Final Analysis: There seem to be two ways to paint Genma: either incompetent or corrupt. I think there's a bit more depth to him than that, though of course, it's all speculation on my part. Sure, what we've seen of Genma does not suggest a lot of good. We know that he's lazy, and uses his panda form as a way to hide. We know that he rushes into things without bothering to "read ahead" as the case may be, and that most of the problems in Ranma's life are a direct result of that. We know that he presents himself as a noble martial artist and then cowers when he's faced with any real threat. But there's another side to Genma that I think gets ignored. Any way you look at it, Genma is a very good martial artist and a very competent sensei. Unorthodox, yes, but competent. Ranma did not get to be as good as he is on his own, and even though he probably surpassed his father in sheer strength some time ago, he continues to learn because of a burning drive that was instilled in him - yes, again, by Genma. IN THE DISTANT PAST I suspect that Ranma is a lot like Genma used to be. Even as early in the series as the 6th episode, Genma reminisces about dumping a girlfriend - and he is a bad breaker-upper - and Ranma is disgusted with him. But putting the comedy of the situation aside, is it so hard to see Ranma in the same situation? Convincing himself that he has to be honest to this girl to make the break clean, and ending up being too brutally honest? See, I can see that. Clearly, at one point in his life, Genma thought only about martial arts. It was his love and his life. For him to know as much about it as he does means he must have studied with the same fervor as Ranma did, in his youth. For him to want to see Ranma succeed and become the best means that the Art, deep inside him, is still the greatest source of pride and joy in his life, and to tie it to Ranma is a linking of two perfect things. The main difference I think is that Genma fell in with the completely wrong master - Happosai. Genma and Ranma had kind of started out equals, but somewhere after the point Ranma is at now (or maybe before - I don't recall if they mention how old Soun and Genma are when they study under Happosai) Genma fell under a bad influence, and lacked the personal strength to remove it. Clearly Happosai was an effective teacher. Clearly also, he screws up almost anyone he teaches; he left his mark on Genma, and it was not a good one. Though it's possible that Genma was always, fundamentally, just the coward he is today, I think it's very possible that Happosai wore down the resistance that Genma had to him - rather quickly, most likely - and just sort of crushed whatever was in him. In support of this theory is Genma's reaction to Ranma when he interacts with Happosai. Ranma, for whatever reasons, has kept that thing that Genma lost, and can stand up to Happosai. Genma was able to teach him that and it's been, so far, unbreakable. Yet Genma is not proud of this; he's afraid of it. Were Ranma to cow down in front of anyone else Genma would profess his shame; but Ranma is supposed to cow in front of Happosai, because to not grovel is inviting trouble onto everyone. LISTEN UP, RANMA MY BOY Which is a line you will hear often - very often - in the dub. *G* In any case, Genma's actual relationship with Ranma is very interesting. Clearly, he's eschewed having any kind of "sensitive" relationship in favour of a more traditional father-son interaction: Genma is the rough, stern, disciplinarian parent. In his own mind, anyway. He seems to have a very strong image of how his authority should be received, but since he doesn't live up to the image he wants to project, he receives very little respect in that area. He's definitely one to take a shortcut to whatever he wants - if the easy way is offered, he'll take it. Paradoxically, if there is something he really wants, once he learns about it he'll fight as hard as it takes to steal it away from the rightful owner. So in my book, Genma is not a "bad from birth" slimeball but rather someone who has sort of... fallen. (He's also a character who, despite all the flaws I keep pointing out, I really like a lot. *G*) And the really sad part is that it's unlikely Ranma realizes just how like his father he really is, especially his father of the past.
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