Makio Kirino is a character in Ultraman Tiga. He is a person with psychic powers.
History
Ultraman Tiga
Makio was a man born with abnormal powers which caused him to be bullied by the other children in his neighborhood. Due to this, he grew up to be a bitter person.
One day, while taking a walk, he witnessed Garula rampaging directing Daigo to rescue a woman from a building before transforming into Tiga and fighting the monster. He became jealous of Daigo, because Daigo/Ultraman Tiga was praised as a hero with his "extraordinary power", while Makio himself was seen by others as a monster. He later sent Daigo an e-mail to come to the shopping mall at the K Sector and blackmailed him to play games with him.
The next day, he revealed to Daigo the game was to defeat the monster Garula without transforming, and even threatened to reveal Daigo's identity as Ultraman Tiga to the world if he lost or transformed. Daigo wondered why did he didn't use his powers for justice but Makio replied that his reasons were the same with Daigo for keeping his identity as Tiga as a secret. Before leaving he told Daigo Garula's next location; Metropolis K-3 District.
When Garula arose, Makio witnessed Daigo's strategy as he tried to distract the monster luring it away from the city. However, when Rena was about to be crushed by falling debris, Daigo was left with no choice and transformed to escort Rena to safety. Tiga appeared and fought the monster Garula, but he was loosing badly. After seeing Daigo's moxy as he tried to stop the monster despite being outmatched, he was touched and redeemed himself by telling Daigo Galra's weak spot, so he could finally defeat it.
He e-mailed Daigo commending on his bravery and how he deserved his recognition and that he had finally decided to brave society until it could accept his ability. He also adviced Daigo to wear good looking pants whenever went walking with Rena. Dear Mr. Ultraman
After Ultraman Tiga was turned into stone by Gatanothor, he directed GUTS during the plan to revive Tiga. To the Shining Ones
Powers and Weapons
- Psychic Powers: Makio possessed a number of psychic powers which he was born with.
- ESP: Makio can perceive things outside the range of human senses
- Telepathy: Makio can communicate with another being telepathically
- Precognition: Makio could predict events in advance accurately. It is unknown how for and how accurately he could see into the future.
Gallery
Ultraman Tiga
Trivia
- Makio is one of the few completely human beings to possess supernatural abilities. He is the second in Ultraman Tiga, with the first being Kagetatsu Nishikida.
- For Kirino's character, the initial concept was to cast Etsushi Toyokawa as the image actor, with the storyline developing based on the theme of "what if the protagonist of Toyokawa's TV drama NIGHT HEAD had no brothers."[1]
- Based on a 2000 interview with Keiichi Hasegawa, he discussed the process of shaping the Makio Kirino: [2]
- Hasegawa examined Kirino's motivations in this episode. Initially, Kirino viewed Ultraman purely through the lens of information, which led him to regard Ultraman as an object of hatred. However, when he personally witnessed someone he knew fighting for Ultraman up close, he began projecting emotions onto Ultraman from an ordinary person’s perspective. This allowed him, for the first time, to genuinely connect with Ultraman, no longer seeing him as an abstract entity but as someone he shared a profound bond with. Witnessing such strength and resolve sparked within Kirino a newfound sense of solidarity—a desire to protect others and hope for their victory.[2]
- Regarding Kirino’s personality, Hasegawa noted that Kirino viewed himself as equal to Daigo, which is why he dared to challenge him, whereas he wouldn’t act the same way toward others. To some extent, this reflected Kirino’s inner reliance and his childlike nature. He needed someone who could understand him and, on a subconscious level, sought the other person’s response to save himself, even if he wasn’t aware of it. The “brooding” image associated with Kirino is a common trope for such characters, but it also made him more socially adaptable.[2]
- The original script included a character, "Kirino’s mother," who directly called Kirino a "monster." Director Kyota Kawasaki remarked, “If his mother called him that, he probably wouldn’t have been able to go on living. But why would Kirino’s mother say such a thing?” However, at the time, Hasegawa hadn’t delved deeply into this aspect in his writing.
- Hasegawa speculated that Kirino’s mother might have witnessed him demonstrating his abilities unintentionally, rather than committing any extreme act. However, the specific reason wasn’t deemed critical. For Kirino, being called a “monster” symbolized a total denial of his existence in the world. Such a label would undoubtedly have been a devastating blow to a child’s personality development and survival.[2]
- When discussing Kirino being bullied by his classmates, Keiichi Hasegawa mentioned his own childhood experiences of being ostracized for liking monsters. He believed that the reasons for bullying could be anything; as long as a consensus was formed that “this person is different from us,” targeting them became natural. Kirino, fully aware of this mindset, chose survival as his ultimate form of resistance rather than opting to destroy the world, as such an act would amount to admitting he was a "monster." Despite everything, he continued to love his mother, no matter how much she rejected him.[2]
- Regarding the ending of episode 39, Hasegawa considered Kirino’s survival the story’s core theme because it represented a tale of regeneration and symbolized the hope born from humanity’s encounter with Ultraman. In a sense, Kirino was "another Ultraman," channeling his emotions through his challenges against Ultraman but ultimately existing as an ordinary human being.[2]
- In the final email that Kirino sent to Daigo, there was the phrase: "As an ordinary person, not fearing or over-relying on my own abilities, but finding pride and inspiration in Ultraman." Hasegawa explained that, for Kirino, the only thing that mattered was "I am human." He simply wanted to prove this through his life. In addition to acknowledging his recognition of Daigo, this also conveyed a deeper meaning—'He hoped that, like an ordinary person, he too could have admiration and pride.' In other words, he had rediscovered his sense of admiration.[2]
- As for his reappearance in the final episode, Hasegawa believed that Kirino connecting with others was already his limit. Unlike Keigo Masaki, Kirino was incapable of undertaking actions like "saving or destroying the Earth." Such grandiose decisions were beyond what his personality could bear.[2]
References