Ranma Al'Thor wrote:
On Mon, 26 Aug 1996, Richard Lawson wrote:
Okay, Chris, I have another bone to pick with you about a logical
inconsistency in the plot.
Actually, it's not *your* logical inconsistency. It's Takahashi's, one
that kinda drove me crazy all throughout Ranma 1/2.
It's that, when Ranma, Genma, Mousse, Shampoo et. al. were cursed, why
didn't they just turn around and jump into the appropriate pool to cure
themselves?
For Ranma and Genma, it's because they got mad and ran off chasing each
other, and thus didn't think of trying to go back until it was too late...
Well, to counter this point... it is the Guide who leads Ranma and Genma
into Joketsuzoku, so at some point after their romp, the must have met
up with the guide again.
This is supported by Ryoga's flashback about getting cursed. Genma
finds the newly-cursed Ryoga and takes him back to the Guide's hut
(Ranma is absent - I've always assumed that Genma gave him the slip, and
Ranma's still out looking for his blood). The hut is also established
to be right next to the pools.
So this seems to support the conclusion that Ranma and Genma went back
to the Guide's hut near the pool, and then went on to Joketsuzoku. The
weakness to the plot is that why didn't Ranma go - "Gee, do you have a
Spring of Drowned Man? You do? Where is it? Oh, you have a map? How
convenient?" etc.
Ross's Retcon Guns do a good job of explaining this away. Reminds of
the elaborate rationales to explain some of Star Trek's major
inconsistencies - but it does work if you want it to.
I've always thought of Jyusenkyo as one of those places you can't find
again once you leave unless it WANTS you to find it.
In my series, "Thy Inward Love", I proffered a similar explanation -
that once cursed, you can't get uncursed until the magic is done with
you. Takahashi supports this theory by having bizarre things happen to
Ranma whenever he gets close to a cure - obviously, it's magic! It's
not ready to let him go.
Shampoo and Mousse, on the other hand, I can't explain :)
Actually, Ross again offers one good explanation - Mousse finds flying
to be useful. And nowhere in the manga do we see an indication that
Shampoo is unhappy with being a cat. In fact, she seems to enjoy it
once a while. So maybe they could if they wanted to; they just choose
not to.
At first, I thought it was because they didn't know which pool to jump
into. As it turns out (in Volume 37), the Guide not only knew which
pool was which, he had a *map* of the pools - getting cured should have
been extremely simple.
Just because the guide knows in Volume 37, doesn't mean the guide knew
back when they were originally cursed...maybe all these visits lead him
to start experimenting and studying so as to ensure no more honored
customers took unanticipated dips :)
Again, this is close to Ross's rationalization.
For those of you who think that the pools are destroyed, that is not
true. Look again at Volume 38. The pools are restored; they were just
flooded by the rain when Ranma went looking to get cured (along with
Ryoga, Genma, Mousse and Shampoo). Afterwards, though, Soun is able to
get a cask of Nannichuan from the Guide.
Assuming the guide didn't have the cask prestored...And we never see it
used, so who knows if the guide even gave him the right stuff :)
All true. Who knows, maybe the Guide is a closet Mormon and has a
basement full of cursed casks.
However, in Volume 38, when Soun explains how he got the cask, there's a
little insert of the Guide talking on the phone. Through the window, in
the background, we can the restored, non-flooded pools of Jusenkyo.
I wish I could translate the manga, so I could tell you exactly what the
Guide is saying on the phone. However, I would say with 90% certainty
that this phone conversation takes place *after* the battle with
Saffron. Thus, the pools are working again.
If someone could translate volume 38 (rather than provide a summary), I
would be very grateful.
John Walter Biles : MA-History, Ph.D Wannabe at U. Kansas
All this time, I never knew you were in Kansas. I just move to Kansas
City four months ago (Overland Park actually). I have found a paucity
of anime in KS (Travis Butler has been helpful with this). Do you know
of any Anime clubs or the like?