From: Stephen Tsai [mailto:stsai@netcom.com]
Sent: Friday, November 06, 1998 4:16 PM

Richard Lawson wrote:

Hikaru reached across Grandpa and took Akane's hand.
"Hey, your brother will be okay.  Sempai, too.  You'll see!"

Akane I can see; family is family, even in the worst of times.
Why is Hikaru so sympathetic to Kazuya, assuming that she's
been made aware of what he's done?

She's not so much sympathetic towards Kazuya as trying to reassure Akane.
Hikaru has always seemed to me to be an extremely caring person underneath
the diztiness.  :)

Question:  Now that she knows that Kyosuke was an ESPer all
along, does she draw the connection on *how* Kyosuke made
that basketball show all those years ago?

Heh.  Good question.  Will have to think.

Maybe never was, a fearful part of his mind said to him.
Kazuya had always been the stronger ESPer, perhaps the
strongest in the family.

Horse-hocky (more on this later).
The only reason Kazuya does what he does is that he has no
restraint of his powers, as opposed to Kyosuke.  Kyosuke
is always so terrified that he's "going to get discovered",
he restrains himself too much.  On the few occasions that he
didn't (usually when Madoka was being threatened with bodily
harm), he's let loose with displays of raw power that blows
away anything and everything Kazuya has ever demonstrated,
lifting up to several tons, ripping the sides off entire
side of a building (OK, it was glass, but even so), etc.

Er, when?  Nowhere in the manga does anything like that ever happen.  Lifts
several tons?  I've never seen him do that.

Kazuya is probably more *proficient* and skillful with his
powers because he's had more practice, but there's no
evidence in either the manga or the anime (or even those
Shin-KOR novels) that Kazuya is *more powerful* than Kyosuke.

I beg to differ.  In the manga story where Kazuya has to go to the dentist
and switches bodies with Kyosuke, Kyosuke clearly states that Kazuya has
more Power than he does.

She often let me know her displeasure at being
burdened with my upbringing."

"Message in Rouge" (the only significant story w/ Ayukawa's
parents that I know of) doesn't support this.  It might be
my interpretation, and that one story alone isn't positive
proof, but I never saw any actual evidence of this in
either the manga or anime.

That story doesn't contradict my interpretation.  And one has to wonder
about a daughter who is basically raised by her sister, who all during her
junior high and high school career lives by herself in her parent's house.
There are many ways this situation could have come about, of course.  I
think my interpretation not only explains Madoka's upbringing, but a lot
about her personality, too.

Kyosuke blinked.  Come to think of it, in all the time
he'd been with Madoka, he'd never seen her play with her
parents.  "Why?"

She did, however, attend their concert (again, in "Rouge")
when they came to town that one time.

She did?  I don't remember that in the manga.  Still, going to their concert
is not quite the same as playing with them.

She was also all set to go with them to the US, if it
weren't for Kyosuke ("Goodbye Madoka").  She was also
bridesmaid for her sister's marriage; this to me implies
some connection to her family.

A connection, yes, but I see it more as Madoka acting out her duty then a
genuine bond between her and her family.  And in "Goodbye Madoka", she goes
to extraordinary lengths to find a reason *not* to join her parents.

Honestly, this whole subplot of "Madoka being illegitimate and
unwanted" feels tacked on and artificial because so much of
canon contradicts it.

I don't see *any* canon contradicting it.  Far from it; at least in the
manga, so much is explained by this backstory that it really wrote itself.

Again, this may be a manga/anime thing, and I only know the manga.  But
nothing at all in the manga contradicts this.

It's like you're wanting some kind of "justification"
of why Madoka would want Kyosuke because you feel it
couldn't be just because she loved him for who he was.

She loves him for who he is because he's the kind of person who loves his
family and cares deeply for people around him.  And the reason she is drawn
to that is because she's experienced so little of that in her life.

"Yeah, I know.  What choice do I have?  I've never been
able to do this voluntarily.  Only Grandpa could."

"If your grandfather can, then you can too."  She folded
her arms.  "What is it that allows you to do this
teleportation?"

Ho ho ho..."what one man can do, another can do?"  Not
likely.  The rules are different for ESPers and I'd think
even this version of Ayukawa could have figured it out by
now.

Perhaps.  And perhaps she thinks that Kyosuke is giving up without even
trying, and is challenging his beliefs to make sure he's certain about what
he says.

"Have you ever teleported more than person from place to place?"

"Well..."  The bolt of lightning striking the boat, Kyosuke
grabbing Madoka and hurriedly teleporting with her to the
island.  "Yes."

Several times actually, if you include the anime.

Keep in mind, however, that I am *not* including the anime.  This is a
manga-only story.

He shook his eyes to clear them of the tears.  He needed
to concentrate, on his world, on Madoka.  He needed to
return to her.

He needed to straighten out all that had gone so wrong in
his life.

With a terrible resolve, he began.

Given what happens later, how did these two get back together?
Did Madoka come back or did Kyosuke run after her?

There's supposed to be a double meaning to the last two lines.  What's gone
wrong in his life (excluding the current crisis) can be traced to the
shameful (if well-meaning) way he treated Hikaru.  And he's on the verge of
doing the same thing to Ayukawa.  So he needs to set it right with her, even
if it means bringing her to his world, even if he thinks that might not work
out.  He needs to *try*, he needs to face up to the negative feelings
Ayukawa is feeling and to the possible negative reaction Madoka might have
to Ayukawa's presence.  He's used to just locking up and not responding in
those kind of situations, and he needs to get over that, and mature just a
little bit.  That's where the "terrible resolve" bit plays in.

Granted that's a bit deep to infer.  I didn't want to make it too obvious,
so that Ayukawa's appearance later is a surprise.

I've got the triggers fully engaged; all I
have to do is relax my grip the slightest
bit and the guns will fire.  So if, for
example, someone tries to knock me unconscious
or take over my mind, I fear what will happen
to you two."

Or if someone else bumps into them...  What about
witnesses?  If someone is holding a gun pointed
at another person's forehead, then it's almost
certainly visible.

He's doing it in a casual manner, just walking up to them and placing his
arms around them in a friendly manner; most people wouldn't spare him a
glance.  And I'm sure he's holding the gun in a way that isn't immediately
obvious.  Plus he's moving them quickly to the car.  Granted this is all a
risk, but he's used to taking such risks, and even if someone spots the gun,
what are they going to do?  He'll be long gone before the police arrive.

It was the one think Kyosuke
could do that Kazuya couldn't.

"...the one thing..."

D'oh!

Do so much as breathe the wrong way, however,
and my underlings have a long, arduous task
in front of them cleaning out the insides of
this car."

"Why am I in the back, picking up itty, bitty
pieces of skull?!  You should be here in back
doing brain-pan detail!" (Oblig "Pulp Fiction"
quote...:-))

Hehehehehe... you caught me.  That was indeed an oblique "Pulp Fiction"
reference.

Kazuya's heart finally began to slow down.  If he
played his cards right, he could actually parlay
this into a useful position within Amano's organization.
 And he wouldn't make the same mistakes as last time.

Still, he definitely did not like the feeling of those
two guns pointed at him.  He was still at quite a bit
of risk right at the moment.  But at some> point in the
future the tall man's guard would be down, and Kazuya would
make him pay.

Intentional irony of Kazuya's stupidity?  In one paragraph,
he's saying he won't repeat his mistakes.  The very next,
he starts all over and repeats his mistakes...

Yes, this is intentional.  Kazuya really believes he's beyond touch - he's
managed to squirm out of every situation so far.  He has yet to *lose*, and
he's still quite cocky about it.

I was wondering if anyone would pick up on that.  ^_^

Hikaru sighed and dug through her purse.  She pulled
out a crumpled wad of twenties.  "Would you take a
hundred dollars American?"

The cab driver considered this for a moment.  "Two hundred."

Highly unlikely, in fact, virtually impossible.  Cab drivers
(nor any other Japanese merchant) do not accept American
(or any other country's) currency. May as well ask him to
accept Russian Rubles...

Not rubles.  But right now American currency is worth a heck of a lot more
than Japanese.  I didn't see this as being too far-fetched.

Why make it American currency anyway?  The first place any
foreign traveller goes is currency exchange in the airport.

Keep in mind that Hikaru only planned to be there a day, not even long
enough to stay at a hotel.  So she would have only likely exchanged a small
amount, and kept the rest American currency.

You add nothing to the story and in
fact, drastically undermine the credibility.

Heh.  I thought it would be more unrealistic to have Hikaru carrying around
a large amount of Japanese currency.  After all, why?  She wasn't planning
on staying here.  Why convert a bunch of currency, only to convert it back a
few hours later?  Would make *more* sense to just convert a little.

Hikaru forced herself to keep her eyes open.  The cab had
a pay cell phone, and she dug through her purse again to
find the card Kurumi had given her.

A *pay cell phone*?!  I've never, ever heard of this in a cab,
even in the US,

Haven't you?  I've seen them in cabs before, and in airplanes.

Just have Hikaru use her own cell phone (much, much
more likely).

One that works in Japan?  Cell phones are tied to a regional carrier, and
won't work in other countries.

Perhaps I can just have Kurumi give Hikaru her cell phone.

The all had their attention fully focused on him.

"They all had their..."

D'oh!

As quick as a cat, he had a knife out and
was swinging it at Kazuya.

Why not just cut Ayukawa's throat right there and then?
Why waste the motion bring it from Ayukawa's cheek to
Kazuya?

Because Madoka is not the threat.  Kazuya is.  Besides, it's not the tall
man that's got his knife trained on Madoka.

Let's see now...
Manami, Kurumi, Akane, his father, two grandpa-class guys...

No way.  No way in heck can Kazuya beat or even come close to
matching this group.  Hell, *Grandpa* at full strength ould be
hard-pressed to do so.

<shrug>  Perhaps.  In my story, Kazuya started out as someone who, at six,
was more powerful than Kyosuke, and continued to grow in power as he grew
up.  Now, in my story, he's one of the most powerful ESPers in the clan.

In fact, lots of evidence to the contrary.

Which evidence?  Keep in mind I use the manga.  What in the manga supports
the fact that there are other people more powerful than Kazuya?

Scott Shimmel suggests that it may be required for
dramatic necessity, but in my opinion, you're robbing
any drama you're trying to build by presenting a
scenario that's so hard to swallow the readers is
shaking his head in incredibility, as opposed to
genuinely worried about the outcome of the battle.

Hmm.  Good point.  I'll think about this.

Whoa, whoa, whoa...So Kazuya is so powerful, he can control
half-a-dozen ESPers,
all of whom have as much or more experience/power etc than
Kyosuke, but Kyosuke
alone can challenge him?

It's *because* Kazuya has half-a-dozen ESPers under control that Kyosuke can
challenge him.  There's only so much Kazuya can do at once.

Again, I do not buy this.  Even using just the manga as a
reference, Kyosuke, given that he's angry enough, could
cave in Kazuya's skull like a melon and end it right there
and then.  But of course, that leaves him stranded in
Kazuya's body...

You really will have to point me to any evidence in the manga that supports
the "like a melon" assertion.  The manga supports *my* theory - that Kazuya
is more powerful than Kyosuke.

He reached out to seize her mind - and it was *wrong*.
He couldn't explain it.  There was something odd about
the way her mind worked, and his mental fingers skidded
across the cold surface of her brain.

Uh-huh...right.  Because she's from another universe right?
Then why does Kyosuke, normally not an ESPer at all, have
so little difficulty navigating his way around her brain?

He had no trouble navigating her brain *while he was in her universe*.
Remember, his Power *changes* when he moves from one universe to another.
Now that he's back in this universe, he doesn't have telepathy any more, and
he can't read Ayukawa's mind.  Neither can Kazuya.

This whole bit feels a little too neat and clean a wrapup.
It feels like he's not going to get punished for his crimes
at all

Well, he's been stripped of his Power.  That's rather like ripping someone's
eyes out.  That's got to feel like punishment enough.

(ie, the age-old argument about prisons being punishment
or rehab).

Yes.  I myself believe in rehab rather than punishment.  "An eye for an eye"
leaves us with a nation of blind people.

Kurumi nodded.  "Dad was one.  He fell in love with
Mom even knowing she had the Power."

Uh...are you sure?  My impression of that story was that he climbed that
mountain before he was let in on the family secret.

Well, she used her Power to help him carry out the tasks Grandpa set for him
before allowing the marriage.

Akane wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.  "I'm
going to stay and help.  For as long as it takes."

So much for her life...

^_^  Perhaps.  But she *does* feel partly responsible, and she *does* love
her brother.

She sighed.  "What is it that gentlemen wish?  What
would they have?  Is life so dear, or peace so sweet,
as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?"
She shook her head.  "May almighty God forbid."

Statistically speaking, it's highly unlikely Madoka is a
Christian (referring to her last line).

Agreed.  However, she's quoting someone (Patrick Henry) who *was* Christian.

*She* had gone.

Who was "she"?  Given that this is a parallel universe
(that apparently has no Madoka), it's quite plausible
that there might not be a Hikaru either.

True.  It could be anyone.  In my mind, however, it *was* Hikaru.  It was my
subtle comment that I don't think a relationship between Kyosuke and Hikaru
would have worked out, even if there had been no Madoka.

I missed this the first time, but "...such a thing as ESP"?
Is this universe also a universe where Kasuga has no power?

Yup.

"My name is Ayukawa Madoka."

Question.  Given that she's apparently a non-entity,
how is she going to live? (no ID, no money, no house,
no family, etc)

She's well-used to surviving on her own.  She'll find a way.  And, through
Kyosuke, she'll have some help.

Stephen Tsai

Thanks a lot for the comments, Stephen.  Obviously we have a major
disagreement about how powerful Kazuya is, and about Madoka's backstory.  I
still think the manga supports my theories.

Still, some food for thought.  Thanks for sharing it with me.

-Richard