Hiroshi Manada is a supporting character in the Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki continuity, appearing in the GXP novelizations. He is the creator/father of Miki Steinbeck.
Background
Hiroshi is, almost certainly, the reincarnation of Ken Sanada, from Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure, or possibly an amalgamation of Ken and Hiroshi Rara, whose mixed up counterpart, Ken Raraiba Steinbeck, also features in his story. Like Ken, Hiroshi is a bit of a mad scientist type, initially obsessed with his personal research.
Hiroshi comes from rather humble beginnings[1]. He was a bright young man from a rural community who received a Galaxy Academy scholarship to attend the "Comprehensive Department," a department where you can work yourself into the prestigious Philosophy Department with strong enough accomplishments. He had a difficult time of things but was able to hang on, until his scholarship ran out. In order to support himself, he fell in with an illegal "Human Hunting" organization. He immediately regretted it but was afraid to attempt an escape, as it was a very dangerous group. At this time he also became acquainted with Tsukiko Masaki, who he developed a strong crush on, and her eventual husband, Ken Raraiba Steinbeck. Ken was a member of the Student Safety Patrol, in charge of investigating activities like what Hiroshi was involved in. Knowing Hiroshi had such affection for her, he set up a trap by making it look like the organization was interested in kidnapping Tsukiko. In response, Hiroshi gave anonymous tips that led to his organization being uncovered. Everyone was arrested, including Hiroshi, but because Ken knew that it was him that gave them the information, he was given a light punishment. With the help of Tsukiko and Ken, he moved to the General Education Department, where he became an assistant professor.
When Ken and Tsukiko married, they introduced their newborn baby, Kiriko, to Hiroshi. It made him ponder what would have happened if he had been with Tsukiko instead. He created a digital AI based off of Tsukiko but in conversation with his new construct, he realized it was not just a program but had developed an astral and a mind of her own. He wiped her memory and put her astral into an artificial body (a "Pinocchio," an AI in an artificial body) and raised her as his own daughter, giving her the last name of his rival. She believed it the name of her dead mother- who Hiroshi could never give any information about. In fact, he never gave her any indication that she was an AI. It was only a little after her "birth" that Ken died in mysterious circumstances in space. If not for feeling guilty about having created Miki in her image, Hiroshi might have been the one to console Tsukiko for her loss.
By the time Miki grew up to be a senior in the Galaxy Police Academy, Hiroshi had gained multiple doctorates, even an M.D. he rarely used, but had an obsession with Artificial Intelligence that Miki did not understand and thought unhealthy. When he had Miki kidnap Seina so he could study his physical data, the result destroyed his lab and all his research.
When Miki was apparently killed, he ended up working on Airi's team investigating the circumstances. His accomplishment of creating an Astal AI became known and highly regarded (even though it mostly an accident).
Hiroshi, Raireza, and Tennyo,
It also allowed him to rekindle his friendship with Tsukiko, who traveled to the Academy to comfort him when he still believed Miki to be dead. After Miki was recovered, she returned again to meet her and embraced her position as "mother" to Miki). While he still showed some affection for her, he instead later started a relationship with another of Airi's researchers, Raireza, who worked closely with him.
He occasionally also worked with Tennyo, a leading member of Airi's team. Interestingly, he also worked with another Masaki Villager, Hakuryo Masaki, Tennyo's boyfriend. Hakuryo, an AI specialist, was particularly impressed with Hiroshi's role in creating an A.I. with an astral.
He and Raireza also often met with Kirche. He often took a role of a father figure to her, as her own creator was not as thoughtful to his completely unintentional creation as he was to Miki.
References
- ↑ True Tenchi Muyo! GXP Volume 12, Chapter 6