Stephen Tsai wrote:

Richard Lawson wrote:

"Ma... Madoka."

Would this be "Ayukawa" or "Madoka"?  He called her the former for
nearly 8 years, and the latter at best for 6 months (if I'm getting
this timeline correct.  In cases like this, one tends to fall back
on habits.

But it's very important to him, and he's focused almost all his
conscious thought (using the term "conscious" loosely ^_^) on her.

Calling her "Ayukawa" -would- make it easier to explain how they
manage to track her down so quickly, later, though.  The family is
moderately famous, and besides, Ayukawa is a less frequent and easier
to track name than Madoka is.

"Don't you remember?"  Hikaru pointed to her mouth.  "I went around
late at night and attacked them all with lipstick."

This I don't get.  I'm gathering that Hikaru is trying to use
inconsistent recollections to goad Kurumi to speak with her privately,
but I'm not seeing the string of logic that goes through Hikaru's mind
at this moment.

Or is this a manga story that didn't make it to anime?

It is -- volume 15, right after the godawful "Matsumoto's Vacation"
story.

To summarize:  Hikaru wears lipstick on a date with Kyousuke.  They go
to a cafe.  Hikaru asks "What do you think of this color?"  Kyousuke,
thinking she's referring to their drinks, replies that he doesn't
really like it.  Hikaru runs out, leaving Kyousuke wondering what's
up.

Later, Hikaru and Kurumi are talking.  Kurumi ends up using her
hypnosis power on Hikaru, but it doesn't take effect immediately for
some reason.  Instead, after she falls asleep, she gets up, takes on a
much more 'adult' look, and starts walking around the streets seducing
men and then attacking them and marking their faces with the lipstick.

(I am not making this up.)

Anyway, it's resolved when she runs into and attacks Kyousuke,
complaining about what an idiot he is for not having complimented her
on the lipstick.  He tells her it looks good, and she snaps out of the
trance.

It's actually a much better story than it sounds like.  I wish it had
been animated.

"Silly."  Kurumi released Hikaru's wrist and jumped up into the air.
"Manami!"

Why jump?  Waving I can see.

I thought it was perfectly in character for Kurumi.  She's always been
a little over-exuberant.

Now, managing to not embarrass herself doing so, when she's wearing a
bridesmaid's outfit, might be a different story.

Nothing happened.

Is Kazuya reading people's minds as he "scans the crowd" or is he
relying on facial expression?  If the former, surely Kazuya would
sense all this unbridled emotion.

Good point; I overlooked that.  But I think it can be easily
explained:  If he was using telepathy, and someone noticed (remember,
the entire house is full of Espers), that would give away his game; so
he can't use it.  In fact, that helps explain why he's so nervous,
too.  He's used to relying on telepathy, and now he has to do without
it.

She looked at the twins.  They were both staring at Kyosuke, various
degrees of incredulity on their faces.  Then they looked at each for a
moment, and Hikaru could almost feel a silent communication taking
place.

This isn't telepathy right?  They're just "communicating" like family
members (esp twins) sometimes do because they know each other so well.

That's how I read it...

Between Kazuya's brainwashing and Kurumi's hypnosis, it's a wonder
Madoka's brain doesn't flow out of her ears...  Even if all this is
resolved in the end, Madoka's going to need some serious and expensive
sessions with several psychiatrists.  Even after that, there's a chance
that this trauma might turn her off of associating with *any* ESPers
ever again.

Madoka will never know about Kurumi's hypnosis; once it wears off, the
victim doesn't remember anything that happened under it.

Whether she remembers Kazuya's manipulation is still an open question.
For the sake of her mental health, I'd hope not. ^_^

Where's Takashi in all this?  No, he's not an ESPer, but he knows the
family and their respective personalities as good as anyone.  What's
more, at least in the anime, he (along with Manami) was always the calm
and rational influence in the family.

Takeshi has been conspicuously absent throughout.  I wondered if there
might not be an explanation early in chapter 3.

I'm not as familiar with the manga as the anime.  The anime used this
alternate universe in KOR TV #48.  A couple of questions:1) If society
has broken down to the point that even food is a challenge, then where
is the power coming from for the light and cooking (later)?  Did they
steal propane along with the food and medicine?  It would seem a tad
wasteful in a survival situation.

The alternate universe in the manga wasn't really much darker than the
anime.  Possibly less so.  Granted, a couple of years have passed
since then, but the decline is still rather rapid.

2) Is there anyone else here?  Surely she didn't carry out that raide by
herself.  She mentions the Kasuga twins, but that they died.  What about
the others?

There were eleven others left alive, according to Madoka.  I assumed
Hikaru was one of them, since she wasn't explicitly mentioned, and I
thought that she was likely to be introduced next chapter.  I wonder
whether alternate-Yusaku is still around...

Tears of a different nature streamed from his eyes.  He was more alone
than he could possibly have imagined, and an awful feeling hovered
over him.  A feeling that the worse was yet to come.

What about Hikaru (in this universe)?

IIRC, she and alternate-Yusaku were a couple.  The anime continuity
may be coloring my memory on that point, though.

Is it really that bad in the manga version?  In the anime version, the
sisters still lived in the Green Castle apartments, albiet w/ no older
brother.

Yes... and their father was still there, too, according to the name
card.

In fact, wasn't it explicitly stated that this was "the alternate
universe where [Kyousuke] wasn't born?"  I remember wondering just
what he did in the past that would have prevented some of those
changes.  (Madoka, Yusaku, and Hikaru were pretty obvious, but what
did he do to stop Komatsu and Hatta from becoming policemen?  Or
Yukari from becoming a gang leader?)

Well this is all anime-continuity, anyway, and doesn't really impact
on the fic.

"And talking too much has always been one of yours."  Kurumi

"always been one of yours" what?  Strong points?

Yes.  That's why I said it sounded kind of strange... but it is a sort
of insult, of the backhanded compliment variety.

"Kazuya?"  Grandpa blinked at her.  "But he was just here, wasn't
he?"

Is this Grandpa's fading vestiages of ESPer "seeing through" Kasuga
or just him rambling?

Hmm.  I read it the first way.  Grandpa is -strong-.

Grandma continued unheeding.  "But he left with Madoka-chan.  She's
going to be a wonderful granddaughter, don't you think, dear?"

If the answer to the previous question is "fading ESPer", then shouldn't
this be Grandpa saying this, not Grandma?  Besides, Grandma had said (in
the anime) that she would have preferred Hikaru. Grandpa's choice was
Madoka.

Agreed, but it's been a few years.  Maybe Grandma has gotten used to
the idea.

around at the smallest sound.  The thought of what an angry ESPer that
could appear and disappear at will could do to him made Amano very
nervous.

Yup; what would be more dangerous though would be an angry *intelligent*
ESPer who could appear and siappear at will.  Don't know if Kazuya would
fall in that category, given how he got himself in this mess...

Kyousuke, though...

The only thing I'd bring up at this point is that it seems that Kazuya
(assuming he doesn't win completely) seems destined to be doomed to
die.

Sure does.  More likely than not at the hands of his own family
members. ^_-


Scott Schimmel                http://www.seas.upenn.edu/~schimmel/
Ex ignorantia ad sapientium;  "You really aren't normal, are you?"
ex luce ad tenebras.              -- Miki Koishikawa