From acorns to oak trees
How the GRIT began...
...was rec.arts.anime, void of the GRIT.
Some time in early 1996, a young innocent by the name of Tony Chin posted a simple little post titled 'Ranma's Best Babe.' He stated that Ukyou was, in his opinion, the best of the lot and outlined his reasons why. Little did he know what would happen...
From this simple message came one of the longest running threads ever seen on r.a.a. (Well, not exactly a thread, it's been renamed many times but the spirit of it has lived on. The thread has even survived r.a.a. dying - it merely shifted locations to r.a.a.misc.)
For there is nothing that can inflame a Ranma fan more than arguments about who the best babe on the show is. People replied to the original message and these first replies. They said things like 'It's Akane', or 'It's Shampoo', or 'It's Ukyou', and so on. Then people continued to reply to the posts, trying hard to convince the others their view was the only correct one.
Things escalated. Mean names, such as "phlandarb", were uttered. The tastes of others were brought into question and insulted viciously. Eventually a newbie to the wars (Don't Gamble Xu) said "People are going way overboard with this. it's just a silly thread about which female character from Ranma 1/2 you like best. give it up, before it gets nasty." To which the mighty Werewolf replied "It's all out war, son. Pick your side and start digging them trenches."
One day later, on the 12th of April 1996, Jason Heavensrun took this pretty much literally and started writing in the now accepted script format, writing of a battlefield set in Nerima, with trenches for the various teams (Akane's team, Shampoo's team, Ukyou's team, and all six of Kodachi's team.) A few others joined in and thus began the Trench Wars, the very first episode of GRIT history.
Eventually the Trench Wars ended with a fuzzy win for the Akane armies. Without it as a focus, the extremely early GRITters started to interact with each other and the rest of the Ranma cast. The antagonism of the Trench Wars continued on, but in a less focussed manner. Clones started to arrive. GRITters started to acquire Jusenkyou curses. New GRITters arrived to make things more complicated.
Now, close to THREE YEARS later, GRIT is still going.
| The posts that began it all |
These are the posts that, in combination, started the GRIT. If you want to be biblical, you could call them The Words of Genesis.
The first is Tony Chin's post that began the Ranma's Best Babe wars:
Subject: [Ranma 1/2] Ranma's Best Babe
From: Tony Chin
Date: 1996/03/22
Message-Id:
X-Sender: kchin1@umbc9.umbc.edu
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
Organization: University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Mime-Version: 1.0
Newsgroups: rec.arts.manga,rec.arts.anime,alt.fan.r-Takahashi
Nntp-Posting-User: kchin1
I'm just writing on who I think is the best girl out of Ranma's choices
(I personally think Kasumi the best looking in the series, but the only
time she could have been Ranma's choice was the first episode).
Ranking
4. Kodachi - Positives: She's rich. Semi-good looking.
Negatives: She is insane, Tatewaki's sister, she spikes
everything with sleeping potion, and lies.
3. Shampoo - Positives: She's cute and she can cook.
Negatives: Her voice. She's too pushy. She won't go away
when asked. Wanted to kill anyone in her way.
2. Akane - Positives: She's cute. Always willing to help and she
cares.
Negatives: Too jealous. Can't cook. Gets upset easy.
1. Ukkyo - Positive: She's cute (looks like a mini kasumi). She can
cook. She owns her own business (Ranma can stay at home
practicing his martial arts all day and let her earn the
money, what more can a guy want!). She's faithful.
Negatives: Won't give up on Ranma when he doesn't like her
that way (what a fool he is).
Clearly, in Ranma's mind, the #1 is Akane. I'm just looking at it at a
practical stand point (okay, slightly biased. But there people who would
put Shampoo first, go figure).
T.C.
The second post is Werewolf's, which prompted Jason Heavensrun to start the GRIT.
Re: [Ranma 1/2] Ranma's Best Babe
Author: werewolf
Date: 1996/04/11
Forums: rec.arts.manga, rec.arts.anime, alt.fan.r-takahashi
In article <1996Apr9.133442.6280@news.iup.edu>, pwcf@grove.iup.edu
(Don't Gamble Xu) writes:
> yeah. why does everyone have to rag on Shampoo. i don't know about her being
> stupid, or the whole deep dark things about male sexuality, or even having
> sex with cats. i just think she's cute and fun. people are going way overboard
> with this. it's just a silly thread about which female character from Ranma 1/2
> you like best. give it up, before it gets nasty.
It's all out war, son. Pick your side and start digging them trenches.
ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ»
º The Werewolf º
ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼÿ
The third and last post is the very first GRIT post ever. You should know who wrote it by now. ^_^
Re: [Ranma 1/2] Ranma's Best Babe
Author: Jason Heavensrun
Date: 1996/04/12
Forums: rec.arts.manga, rec.arts.anime, alt.fan.r-takahashi
werewolf@wyllie.wcape.school.za () writes:
>It's all out war, son. Pick your side and start digging them trenches.
(Peeks up from his trench.)
Jason: Akane, get down! The Shampoo fans are breaking out the 'flame'
throwers! (pushes Akane's head down below the trench and jumps out,
weilding Ranma as a shield. Flames lick across the battlefield, Ranma
comes out barely singed.)
Ranma: Whattaya think your doing?
Jason: Protecting my goddess! (more flames come from the shampoo
trench, burning ranma further.)
Ranma: Ow! Ow! Ow!
Jason: Kun-chan! Is our counterstrike ready yet? (blocks yet another
attack from the shampoo fans.)
Caroline: Just about! Can you hold them off a few more seconds?
Jason: I've got the star of the show on our side! I can hold them off
all day! (blocks yet another wall of flame from reaching it's target)
Caroline: It's ready! (she punches a few more keys on her keyboard, and
suddenly, a large tank drives over the shampoo fans, crushing them.
After it has passed, Akane pops out of the top of the tank, points a
small flame-thrower at the crushed mound of people, and unloads 400+
degrees of searing heat upon them.)
Jason and Caroline: (simultaneously) Yess!
Caroline: We won!
Jason: Yes, we've won this day, but they'll return. Especially Alexis.
I don't get it! We pound on him and pound on him, and still he stays!
At least we chased off the phlandarb.
Caroline: Should we press our assault onto the other fiancees?
Jason: What's the point? The Ukyou hordes are as massive a force as
ourselves. That battle could carry on forever... As for Kodachi, there
can't be more than four or five of them. No, I think we should fortify
for the next attack from the Shampooites. Is our secret weapon ready?
Caroline: The final manga storyline? Yeah, I've got it all right here
(Taps her forehead)
Jason: Good. We'll need it. (looks over at the shampoo fans, who even
now, are trying to mend their wounds for another attack) Geez, and they
call Akane stubborn...
This silly, pointless post has been brought to you by:
-Jason Heavensrun
CEO Checkmate Studios, Inc.
http://www.su.okstate.edu/pages/ArtsSciences/sts.htm
Chairman, Campaign board of Akane for Ranma's Best Babe.
"Curse those Evil Octipi!"
-Genma Saotome
"Please, Ryoga! You couldn't go to the bathroom without gettin' lost!"
-Ranma Saotome
Special thanks must go to Blade who dug up Tony Chin's post that started it all.
Even bigger thanks must go to Tony Chin, Don't Gamble Xu, The Werewolf, and Jason Heavensrun. They are the ones whose combined efforts brought GRIT into being.
But I suppose the most thanks must go to all GRITters, both past and present, who have been in GRIT and kept it going for so long.
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This page was last updated on the 5th of July, 1999