The end of February is almost here which means it’s yet again time for another giveaway at Experiments in Manga. This month everyone will have the opportunity to win the first omnibus of Hajime Segawa’s manga series Tokyo ESP. (Published in English by Vertical Comics, the omnibus collects the first two volumes of the original Japanese edition.) As always, the giveaway is open worldwide!
Growing up I absolutely loved stories about psychic powers. (Did anyone else read The Girl with the Silver Eyes Willo Davis Roberts? That was a favorite of mine and I frequently reread it.) I no longer deliberately seek out that particular subgenre in the same way that I used to, but I do continue to enjoy stories with ESP as a prominent feature. At one point in time, it actually seemed like it was impossible to get away from manga series revolving around characters with psychic powers. While they don’t seem to be nearly as common as they once were, manga with psychics and espers are still regularly released in English, Tokyo ESP being just one example
So, you may be wondering, how can you a copy of the first Tokyo ESP omnibus?
1) In the comments below, tell me a little about one of your favorite psychics or espers from a manga. (If you don’t have a favorite or don’t know of any, simply mention that.)
2) If you’re on Twitter, you can earn a bonus entry by tweeting, or retweeting, about the contest. Make sure to include a link to this post and @PhoenixTerran (that’s me).
That’s pretty straightforward, right? Everyone participating has one week to submit comments and can earn up to two entries for the giveaway. Comments can also be sent directly to phoenixterran(at)gmail(dot)com if needed or preferred. Those entries will then be posted here in your name. The giveaway winner will be randomly selected and announced on March 1, 2017. Good luck, everyone!
VERY IMPORTANT: Include some way that I can contact you. This can be an e-mail address in the comment form, a link to your website, Twitter username, or whatever. If I can’t figure out how to get a hold of you and you win, I’ll just draw another name.
Contest winner announced–Manga Giveaway: Tokyo ESP Giveaway Winner
Psychics in manga are one of my favorite thing in manga! Scifi Shojo is one of my favorite combos! Some of my favs include:
Certain Magical Index
Certain Scientific Railgun
Maoh-Juvenile Remix
Please Save My Earth-Rin
To Terra-Jomy
They Were Eleven
Definitely Mob from Mob Psycho 100, since he doesn’t use his powers on people (except they’re bad guys).
@darkplatinumme
I have no idea who my favorite ESPer would be. I guess Mob from Mob Psycho 100 is up there so I’m naming him.
Although there are so many espers in manga, my favourites remain the Shikis from Tsukihime and Kara no Kyoukai. I like them both for the abominable and OP Mystic Eyes of Death Perception (which are one of my favourite powers in manga/anime so far) and for their suffering in dealing with them.
RT @MauroPellencin
I also love this subgenre. It’s quite hard to narrow down a favorite, but I did recently start reading Psychic Detective Yakuma (Tokyopop Germany) and completely love Yakumo’s dark past, which is explained in more detail than the anime. Can’t wait to read the next volumes and I still hope to see it licensed in English.
German manga publishers have been licensing some interesting titles and causing my German Amazon wishlist to grow exponentially again. Wish US pubs would take some of the risks their European counterparts would. -_-
My favorite ESPer from anime/manga is:
Mob from Mob Psycho 100. I didn’t like the baseline art (except for the fight scenes), but the story and characters were awesome enough to overshadow that element.
My favourite Esper/Psychic from manga has to be either Shigeo Kageyama ( Mob Psycho 100 ) or Haruka Kotoura ( Kotoura-san).
I like both Mob and Kotoura because they are both so funny to watch, and they both are likable characters. If I had to pick one, I would probably pick Mob. He’s is so cool and I love his 100% mode. He is fawesome character.
@Sevolsyob
Retweeted the tweet
I’m like Haruhi Suzimiya, i really like espers! However at the moment i don’t think of anyone in particular orz… A lot of people are mentioning Mob Psycho, but i haven’t read it yet. I’m going to check it out
I can’t recall having a favourite *psychic*, per se, but some of my favourite manga certainly focus on the theme. I feel like we used to see a lot more of these titles being licensed. Akira, which I don’t believe needs any introduction, is probably the most well-known, but I also have a soft spot for ES (Eternal Sabbath) and its phenomenal dream sequences and Hands Off!, an episodic shoujo that is not quite BL, but comes very close.
Ooooh, I almost never end up liking the esper series but I can think of a few more titles other folks haven’t mentioned! I remember reading a little bit of a shojo manga called Planet Ladder back when I was in high school and I kiiiinda think that has espers in it? I suppose this doesn’t exactly count but really my favorite story with phsyic-power users in it is the original anime Zettai Karen Children: The Unlimited, a spinoff of Zettai Karen Children (which was a manga!), the show had great pacing so I was hooked!
And as usual I RT’d you @wanderindreamr
I think my favorite manga with psychic powers is Maoh-Juvenile Remix, but anime-wise I loved From the New World. I’ve been wanting to read the original novel for years now
My favorite anime with psychics/espers is A Certain Magical Index. If you count Toma as an esper, then he is my favorite esper. If he doesn’t count, then my favorite would be Accelerator (after he meets Last Order). I love the play between Accelerator and Last Order!
The first series to come to my mind was Kimagure Orange Road. Yes, I’m showing my age with such an old school series. The two younger sisters of the protagonist, twins Manami and Kurumi are espers. Because of their powers, the family has to move a lot. I didn’t care much for the love triangle of the series, but I did like the sisters and of course, the family cat. RT as MangaXanadu
The one that comes to mind is Naru from Ghost Hunt. There are other psychics and espers in the series and each is unique. In Ghost Hunt, psychic and spiritual powers are divided into appropriate categories and over the course of the series (anime and manga) we see how each is unique and that no one psychic ability necessarily is the strongest.