Name: Kiyone Makibi
Occupation: Galaxy Police Detective, First Class
OTHER
'EVIL' Kiyone
This is often cited but never actually seen in the episodes of any of the continuations. Instead, at the close of the Mihoshi special, Kiyone is shown as something of a villain, stealing Tenchi away from Sasami and basically acting the bad guy. Of course, we make assumptions that the character is Kiyone, since she is depicted completely differently in this snippet than any other appearance she makes. Evil Kiyone is scantily dressed, and her hair is much closer to black than the familiar teal - although let's face it, Kiyo's hair does go through quite a few shades from time to time. She also has her hair long and loose with no headband or yellow hairtie (although the hairtie also only makes occasional appearances). And, of course, she's after Tenchi - which is something Kiyone never really cares about in any of her other appearances. Whether it is or it isn't Kiyone in the video is anyone's guess. However, the general Tenchi fandom has taken it as read that it is - and if that's the case, it's almost a shame this concept was never used beyond that music video.
The Conspiracy of Kiyone?
One of the things which most confused me when I began finding out more about the background to some of these characters was the blatant and ongoing exclusion of Kiyone Makibi from the OVA series timeline. The explanation was always given that she was left out largely to save on confusion, because in the OVA Tenchi's mother is called Kiyone.
This confused me even further, since I could not remember any moment in the original OVA series where Tenchi's mother was referred to by name (in fact, the only thing he ever called her was Okaa-chan, and that was after she was dead!). Then I discovered that the name was introduced in OVA3, along with all the craziness of Tennyo and the other new characters.
Now, the original OVA is from 1992, and therefore predates any other Tenchi material that exists. But Kiyone was created by Hasegawa in her Tenchi novels, and Hasegawa was involved in the creation of OVA part one, with Kajishima. At the end of part one they went their seperate ways, however - and the Kiyone that we see in Manatsu No Eve was developed. There is a rumour that at this time also Kajishima decided to call Tenchi;s mother Kiyone. However, I've found no proof of that anywhere as yet - nothing I've read/seen pre: OVA3 mentions that Tenchi's mother's name is Kiyone. If the rumour is just a rumour, it means that Kiyone Makibi was created a long time before Kiyone Masaki was ever thought about...which is an interesting concept in itself.
Kiyone Makibi 's character was remodelled slightly to be included in the Tenchi Universe and later Tenchi in Tokyo series. She also appeared in Mihoshi's special episode, which to me seems to be a merging of several canons. Obviously Kiyone did also appear in the movie version of Manatsu No Eve, since it was based on one of the Hasegawa novels, but she also made further appearances in Tenchi Muyo In Love and Tenchi Forever.
Tenchi's mother also appeared in Tenchi Muyo in Love, under the name of Achika. This movie also predates OVA3 by some time, though the source of the name Achika is unknown. I've found no evidence to suggest that it was "changed from Kiyone" to prevent confusion of identity. I've actually still found no evidence of any name for Tenchi's mother before Achika's appearance, so it seems possible that - if there was no official name for her, the name Achika was simply chosen to fill in a character gap. Certainly Achika Masaki has a stronger and more detailed role in Tenchi material than Kiyone Masaki, so it's an injustice to her character to say she's 'just a replacement'. Since she appeared on screen first, it's obvious that she can't possibly be a replacement ;)
Whilst it's generally accepted by those who care that the Tenchi Universe series is not part of the original OVA canon, Kiyone's exclusion from the OVA still raises serious questions in the minds of more fans than just this one. It is more than possible that the rumour about Kiyone Masaki being named long ago is true... although if it is, it's surprising that it's only a rumour, and none of the many anally obsessive OVA purists have plastered the proof all over the internet. Strangely, too, Kiyone is a non-OVA character who is generally *accepted* by purist OVA fans - and more to the point, many Tenchi fans did hope she would finally make an OVA debut, when OVA3 came to be made.
Instead, Kajishima seemed to be making a decided point, by using Kiyone as Tenchi's mother's name and further including Noike to take her place. Even the confusion of names cannot be entirely used as an excuse for this omission - since there exist two Ryokos in the Galaxy Police series and this is believed by many of those OVA-purist people to be a part of 'official Kajishima canon'. If you can have Ryoko Balta and Ryoko Hakubi, you can have Kiyone Makibi and Kiyone Masaki.
The introduction of Noike Kamiki Jurai as Mihoshi's former partner in the Galaxy Police, therefore, seemed a deliberate way of closing the door on speculation that Kiyone Makibi would ever be involved in the OVA series. Since Noike is such a weak character addition, that can only be seen as the OVA's loss.
But the interesting factor is still why Kajishima seemed so determined to keep Kiyone Makibi out of the OVA series. Since it's true that Hasegawa and Kajishima parted developmental ways at the end of OVA1, he might simply just want to distance his work from their joint work, and they moved off in seperate directions. Certainly there seems no evidence of any bad blood or fighting between them, nor any unpleasant motivation. I think he quite simply wanted to move his project away from hers, and that was the bottom line.
What may have something to do with it, also, is the tone of the plots they were moving into. It's generally accepted that Kajishima's ultimate plan for Tenchi and the girls is the same as his one for Seina Yamada and his harem in the Galaxy Police series...he wants a mass wedding. However - and without being able to consult the other novels for further corroboration, this is only based on the tone of Manatsu No Eve - Hasegawa's intentions seem to have been somewhat different. If anything, in that particular story, she is pushing Tenchi and Ryoko together more than any other pairing. Interestingly, this is also the mentality generally favoured by later producers like Negishi (who produced Tenchi Universe). It's possible that the attitudes of both Tenchi Universe and Tenchi In Tokyo, where Ryoko is a stronger claimant on Tenchi's emotions than any of the other original OVA characters, is based on things found in Hasegawa's interpretation. It's also interesting to add that even the Mihoshi special implies that while Ayeka wants him, Ryoko is the one who's actually grabbed Tenchi (and despite the kidnap, he's still sitting happily down to drinks with her...).
It's possible, then, that Hasegawa wanted Tenchi to make a choice between the women he was living in (and if you believe Manatsu no Eve, it looks like Ryoko, but since we don't have other books to work from, it could have been any one of them in the long run). Kajishima, on the other hand, does not want him to choose - he wants Tenchi to have all of them.
And since Kiyone Makibi is a character who at no point is really interested in Tenchi romantically, she really wouldn't fit so well into the OVA, where we're meant to believe all of the girls have some kind of romantic attachment to our favourite shrine boy. Perhaps the hinted at lesbian innuendos between Kiyone and Mihoshi just put Kajishima off the idea too much - that someone else than Tenchi might have Mihoshi's attention just doesn't fit the scope of what he's trying to achieve.
Unfortunately, the loss of Kiyone Makibi from the OVA is still, I think, a big mistake and a weakness on the part of the OVA canon, not a strength. But in the end, with the direction the OVA has now gone, it's probably better for Kiyone that she doesn't get involved in it. After all, with her propensity for stressing out, she probably wouldn't have too good a time of it, anyway...