I'll better stay clear of the anime, then. I wonder whether I can even endure through the manga because the constant physical confrontation is very tiresome.

Ok, it's a good series overall but I'm still not going to start writing Ranma fanfic, as sociopathy makes me wince instead of laughing (I know, I'm a bore -_-).

The sociopathy and double-standards definitely gnaw at the back of the mind.  As far as the anime, I've only ever paid attention to the episodes that were adaptations of manga stories and not really to the filler in between.  They're not the strictest, panel-for-panel recreations of the manga, but they tend to be all right.  And as Jon points out, there are lots of ways people have taken Ranma in directions that aren't like canon because there's a lot of possibility there (though I admit, I'm not sure what makes Ranma so versatile this way compared to other series).  I know Takahashi's style of comedy is something I'd need to learn in order to imitate, which is why I haven't even tried when I've dabbled in Ranma.

[Brian]

And as Jon points out, there are lots of ways people have taken Ranma in directions that aren't like canon because there's a lot of possibility there (though I admit, I'm not sure what makes Ranma so versatile this way compared to other series).  I know Takahashi's style of comedy is something I'd need to learn in order to imitate, which is why I haven't even tried when I've dabbled in Ranma.

A lot of this, I expect, has to do with the historical timing of when the anime was released.  It wasn't exactly groundbreaking, but in fanfiction circles, at least, it was very widespread.

I suspect what makes Ranma so versatile is the fact that Takahashi herself wasn't consistent enough to lock a lot of story elements down, and the fandom's drive to push those borders established a lot of successful crossovers early.  Then again, compare that to the RSE issue. ;)

[Dracos]

Takahashi's works generally are very accessible in this regard.  Her regular reset of "Status Quo+MoreCharacters" that she pulls off in many series provide significant numbers of reasonable entry points where things are in a neutral position with reasonable approaching to tell a story with (or neutral to tell your own with).  There's lots of 'breath' points and they often end in unsatisifying and/or inconclusive ways ("Wedding that Isn't, Oh huh, bad guy dies, etc") and generally provide very eccentric characters to work with.  I think that's why her series tend to have healthier fanfiction communities.

Whimsically off the top of my head from work, breath/opening points people can/do find leverage to write a tale of their own off of, comparing 2 shonen series with Ranma. 

Bleach: 6?
First Encounter with Rukia
First Major Defeat
Soul Society Arc
Introduction of Vizard (Most common)
The War arc
Post War (And then there was peace...and what?)

Naruto: 7?
Pre-Series ("What if Titular Characters developed differently?")
First Encounter/Reveal ("You are really...")
Welcome to team... (<-Most common point)
Oh god, it's Wave Country/First Major Mission
Hey, Tourney Arc / New Trainer / And the world changed (Second most common start, most common end)
3 years later...
Post War (Almost nobody starts anywhere around the war as it's not really a breath point for the titular character, it's a training arc)

Ranma: 16? Got tired of thinking of them.
Pre-Series ("What if Titular Characters developed differently?")
You shall have a fiancee...
Introduction of Jusenkyou, results/events/causes/etc.
And your first fiancee is...
After Ryoga enters.
On Ukyou's arrival.
Shampoo's arrival
Cologne's arrival
Mouse's revenge
When Herb Arrives (And any 'And the horrible fate is permament')
Kuno has bought a magic artifact
Akane's Magic Gi ("And things are flipped over")
A prince arrives into the status quo (Pick one of 2-3 in canon, or make your own)
"I'll take him", Sister takes fiancee
Saffron fight (And the world was changed forever?)
Post series (And things are unresolved..)

Ranma's constant returns to 'status quo' give it a ton of spots to write from, with an overwhelming majority taking some vein of "Something happened and the world was forever changed".  It also gives a number of points where 'Things can go wrong, World is changed forever, and the heroes can still be around to write about' (Something that there's just not much room with the major conflicts in the other two shonen series referenced as Death for the protagonist is usually part of the major conflict).

I suspect Haruhi actually has a lot of the same mini-arc/status quo continues+NewCharacters setup (indeed it seems written into its plot).

[Brian]

Haruhi is lacking in the 'quirky new character appears' regard.  In fact, when Yasumi was introduced, it felt kind of jarring.

Also, Ranma has character development only if you squint, pretty much.  Haruhi is all about character growth among the entire cast -- pretty much constantly.

[Jason_Miao]

I see. Sounds like I'll better stay clear of the anime, then. I wonder whether I can even endure through the manga because the constant physical confrontation is very tiresome.

If I might suggest, if "martial arts" (e.g, Martial Arts Tea Ceremony) isn't your thing, treat the martial arts chapters in Ranma like Ah! Megamisama K1's racing chapters.  You don't have to be a racing fan to enjoy AMS, but racing is just what he does, so there's a lot that revolves around it.  Likewise, Ranma is really a romantic comedy, but martial arts is just what everyone does.

-edit-
In fact, I'd laugh pretty hard if a Ranma writer tried to assert that martial arts was necessary, since 99% of the fics out there are fairly lacking in detail of actual martial arts or wuxia martial arts (Writers on the FFML would assert that chi should be treated exactly the same as magic, leaping up to a rooftop from the ground was called "roofhopping", etc). 

Well, sociopathic comedy is not among my favorites either, but concerning the topic of this thread I was genuinely baffled as to what there even is to hate in Akane, as she seemed to be one of the few sympathetic characters in the whole series, showing genuine affection only to get her chain yanked at every possible occasion (well, cannot really blame Ranma that much if a childhood of abuse has left his mental maturity at maybe half of his physical age).

Fanon builds quite a few structures.  I've read the english transcripts of the SM manga, and if I hadn't, I might believe that Crystal Tokyo is supposed to be a dystopia.

I know Takahashi's style of comedy is something I'd need to learn in order to imitate, which is why I haven't even tried when I've dabbled in Ranma.

You don't need to imitate the comedy style per se.  In fact, unless you are strikingly good at puns in Japanese, you can't imitate her style per se.  So, seeing as how it's not practical to do so anyway, forget that goal, take a general grasp of the characters, and tell a good story.

Brian has penned some Ranma fanfics, and if you'd like to skim through them, you'll note that they aren't like Takahashi's works at all.  They are, nonetheless, enjoyable.

[thepanda]

Fanon builds quite a few structures.  I've read the english transcripts of the SM manga, and if I hadn't, I might believe that Crystal Tokyo is supposed to be a dystopia.

Must. . . not. . . restart. . . that. . . thread. . . *eye twitches*

[Arakawa]

To me, Sailor Moon Expanded's version of Crystal Tokyo always felt like a reasonable middle ground between "happy bubblegum fairy land" and "awful Stepford Dystopia". To such an extent that I've been completely turned off from reading non-SME Crystal Tokyo fics. Because yes, experience shows that there's a good chance they will suck.

Which is a double bummer, since as far as I can tell SME went dead sometime in the 90s.