Tokyo ESP – 02
Na na na na na katamari damacy
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…I shouldn’t have done that. Now that song is going to be stuck in my head for a week. Anyways, I know next to nothing about X-Men, so don’t expect any deep comparisons here. |
The opening episode was certainly more angsty, but this is pretty much how Ga-rei Zero started too. The ending with everyone dying was shown at episode 1 (and 2), then the story went back to happier times and slowly got darker until finally they finished off where they began. So espers seem like a relatively new thing as far as the story is concerned, so it should be interesting to see how things went from a kind of normalicy to having the city being destroyed and government taken over. …And also seeing Rinka’s relationship with the sword girl who seems to have a thing against clothing as shown in the ED.
As for Rinka now, she’s far more like a normal girl than her first appearance might have suggested. She seems to live alone with her father, has money issues, and really isn’t all that remarkable (her flying kick abilities notwithstanding). They threw in fanservice that wasn’t exactly in the manga too, according to the people who have read it. Rinka was still wearing underwear instead of being naked in that version, but it didn’t seem too out of place in the anime. Luckily though, she’s not a helpless heroine and it doesn’t seem to have taken her long to adapt to her power. There wasn’t any whining or anything. She just started using it without much questioning or angst, which was great. Also during the action scene in the museum, she seemed capable (obviously she was also pretty capable in the very beginning of the episode). It should be interesting to see how they attempt to power balance her, since it’s hard to hit someone that can go through objects. Though it just might be an issue of speed and who can use their power first.
TL;DR “With great power comes great responsibility”
Azuma’s character seems like the stranger one of the two. His sense of justice is pretty strong and that talk of everything being a miracle might get a little tiresome to hear about. But we’ll see about that. He was certainly pretty trusting that the police would just go “oh, okay” when he appeared on top of a car and claimed that the unconscious woman there was the real thief, so maybe they can play on that naivety a little as the episodes go on. Hopefully the plot will explain why he decided to dress up to try and stop the series of thefts, though maybe it’s just because he has a thing for superheroes/ally of justice image. …Or why he knew who Rinka was or where her house was. …Or why Rinka hardly seemed to question any of this.
The public’s grudge against espers is certainly building up logically though. Espers don’t seem to be widely known about as of where the story is now, so like the thief in this episode, they can probably get away with causing a lot of problems and no one can stop them. Give special abilities to a few dishonest people, and they’ll take advantage of it. Then on the other side of things, there’s Rindou, who also caused a ton of damage to the city. He really didn’t know any better and somehow did not notice the fact that cars were sticking to him in his desperate search for his daughter. Surely there are other espers out there traumatizing the city solely because they have no idea what’s happening to them. From the public’s side, they’re probably viewed as being just as “bad” as the ones doing damage on purpose.
Interestingly enough though, it looks like Rinka and Azuma will be specifically going out and stopping espers from abusing their new powers. This will certainly put them into contact with the seemingly large cast of characters that Tokyo ESP seems to have. Plus Rinka seems to be a somewhat established “hero” at the end of the anime, so that should be interesting to see how the storyline gets from point A to point B.
There were a lot of cheesy lines and a few jumps of logic in the episode (mostly coming from Azuma, which might just be his character in general), but things were still pretty fun. This managed to be just as interesting of a story even when not killing off a large percentage of Tokyo, so that probably bodes well for the rest of the season. Whether or not they had this much fanservice in the manga, I don’t think it really took away from anything. …Er besides making it hard to watch the episode in a public area, I guess. This is under the shounen genre after all. I probably would have felt different had I read the manga version and seen that they took away a layer of clothing for no real reason, but I would have never been able to tell that it was out of place without people talking about it.
Rinka looks like she’ll be a pretty cool lead, regardless.
About Karakuri
University student and the one at Metanorn who's known for wearing glasses. Likes blood, insanity and plot twists, but also plays otome games and adores cute romance anime. It balances out... somehow.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I’m generally liking the groove this show is on. Yeah, X-Men clone. So what, whine some more why don’t you. Heck, X-Men these days are awe full clones of itself anyway.
They did a great job of extending the main characters in this outing. And yeah, that cold open was just sooooo way out there in terms of fanservice.
But then, you didn’t pick the best Katamari song.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Actually, I’m soooo wrong. This is best.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
I wanted to throw in the Roses & Gin (or whatever it’s called) song to be honest, but I figured I should go “iconic” xD
POWUH: 400-499 with 445 comments
I get the choice to have Rinka completely naked in the beginning scene. Besides the point of fanservice, it makes more sense that if Rinka is losing control of her powers and she’s phasing through her clothes, she’d phase through all of them with the first piece of clothing being her underwear before her actual clothes. Either version works for me; I mean her being naked didnt really add anything, but it didnt take anything either because Rinka’s personality was still kept in tact; the fanservice made sense in the situation she was in. Besides, that was as far as the fanservice got which means this series knows restraint. There were plenty of times they could have done panty shots with Rinka and they completely avoided it. It ended with that beginning scene.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Yeah actually, that was what I figured as well. If she’s lost control, why would she still have underwear on?
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Woooooooo! Rinka fanservice! That wasn’t bad, but I have a feeling a lot of people will find that to be annoying and thus making them drop it and never look back…
I still love the powers and it is interesting to see that some of the characters use their powers for evil purposes instead of being a hero.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
A nosebleed?! Dude, a coat, a blanket, a Cup o Soup…
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
I get some of the anger, but I don’t think it harmed too much. Though I don’t know about the hair colour change or how that affects things.
Ahaha right?
I know that I would totally abuse being an esperPOWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Who wouldn’t? I know if I ever get an ability I find to be useful, I’d easily lose myself to it.
POWUH: 400-499 with 462 comments
I went and looked up the manga because of these two episodes (bad me, I know). The minor increase of fanservice doesn’t seem like an issue to me. A larger issue is their decision to alter Rinka’s default hair and eye color: in the manga she had the white-hair/red-eyes thing going on naturally. The fact that she had no disguise and was simply “the White Girl” whether she was using her powers or not was rather plot related, so the decision to change it seems odd.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
Well, maybe the anime producers thought that it doesn’t make sense for Rinka hiding in plain sight works with her white hair/red eyes on.
But in any case, I felt that the changes are purely cosmetic and I don’t think it affected the plot of the show like what a lot of manga readers claim. *shrugs*
POWUH: 400-499 with 462 comments
Unless you’ve read the manga, I can’t explain to you WHY it’s important to the plot without spoilers, but I promise you, her visually being the White Girl at all times is quite vital to the plot. Unless they’re changing it for the anime.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
I read through the entire “part 1” and I read up on all the available english chapters of “part 2”. So go ahead.
Note that its been a while since I read part 1 so I might be forgetting things/details so apology in advance.
POWUH: 400-499 with 462 comments
Show ▼
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Hmm, that’s rather interesting. Show ▼
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
Given the situation it made more sense for Rinka to be naked than to still be wearing underwear. However, I don’t expect her to lose control over her power to that extent in the future. If it happens again, it’s blatant pandering. For fan service they’ll have to resort to the old standbys of shower or bath, beach episode or onsen episode.
I’ve only read the first chapter of the manga, so I can’t say if changing her hair and eye color to white/red only when using her power in the anime is a significant change or not. However, if people don’t know her identity when she’s not using her power and she doesn’t wear a disguise, this change like her being naked seems to make more sense.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
True that. There’s not really a good reason for this again unless there’s a good reason why she’s struggling with her powers in the future. I don’t expect much naked fighting unless it’s somehow plot relevant.
I’m now curious as to what they’re going to do about the hair/eye colour since I’ve been spoilt as to why it’s important.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
…As soon as I saw the giant ball of cars I thought of Katamari as well ;w;
I was wondering what was up with those floating fish. What a random way to give people abilities, but hey, I’ll take it! I’m glad they gave us some explanations this week since the opening episode introduced us to so many things at once. I’ve been really enjoying Tokyo ESP and I like where things are going now. It’s a silly show, but that’s why I like it.
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 386 comments
Yep me and fosh instantly thought Katamari when we seen it haha.. /hi5
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
ALL THE NOSTALGIA. I really want to play it again, but I keep reminding myself that it eats up time like crazy. OTL
Floating fish AND a penguin! Yeah, this is what I figured the show would be like when I read the premise. Not quite the blood bath that was the first episode. Though I’m totally okay with them building up to it.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Hmmm… a decent follow up to series’ action packed opening. Though I would’ve preferred the chaos going on in the present, introductions to the cast is necessary. Random flying glowing gold fish that endow anyone they come in contact with esper abilities. I’ll say that’s original. Out there but original nonetheless. Rinka’s fanservice worked in well given she had absolutely no control over her power. Her ability of going through solid objects is just like Obito Uchiha’s. I can imagine how many would abuse it if they had privileges like Rinka or Black Fist. They’re like the cheat codes of life.
Most of what transpired was okay and some pity goes to Rinka’s father who has no idea what he’s become. My only annoyance is Kyoutarou’s idealistic optimism. His “With great power comes great responsibility” speech was cheesy, layers of it. Even worse, it brought Samurai Flamenco to mind. Leave it to those who can say it and make it work. Spider-Man does it better.
POWUH: 600-699 and LN Enthusiast with 623 comments
With the similarities of this show to X-Men, you go with Obito for comparison for Rinka’s powers? There’s even an exact similar power in there.
And Obito’s power isn’t even phasing through objects but teleportation to another dimension.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
In the X-Men universe, Rinka’s ability is basically the same as Kitty Pryde/Shadowcat. Except Rinka isn’t able to destroy anything she phases through at will.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
BTW. No one noticed you broke 7000 comments. I keep trying to surpass…
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Yep and my current quest is to surpass Fosh. Hehehe…
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 386 comments
“pff, senpai I will surpass you all! just wait…just you wait..”
POWUH: iLurker with 1 comments
Yes :] -Kitty Pryde discovered her powers the same way with the whole phasin’ through the bed deal. That said, I’m digging this one. It has it’s own style for sure.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
/I’ve got Kitty Pride/and Nightcrawler too/waiting there for me/yes I do/
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
But Kitty Pyrde’s clothes were protected by the Comics Code Authority. Which, by the way, is the thing that protects the Hulk’s pants….so it all comes out in the wash.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
The opening episode for Tokyo ESP was pretty uh, attention catching. Hopefully they get around to explaining the fish, since if everyone is just getting powers now, they must be fairly new.
Well, hopefully Rintarou figures things out or has it explained to him eventually. People don’t get cars stuck to them for no reason. As for Kyoutarou, I’m kind of hoping he takes a trip down the evil path at some point to make things interesting. Though his character is fine for now.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Overall, I really love the show. Start nearly En Media Res the first episode, pull it back for the second and show how they will get there. Three cheers for non-linear storytelling!
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
I’m really liking this too, so far~
Well, 3 cheers if they do non-linear telling properly (Mekakucity was pretty mediocre). Though after Gai-Rei Zero, I’m sure Tokyo ESP will do fine.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I just watched the first episode of Gai-Rei Zero. After seeing cameos that I didn’t know where cameos in the first of ESP, the ending of GRZ first was quite shocking…