Ranma ½ Ranma canon questions
- Thread starter Dumbledork
- Start date
Cologne is the Matriarch of her family, a fact born out given she gave out and enforced and enacted Shampoo's punishment at Jusenkyo.
Cologne being an elder of the tribe is easy to infer from her status of power within her family, the various trinkets, magical items et al Cologne knows about. Additionally Herbs own visit to Cologne does seem to indicate that she ranks highly in the local power structure.
What this actually means has been left vague and thus up for writers to decide their own derivative canon.
I enjoy giant Troll who's in town for fun at the younger kids expense
Cologne being an elder of the tribe is easy to infer from her status of power within her family, the various trinkets, magical items et al Cologne knows about. Additionally Herbs own visit to Cologne does seem to indicate that she ranks highly in the local power structure.
What this actually means has been left vague and thus up for writers to decide their own derivative canon.
I enjoy giant Troll who's in town for fun at the younger kids expense
I don't think Cologne can be all that important to the governance of her village considering she basically runs off to Japan to run a restaurant for the good part of a year, and spends most of her free time watching soap operas or harassing a bunch of kids for amusement. If she had a leadership role in Joketsuzoku before coming to Nerima then she probably retired and handed it down to someone else when she left the country.
More like least likely. She had no way to know how long it would take to get Ranma back, especially when her plan was to lock him as a girl, and see how long it takes him to submit or train enough to impress her. If Shampoo told her about their last meeting then Cologne would theoretically be doing Ranma a bit of a favor.
If she even had a position of literal power, she more likely, retired well before the series or before coming to Nerima so she could take care of family matters.
If she even had a position of literal power, she more likely, retired well before the series or before coming to Nerima so she could take care of family matters.
Well, I am new here and just finished reading this entire thread. So, there are a few comments that will reference some older topics.
Re: honorific usage:
I have come to dislike their usage in stories. While they can be enlightening if the author is versed enough in their usage and meaning, that is way too often not the case. My biggest pet peeve with honorifics is how many authors have Ranma and Akane admit their feelings for each other and then start using the chan honorific because they seem to think that it is an endearing term, while it is my understanding that going form the extremely familiar first name with no honorific to any name with an honorific would be a step backwards in their relationship. Of course, I try not to use them because I only understand enough to know that in am mostly ignorant.
Re: Jobs and finances:
It always irks me when people make the immediate assumption that neither Soun nor Genma have jobs. The evidence? It is never shown so it obviously cannot exist. By that logic the characters have the most astounding bladder control in existence as they apparently never use the restroom. It is also amazing that they haven't all been arrested for tax evasion. snark aside, the lack of showing something doesn't constitute proof. I personally think that Soun does have students. I also think that Genma has a job. He has even been shown working in the canon. Just because he isn't shown working after doesn't mean that he never worked again.
This also ties into another concept that I don't believe is supported by canon (read manga). The Tendos are poor. There is a ton of circumstantial evidence in the canon that the Tendos are pretty well off financially. The fact the the damage doesn't sink them is one. The shear number of formal kimono that are worn throughout the series speaks of them not being too hard up considering that some kimono can easily run into the tens of thousands of dollars to buy and even used ones are still a few hundred dollars. The Saotomes on the other hand are shown to be other poor or very miserly with their money. Is there anything in canon that I am missing to support or refute my beliefs?
Re: Ranma torture:
This one is a bit tougher. First, Ranma is a comedy, and a slapstick one at that. This means that by it's very nature much of the series would be considered abuse if looked at dramatically. That being said, the Neko-Ken is different. It is, to my rememberance, the only form of abusive behavior which left a lasting negative effect. Unlike Akane punting Ranma into the air and he doesn't even stop eating as he flies across town. The Neko-Ken actually caused psychological trauma to Ranma. Granted it is played for laughs, but the result of a torturous action did cause a bad result in this instance. To me this is a clear-cut case of child abuse. That being said, I am also of the camp that Genma gets the short shrift a lot. Although, I have enjoyed a few stories that do this. He isn't evil, just obsessed and an idiot. Which describes most, if not all, of the cast.
Regarding the food issue. It is pretty well known that Rumiko Takahashi has an interest in history, at least Japanese history. What has always struck me as a question was if she also had an interest in Greek history. Part of that stemmed from the erroneous usage of the term Amazon, but another part was hoe much Ranma's upbringing mirrored that of Spartan youths. Young men were taken from their mothers at a young age to be trained as warriors. They were subjected to harsh conditions to toughen them up and weed out the weak, they were given a bar minimum of food and encouraged to steal or hunt for more food (although punished if they were caught), etc. It is almost like Ranma's training was lifted straight from Spartan training, at least the little bits that we know of his training.
Now, for another canon question. What was the exact wording of the agreement between Genma and Ukyo's dad? Was it like the wording between Genma and Soun and Soun and Chardin, my son will marry your daughter? Or was it more specific, Ranma will marry Ukyo? Or is it known at all? I ask because I am working on a resolution story and I am sick of the Saotomes adopt Ukyo to fulfill the pact idea. If I can say that the pact was like the one between Genma and Soun as well as the one between Soun and Chardin then I think that I am going to have the Saotomes adopt Kunatsu and engage their new son to Ukyo.
Re: honorific usage:
I have come to dislike their usage in stories. While they can be enlightening if the author is versed enough in their usage and meaning, that is way too often not the case. My biggest pet peeve with honorifics is how many authors have Ranma and Akane admit their feelings for each other and then start using the chan honorific because they seem to think that it is an endearing term, while it is my understanding that going form the extremely familiar first name with no honorific to any name with an honorific would be a step backwards in their relationship. Of course, I try not to use them because I only understand enough to know that in am mostly ignorant.
Re: Jobs and finances:
It always irks me when people make the immediate assumption that neither Soun nor Genma have jobs. The evidence? It is never shown so it obviously cannot exist. By that logic the characters have the most astounding bladder control in existence as they apparently never use the restroom. It is also amazing that they haven't all been arrested for tax evasion. snark aside, the lack of showing something doesn't constitute proof. I personally think that Soun does have students. I also think that Genma has a job. He has even been shown working in the canon. Just because he isn't shown working after doesn't mean that he never worked again.
This also ties into another concept that I don't believe is supported by canon (read manga). The Tendos are poor. There is a ton of circumstantial evidence in the canon that the Tendos are pretty well off financially. The fact the the damage doesn't sink them is one. The shear number of formal kimono that are worn throughout the series speaks of them not being too hard up considering that some kimono can easily run into the tens of thousands of dollars to buy and even used ones are still a few hundred dollars. The Saotomes on the other hand are shown to be other poor or very miserly with their money. Is there anything in canon that I am missing to support or refute my beliefs?
Re: Ranma torture:
This one is a bit tougher. First, Ranma is a comedy, and a slapstick one at that. This means that by it's very nature much of the series would be considered abuse if looked at dramatically. That being said, the Neko-Ken is different. It is, to my rememberance, the only form of abusive behavior which left a lasting negative effect. Unlike Akane punting Ranma into the air and he doesn't even stop eating as he flies across town. The Neko-Ken actually caused psychological trauma to Ranma. Granted it is played for laughs, but the result of a torturous action did cause a bad result in this instance. To me this is a clear-cut case of child abuse. That being said, I am also of the camp that Genma gets the short shrift a lot. Although, I have enjoyed a few stories that do this. He isn't evil, just obsessed and an idiot. Which describes most, if not all, of the cast.
Regarding the food issue. It is pretty well known that Rumiko Takahashi has an interest in history, at least Japanese history. What has always struck me as a question was if she also had an interest in Greek history. Part of that stemmed from the erroneous usage of the term Amazon, but another part was hoe much Ranma's upbringing mirrored that of Spartan youths. Young men were taken from their mothers at a young age to be trained as warriors. They were subjected to harsh conditions to toughen them up and weed out the weak, they were given a bar minimum of food and encouraged to steal or hunt for more food (although punished if they were caught), etc. It is almost like Ranma's training was lifted straight from Spartan training, at least the little bits that we know of his training.
Now, for another canon question. What was the exact wording of the agreement between Genma and Ukyo's dad? Was it like the wording between Genma and Soun and Soun and Chardin, my son will marry your daughter? Or was it more specific, Ranma will marry Ukyo? Or is it known at all? I ask because I am working on a resolution story and I am sick of the Saotomes adopt Ukyo to fulfill the pact idea. If I can say that the pact was like the one between Genma and Soun as well as the one between Soun and Chardin then I think that I am going to have the Saotomes adopt Kunatsu and engage their new son to Ukyo.