Zettai Karen Children/Headscratchers

• What's the point of having limiters on The Children when they can (and do) just take them off?
  • Fan Service
    • ...how?
  • And if they take them off, BABEL will know.
    • And they're gonna do what about it? Weapons of Mass Destruction, remember?
      • True, but BABEL is probably the only group even remotely equipped to handle such situation. At least this way BABEL will be the first to know.
  • It's also been demonstrated that uncontrolled use of ESPer powers can be harmful, both to the ESPer and those around them. I doubt very much that Kaoru wants a repeat of putting her mother in the hospital.
  • Not all limiters can be removed as easy as their current ones. The one's they had before Minamoto was put in charge of them were down right barbaric. And even limited the girls are still quite powerful putting them some where around a level 4 or 5. Just think of how much of a living hell Shiho could have with her powers working at level 7 all the time. It's a good thing and a very disturbing thing she hasn't let it effect her eating habits.
    • It seems to be implied that she has control of when she does and does not read what she touches. When it comes to eating she actually stated at one point that the suffering and hatred or what she is eating is part of the flavor. She even gets bored when kept away from gory murder investigations and the like. She's a scary little girl.
    • Yep. It's a mark of mutual trust. Instead of collars that don't come off, they're given fashionable, removable limiters. So far the girls have shown that they won't abuse that trust.
  • The limiters Minamoto gives them are clearly more to help them control their powers rather than limiting their actual use of them.
    • Yeah. If Kaoru spent a week without her limiters she'd be begging for Minamoto to put them back on.
  • it was stated early in the anime (when they started at school) that their limiters were specially made so that they couldn't be removed...but that might have been a dud translation or something and I don't remember it being mentioned in the manga at all.

• Rule of Drama aside, why is it so hard to, oh, I don't know, SHOOT THE MAJOR WITH THE BLASTER?!?!?! I know, he's the villain, and I'd be lying if I didn't add that he's not that dissimilar to Magneto, but come on! They're full of chances to kill the bastard, but they don't take them why?!
  • More often than not, he's only pretending to be giving them a chance to shoot him.
  • Even Kaoru can stop a dozen or so bullets in mid-flight. Kyosuke is an omnidisciplinary Level 7 with combat experience. It's probably been a long time since he was in real danger from anyone pointing a gun at him.
  • The blaster is explicitly a weapon designed to kill high powered espers. Most likely, it would be quite lethal for him if Minamoto ever decided to just accept the Children, especially Kaoru, hating him for it.
  • Original poster, I just realized something else. Any other competant human being would have realized the Major is a bastard loli-manchild and leave him any way they could. Why the hell do so many of PANDRA's people stick around despite this fact?!
    • Because, despite that, he is a very charismatic leader, with the resources and create and back their organization. Also, a good portion of them were probably either raised by him or raised by someone he raised. Most of them see him as some kind of fatherly messiah figure who happens to have a sense of humor. It's only those who work directly with him on a regular basis who can't stand his antics. Also, the alternative is basically a life on the streets or locked in a jail somewhere.
    • Major Hyobu is tame compared to many Real Life cult leaders. If you can accept that Tanizaki doesn't get fired, then Kyosuke's just a Bunny Ears Lawyer, and with Magi actually running PANDRA, it's a moderately effective support group for espers who have been ostracized by humanity and have nowhere else to go. And, y'know, most of PANDRA either: A, agree with Kyosuke that humans are the enemy, B (most of them, regardless of gender), are in love with him, or C, both.
  • Simple answer: Kyosuke was dead on the money when he told Minamoto to shoot him in Episode 20. If Minamoto shot down Kyosuke in cold blood, he'd be telling Kaoru that dangerous espers had to be put down. Someone like Shiho might understand the nuances of the situation, but Kaoru wouldn't, and if Kaoru grew to hate Minamoto, then he's done Kyosuke's job for him and ensured the Bad Future.
  • You know what? I've finally come to the realization that out of everything in this series, the only thing that bugs me is the Major, and this is a troper who is a massive fanboy of Kane, The CSM, and Col. Quaritch. I don't know what it is, but it's just that something about the way he acts just makes me want to wring his neck! I just...I need help understanding why.
    • I suspect it's because of his goofiness/laziness.
  • It also has to do with a precarious narrative balance between the two- Kyosuke could easily off Minamoto with a thought, but he knows that if he does Kaoru is going to find out somehow, and when she does he and his gambits are screwed. Since Minamoto could probably kill Kyosuke (it's proven that the blaster can kill Future!Kaoru, and she's implied to be as powerful if not moreso than Kyosuke himself), there has to always be some kind of condition or psyche factor to keep that as a Mexican Standoff- if the heroes hold all the cards, its a boring story with no real point.