On Christmas night a group of people with various psychic powers hold Japans Diet hostage, going as far as ripping the building out of the earth and floating it above the city. They demanded that Tokyo be handed over to them in order to create a haven for ESPers. However, the group behind this effort are not the good guys. Instead they are terrorists who have waged a campaign of death and destruction leading up to this point. A small band of ESPers are all that stands between the terrorists and their total control. The shinning beacon of hope is a member of the group known by people was the White Girl. The girl, Rinka, finds herself months earlier gaining the ability to phase through objects after she sees a strange floating fish. She, with the urging of a school mate, Kyotaro who can teleport, decides to begin fighting bad guys, to become heroes of justice. Little does Rinka know how involved they will get in their fun little hero business, months later facing down the terrorists holding Tokyo hostage.
As I have mentioned before, this is what you would get if the X-Men were originally created in Japan. That said I actually rather enjoyed this show (as a kid I got into comics with the X-Men but as a teenager the amazingly visceral Image brand started up and offered more awesomeness). The animation isn't anything to write home about; sometimes the characters are rather plain. What was well developed was the variety and uses of psychic powers the characters exuded. The first episode didn't impress me but part of that was due to not understanding what was going on. The second episode rewinds time a bit and starts from the beginning of Rinka's entry into the world of super powers. The tone of episode two is a complete 180 compared to that of episode one. Episode one was intense and oppressive, episode two was light and comical. Rinka is quite self-sufficient and strong but the sudden realization that something had changed inside of her and she doesn't understand it terrifies her. This pattern of self reliance on others perpetuates and becomes rather annoying. Rinka is presented as this self confident and completely capable mature teenager who is strong and reliable. Yet time after time throughout the show she is also presented as a sniveling and weak 'girl' unable to do anything by herself. In the middle of the show it begins to devolve into a boring and played out shonen fight training and growth story. Rinka is schooled again and again by a junior until they both come to life affirming realizations instigated by a talking panda...what the fuck? Even in the end Rinka has to succumb to the assistance of others. Why do I make such a thing out of this? Sure anime is filled to the brim with heroes who can only overcome adversity by relying on others, that's ALL that Dragon Ball Z is, Goku continuing to rely on all of his allies strengths. It’s no secret that this is a subtle if even intentional way of reinforcing Japans maddening pursuit of social harmony and group unity. What also upsets me with the treatment of the shows hero is that they set her up to be this strong and self reliant, yet grounded and likeable person, and then reduced her to a stereotypical representation of a weak girl. Even in the end she ends up needing the help of a man...disappointing.
With that said, I still really enjoyed the show and hope it will get a second season. The characters, even with their weaknesses, were fun and entertaining. The show had a good balance of serious drama and goofy comedy. There were a number of pop culture references; such as one character who looked amazingly like King Leonidas from 300. The Ghost Busters show up at one point and one girl even emulates Bruce Lee when she gets her hands on a pair of his nun-chucks. Its super powered good vs. evil done in a modern and enjoyable way with much head nodding to older series' that have tread this path before. Unfortunately the entire backbone of the story, how and why everyone all of sudden gets super powers is pretty pathetic and annoying. With all its faults I don't know why I enjoyed the show; I just did, because looking at it from afar it wasn't a good show. It had a main character that ended up being completely undervalued and an underlying plot that was absolute rubbish. Either way, I still hope for a season 2!
The series was simulcast in North America via FUNimation. I'm sure a disc release will be imminent. Surprisingly the manga has not been licensed in North America, but that may change if the show picks up any popularity.
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