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The Espers (bottom right; Takashi, Kiyoko, and Masaru) as they appear together.
The Espers (sometimes stylized as ESPers and also known as the Numbers) are a trio of psychic-powered children (Kiyoko, Takashi, and Masaru) who have been government test subjects for a secret ESP project started by the government for several years (or decades). They are the supporting characters in both the anime and the manga.
Background[]
The Espers are a trio of children who were a part of a secret government project designed to acquire and understand psychic powers and use them for personal benefit. However, after Akira's demise following a devastating, psychic-based explosion that destroyed the original Tokyo, the project was terminated or suspended for at least thirty-one years and the Espers that were present were kept in isolation to keep any information from being leaked. They wield a variety of psychic powers that are weak compared to those of Akira and Tetsuo, but are still strong enough to overcome a normal human being when combined. Although the Espers are children, their bodies take on a wizened appearance; the reason is because of years of being experimented on and taking special drugs designed to inhibit their psychic growth.
Personality[]
The Espers are close friends with each other and share a psychic link that enables each of them to know their thoughts. They are very compassionate, selfless and caring, and they look out for each other and other's wellbeing, but their perceptiveness make them able to discern whether a person harbors hostile thoughts and intentions. They do not like fighting, but will go and fight if one of them is threatened in some way or if someone is destructive enough to cause death. As the drugs administered to them have inhibited their physical and mental growth and development, the Espers act like children and are thus innocent and childlike, such as their fear of blood. However, after Tetsuo arrives, they mature incredibly and act out of their way to sacrifice themselves for the greater good.
Abilities[]
Due to the experiments ran on them by the government, the Espers hold a variety of psychic abilities, which are weak compared to more powerful psychics like Tetsuo and Akira, but are very well-developed. When combined, the Espers' powers are able to overcome a normal human being, but it is how they use them that is important in deciding the outcome of the final battle.
Manga[]
The Espers are among the six remaining test subjects of a secret parapsychology project sponsered by the government - the others are a small boy named Akira, Lady Miyako, a blind clairvoyant who became the leader and high priestess of a popular temple, and recently Tetsuo Shima, a bitter teenage biker with powerful telekinetic abilities and an inferiority complex.
In the original project the government sought to control their developing powers and use them for personal benefit; many have died during the experiments, but some survived with physical handicaps. The project failed when Akira lost control of his powers and caused a tremendous explosion that obliterated the original Tokyo, which many mistook for an atomic bomb and started World War III. While Akira was sealed away wholly in a cryogenic chamber underground, which stopped his biological aging, the Espers lived on as children with aging bodies.
Takashi was kidnapped from the Nursery by a resistance group, but escaped and ended up wandering around in Neo-Tokyo. He encountered Tetsuo on the highway where he was almost run over by his motorcycle but caused it to explode in an innocent gesture of self defense. He later encounters Kaneda, the leader of the Capsules biker gang, and when the Colonel and Masaru arrive to retrieve him, Takashi's powers were already going out of control and causing havoc, leading to a standoff. He is eventually taken back to the Nursery and restored to normal.
Later Kiyoko, another Esper, predicts that Akira is going to rise and destroy Neo-Tokyo, with Tetsuo's involvement. She bands together with Takashi and Masaru to kill Tetsuo to prevent this from happening by possessing Kei, a female terrorist and resistance member, but are hindered when the Colonel intervenes. The Espers eventually encounter Tetsuo, who arrives and, upon recognizing Takashi from his motorcycle accident, attacks them but is attacked by Kei and his friend Kaneda, who tries to shoot him with a laser gun. Tetsuo escapes, and Kei questions Kiyoko about Akira before leaving with Kaneda.
Trivia[]
- As a result of the aftermath, the Espers are all gone.
- It is implied that Espers did kill someone in their past.
- It is possible that the Espers aren't limited to the trio, but they are the primary Espers known.