This trio brought to you by… boobs! (Sigh.)

As Premiere Week winds down (admittedly, there are still seven premieres I have yet to watch, but that’s a whole lot less than there were five days ago), we’re treated to a trio that’s a bit lower down the totem pole in terms of originality, and a lot higher in terms of fanservice. Yaaaay (-_-;). Still, a couple have some potential, at least. Hit the jump to see who’s out and who’s getting a second chance.

Tokyo ESP

Studio: Xebec
Based On: The manga by Segawa Hajime
Streaming On: Funimation, Hulu (one week delay)

In a Sentence: In a world where people with supernatural abilities are feared and hated, two factions of “espers” appear: one to subjugate humanity, and the other to save it.

How was it? Frenetic and fun, if not the most original premise.

Overall
Weirdly, I didn’t make the X-Men connections until I was reading a review of this episode over at Lost in America (follow this blog if you don’t already), but now that it’s been pointed out I seriously can’t unsee it. Not that this is a bad thing, mind you, but it’s definitely there. So, since the premise has been done before, how was the execution?

Pretty good, actually, although the first half is a bit of a clusterfuck of explosions, death, and character introductions. Once we settle into following a few espers and their specific story, I became much more invested. There’s something about this show that reminds me of Future Diary in that it feels like it’s going to be frantic and pulpy, light on the realism but heavy on the spectacle (and then the ED had to be performed by Yousei Teikoku, sealing the comparison). And while I would never put Future Diary on my list of best or even favorite anime, I had a hell of a fun time watching it. If Tokyo ESP lives up to that initial impression and goes balls-to-the-wall, it could be some pretty good times.

Coming Back for More?
I’m not sold on it yet, but it gets at least one more episode. I’m curious to see if it gets more or less crazy. Fingers crossed for the former.

Rokujyouma no Shinryakusha!? (“INVADERS of the ROKUJYOUMA?!”)

Studio: Silver Link
Based On: The light novel series by Takehaya
Streaming On: Crunchyroll

In a Sentence: A screwball harem “comedy” in which female characters from every major anime genre descend upon a high school boy’s one-room apartment.

How was it? *Sigh*

Overall
This bastard of a show. The first 15 minutes were really quite good. There were magical elements at play, some decent humor, and the male MC seemed to actually have a meaningful backstory and a personality (a rarity in LNs these days). Watching him squabble with the ghost was cute, and even the “magical girl” stuff was pretty funny (even though the voice actress was annoying as hell).

And then the busty priestess showed up and the damn thing went to hell. I knew it was a harem anime from the start, but it’s not like harem anime are inherently bad. If this series had taken its time introducing the zaniness and the characters, it might have had a chance, but… ugh. The sudden overload of T&A was too much for me. I quit before the end credits. Way to get my hopes up, jerks.

Coming Back for More?
Nope nope nope.

Magimoji Rurumo

Studio: J.C. Staff
Based On: The manga by Watanabe Wataru (Yowamushi Pedal)
Streaming On: Crunchyroll

In a Sentence: After a magic spell goes awry, high school student (and mega-perv) Shibaki Kouta finds himself with his own personal wish-granting witch.

How was it? I honestly don’t know.

Overall
Most of the time I would have written this show off as another creepy, fanservicey comedy, but I really like Watanabe-sensei’s work with YowaPeda, so I have at least small hopes that this will end up being more than it first appears.

And there are moments in the premiere to suggest that this may be the case. Shibaki is a seriously detestable lead who sees women as a sequence of sex parts instead of actual human beings, but he’s also punished CONSTANTLY for acting this way, and there were at least hints in this episode that he’s starting to see the girls around him as people with feelings instead of objects for him to ogle. If the story is in fact about the boy growing a damn conscience, then it could end up being sneakily good, but if it’s just another panty-shot-and-boob-laden screwball comedy then I will be very disappointed, both in the mangaka and the series itself.

Coming Back for More?
It gets one more episode to prove to me it has a heart. One more. Don’t let me down, Watanabe-sensei.