I would like to preface this review with a note about the author of this fanfic and his work. Asayogure is a very talented writer and I absolutely recommend his stories. However, if you are interested in what he has written, I would strongly suggest that you read his other Ranma 1/2 story, “Hand-Me-Down Ranma - A Good Fit?” (a very compelling pairing of Ranma and Nabiki) before reading this story. The author wrote “Ranma Gets a Clue” much earlier in his time as a writer and has matured in his craft substantially since then. If you want to truly get an idea of the author’s ability, then “Hand-Me-Down Ranma” is the place to start. “Ranma Gets a Clue” contains a lot of the heart which is in Asayogure’s writing as well as some early examples of the strengths he will display in a much more solid form in his later work. For me, reading this fic was rather like listening to some of the early “rough cuts” of a band you enjoy.

The epilogue to this story was probably my favorite part. Things were brought to a nice close for the various characters and the surprise at the end had me grinning. Indeed, I would say that the final twist was rather Takahashi-like.

As a whole, “Ranma Gets a Clue” is about as rough as the author himself will tell you it is, so I want to concentrate on the high points. The story has a great heart to it - something which just shines through and which I really appreciate as a reader. There were very strong points in the romantic plots, which was probably my favorite element. There were also some pretty good fighting scenes. Finally, I thought that the author was very careful to try to respect the original characters of Ranma 1/2 while also doing some interesting things with them (for example, how Ranma made a friend out of Mousse).

All in all, I had a good time reading this. Check it out if you enjoyed “Hand-Me-Down Ranma”.

(NOTE: This review is meant to be for Chapter 11, but I accidentally posted it unfinished and I can't delete or edit the mistaken post. Sigh.)

While I have also enjoyed the previous chapters, I felt like this one was a good place to put a review.

I admit that I had never really thought of Anything Goes School having a belt system. However, I think that Akane's training with Ranma and her receiving the belt from him was a very meaningful idea in more than one way.

First, we get to see Ranma in the Sensei role. That is actually pretty important in itself because there has always been an understanding throughout Ranma 1/2 that Ranma is meant to take on the leadership of the Tendou dojo and, eventually, of the entire Anything Goes School. Yet we don't really get to see him do much (or any? I'm not sure.) instruction. I think that it was great to see him do it. In a way, he is having a coming of age by engaging in a type of instruction which is so rigorous and so independent. Also, we get to see how he both learned training techniques from his father and also has become mature enough to modify those techniques. He does not throw out Genma's training entirely just because they were sometimes overboard. Neither does he follow them by rote. Either could be seen as an immature choice. Instead, he shows wisdom and confidence by finding the core lessons in his father's methods and then modifying those methods so that they were much more reasonable while the lesson remained intact.

For Akane's part, her defeats were quite hard to read in the sense that the reader really feels for her. It could be said that Akane was never shown to have a problem with her approach to martial arts in the manga, but neither was the whole question of her growth as a martial artist really addressed. The idea that she had certain conceptions about both herself and martial arts which needed to be cleared away actually creates an interesting way to look into that. She gets to have a growth arc here without resorting to a conflict-free "she just practiced a lot and got better" idea.

The training trip also made further inroads into a real relationship between Ranma and Akane. Importantly, it seems to provide some context for emotional barriers between them breaking down after so long.

The river scene was one which particularly stuck in my mind because it illustrated a key difference in how Akane approaches fighting compared to Ranma.

And, as always, the romance is touching and heartwarming.

I have been enjoying the story as a whole thus far :)

While I have also enjoyed the previous chapters, I felt like this one was a good place to put a review.

I admit that I had never really thought of Anything Goes School having a belt system. However, I think that Akane's training with Ranma and her receiving the belt from him was a very meaningful idea in more than one way.

First, we get to see Ranma in the Sensei role. That is actually pretty important in itself because there has always been an understanding throughout Ranma 1/2 that Ranma is meant to take on the leadership of the Tendou dojo and, eventually, of the entire Anything Goes School. Yet we don't really get to see him do much (or any? I'm not sure.) instruction. I think that it was great to see him do it. In a way, he is having a coming of age by engaging in a type of instruction which is so rigorous and so independent. Also, we get to see how he both learned training techniques from his father and also has become mature enough to modify those techniques. He does not throw out Genma's training entirely just because they were sometimes overboard. Neither does he follow them by rote. Either could be seen as an immature choice. Instead, he shows wisdom and confidence by finding the core lessons in his father's methods and then modifying those methods so that they were much more reasonable while the lesson remained intact.

For Akane's part, her defeats were quite hard to read in the sense that the reader really feels for her. It coule

ahhhh, i remember reading this back in the day, always a good read!

Poor Ranma. He just can't seem to get a break, can he? Quite the enjoyable story. Still, I have to admit to not caring much for Akane at all. Even though Ms. Takahashi did a 180 at the end of the manga series, she just wasn't anyone I could truly feel comfortable around. Still and all, this IS an AU story. *chuckles* However, since the "original" drowned girl was not only withdrawn from Ranma but also passed on to a "higher plane" as it were, along with her father and people, wouldn't that make the Spring of Drowned Young Girl nonexistent? Just curious.

The best of luck with your book, dear. Take care and thanks for sharing your stories.

It's funny because he'd end up wrecking the springs in the original timeline anyways XD

Fairly decent story if read from a clinical standpoint... It's just that I myself simply can't stand reading through it, except the epilogue. Again, it's not a bad story, it's just me.

Wonderful story

This was really really good!

I really enjoyed this. You did great!

Well written. Well timed. Well paced.

I found your story online and you are quite the writer. I know it's been many years since you wrote this story, but I'm really enjoying this story even it's been years since I re-watched Ranma 1/2.

Great chapter and amazing story good job!

Awesome job on the talk between Men!

Nice start!

Unfortunately, I was pretty disappointed in this story. It's certainly not bad, but it just did not do much for me. Though perhaps others might enjoy it more. Oh well….

You seem to have a strange grasp on the combat skills of the Nerima Wrecking Crew. While Akane does put too much strength into her attacks and gets sloppy when she loses her temper, she does have exceptional skill and technique by normal standards. Kodachi has never been able to touch her outside of her gas attacks, while Ukyo never fought hand-to-hand in the manga and would probably lose pretty badly if she tried to fight a calm Akane that way (although your depiction with an out-of-control Akane was quite valid). Shampoo, on the other hand, simply outclasses Akane in strength, speed, technique, and probably ki control as well. It would take a lot more training than depicted here for Akane to reach her level. Overall, I'd rank them like this at the end of the manga:
A: Ranma, Cologne, Happosai
A-: Ryoga
B: Genma
B: Shampoo, Mousse
B-: Ukyo
C: Akane, Kuno
C: Soun
C-: Kodachi
D (/-): Any "normal" fighter like in the Hentai Horde
F: Non-fighters like Kasumi and Nabiki
?: Dr. Tofu (we never see him fight)

By the way, since when does Anything-Goes have its own belt system or an obligation to accept any challenge? Yes, Ranma's pride causes him to accept just about any challenge, but even he would balk at unreasonable stakes or conditions where he has nothing to gain.

Soo I just read the first chapter so far and I am LOVING it! I see it continues so I'm excited to read! Just wanted to say that :D.