I think that Shampoo has low intelligence because she never does anything
of any worth, apart from causing trouble... She does stupid things that
make Ranma end up disliking her more, rather than him liking her more like
she wated... She bounces everywhere like a bimbo... she tries to get into
Ranma's pants, like a bimbo would... And she *looks* like a bimbo, too!
That girl probably shares a brain cell with Cologne... and Cologne stole
it and added a couple of bytes of memory to it and kept it. ;p
Hmm, let's not be so hard on Shampoo! According to her Amazon culture
violent methods are used to win love. Cologne obviously supports this and
Mousse is certainly a good example. To Shampoo, her methods are
just an expression of how much she really wants Ranma. Now the fact
that they backfire on her and make Ranma more upset is not really her
fault. I guess she should realize that later that they do but considering
that time works weirdly in Ranma 1/2, we don't know how long she has
been in Japan.
Thank you. At least someone else agrees with me. I mean, let's think
about this here. If you spent 14 or 15 years (I don't know how old Shampoo
is when she comes to Nerima) living in her culture, you wouldn't be aware of
how to win someone's love through non-violent/non-sexual means. Her culture
is primitive, and the over-influence of her great-grandmother, combined with
her former place as the warrioress of the tribe, has left her with a rather
cemented world view. (no flames intended here) Quite similar to Kun-chan's
refusal to see any good in Shampoo. They are both world views which are
cemented in with no good reason to be so.
Sure, many of her fans are fans because of what she looks like, but
then again, I'm sure many people are Priss fans for the 'suit-up' scenes in
BGC. That doesn't speak anything for the character, only those particular fans.
Anyways, she does NOT act like a bimbo. I think she is just extremely
affectionate and uninhibited. Mousse declares he loves her all the
time in public so Amazons are probably very expressive. I have friends
who sorta glomp onto their boyfriends in public, and it does not make
them bimbos. As for looking like a bimbo, what do you mean? She
certainly looks exotic but then she's an Amazon, not a modern
Japanese girl. I will concede that she is a bit of a ditz and not very
quick, but then the Ranma gang (except for Nabiki) aren't exactly
gonna join Menza anytime soon.
Well, she is short of common sense, of course, that applies to everyone
of the teenagers except Nabiki and Kasumi. She basically will do anything
for the man who defeats her (stripping for Ranma is a good example. She was
probably thinking that he finally agreed to marry her).
She fully believes she is in love with Ranma and is overly hopefull
that Ranma loves her. She's been brought up to think that she should do
anything to win the man she loves. To her, as a result of her background,
this means defeating or removing her competition. That's why she keeps
trying to remove Akane from the scene--Akane is her biggest rival. She won't
"get it through her head that Ranma doesn't love her" because she can't
return (on a permanent basis) to her tribe without Ranma-chan dead or
Ranma-kun her husband. That she chose wanting to return with Ranma-kun as
her husband should say something about her: that she's reluctant to kill
someone. Likewise, she'd have killed Akane by now if she was really intent
upon killing her.
Now, to say she's a bimbo because she looks like one. That's a little
silly. A good friend of mine looks like your typical "bubble-headed beach
blond" from a b-grade movie, but she is quite intelligent and (to the best
of my knowledge) still not even entertaining thoughts of sleeping with
anyone until marriage (or even leading them on).
Anyway, someone suggested writing a story exploring Shampoo. I'd love to,
but my Ranma background is much too poor. Maybe after I read some more and
watch more of the anime I will.
--
Ben Kosse bmk7411@cs.rit.edu
BGC Otaku and worshipper of the Red-Eyed Goddess and her music.
Anime, RPG's, computers, poetry (read/write), music (listen/compose).
Author of the Bubblegum Crisis theme pack (see the homepage below).
Homepage with anime and other interests. (http://www.rit.edu/~bmk7411)