Saotome’s Choice

J.P. Buckner

Overall: 8.8

Plot: 8.8

Grammar etc: 8.8

In a Nutshell: One of those ‘Ranma’s had enough’ stories. But not as cliché. Instead of running away and then being led back by an apologetic Akane, Ranma runs to someplace—he’s obviously thought this out.

Critique: This is one of the most heartwarming stories I’ve read in awhile, but it is far from sappy. The plot is really quite good, and nothing that is done seems too out-of-character or over the top. And in a story that makes you feel this good, that’s saying something.

En toto: Ranma, deep? Yes, apparently, and in Saotome’s Choice, it’s easy to believe. In this story we like Ranma a great deal; in fact, there isn’t much room for hate here at all, as all of the Ranma characters (save perhaps Ryoga, but we haven’t yet dealt with him much) are presented in a human fashion. Ranma runs off because he believes nobody cares for him because he cannot see beneath people’s surface behavior. To get some of the love he yearns for, he abandons his masculinity and goes to live with his mother.

Finally, a fanfiction where Nodoka and/or Kasumi/Akane does NOT force Ranma to wear a dress! Many of the token scenes present in fanfiction are absent here, and for this reader, it was quite a relief. The ‘dressing room/shopping mall’ one was an event I was happy to leave behind. The Ryoga-doesn’t-recognize-Ranma-in-a-skirt was there, but the then-he-looks-all-abashed wasn’t. That scene is so well known that I could mouthe the words directly from it in my sleep!

The real reason I recommend this story is not because it abandons convention, however, but because there are some truly beautiful ideas it explores. The first and foremost is the real relationship between mother and daughter, which is not like any other relationship in the world. Buckner’s Nodoka is patient, kind, and willing to let ‘Ranko’ come to love her gradually. This is quite a departure from the usual katana-wielding, tradition-obsessed woman that is usually represented. This version of Nodoka is much easier to swallow because, well, a sane mother would never threaten her son’s life for anything. Maybe I’m being culture-centric, but threatening to decapitate progeny in the name of something as intangible as ‘manliness’ is completely and totally insane. And, in the manga, Nodoka appears to be quite a bit saner than the rest of the Ranma cast.

The second beautiful thing is the underlying symmetry of the plot. Ranma is certain that nobody he knows cares about him, and some of the people he knows hate him. This is a somewhat understandable world-view, considering what people tell him all the time. Yet, one by one, each and every character in the Ranma cast and crew show him that they do indeed care and think a great deal of Ranma. First it’s Kasumi, who Ranma at least trusts, that shows her love. Then, strangely enough, it’s Nabiki, who has been tormenting Ranma because of her own problems. Even more oddly, the next victim is Cologne, who decides to leave Japan forever in the name of Ranma’s sanity and well-being. After all, she only wanted the boy as a member of the tribe, and since Ranma’s living as a girl right now... would she like to be an Amazon? Cologne extends this invitation to several others in the Ranma cast, as well as promising to do something to get rid of Happosai.

I liked the idea of Akane and Kodachi getting along, as they both needed people with problems similar to their own. Akane’s temper is really getting out of hand at the point Buckner left the story, and I can only hope he continues!