User:Azuka/Sandbox

Plot

In the future, people with ESP are becoming more widespread and with it, the necessity of constructively utilizing their unique capabilities. Unfortunately, there are also espers that abuse their powers, using them destructively. The Japanese government establishes Base of Backing ESP Laboratory (B.A.B.E.L.), an organization whose purpose is appraising, identifying, nurturing, and protecting espers (even if that means apprehending them as if they were criminals). Five decades later, B.A.B.E.L. locates a trio of natural Level 7 (the highest level) espers within Japan and assembles them into a special esper team known as "The Children." in spite of all three having developed questionable attitudes and affinities because of the persecution and ostricization caused by the ignorant fear of their powers. Still, the question during B.A.B.E.L.'s stewardship of the past five years now becomes whether Kaoru Akashi, Shiho Sannomiya, and Aoi Nogami can be refined into young ladies. (I have no idea how to revise this Azuka (talk) 22:13, 30 November 2008 (UTC)).

Characters

B.A.B.E.L.

The Children

Kaoru Akashi (明石 薫, Akashi Kaoru)

Voiced by: Aya Hirano

A ten-year-old Level 7 esper. Kaoru is the most reckless of "The Children" and often tends to act without considering the consequences. Her specialty is psychokinesis. It is explained at one point that it was Kaoru that approached Shiho and Aoi in friendship when she was given over to B.A.B.E.L. five years ago and has generally established herself as the leader of the group. Kaoru initially rejected Minamoto's leadership until he shielded her from her own out-of-control telekinesis shortly after they met. She has since opened up to reveal a dynamic, fun-loving tomboy and has demonstrated wanting to have Minamoto all to herself, but her efforts are usually thwarted by Aoi and Shiho. Kaoru's nuclear family is her elder sister Yoshimi and her mother Akie who are so devoted to their careers that they neglect to spend time with her because they are frightened of her powers.

Aoi Nogami (野上 葵, Nogami Aoi)

Voiced by: Ryōko Shiraishi

A ten-year-old esper with Level 7 teleportation capability, Aoi is the rational member of "The Children" Special Esper Team. She enjoys playing video games in her spare time. Like her teammates, at first Aoi acted with complete disregard for her superiors. In the academic forum, Aoi's resentment of Kaoru and Shiho relying upon her so heavily instead of exerting a sincere effort to help themselves explodes into the fierce but fabricated accusation of being stuck with all of the work but none of the glory during their missions that is only extinguished during a solo mission with Minamoto (who was charged the delivery of a crucial and clandestine payload) that involved a dogfight against a quartet of homing missiles. While she generally understands that having Level 7 telekinesis used as an attack is frightening and very dangerous, Aoi has a hard time understanding the human dark side and why anyone would be apprehensive of espers whose powers are more for investigation/inspection although it is not inane or impossible for her to teleport a person into an inanimate object. It is explained briefly at one point that Aoi sees her origins in Kyoto which has its own local dialect, a feature of which is the honorific -han used in place of the standard -san. When she is angry or dead set on a mission that requires it, Aoi has demonstrated the capability to conduct 12,000 consecutive teleportation jumps before having to pause to recover herself. Unfortunately, this is of no utility against the P.A.N.D.R.A. teleporter Mio who uses distance-displacement portals as well as the conventional position displacement jumps that she herself practices.

Shiho Sannomiya (三宮 紫穂, Sannomiya Shiho)

Voiced by: Haruka Tomatsu

A ten-year-old esper with Level 7 psychometry, Shiho is the sarcastic and sharp-tongued member of "The Children" Special Esper Team alongside Kaoru and Aoi. While initially not able to do much during missions aside from gathering information that is not immediately obvious from the environment, Shiho still supports her teammates by doing whatever she can -- an act enhanced by wielding a pistol recently given to her by her father. Keenly aware of the world having a dark side and the folly of accepting everything at face value, Shiho is the first to realize why Minamoto works so well with them (his exclusion from elementary school because of his high intelligence) when she psychometrically probes one of his yearbooks. Her insecurity diminishing under his leadership, Shiho is trying to refrain from psychometrically probing Minamoto as much as she did when she met him. Shiho generally adds ancillary comments that either explain complex elements of the »Zettai Karen Children« universe or insinuate one person or another (usually Minamoto) into undergoing an embarrassing/painful reprisal (usually Kaoru's telekinesis). When Fujiko awakens from her decade-long estivation and greets her with a kiss, Shiho seems to not resist as much -- probably because she detected no ill intent within Fujiko.

Kōichi Minamoto (皆本 光一, Minamoto Kōichi)

Voiced by: Yuuichi Nakamura

The first lieutenant workaholic field leader of "The Children" Special Esper Team, he is tasked with overseeing their day-to-day care and making sure they do not get too carried away when they are doing their jobs. Even as they mistreat him and generally give him super fits, the girls highly esteem Minamoto enough to ask the B.A.B.E.L. chief to be allowed to reside with him after he leads them in their introductory mission and protects Kaoru from her own out-of-control telekinesis. While he is quite courageous and sincere in his belief that Kaoru/Shiho/Aoi are little girls to be protected and cherished before they are Level 7 espers (which Shiho says are treated the same as mass-destruction weapons) and has grown to be very fond of them enough to spend time with them on diurnal outings, Minamoto has a hard time applying those life-equality ideals to Momotarou (who wrecks his apartment when Kaoru decides to nurse him back to health) and refraining from behaving toward his esper charges as if they are a bunch of brats (an accurate but counterproductive assessment). Minamoto generates quite a convoy of female admirers during the course of the Zettai Karen Children series as he works to pre-empt the precognition of a mortal showdown with Kaoru in a war-torn city during Kyousuke's esper-led war against humans a decade in the future. Teaching Kaoru and her teammates to be responsible is one part of the solution and it is not out of the question for that to be said of Minamoto simply enjoying his life.

B.A.B.E.L. Headquarters

Taizō Kiritsubo (桐壺 帝三, Kiritsubo Taizō)

Voiced by: Jūrōta Kosugi

The leader of B.A.B.E.L, he dotes on "The Children" all the time and spoils them rotten not realizing that this overindulgence is probably the reason for the bad behavior of "The Children". Taizō can and does point to Minamoto as the scapegoat for The Children's fallibilities and poor attitudes. Whether Taizō overindulges "The Children" because he really loves them or because he is frightened for his job/personal safety (after seeing Kaoru severely damage a shopping district trying to stop a criminal esper) remains to be seen; still, Taizō is extremely attached to Kaoru, Shiho, and Aoi (who are starting to realize that Taizō's intense affection for them is not entirely altruistic) and goes into a frenzy comparable to a Level 6 esper whenever he feels that "The Children" are in distress.

Oboro Kashiwagi (柏木 朧, Kashiwagi Oboro)

Voiced by: Masumi Asano

Even if her job title is simply being Taizō's secretary or personal assistant, Kashiwagi is no exception to the sidekick/alter ego dynamic and is generally very handy to have around. It is very rare for either Taizō or Kashiwagi to be by themselves as Kyōsuke demonstrates when he hypnotically emulates Kashiwagi to fool Minamoto at one point. Kashiwagi performs many roles as she accompanies Taizō which include assisting with visual aids during mission briefings and preventing Taizō from giving an order or making a decision whose aftermath would most likely be rather messy.

Fujiko Tsubomi (蕾見 不二子, Tsubomi Fujiko)

Voiced by: Yukana

A girlish and playful energy vampire with eight decades of life under her belt and the capability to practice the same powers as Kaoru and her teammates that outranks Taizou who has established B.A.B.E.L. under her guidance, Fujiko awakens from her decade-long estivation when her former subordinate/kohai Kyousuke Hyobu establishes the organization P.A.N.D.R.A. to effect his ultimate objective -- an esper-led war against humans. Being of the sentiment that Minamoto's leadership philosophy/practice will lead to his esper charges becoming exactly what Kyousuke wants, Fujiko relieves Minamoto of his esper guardian duties to polish/refine him and generally shake things up not understanding that his relationship with Kaoru/Shiho/Aoi is a hybrid professional/family relationship.

Wild Cat

Naomi Umegae (梅枝 ナオミ, Umegae Naomi)

Voiced by: Ayumi Fujimura

A sixteen-year-old Level 6 psychokinetic high-schooler originally known as "Kitty Cat", at the beginning Naomi's naive mistakes would make for a less-than-perfect working environment and would not be regarded as a laughing matter (either at the time or after the fact) under normal real-life circumstances. Naomi has built a solid four-year history with her supervisor Ichirō and seems to sincerely wants to do well for both herself and B.A.B.E.L.. However, during one of her missions when she is charged with stopping a psychic who uses his powers to molest women, she begins to have trouble using her powers and accidentally injures her supervisor. After training with the Children, she has a simulated duel with Kaoru acting exactly as the psychic she tried to stop. Naomi realizes that Ichirō's intense affection for her is not entirely the altruistic and professional working relationship that it is supposed to be. When they next meet the peeping esper, Naomi takes out both the esper and her somewhat perverted supervisor. It is at this point Naomi gains the nickname "Wild Cat", the rationale of which is demonstrated whenever Ichirō tries to manipulate Naomi and fails to keep his professional (and physical) distance. Unlike The Children, Naomi seems to be able to deactivate her limiter without Ichirou's assistance almost at will. Since Naomi tends to rush through all her enemies whenever she has to fight, it is not that much of a stretch to surmise that there is probably a time limit whose expiration automatically reactivates the limiter.

Ichirō Tanizaki (谷崎 一郎, Tanizaki Ichirō)

Voiced by: Hiroshi Yanaka

Ichirō is the heavy-smoking thirty-six-year-old supervisor of Umegae Naomi. He has become extremely attached to his esper charge over the four years since her supernatural powers were discovered when she was twelve-years-old. While he has done a good job of administrating the development of Naomi's social character which has allowed the use of her telekinesis for constructive ends, Ichirō has also demonstrated signs of a lecherous personal agenda to refine Naomi into his "ideal woman". Despite having twice been on the receiving end of Naomi's telekinesis misfiring and her telekinetic exhortations to keep a professional distance, Ichirō has not been convinced to abandon his lecherous personal agenda.

The Hound

Akira Yadorigi (宿木 明, Yadorigi Akira)

Fifteen-year-old Akira wields his Level 4 metempsychosis as a member of The Hound Special Esper Team alongside his partner Hatsune. As has been demonstrated, Akira's metepsychosis works by interchanging his soul with that of any nearby organism and affords him several situational and structural advantages that his normal anthropoid form cannot. Unfortunately, there is an obstinate operating range beyond which Akira's metepsychotic subjugation will be disrupted and the interchange reversed. It is not that out of the question for B.A.B.E.L. to make a standard practice of storing Akira's anthropoid form in a heavily-guarded vehicle that follows after to keep him in that operation range.

Hatsune Inugami (犬神 初音, Inugami Hatsune)

Voiced by: Ai Shimizu

Fourteen-year-old Hatsune avails her Level 4 metamorphosis as a member of The Hound Special Esper Team alongside of her partner Akira. Much to Akira's chagrined frustration, Hatsune demonstrates the proclivity to behave her default lupine alternate manifestation which is only at its greatest efficacy when she is hungry—hungry as in 'have not eaten for days' ravenous rather than merely being peckish. Unfortunately, Hatsune's voracious appetite does have the tendency to displace the mission at hand. Even as this flaw is somewhat diminished as Minamoto trains her, Hatsune still has to overcome the fact that she computes and conducts in lupine/canine maneuvering rather than anthropoid action. Even with her canine conduct and gluttony set aside for the moment, Hatsune demonstrates a proclivity to become enthralled with anyone that sees past her exterior to interact with her as a human being and twice tries to claim Minamoto for herself. As Kaoru emphatically and vigorously demonstrates at her natural potency designation during an exercise regarding Minamoto and his affiliation, whoever is decided upon to supervise Hatsune will have to establish and maintain dominance right from the start without being cruel or despotic.

Keiko Kojika (小鹿 佳子, Kojika Keiko)

Voiced by: Saki Nakajima

Doubleface

Natsuko Tokiwa

Voiced by: Eri Nakao

Natsuko wields her Level 5 clairvoyance as one member of the Doubleface esper receptionist team alongside her partner Hotaru and is charged with identifying and intercepting possible incoming threats. Not only can she detect dangerous items such as packaged explosives or concealed personal weaponry, but Natsuko also can even tell if a visitor is in good hygienic repair. It would not be out of the question for Natsuko to use her clairvoyance to spy on a visitor during his time on the B.A.B.E.L. premises to ensure good behavior. She and Hotaru once threw cold water on Taizō when he was lusting after them during a tour of the B.A.B.E.L. facility to welcome Minamoto, indicating they might be young twenty-something adults.

Hotaru Nowaki

Voiced by: Rina Sato

Hotaru avails her Level 5 telepathy as the other member of The Doubleface esper receptionist team alongside her partner Natsuko. Hotaru is charged with reading the visitor's thoughts to determine whether or not they pose a threat to either the espers or B.A.B.E.L's other personnel. The infatuation that she and Natsuko share for Minamoto has ignited a low-level rivalry between the two even as they are often kept in the loop with all the drama involving Minamoto and his esper charges.

Others

Shūji Sakaki

Voiced by: Kishō Taniyama

Dr. Shuuji Sakaki is the old-enough-to-know-better playboy psychometric physician of B.A.B.E.L. whose job it is to inspect espers at the conclusion of every mission as well as to take care of general medical needs. Before meeting Minamoto (who is originally a medical researcher before enrolling in an overseas supervisor course), Sakaki did not have anybody to understand him as a person and advocate for him. To compensate for this, he behaved like the typical sports jock -- popular in school but dangerous if obstructed. Given how he had beaten up several people and how injured they were, it is not that unreasonable to speculate that Sakaki is very well-practiced in the martial arts and that it was probably in that forum that he discovered his psychometry and taught himself how to use it to his advantage. Fortunately, Sakaki saw fit to clean up his act after his Level 6 psychometry imports an admonishment to grow up from Minamoto even as he behaves as quite a lady's man. When charged the supervision of Kaoru and Shiho during Minamoto's convergent criminal quarry navigation mission in Kyoto, Sakaki demonstrates that he is a kid-at-heart as he competes with Shiho in a racing game (which he loses even though he uses every trick in the book to cheat) and in angling (Shiho teaching herself how to fish and successfully catching the quarry fish on her first try). He and Shiho develop an enigmatic love-hate relationship as they work together in repairing Professor Saisen's ruptured spleen and preparing the fish they caught into a tasty meal.

Kiriko Suma

Voiced by: Rika Fukami

The former supervisor of "The Children", Kiriko seems to hate being in the supervisor role and behaves toward Kaoru, Shiho, and Aoi as if they are animals. The ESP portal limiters that Kiriko gave "The Children" are fashioned as chokers and are deactivated with the password 'Solomon', a powerful and wise king in the Old Testament who used a magic ring to converse with animals. Her current status is unknown after Minamoto comes back onto the scene.

P.A.N.D.R.A.

Kyōsuke Hyōbu (兵部 京介, Hyōbu Kyōsuke)

Voiced by: Kōji Yusa

A misanthropic former major-rank military esper with eight decades of life under his belt, Kyōsuke is one tough adversary with an abundant anthology of different esper capabilities. As is the case with Kaoru's berserk runaway telekinesis, Kyōsuke has the capability to defy fully powered-up ESP Counter Measure generators but does so as "the rule". Kyōsuke has a lengthy history of teleporting out of his subterranean holding cell, walking around for a breath of fresh air, and teleporting back in without anybody detecting and challenging him. Given that there are few efficacious avenues for damaging him (never mind the subjugation and confinement), Kyōsuke believes that he can demonstrate his volition of doing whatever he wishes and it would not be that outrageous to suspect that Kyōsuke is either one of the alpha adversaries or the alpha adversary. Despite his delight in giving B.A.B.E.L. super fits as he foils all their attempts to apprehend him and using his hypnosis to especially manipulate Minamoto for his own recreational ends (such as effecting the mirage that Kaoru, Shiho, and Aoi are physically older than they really are), Kyōsuke's misanthropy fortunately does not extend to other espers. He views Kaoru as his queen and soul mate due to her ability to defy the fully powered-up ESP Counter Measure generator and wishes for her to grow up quickly not caring anything that Kaoru is much more like a child than she initially appears as Minamoto is forced to endure on a daily basis. He and Momotarou have a social dynamic where they always see the worst of normal people and behave as if the word of an esper always takes precedence over the word of a normal person—with which they both have had several dysphoric experiences.

Mio

Voiced by: Rie Kugimiya

In addition to the normal position displacement (disappearing in one position followed by reappearing in another) much like Aoi, the young teleporter Mio can also generate distance-displacement portals that can even ignore physical obstacles as Dr. Sakaki has been forced to endure while in the middle of a fight with her bodyguard Yamada. Mio is unwilling to accept Kaoru as any kind of ruler that could replace her crush Kyousuke and demonstrates this by kidnapping Minamoto to her very run-down hideout. Minamoto guiding her through proper nutrition/hygiene and even giving her a new outfit inspires Mio but does not stop her vendetta against Kaoru. Mio's downfall is brought about when Minamoto reasons that Mio probably has the same weakness as Akira's metempsychosis. Sure enough, Minamoto transporting Mio's genuine lower half out of range causes Mio to recall her clones, one of which has gone maverick. Kaoru's intercession along with Minamoto's compassion for her inspires Mio to reflect on her conduct even if her jealousy is not yet resolved.

Yamada Koremitsu

Accompanying Mio as her personal bodyguard, Yamada is a telepath that once did for a private job management security company what Hotaru does for B.A.B.E.L.—basically detecting and repelling trouble. It is not that out of the question that Yamada was probably prosecuting a security operation in which he was injured and is now Mio's personal bodyguard to repay Mio having nursed him back to health. Yamada's downfall comes about when Sakaki psychometrically detects his back story and thus cleverly takes advantage of Yamada's disorganized thought processes along with his martial arts ability to use adversarial momentum and inertia to his advantage ultimately proving a match for Yamada's reliance upon brute force.

Takashi Kugutsu (九具津 隆, Kugutsu Takashi)

Voiced by: Yukito Sōma

Introduced as a very quirky but handy fellow with a proficiency for constructing dolls, Takashi also has the esper ability to animate his creations with anthropoid authenticity. While it has never really been conclusively appraised, Takashi has demonstrated the ability to animate/maneuver several of his creations at one time and even conduct a nice conversation—an event that does not happen very often without a request as its ulterior motive. Unfortunately, the euphoria of watching Takashi happily do his esper thing for B.A.B.E.L. is tempered by the fact that he is a spy whose purpose seems to be researching and appraising the B.A.B.E.L. Special Espers and ancillary personnel for Kyousuke. Although he is perfectly fine with being left in peace to do the whole doll thing, Takashi demonstrates signs of demonstrating the common anthropoid social affinities of infatuation and of wanting to be acknowledged/appreciated. Perhaps the most prominent manifestation of this is capitulating to Kaoru's blackmail when she detects him appraising Kashiwagi's corporeal dimensions at distance (a life-sized doll of Kashiwagi in exchange for her silence) and his quiescent morality being annihilated with that life-sized doll at Kashiwagi's hands (who does not—or perhaps does not want to—understand that Kaoru is the intended benefactor rather than himself) during a confrontation in his workshop. Given how it has generally taken him for granted and marginalized him before accusing him of lecherous conduct that is more of the rule with Kaoru or Ichirou, B.A.B.E.L. has a dangerous enemy in Takashi. Takashi's downfall is brought about when he tries to frame Dr. Sakaki as a traitor in order to have him killed without getting his hands dirty; thanks to Minamoto and company, his plot backfires even though he was willing to do his own dirty work.

Muscle Ōkama

Voiced by: Kenta Miyake

Muscle is introduced as the criminal quarry The Children have been charged with apprehending that behaves as if he were a 1960/1970s disco party-goer and has an affinity for muscular male bodies, hence the aspiration for a gold statue fashioned as such. His esper capability is using his telekinesis to burrow through the ground and to petrify people using a gemstone on his belt.

Momotarō

Voiced by: Rie Kugimiya

Being the sole surviving wartime experimentation specimen to manufacture an esper animal, Momotarō is Kyōsuke's squirrel companion that sometimes behaves quite cluelessly as to Kyōsuke's modus operandi as he adds his commentary to whatever Kyōsuke does or is deciding. Momotarou's strongly- and frequently-demonstrated affinity for sunflower seeds one night causes him to be sucked into the slipstream of a passing truck and electrocuted by live power lines for no other reason than his obdurate refusal to let go of the seeds. If pushed into combat, Momotarou has the capability to compress the air around him into acoustic concussion missiles that he launches at his adversaries as well as an intense but transient siren that scrambles and encrypts the brain waves of anybody in the vicinity. When Kaoru tries to nurse him back to health, Momotarou has psychotic episodes as he recalls all the experimentation he has undergone that cause him to lash out to tremendous effect but fortunately sees that Kaoru and her teammates are kindred spirits even if he has not yet resolved his hatred for humans as a whole.

Shirō Maki

Voiced by: kōzi Otiai

Black Phantom

Bullet

Tim Toy

Liberty Bell

Ken McGwire

Voiced by: Wataru Hatano

A lieutenant in the Japanese Comerican esper team Liberty Bell, Ken wields his clairvoyance alongside his partner Mary to perform the same kind of police work that B.A.B.E.L. does in Japan but on an international scale. Ken befriends Minamoto and Sakaki who guide him through the correct technique for eating soba noodles in spite of being suspected of voyeurism at a hot spring resort when he is introduced alongside his partner Mary when they were hunting Mute and Lige. Mute and Lige now behind bars, Ken has gone on to demonstrate that he has an integral role in Colonel Grisham's back story (working alongside him in the Federal Bureau of Investigation and that he is somewhat clumsy in regards to the social and cultural mechanics of Japan as he once left his shoes at the Tokyo Shinkansen station prior to heading west to Kyoto. If he really puts his mind to it, Ken's clairvoyance has a maximum range of the Kyoto-Tokyo intercity distance.

Mary Ford

Voiced by: Saeko Chiba

A lieutenant in the Japanese Comerican esper team Liberty Bell, Mary avails her Level 6 telekinesis alongside her partner Ken to perform the same kind of police work that B.A.B.E.L. does in Japan but on an international scale. In spite of engaging a devious and dubious device for appraising Kaoru's powers along with those of her teammates, Mary is also found to be a potent ally as she demonstrates when she and Kaoru combine their telekinesis to subdue the fleeing Mute and Lige along with rallying behind her leader Colonel Grisham (as well as Kaoru and Naomi) to drain away a reservoir at whose bottom is Saya's childhood home. Mary tends to find herself in a lot of awkward and comical situations due to her mammaries.

Colonel J.D. Grisham

Voiced by: Takayuki Sugō

His title of *Esper Killer* being justly earned due to his Level 7 telepathy enabling him to wield nearby adversarial esper powers to his advantage, Colonel J.D. Grisham is a sinister adversary that initially appears to possibly stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Kyousuke as a possible alpha adversary considering that he has really given Liberty Bell and B.A.B.E.L. quite a challenge by wielding their thoughts and esper powers to their detriment. Aside from being a horrible karaoke singer, J.D. teaches that an esper's powers vary directly with its willpower—a lesson Kaoru has demonstrated upon her whenever her concentration falters while using her telekinesis. Fortunately, Kaoru figures this out and works alongside Mary and Naomi to help drain a reservoir after Minamoto excavates into his back story. J.D.'s prime volition is for B.A.B.E.L. and Liberty Bell collaboration to grant the terminally-ill Saya her final wish to see her birthplace under the reservoir after she nursed him back to health after an esper soldier (most likely Kyousuke Hyobu) destroyed his bomber and its crew, leaving him as the sole survivor.

The Children's classmates

Chisato Hanai

Voiced by: Kaori Fukuhara

A Level 2 telepath, Chisato is one of The Children's classmates that has a warm childhood history with Masaru Tōno. Curious about whether he will still accept her after learning that she is an esper, Chisato reads Tōno's thoughts to learn that he sees her for the person she is before her telepathy but makes the mistake of sharing the news. Chisato demonstrates the tendency to assume culpability for Tōno's aversion for all espers as well as his conflict with Kaoru. Over time, though, Chisato starts to become curious and suspicious when she sees some patterns/practices that suggest that Kaoru/Shiho/Aoi are not the kids they seem/profess to be. It remains to be seen as to what Chisato decides to do what she discovers.

Masaru Tōno

Voiced by: Rina Satō

Offended by Chisato's telepathic intrusion into his thoughts, Tōno takes his anguish too far and it blossoms into an intense aversion for all espers. Fortunately, it seems that Tōno has gotten over Chisato's intrusion since he has met his athletic rival in his new classmate Kaoru who he suspects used her telekinesis to bean him in the head with an eraser when they first met.

Kuroki Hiroshi

His affinity for astronomy matched only by his infatuation with Aoi, Kuroki is brainy and boasts abundant academic capability. Given his awkwardness in approaching Aoi with the weekend planetarium invitation, it is not that preposterous to speculate (after taking into account individual development) that Kuroki's academic prowess is slightly overemphasized at the expense of his social development. Not suprisingly, Kuroki would love to be involved with the space program in some capacity when he grows up. Ultimately, Aoi decides to break up with Kuroki to spend time with Kaoru and chase after Minamoto.

Hige Shōgo

His athletic genius matched only by his infatuation with Shiho, Hige demonstrates that he has a lot to be proudly admired for. Aside from revealing that Hige's athletic prowess is more vividly demonstrated when he is cheered on from the sidelines and that Hige has been well-bred at home, Hige's reaction to Shiho's psychometry being properly explained is probably going to be the central benchmark of whether this relationship flourishes or expires, if Shiho had not already decided to break up with Hige to spend time with Kaoru and chase after Minamoto.

Other characters

Detective Hanto Uchida

Accosted and subjugated by a trio of thugs one night, he makes the life decision to wield his level 3 telekinesis against the criminals that he sees while on his nocturnal patrol as Masked Justice. The question of why he has not joined B.A.B.E.L. as a Special Esper set aside for the moment, Uchida behaves an intense hatred for society as he telekinetically precludes the trachea of his quarry and generally gets carried away with his powers (though not to the extent Kaoru does). Uchida's downfall comes when he isolates and abducts Shiho when she psychometrically discovers his secret, prompting a fierce telekinetic sequence from Kaoru of forcibly decelerating his car and twice knocking him down to be later apprehended.

Professor Saisen

Professor Saisen once worked at Touto University and led Sakaki through his three-month internship which ended over his decision to lead almost the entire medical program over to Comerica. The professor's contempt for Sakaki as a person is only amplified by Sakaki's psychometry and a hatred for all espers. If not for Kaoru's seasickness and his spleen rupturing, there would have been a mortal confrontation at sea. Even as Sakaki surgically repairs his spleen (along with Shiho's fallacious belief that her Level 7 psychometry does away with the necessity of actually appraising a situation at proximity to learn the whole story), it is hard to say if the Professor has matured enough to understand that success is about engagement rather than simply education.

The Children's family members

Kaoru's family

Yoshimi Akashi

Voiced by: Mariko Kōda

Yoshimi is Kaoru's gravure idol elder sister that is about Minamoto's age. Given the prominent cleavage that both she and Akie have, it can be argued that the origins of Kaoru's lesbian lechery lie here. As pointed out by Akie, a gravure idol appears to be a sort of trainee-entertainer designation. Considering the 11-year difference in age, Yoshimi is probably not really affected that much by her parents' divorce and just has no clue how to help Kaoru. Like with Akie, she deals with this with her work and dating.

Akie Akashi

Voiced by: Hiromi Tsuru

Considering how well she maintains herself, it is difficult to believe that Akie is Kaoru's actress mother who divorced Kaoru's father five years ago when Kaoru was delivered into B.A.B.E.L. stewardship. Considering the time frame, it is not that much of a stretch to surmise that Kaoru's father has either been driven off or killed by Kaoru's Level 7 telekinesis going out of control which frightens Akie right out of administrating over her younger daughter's childhood development in contrast to Minamoto actually setting limits for Kaoru—and enduring the verbal and telekinetic objections thereof. Akie's inability or unwillingness to see Kaoru as her daughter that happens to be an esper leads her to behave a heavy emphasis upon her work.

Shiho's family

Police Commissioner/General Director Sannomiya

Voiced by: Norio Wakamoto

A man that believes that a citizen's obligation to assist the authorities by whatever means is available under the circumstances regardless of age, he is Shiho's father and the director (much like Taizō is the head of B.A.B.E.L.) of the National Police Agency that appears to have a grasp of the esper potency grading system but does not realize that a Level 7 psychometer like Shiho is not the universal skeleton key to the world. Director Sannomiya is not a hopelessly lost cause when he sees that Shiho is very good at figuring out the correct situational modus operandi for wielding her psychometry and takes quick action to rush to his daughter's rescue.

Aoi's family

Yūki Nogami (野上 ユウキ, Nogami Yūki)

A little boy that clearly loves his »nee-chan« and wishes that she were at home with him, Yuuki is Aoi's junior brother. While he generally understands that Minamoto is important to Aoi, Yuuki interprets his constant proximity to his sister as the prelude for pedophile treachery and is a bit uneasy about Minamoto -- probably because he senses that Minamoto is a workaholic like his dad. Yuuki finds foreigners such the Comerican esper Ken comical and genuine but does not hesitate to follow Aoi's lead (when she does this to Ken) in presenting a »Have a nice day« tea-flavored rice bowl to Minamoto.

Governer Nogami

Emulating the dynamic of many families, Governer Nogami sees his origins in Osaka and charges himself the money importation into the Nogami family micro-economy. Unfortunately, the diligence thereof causes Governer Nogami to govern his family very poorly -- the greatest symptom of which his eldest daughter Aoi demonstrates by her former nature of being a lonesome recluse with no motivation or confidence. Even though her teammates Kaoru and Shiho have done a lot to reverse this alongside their leader Minamoto and the various B.A.B.E.L. personnel, Aoi is still somewhat adversely affected by his past conduct. Governor Nogami's most vividly demonstrated affinity is to have several youthful ladies with prominent mammaries paying attention to him.

Governess Nogami

Emulating the dynamic of many families, Governess Nogami charges herself with household administration but does no better at this than her husband considering the anguish of her eldest daughter Aoi. Governess Nogami has a passive-aggressive frustration dynamic with her husband that embarrasses Aoi and sets a poor example for her son Yuuki that suggests that she and her husband need to be parented just as much as their children (if not more!!!) and is reflected in the fact that her most vividly demonstrated affinity is shopping for various items heedless of the acquisition cost or if it damages the Nogami family economy. Considering the size and construction style of the house, it is not that unreasonable to surmise that Governess Nogami's volition is most likely responsible.

Anime original characters

Mute

The quarry of Ken and Mary alongside his partner Lige, Mute enjoys the capability of illusionism as he spies on the female hot spring bathers while hiding. Even when invisible, Mute is not able to perfectly reflect all the light back away from him and it is possible to make an educated guess as to his presence and location. He and his partner Lige are apprehended by the joint efforts of the Liberty Bell and The Children special esper teams.

Lige

The quarry of Ken and Mary alongside her partner Mute, Lige demonstrates an affinity for collecting yukatas that were once worn by mid- and spicy-aged men. During an attempt to evacuate herself and Mute, a hit with a well-timed and forcefully-thrown tub forces Lige to abandon her ill-gotten payload. She and Mute are apprehended by the joint efforts of the Liberty Bell and The Children special esper teams.

Captain Shkii Piroshkiski

The failure of the international conference of crucial importance to Japan being his prime volition and supreme objective, Shkii Piroshkiski is an international spy that acquired the rank of captain in the Roviet Air Force for that sole purpose. Even though he has his subordinates successfully capture Minamoto and Aoi before confiscating their payload, Piroshkiski's downfall comes when he underestimates Aoi and dismisses her capabilities thinking that all the Esper Counter Measure generators in his base afford him the absolute advantage. After a fierce dogfight with a quartet of active homing missiles which Aoi returns to him destroying his fighter, the Roviet government (after Minamoto explains all about him) apprehends him for espionage.

Anime Guest characters

Hayate Ayasaki, Nagi Sanzenin, and Tama

These characters are from the anime Hayate no Gotoku!, which like Zettai Karen Children was produced by the studio SynergySP. They have appeared in brief couple-second cameos in three episodes of Zettai Karen Children so far (episodes 9, 18, and 26), with Hayate and Nagi's appearance in episode 26 being central to Kaoru's actions for part of the episode.

Media

Manga

Zettai Karen Children began as a shōnen manga written and illustrated by Takashi Shiina. The manga started serialized in Shogakukan's manga magazine Shōnen Sunday in 2005. Shiina developed the series out of a short story he had written in a special issues of Shōnen Sunday. The series was essentially the same, except for the fact that Kōichi Minamoto was named "Hikaru Minamoto", and he also had psychic powers.

Anime

See also: List of Zettai Karen Children episodes

An anime adaptation produced by SynergySP began airing in Japan on TV Tokyo on April 6 2008, and will contain fifty-two episodes. The anime has two pieces of theme music; one opening theme and one ending theme. The first opening theme is "Over The Future" by Karen Girl's, the first ending theme is "Zettai love×love Sengen!!" (絶対love×love宣言!!) by "The Children starring Aya Hirano, Ryoko Shiraishi and Haruka Tomatsu"; the second ending theme is "Datte Daihonmei" (DATTE大本命), also by Hirano, Shiraishi, and Tomatsu. From episode 27 onwards opening theme has changed to "MY WINGS", once again by Karen Girl's and ending theme changed to "Break+Your+Destiny" by Yuuichi Nakamura, Kishō Taniyama and Kōji Yusa.

Video game

A video game for the Nintendo DS developed by Konami entitled Zettai Karen Children DS: Dai-4 no Children (絶対可憐チルドレンDS 第4のチルドレン) will be released on September 4 2008.

External links

• Manga official website (in Japanese)
• Anime official website (in Japanese)
• Video game official website] (in Japanese)
• Azuka/Sandbox ({{{type}}}) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia