Tokyo ESP

Rinka Urushiba works part time as a waitress to help out her unemployed father. By all accounts, her life in Tokyo is a relatively normal one—but her sense of normalcy begins to fade when she inexplicably sees a flying penguin one day. Chasing it all the way to the top of a building, she encounters more surprises, including flying goldfish and another person—a classmate named Kyoutarou Azuma—who can also see these strange things. After Rinka passes out when a goldfish phases through her, she wakes up an esper with the ability to phase her body through solid matter.

However, her newfound ability is not the only strange thing about her: when she uses her powers, her hair turns white. Deciding reluctantly to use this new gift to help the city, she becomes Tokyo's new hero, dubbed the "White Girl." Along with Kyoutarou, who gained the power of teleportation, Rinka begins righting the wrongs in the city while fighting other espers who have much less noble intentions.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Adaptation:	Tokyo ESP, Tokyo ESP
Character:	Ga-Rei: Zero

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Characters & Voice Actors

Urushiba, Rinka

Main

Kido, Ibuki
Japanese

Azuma, Kyoutarou

Main

Tamura, Mutsumi
Japanese

Isayama, Yomi

Supporting

Mizuhara, Kaoru
Japanese

Tsuchimiya, Kagura

Supporting

Chihara, Minori
Japanese

Peggy

Supporting

Mizuhara, Kaoru
Japanese

Kasuga, Natsuki

Supporting

Kitamura, Eri
Japanese

Azuma, Minami

Supporting

Misawa, Sachika
Japanese

Kuroi, Kobushi

Supporting

Aizawa, Mai
Japanese

Kanze, Tooru

Supporting

Maeno, Tomoaki
Japanese

Azuma, Hokusai

Supporting

Kawahara, Yoshihisa
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Cook, Justin

Producer

Takayanagi, Shigehito

Director

Tsuruoka, Youta

Sound Director

Ookubo, Tomihiko

Episode Director, Storyboard, Key Animation

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Opening Theme

"Tokyo Zero Hearts (東京ゼロハーツ)" by Faylan

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Ending Theme

"Kyuusei Argyros (救世Άργυρóϛ)" by Yousei Teikoku

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Reviews

Oct 12, 2014

AFilthyWeeb

Mixed Feelings

IN A WORLD, WHERE PENGUINS CAN TAKE FLIGHT..
AND GLOWING FLYING FISH CAN GRANT PEOPLE SUPERHUMAN ABILITIES..
COMES A YOUNG GIRL..
WITH THE ABILITY TO WALK THROUGH SOLID OBJECTS..
SHE WILL EMBARK ON A QUEST TO SAVE TOKYO..
FROM TWO-FACE AND HIS TEAM OF ESPERS..
..UNTIL..
She realizes her ability is useless against them and is beaten to submission against everyone she fights with.

I finished Ga-Rei: Zero a few days ago (enjoyed the shit out of it) and heard that Kagura and Yomi are on this Anime i thought to myself "wow really?, does this mean this is a side story or someones point of view to the GRZ story" but ...

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Sep 26, 2014

Stryder

Not Recommended

Tokyo ESP. A show about people with a variety of superpowers duking it out against each other. How can you go wrong with that?

Story: 3/10

Frankly, the story of ESP is a jumbled mess. The first episode sets the stage well. It introduces the world and the conflict between factions, and leaves the story open to development. Super powered beings called Espers have rebelled and taken Tokyo hostage. People are panicking. Everything is going wrong. And then the protagonist appears to save the day. The first episode left me keen for more. I was exited to see where the plot would go.

And then, it pulled a ...

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Oct 8, 2014

Stark700

Mixed Feelings

Tokyo ESP is just about exactly what it sounds like. Tokyo is the location of the setting while ESP stands for extra-sensory perception. Add two more letters to that and you get ‘esper’, the term used to designate individuals who possesses powers beyond human capability. The premise is essentially about a girl named Rinka Urushiba who develops special abilities of her own after one faithful day that changes her life forever. It’s nothing new to see really as generic would be the first word that comes to mind if I was to describe this setup. To enjoy Tokyo ESP, you’ll have to see the show ... from another perspective for some painless fun.

From the same author that bought to you Ga-Rei, don’t be surprised if you see some similarities. Hajime Segawa’s writing combines an essence of supernatural in a modern setting with some depth of dark edginess. Director Shigehito Takayanagi’s involvement is also somewhat noticeable with his return. Nonetheless, the first episode essentially drops down a lot of concept. The main focus is that espers are perceived as monsters due to their potentials. Treated perhaps as malevolent entities of the world, the introduction shows espers showing off their powers while the world appalled by their actions. It quickly goes with a path of action in full throttle mode with even a bike crash gimmick to add to the mix. However, that’s only the beginning.

The show actually breaks down the barriers of the story in little molecules. That’s because the following episodes begins to follow the life of a regular high school girl. Meet Rinka, a girl who has developed the ability to phase through objects. When using the power, her hair turns white. Hence, the medium dubs her the “White Girl”. Get it? Sounds cheesy but it makes sense to portray what she is. What we also learn about Rinka is that she has a strong sense of justice developed by the influence of her father. Justice comes at a price though as we learn how dangerous some of Rinka’s opponents can be. The show introduces other espers some who uses their power for good such as Kyotaro Azuma while others uses them for evil. The generic ‘good vs evil’ cliché takes onto high gear as each episode begins to unravel itself. What we also learn is the hidden motive of an organization seeking to bind the world under their power. In honesty, this whole superpower enterprise is so straightforward, one can’t help but thinking the concept is overdue. Perhaps X-Men would ring a bell with this show’s gimmicks. I don’t label Tokyo ESP as an X-Men clone though but rather as an example with their similarities. Taken for granted, Tokyo ESP also likes to play around a bit with its premise with a balance of lighthearted comedy.

Despite the parallelism with X-Men, Tokyo ESP is somewhat clever with its concepts. The series both tell and shows how esper develop their powers through contact with a mysterious fish. Did you hear that right? As bizarre as it sounds, the premise adapts these tones and gets stranger when you see a penguin flying in the air. By the time Tokyo ESP ends though, you shouldn’t be too surprised with the methods this show use to introduce characters and concepts. You’ll feast eyes on flying psychic fishes, talking panda, flying penguins, and over-sized tankers in mid-air during broad daylight. This show might as well rename itself Tokyo War when it comes to the way espers are treated. From propaganda and accusation, espers are labeled as evil. The amount of prejudice is almost surprising as the show sets it up so that almost anyone can gain esper powers thus changing momentum. However, cleverness also has its limits. The classic ‘evil organization tries to rule the world’ takes no time to make itself well known. The organization led by a man named “The Professor” plays the role antagonists with his sub-coordinates. Of course, it’s easy to guess what Rinka has to say about that. But with all this, it leads to inadequate balance of the story especially with pacing. In essence, it’s bad storytelling.

Besides Rinka, the show likes to surround itself with others that gets involved with the story. Characters such as Kobushi and Peggy steps into the shoes of supporting roles with little development. There is some relationship dynamics though. The most prominent would be Rinka and her father as we see their closeness. Azuma and Minami also shares an oddball bond although it sharply contrasts with the family values of Rinka’s connection. Unfortunately, characterization is almost non-existent for many of the characters as the show goes full turbo with its story. Actually, that could be wrong as the pacing of the show’s story also feels slow at times. Training exercises and peculiar humor substitutes with story development while high school girl crushes recreates an attempt at romance development between the main characters. It loses focus when it comes to the heartfelt moments. Although there are some back stories (mostly vague and leaves viewers in the dark), it doesn’t ultimate achieve its intended purpose. The heartfelt moments doesn’t really touch the heart at all as it’s easy to lose interest in the characters.

Additionally, the story couldn’t be any more generic as The Professor declares the world (in his own view) as ‘beyond saving’. In truth, the show uses these generic attributes to flesh out the potentials of the heroes. Rinka in particular challenges against The Professor’s ideology with both her words and actions. Besides that, the show also likes to challenge itself with how much prejudice can go. In one particular case, a woman almost gets herself and her son killed as the world realizes how dangerous espers can truly be when provoked. It teaches a lesson to humans as to what justifies as morally right or wrong. The problem is how Tokyo ESP presents this lesson as it’s too straightforward…especially with the resulting consequences. However, the series is able to rebound a bit itself when it comes to creativity with espers. There are a variety of powers that let the viewers see the testament of esper powers. Whether it’s telekinesis, teleportation, or phasing, the show stays honest with its technical aspects. These powers also result in some spectacular fighting sequences with decent adaptation.

Studio Xebecs had their hands full on this adaptation. They played around with it a bit and the result is a moderate portrait of its framework. Character designs are tolerant with faithfulness to the manga. However, there’s nothing particularly special about it either. Fan service is minimal although there are some suggestive camera shots that raises eyebrows. Background artwork is also fairly simple and underdeveloped. The most prominent aspect of the visuals might be the special effects. Some optimism will pay off as the fighting between espers can be attractive to watch. Overall though, the artwork isn’t anything special but not terribly wrong either.

Music reminds me of the time when I used to watch X-Men. The OST has this vibrant beat that suggests every action should be shounen-like while adapting superpower themes. It shouldn’t be a mistake to underestimate this show’s diehard edginess with the soundtrack either. Most climatic scenes are capped off with dynamic entrances and exits. Now, I do give credit to some of the character voices in particular when they are in situations that evoke emotions. The OP and ED songs also have a sense of creativity with the artistic montage and symbolism.

12 episodes. This might raise the question such as “is that all?” The show could probably work better for a full 2 cour series especially considering the manga actually has two parts. Nonetheless, Tokyo ESP seems like one of those shows that grows progressively incoherent. It’s good for some combative action and sets up its premise right with developing interest. However, the way characters are crafted falls into a hole of non-sensational worth. The minimal character development, lack of relationship building, and dive between goofy/serious moments struggles to earn the show any praise. In the end, Tokyo ESP is a show with somewhat acceptable fashioned action and fun. However, it’s far from attaining superior satisfaction on screen.

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Poll: Tokyo ESP Episode 11 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Sep 19, 2014	66 replies	by PKAmmoTroop »» Nov 29, 2021 3:27 PM
Poll: Tokyo ESP Episode 10 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Sep 12, 2014	77 replies	by PKAmmoTroop »» Nov 29, 2021 2:52 PM
Poll: Tokyo ESP Episode 5 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Aug 8, 2014	82 replies	by PKAmmoTroop »» Nov 24, 2021 7:19 AM
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Urushiba, Rinka

Azuma, Kyoutarou

Isayama, Yomi

Tsuchimiya, Kagura

Peggy

Kasuga, Natsuki

Azuma, Minami

Kuroi, Kobushi

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Tokyo ESP

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