The phrase "It's Ranma½, but not as we know it" springs to mind.
The dynamics of the Ranma-Akane relationship (this too is something not unheard of in shoujo)
The/a love polygon (In shoujo?! Inconceivable!)
(Where did the "doesn't understand mundane concepts as well" come from?)
I fear I must disagree with Sol. A lot of the original could remain (characters, relationships,
some specific events) and should remain or the hypothetical series would not be Ranma½
any more than Futaba-kun Change! is Ranma½.
But, as has also already been mentioned, the basic focus and perspective would have been
changed, which in turn would have changed what happened and how the stories turned out.
(Then there's the tangent of the difference between "Cinderella aimed at teenage boys"
and "a Cinderella story aimed at teenage boys".)
It would still be recognizable as Ranma½ (assuming there still is the original shounen
Ranma½ to recognize it as), since the most of the characters should still be recognizable
(by name if nothing else), but it would be a completely different Ranma½ with mostly
different individual stories.
(Aren't there actually some series that exist in both Shoujo and Shounen versions?
I vaguely recall Escaflowne, and Densha Otoko was turned into at least three different
versions for at least two different audiences.)
What wouldn't be needed though, from a technical point of view, is "butcher the crap
out of it, and edit out a lot of content". There are plenty of shoujo manga that are more
explicit than Ranma½ ever was. Nor would it necessarily be particularly unorthodox.
Fruits Basket isn't. Nor is Ranma½ for that matter. Meat and potatoes is still meat
and potatoes even if you serve it with garlic butter.
I believe the big question is what would need to changed for converting Ranma½ into shoujo.
The answer seems deceptively simple, at least its starting point does.
The protagonist.
Whether it is switching the focus from Ranma to Akane or turning Ranma into a more
shoujo-appropriate protagonist (however that is defined)* this would in turn bring about
other changes/differences and so on.
The three points mentioned above stays, although details may change (nature of gender-
bending, formality of R-A relationship, shape of love polygon** etc.)
*Or for that matter changing X = a martial artist in the phrase "Ranma Saotome is X" to
X = a mecha pilot, X = obsessed with catching small animals and cramming them into tennis
balls, X = a surly and misunderstood delinquent who is not the ruthless gangster people
presume him to be, or whatever strikes your fancy.
**The gut feeling is that a shoujo version should have more arrows pointing at Akane, but
I've been lead to believe that it is far from necessary. Getting the guy all the girls want is as
shoujo as being the girl all the guys want.
Am I repeating myself? Very well. I repeat myself. I am vast, I contain redundancies.
and shoujo romantic comedies, what with both of them being, one presumes, romantic comedies.
Hypothetically speaking.
tsubasafan wrote:
The unalterable core that we must leave intact in trying to convert it to a shoujo manga?>
Ranma is a boy who was raised by Genma so doesn't get normal childhood.
Ranma is a man of honour but doesn't understand mundane concepts as well.
He is engaged to one of the Tendo girls but he must find out whom he loves.
And here I thought it would be:
The dynamics of the Ranma-Akane relationship (this too is something not unheard of in shoujo)
The/a love polygon (In shoujo?! Inconceivable!)
(Where did the "doesn't understand mundane concepts as well" come from?)
I fear I must disagree with Sol. A lot of the original could remain (characters, relationships,
some specific events) and should remain or the hypothetical series would not be Ranma½
any more than Futaba-kun Change! is Ranma½.
But, as has also already been mentioned, the basic focus and perspective would have been
changed, which in turn would have changed what happened and how the stories turned out.
(Then there's the tangent of the difference between "Cinderella aimed at teenage boys"
and "a Cinderella story aimed at teenage boys".)
It would still be recognizable as Ranma½ (assuming there still is the original shounen
Ranma½ to recognize it as), since the most of the characters should still be recognizable
(by name if nothing else), but it would be a completely different Ranma½ with mostly
different individual stories.
(Aren't there actually some series that exist in both Shoujo and Shounen versions?
I vaguely recall Escaflowne, and Densha Otoko was turned into at least three different
versions for at least two different audiences.)
What wouldn't be needed though, from a technical point of view, is "butcher the crap
out of it, and edit out a lot of content". There are plenty of shoujo manga that are more
explicit than Ranma½ ever was. Nor would it necessarily be particularly unorthodox.
Fruits Basket isn't. Nor is Ranma½ for that matter. Meat and potatoes is still meat
and potatoes even if you serve it with garlic butter.
I believe the big question is what would need to changed for converting Ranma½ into shoujo.
The answer seems deceptively simple, at least its starting point does.
The protagonist.
Whether it is switching the focus from Ranma to Akane or turning Ranma into a more
shoujo-appropriate protagonist (however that is defined)* this would in turn bring about
other changes/differences and so on.
The three points mentioned above stays, although details may change (nature of gender-
bending, formality of R-A relationship, shape of love polygon** etc.)
*Or for that matter changing X = a martial artist in the phrase "Ranma Saotome is X" to
X = a mecha pilot, X = obsessed with catching small animals and cramming them into tennis
balls, X = a surly and misunderstood delinquent who is not the ruthless gangster people
presume him to be, or whatever strikes your fancy.
**The gut feeling is that a shoujo version should have more arrows pointing at Akane, but
I've been lead to believe that it is far from necessary. Getting the guy all the girls want is as
shoujo as being the girl all the guys want.
Am I repeating myself? Very well. I repeat myself. I am vast, I contain redundancies.
lum no fanboy wrote:No. But we could, in theory, possibly come to agree that some elements are shared between shounen romantic comedies
With that being said, can't we agree that some elements of shounen romantic comedy somewhat resemble shoujo
and shoujo romantic comedies, what with both of them being, one presumes, romantic comedies.
Hypothetically speaking.
