Ok, yeah, so it’s Japanese X-Men.

What They Say:
Rinka is a high school student in Tokyo trying to make ends meet while supporting herself and her father. Her ordinary life takes a turn for the extraordinary when she witnesses a penguin and a school of fish flying through the air. After catching up to one of the fish, she passes out and wakes up to find herself suddenly granted supernatural powers. With her newfound ability to walk through solid objects, Rinka is about to learn just how transparent the world can be. From the creator of Ga-Rei-Zero comes an adventure that shows how out-of-the-ordinary abilities of high school students can send a powerful message to evildoers the world over.

The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
If the above picture of Wolverine… uh, Rinka’s dad didn’t quite drive the point home, Tokyo ESP has basically become (or has always been) a wacky version of the X-Men. Which can be an incredibly entertaining thing, especially if you’re into weird Japanese humor. A basic litmus test of whether or not this show will hold appeal for you is whether you want to see a girl attack Peter Venkman of the Ghostbusters with her pet penguin, Peggy. If you think this sounds stupid, you might want to pass. If you think it sounds awesomely stupid, then it looks like we’re set for quite a ride.

But why attack Venkman with a penguin? Because he’s kidnapped you, of course.

Rinka doesn’t like having superpowers, especially when Black Fist gets off scot-free. It turns out the say-so of a masked vigilante named “Crow Head” doesn’t really hold up in a court of law. Rinka and Azuma decide to see if they can find the flying fish that made Rinka into an ESPer, and see if there might be some way to reverse the transformation. The key to finding them might lie with the flying penguin who thinks the fish might be a tasty treat. So the search is on to locate the penguin.

They’re able to find it without too much trouble, as it has been adopted by a kind young girl named Murasaki. Unfortunately, the flying penguin has also been tracked by a group who are basically the Ghostbusters, who, much like Rinka did, want to sell the penguin for fame and fortune. They kidnap both Murasaki and the penguin, who has been named Peggy. During the kidnap attempt we see the above-mentioned penguin attack on Venkman. Using their powers, Rinka and Azuma are able to free Murasaki, but the rescue ends up with the Ghostbusters van falling off the highway overpass, which creates a news incident. Rinka’s father is upset by the danger to his only daughter, only furthering Rinka’s desire to leave superheroism behind her and try to find steady employment.

But, of course, destiny has other plans.

The chaos of previous episodes is only intensified here, as the pacing of the series seems to be somewhat rushed. Events happen suddenly without much time to linger on their significance. Murasaki invites Rinka over to her home to play with Peggy, but it turns out Murasaki’s father is a yakuza, as well as King Leonidas from 300. During the visit, we find out that not only has Black Fist joined Leonidas’ yakuza crew, but he also is meeting with an underling that resembles a laughing Buddha. Suddenly, a masked samurai employed by Buddha kidnaps Leonidas’ daughter Murasaki and teleports away. When Leonidas’ henchmen shoot at Buddha, it turns out that he too is now an ESPer who can deflect bullets. A flame throwing flunky is dispatched to Rinka’s apartment to burn it down, causing Azuma to have flashbacks to the war-torn country in which he grew up (seriously). Azuma turns into Dark Vigilante Crow Head and arms himself with a handgun in an attempt to rescue Murasaki. Meanwhile, masked samurai releases a flying fish from a magic stone in his possession, turning Murasaki into an ESPer as well.

None of it makes any sense, and in a way, it’s wonderful.

In Summary:
Any pretense that Tokyo ESP can be taken seriously is pretty much discarded this episode. Just as well, as I’ve had my fill of self-serious meditations on the meaning of heroism and the sacrifices heroes have to make in troubled times. Here’s a show that has people with wacky powers doing incredible things for silly reasons. The show risks becoming to ridiculous to take seriously, but currently the largest problem is with pacing. The show risks overwhelming the audience with too many characters and too many developments to make much sense. But for now, Tokyo ESP’s ridiculous bombast looks to be a nice counterweight to many of the season’s somber and serious titles.

Grade: B-

Streamed By: Funimation

Review Equipment:
Sony VAIO 20″