[Gojirob]

For the moment, suspend any thoughts of who you think Keitaro should have ended up with, and just think of this scenario : No broken leg, nor Kanako nor Molmol. Naru and Keitaro have their childhood walk into Todai earlier on, and then decide to part ways amicably. Freed of both the canon relationship and the nerves wondering if he could make it, Keitaro then begins a relationship with one of the other mains. Naru is supportive of both her current and past friends, so no sniping there. The question is, what are the mechanics of his relationship in each alternate instance? We know its going to be funny and chaotic, but how would it differ from Naru? Remember, his luck still sucks for a long while.

My takes :

1 - Kitsune - Decides to impress Keitaro by apprenticing to Haruka earlier on, but with Lucy-like results (Luciile Ball, not Elfen Lied Lucy). For example, Keitaro catches pneumonia when she washes, but forgets to dry, his clothes.

2 - Mutsumi - Easygoing at first, but her occasional forgetfulness and somewhat ditzy nature on some matters repeatedly gets Keitaro arrested when she faints unto death, and people think he's murdered her.

3 - Su - Kinda difficult for me. Cute as hell, but so insane, especially in the eyes of Keitaro. I see them coming together as Su at first forcibly takes him on a series of insane adventures, addicting him to both adrenalin and the girl that provides it. At one point, mirroring canon, she takes bad advice from Shinobu and calms down, which by now Keitaro can't stand, as he needs the rush. Age is an issue, but less so for her and for her country.

4 - Motoko - On the US version of Dear John, Judd Hirsch's best lady friend divorced a man that her family liked better than her. I see this as a K/M scenario, aggravating the way her sister outclasses her. After training him, she can no longer defeat Keitaro--except when he tries to make her feel better about her family, in which case the beatings we know take place, and then some.

5 - Finally, Shinobu. Age would mean waiting three years before even a real date, since the others would un-man Keitaro if he dated her one second before she turned 16. Also, it would turn into a competition over who could be the biggest cry-baby. A sweet and mostly non-abusive relationship, the comedy would have to derive from the age difference and the relatively equal maturity level, or lack thereof.

I'm not including Kanako, since plainly, Keitaro never saw her as anything but a sister.

[SunFox]

Originally Posted by Gojirob

I'm not including Kanako, since plainly, Keitaro never saw her as anything but a sister.

Why am I always the first one to reply to you, Gojirob? Anyway, in one scene, Keitaro says to Kanako "If I had never met Naru..." This would show that he might have come to have romantic feelings for her one day.

For the what-if on Kanako's end - everyone would be weirded out for a while, and then come to accept it. Keitaro would go off with Kanako and his gran, and become an awesome martial artist under Nana's tuition.

And let's not forget: Nyamo!!

Keitaro would end up marrying her (when she was old enough) and would ever after spend all his days digging up funny-looking pots with her...

And of course, the "whole damn harem" route

- all the girls would take turns "being his wife" until Keitaro dies (happily) of sexual exhaustion!

[Gojirob]

Originally Posted by SunFox

Why am I always the first one to reply to you, Gojirob? Anyway, in one scene, Keitaro says to Kanako "If I had never met Naru..." This would show that he might have come to have romantic feelings for her one day.

For the what-if on Kanako's end - everyone would be weirded out for a while, and then come to accept it. Keitaro would go off with Kanako and his gran, and become an awesome martial artist under Nana's tuition.

And let's not forget: Nyamo!!

Keitaro would end up marrying her (when she was old enough) and would ever after spend all his days digging up funny-looking pots with her...

And of course, the "whole damn harem" route

- all the girls would take turns "being his wife" until Keitaro dies (happily) of sexual exhaustion!

A fair and plausible scenario for both (or all). The only Q I'd raise is, did he mean if he'd never met Naru at all, or if they'd never met as young adults? Also, not to put down your take, but I'd wonder if that statement wasn't made so Keitaro could be kind to a young woman who obviously had it bad for him. Its one of the reasons why I like the character--he hasn't a vicious bone in his body, and as I endlessly ranted elsewhere, if anything would have made him be vicious, it would be Molmol--but nuff said on that.
One last thing about Nyamo : I always felt that KA should have revealed her late grandfather to have also been Shinobu's.

[dp246]

hmm .. kinda hard to imagine Keitaro and Naru going separate ways .. i mean, when i read the first chapter 5 years ago, i knew right there and then that those 2 were made for each other .. but, i guess Kei and Kitsune would make one helluva funny couple.