Tokyo ESP – 07-08
Don’t think, FEEEEEL!
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Well, I’m not quite as negative about this anime as Hoshi is, but I just wasn’t feeling these latest two episodes. |
Things are kind of getting more angsty. I mean, Kyotaro was kidnapped for a lengthy(?) amount of time, and then there’s Ayumu. Mostly, there were issues with his mother and her political career being built on oppressing the same kind of people her son is. Who even knows how she knew that he was an Esper (I mean, he could have been lying to try to help her or whatever in that situation) since there weren’t really any huge, flashy displays of power from him besides the flashes shown (that really, only he saw). I guess the important thing to take away from this though is that his mother is choosing her career over her child, and that isn’t doing anything overly positive for Ayumu. Though there also seems to be a mini romance subplot between Ayumu and Murasaki, so maybe things aren’t going to be all that angst-ridden with his character.
Other than that, he’s… interesting? Obviously he has his power figured out pretty well, he’s had martial arts training, and in combination seems pretty capable. From that interaction with the esper threatening his mother (or really, also in his sparring with Rinka), it seems like he isn’t majorly overpowered either, since that was just him improvising on the spot and trying to find the best solution based on what he knew. Murasaki had a little upgrade too in her fighting skills, since her power can be useful too, if she has the right equipment. Though again, the series made it pretty reasonable, since her ability is only as good as her own body can handle. Really, it’s only the antagonists who seem a little OP. Though maybe the way Rinka and the others save Tokyo is by figuring out and exploiting the weaknesses. It would give the finale a bit more thought behind it, besides the usual “we’ll punch our way to victory. No, don’t worry, friendship/whatever makes us stronger!” thing anime sometimes does.
It’s interesting that despite the espers being labelled as terrorists, the media is making a big deal about how Rinka and group are like heroes. From the beginning of the anime, it seemed like Rinka would have been a more oppressed hero, but from how the story has developed from there, the important people (or some of them, at least) seem okay with her running around and saving people. In opposition to that, it seems like the people Minami is gathering all seem to have issues with their lives and/or society. …Which makes sense I guess, since it probably takes issues for any individual to go through with Minami’s test. It would have been interesting to see her try to recruit Ayumu, since out of all of the other characters, he seems the most likely to be upset with society (Kobushi aside, since she seems to have mended her ways already and given into ossan moe). Though watching Ayumu’s interactions with Rinka’s side now, it probably wouldn’t happen now.
…Looking at how easily Kyotaro was let go, there doesn’t seem to have been much of a reason for him to have been taken away in the first place. Maybe it served a purpose to motivate Rinka’s training, but I dunno, maybe having a bunch of innocents die could have had the exact same effect. Really, all it did was create what seemed like some rather unnecessary angst and then create an opportunity for a touching reunion scene (which was cute, I admit, but still).
So Azuma hasn’t really learned anything of vital importance, but Rinka seemed to have levelled up in martial arts. …It’s a shame that this anime doesn’t have a bigger budget, since a lot of the action scenes in Rinka’s training episode were lacking a bit, but the episode still managed to be pretty entertaining. So hopefully Rinka will be better prepared for the upcoming battles. She was fairly badass without the training, so it should be interesting to see how she is with it now. And hey, it looks like the espers that Minami gathered will be launching a serious attack soon(ish), so she finished training just in time.
Like in previous episodes, I feel like there was something with Kyotaro’s kidnapping that was revealed in the manga and totally left out of the anime. There just didn’t seem to be much of a point behind it. Sure, it seems to have been motivation for Minami to hold a grudge against Rinka (or like I said above to motivate Rinka’s training), but that could have been just as easily done without the kidnapping. It’s funny how I’m less in less into this as things get more serious. I would have expected the opposite from myself, considering how I liked the opening. However, things just seem pretty rushed and things aren’t being explored very far. We’ll just have to see where the ending brings us to, I guess.
Requirements for ESP: cleavage, apparently.
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 Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
This I’ll admit. The story is improving, if bit by bit but any huge anticipation I had for this series is long gone. On the chance it ends well, I’ll say it was acceptable.
When you think about it, Minami’s words and actions clash making a huge contradiction. She claims mankind is beyond saving due to its ugly tendencies but here she is walking around feeding the most negative aspect of human beings: provoking the impulse to kill as a test to join their ranks once they’ve attained power. It’s about the same as a person getting overconfident and going crazy once they feel secure with a weapon in their possession.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Oh yeah, I have to agree with you on his release. Holy Crap was that lame. Oh, we can’t convert you, I guess I’ll just let you got then. No harm no foul…forget about the hand wound thing….
But overall I am enjoying the show. Some of the plot leaves something to be desired, but I do like the characters.
POWUH: 800-899 and Flying Sage with 856 comments
Become like water, my friend.
I appreciated the unexpected Bruce Lee reference, but it made me think that you could do so much with the notion of Bruce Lee having psychic powers.
Anyways, back to the anime that actually exists. .. We are largely getting to the point I was afraid we would end up in from the beginning. I was never looking forward to this show as a battle anime. I thought the characters that were revealed in episodes two and three were more interesting. I did enjoy this “how we got to this place” diversion, but we keep heading towards fancy violence — which would be fine if it complemented something else, but I just don’t feel that it is. At this point we essentially have good guys and bad guys. The bad guys seem to have no motivation beyond “they are bad”, and the good guys are good by the same logic.