Tokyo ESP – “White Girl” Review

From the creator of  “Ga-rei” comes a brand new action series, but can this one distance itself from it’s counterpart?

Calamity hits Tokyo as a mysterious group of Espers take control of Japan’s Diet (Japan’s national bicameral legislature) and declare war on all of humanity. As violence continues to escalate throughout the city, another group of Espers arrive, these one’s attempting to save humanity and stop their evil “kin”. Among their number’s is the mysterious “white girl”, an urban legend who has returned to save Tokyo once again.

One thing that viewers will notice about this series is it’s striking similarities to X-Men. The evil espers (Brotherhood) declare war on humanity for years of prejudice and ridicule and it is up to the good espers (X-Men) to stop them. Even with all of the same set up, Tokyo ESP manages to still make the viewing experience fresh with it’s well crafted action scenes and unique Esper abilities.

Another thing that anime fan’s may notice about the series is it’s Ga-Rei/Ga-Rei Zero cameos, although this is expected since it’s by the same author and the stories seem to take place in the same universe. Kagura, Yomi, Division 4, they’re all here. Kagura and Yomi have only a small cameo in the beginning of the episode, but Division 4 shines when they take on one of the Espers in the city.

Kagura (Left) & Yomi (Right) from the Ga-Rei series

On the animation front, Tokyo ESP is nice looking series if the first outing is any indication. The entire first episode takes place on what looks to be around Christmas time, if not on the day itself. This provides a nice dichotomy when the action gets started. Each character has a unique look to them and the way their abilities are animated is distinct to each character.

We get a brief look at the characters we’ll be following as the series progresses. The evil espers get most of the screen time since we have to establish how evil they are. We have their leader the “professor” (I see what you did there) who seems to have some sort of telepathic ability, Minami: a teleporter who wields twin swords, a woman who can create bombs and force fields using air, and a few others.

Minami

On the good guy side there’s Ayumu, who can see into the future, Murasaki, who has Psychometry (the ability to see a object’s past by touching it), and Kobushi who can turn invisible. Rinka, the “white girl” (called that because of her white hair) doesn’t show up until the final seconds of the episode but she is still talked about through random character dialogue about how she saved the town from a similar incident.

Tokyo ESP fires on all cylinders from its first episode, leaving little to no room for doubt about what the series is going to be about. With its hard hitting set-up and interesting characters, Tokyo ESP could a be a hit this season if it doesn’t show all of its cards too early.