Miss Fortune

Brian Randall

OVERALL: 7.5

Plot: 7.9 (well-executed!)

Grammar/etc.: 9.0

LIME! (self-proclaimed... it does not really deserve the name)

In a Nutshell: Akane wakes up not remembering the past six months. What has happened and why is her family suddenly treating her so strangely?

Critique: I had a little bit of trouble with Ryoga’s whole koi rod thing. He just doesn’t seem to be acting normal, even for him. Then again, as per Willow-san, “Love makes you do the wacky.” I suppose enough obsession will eventually make a character go completely nuts. The only other thing that bugs me is that Ranma’s obvious psychosis is automatically ‘solved’ when Akane shows again. That strikes me as a little funny.

Sum and Substance: As a Ryoga fan, it’s hard to understand the tone of this piece, but for me, the rest of the story was relatively seamless. It seems that Ryoga, who’s so uncomfortable around women, would be driven crazy by the effects of a koi-rodded Akane rather than accepting her affections. Then again, he does have some time to get used to things. I also sort of appreciated the way these scenes are broken up. The flashbacks may become confusing, but only infrequently; usually everything is clear. Akane’s mastery of the Shi Shi Hokodan was truly shiver-inducing, as well as her ‘new attack’. I’m sure this has been done in anime before (it has that familiar feel) but to call a suicide the ‘Perfect’ version of the technique always raises some goosebumps... as though that is the only way to reach perfection once and for all.

This is one of those wow-do-Ranma-&-Akane-ever-belong-together fics. Everybody but Ryoga accepts this from the get-go including all fiancées and admirers mentioned in the fic. Even Akane’s “dishonor” in this story is considered horrible more by Akane herself than anybody else. (P.S. Was Akane’s pregnancy obvious or what?!)

A particularly shining moment in this story is the one real scene involving Genma. It’s rare we see the man in the panda’s skin, and it was nice, whether he’s a ‘shallow pool’ or not. The only place I’ve ever seen him treated so kindly was in Genma’s Daughter, which did a fantastic job of justifying the man’s actions. I think I appreciated it mostly because everybody considers him a bumbling fool, the same way Kasumi was written in fics awhile back. Then everyone decided to make Kasumi an evil genius bent on world conquest (or just a genius!). I would not like every fanfic writer to make Genma into some sort of noble creature, but I like seeing him represented differently now and then.

The opening of this strongly reminded me of Schools United. I wonder which came first?

Finally, the story ended on a particularly lovely note. Ranma is a very closed person in this fic, yet here is that very fic’s last sentence: "I love you too, Akane-chan. I'll love you forever. Now rest, you need your strength." Realizing that she was already asleep, Ranma collapsed into the chair, a goofy grin on her face. "Finally... finally... finally..."”... and I will end on that note as well. :)