"The Spunky Sidekick"


A Brief Background: Before her encounter with Iria, Kei was just a street kid that was struggling to survive in the Shadow Zone. Kei is featured in four episodes and throughout that time, she helps out Iria more and more.

Sure, she and Iria may have gotten off on the wrong foot at the beginning, but it didn’t take long for Kei to begin idolizing Iria. Kei even went so far as to steal one of Iria’s hairbeads so she could have something to remember the bounty hunter when Iria eventually left Taowajan.

Perhaps Kei’s biggest moment was when she helped Iria assault Zeiram’s base on Myce. Kei was responsible for destroying a beacon that Zeiram had created to call more zeiramoids from other planets. She even designed a secret weapon that would prove to be invaluable to Iria during her final fight with Zeiram.

Kei becomes more than just a sidekick as the story progresses, she soon becomes a conscience to the other characters. Fujikuro and Iria have both been persuaded by Kei on more then one occasion to do the right thing.

The Yeti’s Thoughts: Anyone who’s read the guestbook probably knows that my favorite scene is when Iria and Kei first meet. I just love the rivalry as the two clash and try to win the grudge match that develops between them.

When Kei first appears in the OAV, she is actually pretending to be a boy. Why she does this, I can only guess, but I have to admit that her cover is pretty good. Her real identity isn’t found out until the fifth episode when she’s arguing with Fujikuro.

Anyone else wonder what that thing was on the side of her face? Well, you're not the only one. I could never figure out what it was supposed to be. Well thanks to Neeri, we can pretty much lay the mystery to rest. It's a band-aid. Apparently, girls in Japan cover up cuts and/or scars on their face with band-aids. Since Kei wears the band-aid throughout the whole animation it can be assumed she has a scar there.

Just another example of Japanese culture in anime, and perhaps the animator's subtle way of telling us Kei's real gender from the start. Thanks again to Neeri for letting me know.

Useless Trivia: Kei lied to Komimasa about having a brother on Myce.


[Iria] [Gren] [Bob] [Kei] [Komimasa] [Fujikuro] [Dr. Touka] [Puttubayh] [Zeiram]

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This page is owned and maintained by Confetti Yeti. Started: March 7, 1999.