Shiaw Chi "Hokodan" responded:

Personally, I do enjoy certain well written serious fics.  But the
crux of the matter is, why do I like Ranma in the first place?  I'm sure
the answer for most people would be the tremendous humor.

Not for me.  There are a few elements of Ranma 1/2 that appeal 
to me more than the humor: the romance (or rather the 
_potential_ for romance), the whimsical martial arts drama, 
some nostalgic aspects, and don't underestimate the power of 
classic adolescent male fantasies fulfilled.  If humor were so 
important to me, there are funnier anime which I'd prefer to 
Ranma 1/2, such as Urusei Yatsura, Project A-Ko, and Dr. 
Slump.  But I enjoy Ranma more than I enjoy any of those.

You yourself comment that most Ranma characters are one dimensional,
etc., but still found yourself captivated by Ranma.

This observation is true for my appreciation of the Ranma 1/2 
manga/anime, but does not apply with equal force to fanfics 
that attempt with varying degrees of success to duplicate what 
Takahashi created.

Despite all these
so-called flaws, you still love each and every character (except for
Sasuke).

You wouldn't hear loud complaints from me if the Time Trapper 
fiddled with the Ranma Universe and deleted Mousse, all the 
Kunous, Picolet de Chardin, the Daimonjis, Gosunkugi . . . none 
of them have any cause to feel superior to Sasuke in my 
estimation.  

For all intents and purposes, Ranma 1/2 is a comedy first, and
everything else second.

Very true, but not especially relevant in the appreciation of fan 
fiction based on Ranma 1/2.

And although Autumn is an excusite piece of writing 

[snipped: observations on the scene in Autumn where Ranma 
embraces Akane and she acquiesces to this physical display]

Sure, it seemed more dramatic the
original way, but would Akane really do that?

This calculus demonstrates the character of the prevailing 
"OOC" paradigm of criticism that I find most troublesome.  The 
Akane character as reinterpreted and credibly developed (over 
the preceding 3.5 chapters) by Palmer _would_ do that.  Clearly 
the author took great care to "expand" Akane's characterization 
before showing this striking scene.  Akane's actions were 
consistent (i.e., "in character") with the Akane that Palmer 
had developed.  The "OOC" critique,  in cases such as this one, 
seems meaningless.

In regards to one dimensional characters, maybe they work better
that way.

It certain works very well in cartoons and comic books that 
must appeal to juveniles at least as much as to adults.  But in 
the realm of fan fiction, added complexity is fair game, and - 
to my way of thinking - preferable.

*Just out of curiousty Mr. Talswapr, have you by any chance read my
Ranma/SM fanfic?  Or is the fact that SM is involved made you avoid it
like the plague?

Sorry, I haven't seen it.  I'll definitely read it when it 
shows up on RAAC.  I don't know much about Sailor Moon, having 
seen just a couple of fan-subbed episodes and one of the dubs.  
I have, however, read the entire Sailor Ranma fanfic series to 
date and found it rather enjoyable.

Taleswapper