The number one reason for this apparent lack of
innovation: Ranma,
Ranma, and more Ranma. It seems like only a few
months ago, there were all
kinds of new avenues being explored. A wave of
Kenshin fics, a Boku no Marie
fic (and the start of another), a Tylor fic from
David Tatum (that was
thankfully never finished, if it's to be as dark as
it looks), FF7, You're
Under Arrest, Patlabor ... all kinds of new
possibilities. Add to this some
interesting new directions in the traditional
non-Ranma sources, namely
Sailor Moon, Eva, Tenchi, and BGC, and you get a lot
of good variety when
you're tired reading about Akane malleting Ranma.
	

Weeeeell, I think the reason for all of these Ranma fics is that Rumiko
Takahashi left the series very open. I mean, a lot of the fics take
place after the failed wedding, which is where the manga series stops.
There are so many things that could happen afterwords that makes it so
much easier to write, meaning that nobody has to worry about fitting it
into the timeline. Stuff like Fushigi Yuugi and Sailor Moon (well,
somewhat) have definite endings, and not much more can be written about
stuff that happened between the beginning and ending. I mean, it is
very possible (and relatively easy) to write fics about stuff that
happens after the end of the series (ie, Crystal Tokyo adventures and
the like), while trying to find a legitimate reason for how your story
fits into the timeline is usually time-consuming and in my case, sleep
depriving. Also, the way that Rumiko Takahashi has the Ranma series is
very loose and jumpy, and not all of it is one long story, just lots of
smaller ones that go along the same path, if you know what I am saying,
because I don't :)

So, for today's society, the easy choice is usually the one made, and
because having Ranma fics be relatively legitimate is also relatively
easy (but this is all relative) gives it popularity among fanfiction
writers... it is also a damn good series!

Forgive my rambling, and my newbieness.

-Shadra (AKA Shataran, Sesha, Sarah...)
===
"The Blue Monkey of East Chapel Hill High School"

"Mind over matter, but I have no mind, so it doesn't matter... nevermind." -someone else
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