Stephan Sokolow's Blog

Ranma and The Doctor by Turbanator

Length: 9 Chapters, Ongoing
Sources: Ranma ½, Doctor Who
Rating: 4/5

Today’s special is “Ranma and The Doctor” and if you guessed that the crossover is Ranma ½ – Doctor Who, then you get a cookie. (some restrictions may apply, see store for details)

The basic plot is that the Open Water Kettle got destroyed before Ranma’s curse could be unlocked and then Gosunkugi found something bad enough for The Doctor to have to drop by. A little Nerima chaos later and we find Ranma travelling with The Doctor and, though they don’t know it, Ryoga and Tatewaki Kuno dragged along for the ride.

I haven’t actually watched Doctor Who, but, given what I know about Ranma stories, I think the story feels like a Doctor Who story with Ranma elements injected… mainly because it has no qualms about sacrificing faceless characters to drive home the seriousness of a threat. Obviously, the story has little in the way of humor but it provides a lot of interesting character interaction between Ryoga and Kuno and between Ranma and The Doctor. I haven’t noticed any grammatical or spelling mistakes so far.

Ironically, I find myself enjoying the parts which follow Ryoga and Kuno more than anything else…especially Ryoga. (I usually prefer Ranma-centric stuff) For example, when the TARDIS pulls them to New New York in the far future, Ryoga ends up rich from selling his wallet’s contents to a museum, and then spends 10% of that wealth on a state-of-the-art pocket UPS (Universal Positioning System) with an AI who ends up being more a companion and friend than a tool.

Oh, and if it helps convince you to read this, I found it through a fanfiction.net C2 list focused on good Ranma fiction.

Redheads by Robert ‘Kenko’ Haynie

Length: 3 Chapters, Incomplete
Sources: Ranma ½, Slayers
Rating: 5/5

How many readers remember “Equal Halves“, the somewhat sidestory-ish sequel to “Genma’s Daughter“? Now how many of you don’t know about “Redheads”, the somewhat sidestory-ish sequel to “Girl Days“?

“Redheads” starts with a post-Girl Days Ranma trying and failing to get out of “going on a quest”. The result? Ranma and Akane in the Slayers world, travelling with Lina Inverse and Gourry Gabriev.

Now those of you who have read “Girl Days” know what you’re in for. For those who don’t, all I can say is that, like Monty Python films, Robert Haynie’s stories have to be seen to be believed. They’re laugh-out-loud funny and it’s widely agreed that he’s the king of funny Ranma ½ fanfiction.

As for the readability, I didn’t see any grammatical problems and the only spelling mistake was one “teh”… made all the more impressive by the fact that it’s in the rec.arts.anime.creative archive rather than some easily-updated location like Fanfiction.net.

Tsunade’s Heir by funkmasterjo

Length: 12 Chapters, Ongoing
Sources: Naruto
Rating: 5/5

A common theme in fanfiction is a small change snowballing to fix or at least lessen all of the problems in a series. Done poorly, it’s obvious and not much fun to read… but it can be done well. “Tsunade’s Heir” isn’t perfect, but it’s different enough from all the other fics I’ve seen to be noteworthy.

For example, it provides an interesting explanation for Naruto’s whisker marks, manages to get away with easing some of the Hyuuga-related unhappiness, and doesn’t follow canon events but remains familiar. That’s always a plus.

The basic plot is that, rather than being left in Konoha, Tsunade takes Naruto with her as her adopted son and heir. Don’t expect Kyuubi to come in for a while though. In order to ensure he has enough control to become a medic nin, Naruto gets an additional seal to lock Kyuubi’s chakra away and it’ll take an unexpected event to circumvent that. On the plus side, he does start to train his way towards Tsunade’s monstrous strength.

Of course, what’s probably the most original aspect is Kyuubi’s personality. Kyuubi isn’t an evil brute and he isn’t a caring if somewhat animalistic revenge-driven misunderstood titan… he’s a demon who has never been given a reason to examine what he is and why. Everybody, please welcome Philosophical Kyuubi to the world of fanfiction.

As for the lower-level elements, it’s looking pretty good. It is using the fanon name for the fourth Hokage, but I have noticed no typos or grammatical errors.

Oh, and don’t forget all the funny omake. Definitely don’t forget the omake.