Lack of bashing, yes... But in same time he write Ranma in way when he allways fail when it matter.
... And Ryoga is written as a bumbling, but well-intentioned saint (or something near to it). Quite the opposite of most contemporary portrayals of pig-boy.
Meh. Most of Ranma's character failings were magnified, since that would be the only way to contrast him as a sub-antagonist in opposition to Ryoga. You could just feel the love the author has for the character, in the way Ryoga's more positive traits were brought to the surface, while the negative ones were left on the wayside. Conversely, the opposite was done to the rest of the Nerima characters.
To each, his/her own, I guess.