I've already addressed my problems with Ranma's supposed attitude
toward girls and Genma's apparent lack of any skill, so I won't
continue to flog those dead horses.
As far as Ranma's attitudes toward weapons and their users - I
may be wrong, but I don't recall him ever saying anything of the sort
in the manga, or even acting as if he felt that way. The name is
"Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu" after all, meaning "unrestricted", and it
is quite likely to include at least some weapons training - certainly
Akane, during the "Mariko" storyline, shows herself proficient enough
at Kendo to defeat the entire Furinkan Kendo club, save for Kuno, and
even able to hold her own against Kuno. Ranma's training seems to have
concentrated more on using anything around him as a weapon when
necessary, but he's good enough at it that I can't believe Genma
neglected to give him at least some training with weapons.
I do have a problem with the weapon Ranma selects. I read a
description of the philosophy of Kempo once that said, "Avoid rather
than Check. Check rather than Strike. Strike rather than Maim. Maim
rather than Kill." Whether that accurately describes Kempo or not,
it does seem to describe Anything-Goes. The biggest advantage of
the bare-handed style over the use of weapons like the katana is
that you can follow the practice of using the least violence
required. Say what you will of Genma, he did inculcate in Ranma
a strong respect for life. However "nice" these supposed ninjas
are supposed to be, they're going to try to train Ranma to be
a killer. I would think Ranma would choose a weapon less likely to
be fatal.
Describing Ranma as trying to get used to the idea that he could
be attacked unexpectedly - uh, doesn't that sound a lot like the
training Genma put him through? Let's face it, Anything-Goes is not
real big on insisting on formal challenges or rigorously conducted
duels. You do remember the Saotome Secret Technique, right?
The description of the Neko-ken makes me wonder if this is
supposed to be some alternate-world version of it. It doesn't
sound a lot like what we see in the manga. It certainly doesn't
turn Ranma into a merciless killer - hell, he's never even hurt
anyone in it, that we've seen, and he acts more like a rather
playful kitten than anything else. Nor does he go into it at
the mere sight of a cat - it takes some pretty extreme stimulus
to send him into the Neko-ken - if I recall correctly, it only
happens three times in manga. Again, considering how Ranma behaves,
it seems odd that the ninja master would have killed his mother
while in it - the people Ranma knows and likes are the safest ones
from it, it would seem.
Reid Carson
rcarson@mnsinc.com
rcarson@rcarson.com