Nik -- I know you must be getting frustrated with TS and myself, but try not to take
it too seriously.  We are both attempting to show you the reasons behind what K-sensei
did (and indeed has done).

> And what is the excuse for that?  Why can't he be expected to make his story LOGICAL?


I don't see anything illogical about Misaki being the Counteractor.  I do wonder why
Tsunami didn't notice it since Tokimi was aware of it.  Maybe Tsunami DID know about
it, but since Misaki was her humanoid-form's mother, what was she going to do
about it?  Not much. 

Surpises like this are often unpopular though.  Some fans like TS and myself don't
have a problem with it and others find the surprise so surprising as to be unacceptable.
I can certainly understand that.  ^_^

>The fact that it is barely alluded to in a less popular medium gives him license
to make
the show non-sensical to regular viewers?

Remember, these "regular viewers" are TM!R otaku who are willing to shell out ~¥4700
per episode.  Considering Japan's crappy economy of the last decade, that makes it
even more incredible that they can sell it at all.  I suppose it goes to show you

the power of the otaku market in Japan, something we in the US don't truly appreciate
(I recommend seeing the 2-episode OAV "Otaku no Video" which tells the ficticious
rise of Gainax but also includes live-action stuff with interviews with real
otaku). 

> it's unreasonable and unfair to assume that
people will be able to assume what is going on.  Half the Japanese audience?  What
about
the other half?  

They didn't buy the OAV.  ^_^  I can promise you that anyone forking over that much
money for the OAV had a pretty tight understanding of what was going on.  Being a
TM!R otaku is an expensive hobby (as is any true otaku fandom).

>What about all the international fans who have no access to that information?

The series wasn't written for international fans.  It was written for Japanese TM!R
otaku.  There's a reason we international fans (and I'll narrow it down to just English-speaking
fans) are hosed for the extra canon materials.  Companies in the US
don't see that they'll make money bringing the TM!R novels to the US.  While the books
have sold well in Japan, there's a feeling they wouldn't sell well in the US.  Should
the "Slayers" novels do well, TokyoPop may take a risk, but I'm not holding my
breath. 

Anyway, TM!R was always written with a Japanese audience in mind and any international
fans are just icing on the cake.

>What about the Japanese fans who read that other material who didn't pick up on the
vague hinting of the novels?

Like TS didn't?  TS thought the hint ment that Misaki would get drunk and terrorize
the galaxy that way (or something like that -- not to put words in TS's mouth).  *lol*
But now that the truth has been revealed, he and other fans went, "Oh!  So
THAT'S what K-sensei was refering too.  I get it now." 

> For Kajishima, it was not important to include any explanation, and that is poor
storytelling.  Like a joke without a punchline.

I've already listed tons of stuff that could be considered poor storytelling in another
post.  Again, I've had major problem with K-sensei's minimalist approach to the OAV's.
That said, I do understand that with only six episodes, you are limited in
what you can and can't do, but even I say that he could have done better.  So I don't
want you thinking that I'm giving K-sensei a total pass here.  I'm not.  I do feel
that I see the bigger picture and while I may not agree with it all, I do accept
it. 

I find the TM!R story to be so facinating that it makes me want to dig deeper and
find out more.  I believe this was K-sensei's intent from the start.  I believe he
enjoys teasing his fans and generating huge amounts of discussion on BBS's and ML's.

This approach has generated more revenue for himself as information-hungry fans pay
him for more stuff.

One thing you can say K-sensei does subscribe to -- always leave them wanting more.
^_^

Tenchi Muyo! FAQ
http://www.astronerdboy.com/tenchi
"...taking your attacks is as easy as farting." -- Genkai-san, "Yu Yu Hakusho"