[Ranma 1/2] Namida no Okonomiyaki

[Brian]

Namida no Okonomiyaki, by Webdragon.

A copy of this fic can be found at my archive copy of his webspace.

This is one of the most frustrating fics for an Ukyou fanboy to read.  Now, this has been commented on (briefly) by Taleswapper, back in the day, but....  I thought I'd take a crack at it anyway. ;)

So, this is a story about Ranma, and Ukyou, and Ranma and Akane.  Pretty much.  Now, to be fair, Webdragon may have perfected and in fact been responsible for the 'tragically attracted but without a real chance' characterization of Ukyou, but he delivers it with such flair it's really hard to complain too much.

As the tale begins, Ranma and Akane have had a falling out, and Ukyou has a chance to monopolize that.

Webdragon avoids the majority of the melodrama I'd have expected from this piece.  It's almost all from Ukyou's PoV, so our insight into Ranma is both subtle and well written.  The fic isn't grammatically perfect, but now that I work in a bookstore I can tell you it's better than a lot of unproofed books (isn't that a surprise?).

As much as I like the story, I don't want to spoil it, though I obviously think it's well worth a read.  On a scale of 1-10, I'd give it an 8, at least.  Back in the day, I'd have given it less, but then I was more of a fanboy, and less sensible about these things.  As it stands, aside from a lingering desire to smack one of the characters a lot for the ending, I think it's great.

The only complaint I could really muster against it is that ... as much as I like Ukyou, she may be a bit too altruistic here.