Minna! ESPer Dayo! (TV series)

Lore & Background

The series is set in Aichi Prefecture at East Mikawa High School, where student Yoshirō Kamogawa discovers he has psychic powers. He learns that his childhood friend Miyuki has telepathy, Mr. Teru of the Seahorse café has telekinesis, senior Yōsuke Enomoto can teleport, outcast Yabe has clairvoyance, Hideo is a psychometer, Ms. Natsume and Mr. Hayashi have telekinesis, Pao can hypnotize, and others in town also have powers. Yoshirō dreams of using his powers to protect his crush, transfer student Sae Asami, and ultimately save the world, while many others use their powers for perverted or trivial pursuits.

Reader's Guide

Minna! Esper Dayo! is significant as the first television adaptation of Kiminori Wakasugi's seinen manga. It aired weekly on TV Tokyo from April 12 to July 5, 2013, with one skipped week on May 17. The series was followed by a 2015 TV special titled All Esper Dayo! SP, directed by Sion Sono with much of the same cast but without Kaho. A 2015 theatrical film adaptation, The Virgin Psychics, also directed by Sion Sono, had some casting changes. The series was released on DVD and Blu-ray on August 23, 2013, with extras including a documentary about Sion Sono and a making-of special. Its legacy lies in launching the franchise's screen adaptations and establishing the comedic tone of ordinary people grappling with extraordinary abilities.

Did You Know?

• The series is the first adaptation of the Minna! Esper Dayo! manga by Kiminori Wakasugi.
• The theme song is "(Where's) The Silent Majority?" by Yu Takahashi.
• A 2015 TV special titled All Esper Dayo! SP was directed by Sion Sono with much of the same cast but without Kaho.
• The DVD box set costs 15,200 yen and the Blu-ray box costs 19,000 yen.