Stephan Sokolow's Blog

Relatively Absent by Togashi Gaijin

Length: 11 Chapters, 2 Sidestories, and a Prologue
Sources: Ranma ½, Sailor Moon
Rating: 5/5 (6/6 if I were still using my old rating system)

Ok, now a quick break from the short and silly stuff. Let’s take a look at something longer and a little bit more serious which I’ve mentioned before, but didn’t spend much time on. Those who know about “fukufics” most likely already know about this one, so this review is for newcomers. In short, a fukufic is a story in which Ranma Saotome of Ranma ½ ends up as a Sailor Moon-style magical girl.

As someone who has read a great many fukufics, I find that having Ranma forced into the role against his will starts to get old after a while. Unfortunately, with Ranma already feeling his masculinity threatened by his curse, it’s difficult to make a believable case for Ranma to accept the job willingly. One year ago today, I took the time to make quick mention of several stories which do this and do it nicely… but only as a build-up to reviewing another fic. Today, I will finally be focusing on Relatively Absent.

The story diverges from manga canon at the Mt. Horai battle with Prince Herb. This time, Ranma doesn’t get his curse unlocked, Herb and his men get buried in the collapsing mountain, and if it weren’t for an offer of aid, Ranma would die the same way. The offer just has one catch… the gates of time can only channel power to one who is their guardian. (For those readers who are Sailor Moon fans, this takes place after Setsuna sacrifices herself but before she can come back and reclaim the gates.)

However, don’t assume that the pseudo-coercion of a choice between death an a fuku is all I’m applauding. If that were all there was to it, Ranma would still be just as resistant, and I would be just as bored.

Not only does Ranma not know about the fuku at first, but by the time he finds out, he’s already been told that, with enough skill, he will be able to circumvent the lock on his curse. Add in some very useful magical abilities like teleportation and effortless storage of spare clothes in a pocket universe, and accepting the job is very reasonable… even for Ranma. Besides, it’s always an ego boost to know that you’re the only person on Earth that meets the minimum requirements for the job.

Throw in a nicely done “Ranma meets the family which disowned Nodoka for marrying Genma” subplot, and the spell is complete. On it’s own, the plot would earn this fic 5 out of 5 on my scale, but it doesn’t stop there. The general writing quality and style are excellent, with a great mix of seriousness and humor characteristic of cream-of-the-crop fanfiction.

Dimension Hopping for Beginners by nonjon

Length: 10 Chapters (Complete)
Sources: Harry Potter
Rating: 5/5

To wrap up my block of nonjon reviews, here’s a little gem. “Dimension Hopping for Beginners” is a very clever parody of all the different over-used Harry Potter fanfic plots. In short, once upon a time, there was a Harry Potter who made an oath to kill Voldemort in every form, while knowing dimension-hopping magic. Now he’s stuck jumping from world to world killing Voldemort and sometimes Harry too.

What makes this fic so good is that, not only is it a parody, it captures the essence of the “disconnected shorts” plot style while still recognizing that you need more if you don’t want it to get old. I especially love the joke which references something Luna Lovegood says in a prior universe… but seeing our hero use “The Dark Lord Voldemuggle” as his alias is also good for a laugh.

What marks true quality? I like to think that it’s a mixture of writing skill and creativity. My traditional ratings work perfectly well for most fics, but among fics which merit a 5/5 rating, there is still a wide range of variation in the type and level of creativity displayed. In other words, when all of the stories being rated are off the top of the chart, it indicates that you need a new metric.

To demonstrate this, I will be showing off three fics by nonjon which show highly unique and unconventional solutions to problems in the Wizarding World of the Harry Potter books.

First up, we have “Now Hiring: Committee for the Disposal…” which shows that, with an unforgivable curse, some 300-year-old legal precedent, and a little clever planning, you can solve the Death Eater problem by getting them legally reclassified as non-human dangerous creatures, owned by Tom Riddle, and rampaging out of his control… not to mention retroactively making your use of the unforgivable perfectly OK in the eyes of the law. Bring on the bounty hunters!

Now, one important think to keep in mind is that nonjon excells at getting away with silliness and humor so light-hearted and “cartoony” that it’s difficult to find even among professional authors. A perfect example of this is his “The DA Missions” shorts: Agent Toots and Agent Furry Fury.

In “Agent Toots“, we are presented with a hilarious account of how a little genius-level deception by Luna Lovegood convinces Voldemort to give up his pursuit of immortality. Of course, what makes it much funnier is that she’s operating as Agent Toots of the DA and the Order of the Phoenix refuses to accept that Harry and friends are considering accepting them as a “Junior DA”.

Later, in “Agent Furry Fury“, the same writing style and insane genius problem solving are used to great effect in bringing about proper changes in legislation to ensure werewolf rights. Of course, the Order members aren’t very happy about things… They are still having trouble wrapping their minds around the fact that the DA solves problems more effectively than the Order can. 🙂