Stephan Sokolow's Blog

Well, I finally admitted to myself that I probably won’t be able to review every fanfic I’ve ever read. As such, I’ve decided to start listing the stuff I probably won’t review and why. (I still read them out of pure curiosity)

• Ah! Ranma-sama by Richard Beaubien (Interesting concept but, even if you ignore the fact that it’s in script form, the writing isn’t very good, it looks like it was never proofread very seriously, and it uses too many clichés.)
• Hurricane of the Mind (Oneshot. The writing is dry and I think I saw a few glaring plot holes but, since I’m not very good at reading the facial expressions of non-humans, they could have just as easily been laughing at me.)

Note: I don’t mind clichés themselves, only the “falling into them” part. (A good author can use a cliche and still make it interesting.)

Title: Cast A Second Line Into The Sea
URL: Author’s Site (Direct Link)
Author: Sinom Bre
Source: Ranma 1/2
Rating: 6/6
Type: Continuation
Length: One-shot

Let’s take a look at one possible future. What if Akane has been dead for seven years and Ranma has been left with four daughters? This fic starts when Ryoga, clear-headed for the first time, and having been gone since before Akane’s death, returns to town. What follows is an amazingly well-written and completely believable story which I would recommend to anyone but my brother. (He hates fanfiction because it isn’t a perfect imitation of the original’s mood and plot. In other words, he hates fanfiction.)

Having read this either twice or three times now (I may have a good memory but it’s not perfect), I feel no hesitation in giving this a full 6/6 rating. Enjoy.

Title: The Mazoku Factor
URL: 1-7 at Studio Asynjor, 1-7 at NabikiAndRanma.com, 1-6 at Megspace, 1-6 at Bob Lobster’s Page
Author: Carrot Glace
Source: Ranma 1/2
Rating: 5/6
Type: Pseudo-crossover
Length: 7 Parts (Unfinished)

What if, while he was waiting for Genma to come steal him back after one of the many betrothal trades, Ranma watched the Slayers anime and decided to be like Xellos?

Definitely an original concept and quite well written at that. I would probably have enjoyed it more if I could also find a fic where Ranma merely acted like Xellos (he did manage to pick up some magical powers somewhere) but it’s still very good. The game of “Kuno Pong” between Nabiki and Ranma is kinda funny too. Even if just to see someone successfully mocking Nabiki, you should read this.

Title: The Three Saotomes
URL: RAAC Mirror, archived at megspace, on Fanfiction.net, at Studio Asynjor, and hosted by Phu.
Author: Carrot Glace
Source: Ranma 1/2
Rating: 5/6
Type: Self-Insert
Length: 32 Parts (18 in RAAC Archive)(Unfinished)

What if Ranma wasn’t Ranma. What if the real Ranma was Genryu Saotome, Ranma’s little brother, and Ranma was a self-insert? I know what you’re thinking but this story is amazingly good. You’d barely even think it’s a self-insert. It’s also very original with it’s plot elements. Especially the hilarious “Kuno vs. The Paperwork” part. It gets bonus points for managing to keep almost the entire original plot and characters without it being stale and boring. Heck, regardless of how original it is, it feels more original than anything I’ve read in a long time.

I’ll also give the author a nod for making sure it’s available through multiple channels although I wish the whole thing was available on the RAAC archive rather than just over half of it. It’s nice to see that others share the desire to keep it available too. I’ve seen cases where people who run archives and simply forgot to ask permission have received severe tongue lashings from antisocial authors. In my opinion, such people are [censored to protect the spineless].