Title: newRanma
Author: Space Pirate Hamster
Source: Ranma 1/2
Rating: 6/6
Type: Canon continuation with extra realism
Length: 20 Chapters + Fanart, Author’s Notes, Original Script, and Derivative Lemon.
In my time reading fanfiction, I’ve seen various explorations of Ranma’s reluctance to declare his love for Akane. However, most of them use the same core ideas. newRanma by Space Pirate Hamster definitely breaks that mold. It asks the question, “what if Ranma had actually been partially trapped in a pre-pubescent mind state due to a training accident? Well, what if that situation was corrected?”
Grammar: 5.5/6 or 6/6(Does everything but evoke a strong emotional response in me and that may be an error on my part.)
Re-readability: 6/6 (If I re-read it within a year or less, it’s probably worth a 6. Half a year or less, definite 6)
Originality: 6/6 (Still takes place in the canon storyline but is one of the most original works I’ve ever seen regardless of setting.)
Quality: 6/6 (Well thought out, good facts, good characterizations, and extreme display of well applied creativity)
Overall: 6/6
Well written. Does a good job of combining Ranma 1/2 characters and settings with original ones while making it feel natural. A natural, believable story as far as Ranma 1/2 goes, deftly mixing humor and seriousness. One of only two stories I’ve ever read with an in-character example of prolonged peace between Tatewaki Kuno and Ranma that could take place as a continuation of the Canon storyline. I don’t want to give away too much of the story but it’s very original.
It does insert a younger sister for Ryoga named Yoiko Hibiki which is technically an Alternate Universe trait (Yoiko was the name Ranma chose as a disguise while pretending to be Ryoga’s younger sister and it lasted until one of Ryoga’s parents phoned home and told Ryoga that he didn’t have a younger sister. It was a manga-only event.) but I’ll overlook it in my ranking since it’s the only noticeable infraction and could be possible if the story is based, in part, on the anime.
This is the first time I ever had so much trouble deciding between a final score of 5.5 and 6.0. It’s extremely well written and does everything a score of 6 should do except for the evoking strong emotions part. However, because I stayed up late to read it (gotta stop doing that) I think I might have been emotionally limited. In the end, I decided to give it a 6/6 because it’s good enough to get a perfect score whether or not it manipulates my emotions.
*Notice:* Some chapters have lemon content.
