Patreon Pin Up 6/25/18 (Patreon)

Shampoo here, (yes that is her name) comes from a classic anime called Ranma 1/2. I'll summarize the show as best I can: It's a romantic comedy series about a group of teenage martial artists, most of which had the misfortune of falling into a mystic hot spring that curses them to shape-shift (usually into an animal of some kind) whenever they get splashed with cold water. Adding to their misfortune is that the threat of being spontaneously splashed with cold water is very real and lurks everywhere. Rainstorms occur instantly and without warning, and around every corner waits some asshole just emptying a bucket of ice water or spraying a hose in the street without so much as a glance where they're aiming. 

Ranma is one of those Japanese love comedies where you can watch for 100 episodes and never see any two characters so much as kiss. The entertainment factor is not about buildup and payoff, it's about watching these poor dopes constantly deal with their romantic ambitions going up in smoke for one reason or another.  Likable characters are mandatory for such a set up, and I think the show succeeds there. But just how it succeeds is something I want to learn from.

To put it mildly, cast of this show is made up of some seriously flawed young people, but their cons are balanced with their pros expertly in most cases. So despite them all being kind of awful human beings it's somehow still hard for me to pick a favorite.

Take the star, Ranma himself. He's a misogynistic little twerp who inexplicably still adopts the "girls are gross" mentality of an adolescent boy despite being well into his teens. He also whines constantly about his particular curse, despite the fact that he got off way lighter than anyone else who fell into the hot spring. But, he also generally sticks up for anyone being bullied, and tends to go out of his way to help others when he can. So despite his quirks he can be easy to root for.

But a more relevant example is Shampoo. She wants to marry Ranma, and will attempt to totally murder anyone she thinks is in the way of that goal. She lies, she manipulates, and she cheats in any contest that she can. She even has a perfectly nice guy who's in love with her that she treats like crap. And while she's often the antagonist of a particular episode, I wouldn't say she counts as one of the villains. Why not? Well, she's adorable for one, and she's very polite and respectful to anyone who isn't unfortunate enough to be in her way. 

I know this is a long post, but this is the type of thing that really interests me as a writer. In my case, I've got some male characters to introduce in my comic, and I think if they were all nice guys like Royce and Warren that would get old quick. Writing a character that's likable despite serious flaws is something I'd really like to be able to master and replicate as needed. If you guys have any pointers or just happen to be a Ranma fan let me know in the comments. Who's you're favorite character? Mine's Ryoga, because he has a shitty sense of direction just like I do.