Anime Manga
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Spoiler warning! This article contains plot details about the source material. |
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Kiyoko (キヨコ), designated No. 25, is a member of the Espers, a group of psychic children cared for by the government. Her psychic predictions concerning the fall of Neo-Tokyo fueled a majority of the plot of the original manga.
Appearance[]
Kiyoko has very wrinkled skin, long, white braids tied with bows on opposite sides of her head, dark lips, and a very frail body. Due to premature aging caused by drugs and the government's experiments, she is, chronologically, in her late-40's, but has the body of a child. She wears a nightgown with frilly sleeve cuffs and a frilled collar. She is physically so weak that she is almost always seen in bed sleeping.
Personality[]
Kiyoko has a kind and gentle personality and cares for Takashi and Masaru like a mother would, and often is concerned for their well-being. She is the leader of the Espers when it comes to making final decisions, and, due to her abilities, is very wise and perceptive, which is why her friends and even the Colonel look to her for advice on future actions. She feels that every person has a destiny, and so feels responsible in ensuring their fulfillment.
History[]
Kiyoko was a young, orphaned child acquired by the original Tokyo's government to be the member of The Project, which devoted research into psychic powers for political and military reasons. Among the forty children taken in, only Kiyoko, Masaru, Takashi, Akira, and Lady Miyako along with several others survived the horrible experiments; the rest either died or were rendered permanently comatose from extensive brain damage. Despite the horrid conditions the children lived in, their psychic powers allowed them to form a deep friendship that surpassed all physical and psychological boundaries.
The project ended when Akira grew too powerful to be contained and unwittingly unleashed a devastating psychic explosion that obliterated Tokyo. The explosion also killed a number of psychic children in the Project. After the survivors founded Neo-Tokyo, Akira was put in cryogenic sleep in an underground chamber far below the city to prevent another psychic explosion. Meanwhile, Kiyoko, Masaru, Takashi, and those psychic children lucky enough to survive Akira's first psychic explosion were put in prolonged isolation, kept on a routine feeding of drugs to prevent their psychic powers from becoming powerful as Akira's. The result was that all children developed premature aging, with some gaining physical handicaps; in Kiyoko's case, she became so physically weak that she became permanently bedridden, kept alive by life support machines.
Book 1[]
Kiyoko is introduced sleeping in the Nursery, watched over by her close friend, Masaru. She wakes up as soon as Colonel Shikishima arrives, and tells the man that she had a dream in which Akira will wake up soon. The Colonel demands to know the exact time of this awakening, but Kiyoko falls asleep shortly after.
Book 2[]
Kiyoko discusses the psychic awakening of Tetsuo Shima with Masaru and Takashi, and whether he poses a threat to their friend Akira. Kiyoko, having had received a vision of Neo-Tokyo's destruction, believes that Tetsuo is the cause of this calamity and fears that once he defeats Akira, nothing will stand in Tetsuo's way.
Aided by Masaru and Takashi, Kiyoko possesses Kei, a female resistance agent, and uses her to try kill Tetsuo, inadvertently bringing Kaneda, leader of the Capsules gang, with her. But due to external circumstances and the Colonel's sudden intervention, the plan fails, and Kiyoko soon collapses from the physical strain. Unfortunately, the Espers' actions inadvertently lead Tetsuo into the Nursery, and, after recognizing Takashi from an earlier motorcycle accident, Tetsuo tries to kill the boy. Kiyoko pleads for him to stop, but Tetsuo attacks her, too, enraging both Takashi and Masaru into trying to attack Tetsuo, but the psychic teenager proves too powerful for them, and they are defeated quickly.
In desperation, Kiyoko tries to telepathically guide Kei and Kaneda to the Nursery, so they can stop Tetsuo. This exhausts her, and this moment of weakness made her a target for Tetsuo, who tries to kill her by blowing her up. Fortunately, Kaneda and Kei arrive just in time, but they fail to kill Tetsuo, who escapes by accidentally teleporting himself out of the building. Kei sees Kiyoko and, recognizing the girl as the one who guided her to the Nursery, asks her about Akira. The Espers reveal that Akira was buried underneath the Neo-Tokyo Olympic Stadium. Kiyoko begs Kaneda and Kei to stop Tetsuo from reaching Akira.
Later, as Kiyoko recovers from the stress of the confrontation with Tetsuo, hooked up on life support, she tells Takashi and Masaru that they must try to control the future, but as of now, what happens next is dependent on the choices of Kaneda and Kei.
Book 3[]
Kiyoko and her friends are later approached by the Colonel, who wants to find and retrieve the missing Akira before the boy becomes completely aware of his surroundings. Due to the friendship they shared with Akira in the past, the Espers want to see him again and insist on going with the Colonel to find Akira.
Using their psychic powers, the Espers track down Akira's location. They find Akira with Kaneda, Kei, and Chiyoko, but they also find that Akira had been sought by a trio of young psychic girls consisting of Miki, Sakaki, and Mozu, whose mission is to bring Akira to Lady Miyako away from the government's hands. Unfortunately, the wild goose chase is complicated even further by Nezu, who seeks to use Akira's power for himself, and Ryu, a resistance agent who has grown suspicious of Nezu's activities and retrieves Akira after the boy was hidden in a dumpster by Sakaki.
The chase for Akira reaches an end when everyone meets each other by at the waterway. Having had finally found Akira, the Colonel has his men retrieve the boy and arrest the remaining parties. Kiyoko, Masaru, and Takashi are finally reunited with their former friend, but Takashi is suddenly killed when he was shot in the head by Nezu, who was actually aiming for Akira. The Espers "feel" Takashi's pain and the psychic backlash causes Akira to psychically destroy Neo-Tokyo in rage and grief. Kiyoko and Masaru work together to try save whatever people they could during the destruction, using their psychic powers to move everyone to safety.
Kiyoko is last seen inside her protective capsule bed atop a ruined building, mourning Takashi's death while Masaru watches over her.
Book 4[]
Kiyoko along Masaru is being dlivered to Lady Miyako's Temple by Kei and Chiyoko. Children are very weak and in need of medication
Book 5[]
To Be Added...
Book 6[]
When Akira was shot by Ryu in an attempt to make him stop using his psychic powers, Masaru, Kiyoko, and Lady Miyako all felt it through their psychic link. Distraught, Kiyoko and Masaru insists on going to Akira's side despite being at risk of being detected by Tetsuo. Lady Miyako tries to convince them to stay, but Kiyoko insists that Akira needs help.
Later, when a mutated Tetsuo finds the Espers, Lady Miyako along with a few psychic followers go to confront Tetsuo while also distracting him away from the Espers. Kiyoko uses the chance to teleport herself and Masaru away unnoticed, and they go to where Akira is. To their surprise, however, Akira seems to recognize both of them at last, calling them by name. As this happens, Takashi and all the psychic children who died are resurrected, and they gather around Akira to see their old friend once more.
Kiyoko and Masaru convince Akira to use his power to stop Tetsuo, which he does by creating a psychic explosion that cancels out Tetsuo's, effectively absorbing him. In the process, Kaneda happens to be absorbed by the explosion, and in it, he bears witness to the childhood memories of Tetsuo and the Espers. Kiyoko, no longer bound by physical limitations, is restored to her youthful, childlike self and ascends to a higher plane of existence with the other Espers. Before she leaves, however, she tells Kaneda how the Espers came to view each other as friends, as they can communicate without words, and tells him that they (and by extension, she) view everyone as their friend, too, including Tetsuo and Kaneda himself.
Abilities[]
Kiyoko's abilities consist of precognition and teleportation. She can see visions of things yet to occur, and her prophecies have come true on multiple occasions. Her teleportation powers make up for her lack of physical strength; in book three of the manga, she was powerful enough to transport a large group of people to safety during Neo-Tokyo's destruction…
Kiyoko has a few other psychic powers at her disposal - at times, she can communicate through telepathy, and she is able to possess a willing host and channel her powers through them. She is assumed to have psychokinesis as well, as she was able to levitate her capsule bed high in the air while carrying Takashi's dead body.
Etymology[]
- The name Kiyoko is written in katakana (キヨコ), which has no special meaning. However, when written in kanji (清子 or 聖子), it could possibly mean:
- 清子 - "clear, pure, clean" (清) (kiyo) and "child" (子) (ko).
- 聖子 - "holy" (聖) (kiyo) and "child" (子) (ko).
Trivia[]
- In a mashup of the manga Akira with The Simpsons, Kiyoko's role is played by Todd Flanders