There was once a boy (well, at least half of the time) and a girl. Their names were Ranma and Akane. They were the stars of a popular anime series, about curses, too many fiancees, martial arts and love denial. These two teenagers had a vast number of fans, who enjoyed them bicker constantly, knowing that deep down, they loved each other and couldn't be parted.

This gave strength to a particular anime stereotype. If a boy and a girl bicker constantly, then it MUST mean that they love each other.

And so were born countless romance or WAFF fanfics staring Shinji and Asuka. Some are very well done. Some not. Some were believable. Some were totally out of character. But all those stories had a thing in common: Shinji and Asuka loved each other, were destined to be together.

And here comes this fic by Sparky, "Something Else".

It really bring a breath of fresh air in an otherwise overdone subject.

Love is a really big word. But, most of the time, people only develop one aspect of it: romantic love. Perhaps this is because most fanfic writers are lonely souls like myself. Or perhaps we simply want to see these two be happy, and what better way then have them fall in love? But, as I said, it's been done so often already, that it takes an outstanding story to really impress me.

Which brings me back to Sparky story, which is, as the title of his fic suggests, something else.

It's a WAFF story, with the ever needed little bits of angst. And it's a love story. But it's not a romantic story. Because you see, love and romance are not necessarily the same. The definition of love goes beyond simple romance, and I think Sparky showed it nicely, in a way that is usually done for Rei and Shinji, or Shinji and Kaworu, rather than Shinji and Asuka.

The story is written rather simply, without extensive introspection on the characters part. Perhaps some of it could have been used, to explain more the process that lead the conclusions the characters reached about their feelings. While it is there at the beginning, it's rather non-existent at the end. So it makes the story perhaps a bit short.

Deciding the degree of which the characters are OOC is hard, mainly regarding Asuka. It makes sense, but to see if Asuka would really feel that way... But it's a lot more believable then stories where she suddenly fall for Shinji out of the blue.

In overall, it makes a nice enjoyable story. But it's best feature is the angle used for the Shinji/Asuka relationship. This alone makes it worth the read.

But we can enjoy what goes with the idea too ^_^