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Title: Mirrors Multiplied
URL: http://www.asynjor.com/fanfic/ornstead.html
Author: Jared Ornstead
Source: Ranma 1/2, Sailor Moon, Oh! My Goddess, Iczelion, Robotech, and more.
Rating: 5/6
Type: Mega Crossover
Length: 19 Episodes so far (Unfinished)

Title: Mirrors Multiplied | URL: http://www.asynjor.com/fanfic/ornstead.html | Author: Jared Ornstead | Source: Ranma 1/2, Sailor Moon, Oh! My Goddess, Iczelion, Robotech, and more. | Rating: 5/6 | Type: Alternate Universe | Length: 19 Episodes so far (Unfinished)

What if Ranma got dumped into a universe where Genma was dead and his counterpart had learned kendo instead? What if his counterpart had died in a blood feud at the hands of Kuno? As the author put it, “What if Ranma were as smart and experienced as he were talented?”

Mirrors Multiplied definitely gets a 5/6 on the originality scale and it is an enjoyable read despite the fact that it’s a type of “Ranma gets a harem” fanfic. It’s got a good bit of humor in the first half, a solid storyline throughout, and a mixture of dark, epic, and drama in the end. I’m giving it a 5/6.

Title: Otaku Reflected
URL: http://www.asynjor.com/fanfic/ornstead.html
Author: Jared Ornstead
Source: Ranma 1/2, Sailor Moon, Mythology (and some names from Disney’s Sleeping Beauty)
Rating: 5.5/6
Type: Self-Insert
Length: 3 Chapters so far (Unfinished)

A nice implementation of what could otherwise have been a “not another one!?” concept. What if an Otaku ended up getting dumped into the Ranma world in some less than usual circumstances. This is probably a 5.5/6 for originality. I’ll give you one hint. They borrow the character names from the fairies in Disney’s Sleeping Beauty. Anyway, on with the review. I would have preferred it if the author had used the Japanese names for the Sailor Moon characters but it doesn’t really affect readability. (I don’t really mind the names Serena (Usagi) and Darien (Mamoru) but Amy (Ami) and Susan (Setsuna) are too close to the originals for comfort and Lita (Makoto) is just wrong.)

The background that has been put into the Fae kingdom is exquisite. Probably on par with the Artemis Fowl books. (a two-book series by Eoin Colfer with about the same target audience as Harry Potter. I highly recommend them and I’ll review them when I get a chance.) If you are a fanfiction writer who learns by example, you will definitely want to read this. By the way, y’know those annoying people who start off into their own world and won’t let you steer them back to the conversation at hand? The type who bring up meaningless points and don’t care about what’s really important. Ever wanted Sailor Pluto to have to deal with someone like that?

The only way I can describe it is to say again, “This is fricken’ funny as hell, amazing writing, and quite original to boot.” It does use a fanfiction cliche or two but nothing detrimental to the enjoyability of the story and I do wish that more had been written so far but it’s still amazing regardless of the fact.

Originality: 5.5/6
Overall: 5.5/6 (6/6 if I re-read it which I probably will.)

Title: A Little Motherly Love
URL: http://www.asynjor.com/fanfic/byrd.html
Author: Celeste Byrd
Source: Ranma 1/2
Rating: 4/6
Type: Alternate Universe
Length: 8 Chapters (Unfinished but author is deceased)

Grammar: 3/6 (Fairly well written but in script format. There’s the occasional uncorrected word)
Originality: 4/6 (Uses the original story and makes just enough changes to feel new)
OOCness: 3/6 (Sure, it’s an alternate-universe fanfic, but the author has stillmade false assumptions)
Overall: 3.5/6 (Has it’s flaws and just isn’t quite worthy of a 4 but still an OK read)

It’s in script format so my rating of the Grammar will be lowered and it does re-quote a lot of dialog but so do a lot of other fanfics. It just means that it can’t get as high an originality score. The author did say that it was her first fanfic but I can’t go easy on that. These ratings are supposed to tell you how much or little you would enjoy reading something.

The beginning feels a little unoriginal but not as much as it could be. I have to admit that it’s an interesting concept. In fact, this is only the second time I’ve ever seen a Genma is dead and Ranma is raised by Nodoka fic. I’ve seen several “Ranma gets left home” fics and one other “Genma is dead and Nodoka takes Ranma on the training trip” fic. (Review for that one pending.) I also have to admit that I prefer the other fic though. This fanfic makes too many common mistakes and I have noticed some places could benefit from a proofreading.

I would send in some corrections to the author but she is now deceased as far as I know.

Title: Otaku Three – Eva Revolution
URL: http://www.asynjor.com/fanfic/ornstead.html
Author: Jared Ornstead
Source: Ranma 1/2, Bubblegun Crisis, Evangelion, Tenchi Muyo, Slayers (and Magic Knight Rayearth if you include interlude)
Rating: 6/6
Type: Self-Insert
Length: 12 Chapters + 1 Interlude so far (Incomplete)

Well, there are a lot of crappy self-inserts out there but I seem to have hit gold. Otaku Three isn’t just good, it’s amazing. I should note, however that it is not the first part of the mega-series which it belongs to and I read it because someone linked to it. I’ll probably revise this review after reading the prior part of the series. (Otaku Reflected. Otaku 2 hasn’t been written or has been taken down.)

I must to admit, I did enjoy the author’s method of showing why certain courses of action wouldn’t work in the beginning. The story definitely has tons of good humor in it too. In fact, it’s probably the funniest fanfic I’ve ever read. Sure, some of the episodes on the Anime Addventure come close but none provide both quality and quantity.

It does give you the “I know the ending from the beginning” feeling but so do who knows how many published serial stories. The important thing is that the course from beginning to happy ending is unpredictable and enjoyable. In fact, it’s got enough quality and the right style to feel like a written anime instead of a fanfic. (at least, from where I’m standing.) In fact, I only noticed three places where it draws commonly-borrowed jokes verbatim from other series. The first is when the cast from Tenchi Muyo sing “When You’re A Professional Pirate” from Muppet Treasure Island. the second is in the interlude (chapter 12.5 which is ) where it borrows “Castle Anthrax” from Monty Python’s Quest for The Holy Grail, and the third and final one is the “stupidest combination I’ve ever heard in my life” bit from Spaceballs which appears in chapter 15. The author also seems to have extensive religious knowledge.

There are occasionaly slip-ups which could be caught by another wave of proofreading/editing but nothing that would take away from the appeal or quality of the story. (Unless the reader is an obsessive nitpicker) I’ll give it a 6/6 in all areas since I will definitely re-read it in under half a year.

NOTE: Starting with this review, I’ll include a URL section right in the beginning summary so that you can find it more easily and so it will appear in the RSS feed.

Title: Rendezvous With Fate
Author: iCe
Source: Ranma 1/2
Rating: 5.5/6
Type: Alternate Universe
Length: 12 Chapters so far (Incomplete)

What if Akane was happily married to Ryoga. Sounds boring right? Well, what if she died in a car accident and reincarnated into the body of a 17th century Kodachi married to a 17th century Ranma? Starting to sound interesting now? That’s what Rendezvous With Fate (alt.) by iCe asks.

This was definitely written by someone with lots of knowledge about 17th century Japan. In fact I’d recommend this to my younger brother. My younger brother hates fanfiction… but he loves Japanese history and the historical footnotes in this are amazing. It’s also well written with a lot of good plot twists although, there are still things which have yet to be caught by future waves of proofreading. I’m not really sure what to say without giving away part of the story. I guess I’ll just have to give rankings again.

Originality: 6/6
Overall: 5.5/6

Title: Ranko, Abandoned No More
Author: Fred Herriot
Source: Ranma 1/2
Rating: 2/6
Type: Continuation
Length: 4 Episodes

I normally don’t quote the intro provided by the site on which I found a fanfic but in this case, I just couldn’t think of a better way to put it. Besides, the intro is really the only good part. The rest is junk that I’m giving a 2/6. The intro as a potential concept gets a 6/6 though. So, in the author’s own words…

I know, I know. You’ve seen your fill of fics where Ranma is split into Ranma and Ranko. There’s also been several stories done in the main series concerning the cast dealing with a feminine Ranma created by various means (the Copy Ranma in manga Volume 35 for example). This story’s been preying on my mind for some time, so, since I’m trying to get over a writer’s block concerning my final two “Urusei Yatsura – The Senior Year” stories, I decided to put this down.

Having lived in Korea for seven months during 1996-7, I’ve come to appreciate the good and bad aspects of Confucian society. A terrible problem plaguing Korea right now is selective abortion. With the drive to bear healthy male children, mothers usually abort unborn daughters to prevent themselves from confronting the shame of not preserving the husband’s family line. Technically, this is illegal, but the Confucian-inspired drive to have sons over daughters can be overpowering; I was reading about cases like this throughout my stay. In fact, this belief has actually led to suicide on several occasions!

Thus, I asked myself this: what if there was a place where unwanted girls were “disposed” of, a place which turns out to be as magical as Jusenkyou? And what would happen if Ranma came to this place? Well, read on to learn the answer…

The story has a bad case of Self-Insert Syndrome (Fixing all of the problems in a flash) although, since it’s not a self-insert, it’s done by ALWAYS choosing the possibility (no matter how slight) of a rational, understanding solution. It also employs many fanon mistakes about Shampoo, Mousse, Nabiki, and Jusenkyo not to mention completely mis-characterizing Kodachi and Tatewaki Kuno. In addtion, it’s stored on the Ranma 1/2 Lemon Archive but the lemon portion didn’t seem very well done either. Therefore…

Concept: 6/6
Everything Else: 2/2
Overall Score: 2/6

As far as I know, this is the same Fred Herriot who wrote “Urusei Yatsura: The Senior Year”. I have only read the first episode or two of UY:TSY so far but it has apparently received very mixed reactions. Some love it, some hate it. I think it’s interesting and well written so far. This fic on the other hand, gets 2/6 from me mainly because it feels like one of the first fics he ever wrote. (Good idea, bad implementation) If you still want to read it, it’s here.