Back in the fall of 1997(when my Waterworld USA Sacramento job was winding down),my sister got me hooked on Ranma ½.Up to that point,I had never seen any anime except for some occasional Sailor Moon.During the first few months of me getting hooked on the Ranma ½ anime and eventually the graphic novels,I initially took pairing up the characters for granted.Then,around May 1998,I discovered a Ranma ½ fan page called The We Hate Akane Unanimous homepage.Even before finding the WHAU homepage,I was already beginning to think(and still do to this very day)that Akane wasn't at all clueless about Ryouga and P-chan being one and the same.And the "tattoo of strength" plot only strengthened my opinion.In fact,I initally started(at that instance)rooted for those two to be together.Of course,I was fully aware of the fact that many people paired Ryouga with Ukyou and vice versa.However,in late-May/early-June of 1998,a visit to the Ranma ½ FAQ site changed me from Ryouga-centric to Ukyou-centric:the webmaster of that site suggested pairing up Ukyou with some sexually confused ninja that doesn't appear until the 35th(out of 38)manga volumes.How apalling!She's far better than Akane;and since I was already pairing the youngest Tendou with Ryouga,I realized that the fiancée that's known Ranma the longest deserved the best:the guy that she was engaged to since age 6(If there's anyone that Konatsu deserves to be with,it's either Tsubasa or Tomo,the latter from Fushigi Yuugi.Besides,Ryouga/Ukyou could work out if Ranma was being paired with Shampoo,Nabiki,Kasumi,or Kodachi.).Immediately,the Ranma/Ukyou coupling became my pairing of choice;and it wasn't long after watching the Ranma 1/2 Outta Control video "The Harder They Fall" which featured a futuristic sequence(no way do I consider it a "fantasy")featuring Ranma,Ukyou,and their 2 kids(Click here for an excellent explanation about why Ranma/Akane are a very far cry from true canon anime couplings such as Usagi/Mamoru,Tenchi/Ryouko,Keiichi/Bellldandy,and Tamahome/Miaka.).At about the same time,I accidentally stumbled onto a fic titled The Nightmare.It turned out to be the first Ranma/Ukyou romance fic I ever read.When I contacted the author to praise his fic,he recommended another excellent fic:The Long and Winding Road,by James "Zen" Bateman.A couple of months earlier,I also found a Ranma 1/2 fan site called The Ranma Age.Though it's a general Ranma ½ fan site,it was the first I ran into in which the webmaster openly advocated pairing Ranma with a fiancée NOT named Akane.His site was the main inspiration of my first entry into the "make your own home page" fooray.At the time,there were no sites in existence devoted to the Ranma/Ukyou pairing,though there were other sites devoted to even less-conventional pairings(i.e.,Ryouga/Ranma-chan,Ranma/Nabiki).Then,on 06/19/1998,something clicked:That Friday night,while making a visit to my local comic store,I ended up chatting with another anime fan who was browsing through the shop's selection of manga/graphic novels.Though it didn't take all night,I realized that it was time for me to take the initiative on this matter.The following night,I decided to look for a free page-hosting service for my site.The only three I knew existed at the time:Angelfire,Geocities,and Tripod.Angelfire was a quick scratch because of their miniscule disk-space quota.I then tried to apply with Geocities,but there was an apparent glitch with their form.So I ended up settling for Tripod.On 06/21/1998,I began constructing the first ever Ranma ½ fan site devoted to the defense of the engagement of Ranma Saotome and Ukyou Kuonji.Initially,I had zero knowledge of html;and I built my site using templates.Though a computer crash on the 24th temporarily halted my progress,it was up and running again a few days later,and on 06/30/1998,The Ranma and Ukyou Pages offically opened to the public.
In the site's first 3 weeks of existence,it was a little-known about site.Then,on 07/15/1998,I accidentally stumbled into a lemon-fic titled Ukyou and Shampoo get down on Ranma.It was just the fourth Ranma/Ukyou fic that I knew existed;and I not only contacted Philip Mak(the author of that lemon)to praise his fic,but I also invited him onto my then-fledgling site.When he replied,I found out about even more Ranma/Ukyou fics I never knew existed.Then,on 07/20/1998,the site became officially listed on the Anime Web Turnpike.At that moment,my site no longer was "obscure."Just 4 days later(on my 22nd birthday,in fact),Philip Mak offically debuted his Ranma/Ukyou fanfiction site.Once and for all,Ranma/Ukyou fans would have their own fan sites to satisfy their hunger.
Further Site Milestones(through 07-15-2002)
- 9/24-12/20/1998:After teaching myself basic HTML,my site undergoes a major cosmetic revamp.
- Early October 1998:The multimedia section is separated from the image gallery.The latter would be reorganized and divided into sub-galleries by month's end.
- November 1998:The about the webmaster section is reorganized and divided into subsections.I would later discover the existence of The Ranma Anime Preview Gallery.The would result in the addition of 75 new screen captures to this site over a 9-month period.If it weren't for dear old Bradster,there would have been much fewer quality images featuring our favorite Takahashi coupling;as roughly half of the 150+ images in the image gallery of this page came from his anime preview gallery.
- February 1999:A feedback survey is added.Also,the seiyuu section is expanded to include charts featuring series in which Hiromi Tsuru works with Kappei Yamaguchi and/or Megumi Hayashibara.
- March 30,1999:The Ranma and Ukyou Pages move to Anime Network.The old Tripod site is still up and is now my anime trading cards site.
- May-June 1999:I start writing my own Ranma/Ukyou romance fics.The first couple of fics weren't that great;but I would eventually write breakthrough fics such as "Akane Gets Drained" and "Okonomiyaki Summer."
- October 1999:Added a new section:YNYRTRAUATMFEOW...
- November 1999:Started up The Ranma and Ukyou Ring.
- December 22,1999:I became a proud member of The Church of Ukyou
- January-February 2000:I became a regular at the Anime Network Message Board.
- April 2000:Added a dreams section containing the Ranma/Ukyou related dreams that people have had.
- June 2000:Began frequenting various anime message boards besides the ANMB.
- July 2000:I founded a companion Yahoo! club to this site called The Knights of The Cute Fiancée!.Additionally,I added a message board.
- December 20,2000:Obtained a free weblog
- April 5,2001:The Ranma and Ukyou Pages' host,Anime Network,is destroyed by the eFront debacle,though the bad news isn't yet made official until a message board posting 3 days later.
- April 21,2001:Just 12 days after signing up with Fortune City,the relocation/reconstruction of The Ranma and Ukyou Pages is completed.
- June-July 2002:As the Ranma and Ukyou Pages begin their fifth year of service to anime fans worldwide,the seiyuu section has been modified to give honorable mention to any anime voice actress(including Hiromi Tsuru,voice of Ukyou)that has starred alongside Kappei Yamaguchi(voice of Ranma-kun)in more anime series than Noriko Hidaka(voice of Akane).Also,a Yahoo group devoted to Yamaguchi-sama is launched.
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