SCENARIO A: Tenmangu actually is missing; ie,
not a member of the current cast.
PROS: There is no definitive proof that he is a member
of the current cast, and the majority of the cast is too young or
otherwise ineligible for the honor.
CONS: The continuation of his research does indicate that he's
still alive and involved in the plot.
MY TWO YEN: You can't say a lot on this either way, but I seriously
doubt it. There's been a LOT of hints and foreshadowing that he's
not quite as missing as he'd have you believe.
SCENARIO B: Tenmangu is Il Palazzo
PROS: Rikdo has repeatedly and blatantly hinted that Tenmangu
is connected to ACROSS (characters will muse as to where Tenmangu
is only to have the scene change directly to the ACROSS base). Il
Palazzo knows about Ropponmatsu and has clearly been involved with
similar experiments. Kabapu could easily be lying about Il Palazzo's
presence in Solaria.
CONS: Tenmangu is NOT a Solarian, but Il Palazzo is shown to be
completely out of synch with the world around him (after all, he does
not even know what a vending machine is). While Il Palazzo has canonly
lost a great deal of memory, that's a peculiar bit of memory to lose.
MY TWO YEN: There are just too many awkward problems here. If
you put any stock in Solaria at all (and you should, since Kabapu
has been proven to be older than he seems), it doesn't add up.
SCENARIO C: Tenmangu is one of Il Palazzo's personalities
(essentially, if Il Palazzo has somehow been resurrected in Tenmangu's
body)
PROS: All of the pros listed above Also, while the manga has
never explicitly stated that Il Palazzo was not around for the past
20,000 years, Kabapu's surprise in seeing him would certainly indicate
it.
CONS: If this is the case, logic would dictate that the Tenmangu
personality is the one portrayed early on, and the true Il Palazzo
personality would be the one that manifests later. So the question
becomes this: Does Tenmangu have any motivation to act like Il Palazzo?
Any whatsoever?
MY TWO YEN: This seems to be the obvious conclusion... but it's
a little too obvious.
SCENARIO D: Tenmangu is Miwa
PROS: Miwa's drastic (and fake, as pointed out by Misaki) personality
change is for the lecherous; in a flashback, Tenmangu is shown to
have a similar mindset. Miwa clearly has access to Tenmangu's research.
Miwa's shrine to herself. Miwa's capabilities in regard to programming
Ropponmatsu. The way Shiouji almost says that his mother is the one
who's really missing. With his knowledge, it is probably well-within
Tenmangu's capabilities to turn himself into a woman. He could "go
into hiding" yet remain in his son's life.
CONS: What happened to the real Miwa that he feels the need
to do this? There are just a lot of gaps to be filled in.
MY TWO YEN: If I had to pick one theory to say is definitely
correct, this one is way ahead of the others. It just makes sense
in a lot of ways.
SCENARIO E: Tenmangu is Momochi
PROS: She looks almost exactly like Shiouji. She goes out of
her way to avoid Shiouji. She always seems to believe/humor Kabapu.
She's right under Kabapu's mustache.
CONS: This one is one hell of a long shot.
MY TWO YEN: Momochi is the dark horse in the campaign, sure.
I really can't honestly say I think she's Tenmangu, but I'm rooting
for her. :<b
SCENARIO F: Tenmangu is Miwa AND Il Palazzo (one
personality Il Palazzo, one personality Tenmangu, and the Tenmangu
personality either pretends to be Miwa or is controlling Robo-Miwa)
PROS: All of the pros for Scenarios C and D, plus the fact
that Il Palazzo disappears just before Miwa shows up and they never
seem to coincide.
CONS: If Tenmangu is Miwa, he wouldn't have to order the girls
to kidnap Ropponmatsu; he could simply steal her - while it's heavily
indicated that Miwa did line up the events that resulted in Il Palazzo
getting Ropponmatsu, I find it interesting that it took two volumes
for it to happen. Miwa's actions may benefit ACROSS now, but I think
it's pretty unlikely that she's doing anything for their benefit,
or anything directly helpful.
MY TWO YEN: This is a little too complicated even for Excel
Saga. Besides, with a memory that bad, how is he supposed to pull
off being Miwa?
IF TENMANGU IS MIWA, WHERE IS MIWA?
SCENARIO 1: Miwa is dead
PROS: It would explain the shrine, and why Tenmangu would feel
the need to pretend to be her. Also, it's a bit of a stretch, but
it might even explain why Excel, when she momentarily gets her memories
back in volume 4, feels the need to apologize.
CONS: Not enough information.
MY TWO YEN: It's possible.
SCENARIO 2: Miwa is Excel
PROS: Excel is a good candidate for the real Miwa. She has
more than just basic knowledge of science, her Teriha personality
is a lot quieter and calmer, and she integrates almost instantly with
the Shiouji family.
CONS: She looks nothing like Miwa; in fact, she presumably
looks like someone from Solaria, because Kabapu recognizes her as
resembling an old acquaintance. Besides, why exactly would that happen?
And while this would work if Tenmangu is doubling as Il Palazzo (which
doesn't make a lot of sense), why does Excel have so much love for
Il Palazzo? Also, Teriha and Excel would have to actually be separate
personalities (meaning, she's gone through the same thing Il Palazzo
has, Teriha would be an anmesiac Miwa personality and Excel would
be some dead Solarian).
MY TWO YEN: There are just too many unanswered questions, and
it's way more likely that Excel is a Solarian princess.
