''Psychic Squad'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

series written and illustrated by

Takashi Shiina is a Japanese manga artist who writes primarily for the weekly Shogakukan manga publication ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday''. When he started at the company in 1989, he began with an anthology of various shorts and one-shots collectively known as ''S ...

. It was serialized in

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of comics, magazines, light novels, dictionaries, literature, non-fiction, home media, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but ...

's manga magazine ''

Weekly Shōnen Sunday is a weekly manga magazine published in Japan by Shogakukan since March 1959. Contrary to its title, ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' issues are released on Wednesdays. ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' has sold over 1.8billion copies since 1986, making it ...

'' from July 2005 to July 2021, with its chapters collected in 63 volumes. It is the story about three young problem girls with outstanding psychic powers and a young man with no special powers at all tasked to guide them properly while dealing with all the commotions they cause, including their obvious infatuation with him. A 51-episode

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

television series produced by

SynergySP is a Japanese animation studio founded on September 24, 1998, as ''Synergy Japan'' which originally split off from Studio Junio (which itself was founded by Toei Animation staff). In 2005, the company became associated with Shogakukan-Shueish ...

was broadcast from April 2008 to March 2009, and had a special

original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and special episodes of a series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the ...

(OVA) released in July 2010. A 12-episode spin-off focused on main antagonist Kyōsuke Hyōbu, titled '' Unlimited Psychic Squad'', and produced by

Manglobe was a Japanese animation studio based in Suginami, Tokyo and formed on February 7, 2002 by Sunrise producers Shinichirō Kobayashi and Takashi Kochiyama. Manglobe filed for bankruptcy in September 2015, having accumulated an estimated debt of � ...

, was broadcast from January to March 2013. By July 2012, the manga had over 6 million copies in circulation. In 2022, ''Psychic Squad'' received the 53rd

Seiun Award The is a Japanese speculative fiction award given each year for the best science fiction works and achievements during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by , the awards are given at the annual Nihon SF Taikai, Japan Science Fic ...

for Best Comic.

Plot

In the future, as people with ESP increase in numbers, so does the possible good and evil they can cause to society. The Japanese government establishes of the Base of Backing ESP Laboratory (B.A.B.E.L.) a special esper organization tasked with dealing with situations that can't be resolved by ordinary means, including dealing with espers engaged in criminal activity. Kōichi Minamoto, a 20-year-old prodigy is assigned by B.A.B.E.L. to the task of supervising the most powerful espers in the country, a trio of gifted but mischievous 10-year-old girls known as "The Children": Kaoru Akashi, Shiho Sannomiya, and Aoi Nogami. As the series progresses, The Children and Minamoto must deal with several enemy organizations, each with conflicted views regarding the role of espers in the world, including "P.A.N.D.R.A.", a cadre of rogue espers determined to wage war against the rest of mankind, the "Black Phantom", a mercenary organization who brainwashes espers into living tools of destruction and the "Normal People", composed solely of non-esper individuals who view espers only as a threat to be vanquished.

Media

Manga

Written and illustrated by

, ''Zettai Karen Children'' was developed out of a short story he had written in

's manga magazine '' Shōnen Sunday Super'' in 2003. A four-chapter story was then published in ''

'' in September 2004. ''Zettai Karen Children'' was serialized for 16 years in ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'', from July 13, 2005, to July 14, 2021. Shogakukan collected its 622 individual chapters in sixty-three volumes, released from October 18, 2005, to September 17, 2021.

Volumes

Anime

A 51-episode

television series adaptation, produced by

, started airing on

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network.Karen Girl's was a Japanese three-member girl group formed in 2008 by the Amuse, Inc., Amuse talent agency. The group performed songs for the anime ''Zettai Karen Children'' for the duration of the show. History Karen Girl's was formed from elementary schoo ...

, the first ending theme is by "The Children starring

Aya Hirano is a Japanese actress and singer. Beginning in the entertainment industry as a child actor in television commercials, she appeared in her first Voice acting in Japan, voice acting role in the anime television series ''Angel Tales'' (2001). In ...

Ryoko Shiraishi is a Japanese voice actress and singer from Kashiba, Nara. She is affiliated with Aoni Production. Possessing a husky voice, Shiraishi voices young to teenage men as well as young girls and teenage women. However, in a break from tradition, o ...

and

Haruka Tomatsu is a Japanese actress and singer, employed by Music Ray'n. She received the Rookie of the Year award at the 3rd Seiyu Awards and the Synergy Award at the 9th Seiyu Awards. Tomatsu is known for voicing main heroines as Asuna Yuuki in ''Sword A ...

"; the second ending theme is , also by Hirano, Shiraishi, and Tomatsu. From episode 27 onwards opening theme has changed to "MY WINGS", once again by Karen Girl's, ending theme changed to "Break+Your+Destiny" by Yuuichi Nakamura, Kishō Taniyama and Kōji Yusa and "Soushunfu" performed by Aya Hirano, Ryoko Shiraishi and Haruka Tomatsu. In episode 46 of the series, the opening theme, "MY WINGS", was sung by

and

while the ending theme was "Zettai love×love Sengen!!", sung by Karen Girl's. An

(OVA) was announced in December 2009. It was released on July 16, 2010, and includes original material based on the junior high school story arc. The opening theme for the OVA is "Seventh Heaven" by The Children and the ending theme is "Out of Control" by Karen Guy's. In January 2012,

Sentai Filmworks Sentai Filmworks, LLC (or simply Sentai) is an American entertainment company. Located in Houston, the company specializes in the dubbing and distribution of Japanese animation and Asian cinema. Its post-production arm is Sentai Studios. The ...

announced that they have licensed the series. Sentai Filmworks released the series on four DVDs in Japanese with English subtitles on May 1, July 17, September 4 and November 6, 2012.

Video game

A video game for the

Nintendo DS The is a foldable handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens worki ...

developed by

Konami , commonly known as Konami, , is a Japanese multinational entertainment company and video game developer and video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo. The company also produces and distributes trading card ...

entitled was released on September 4, 2008. Kaoru Akashi appears as a fighter character in the

fighting game The fighting game video game genre, genre involves combat between multiple characters, often (but not limited to) one-on-one battles. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as Blocking (martial arts), blocking, grappling, counter- ...

for

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PA ...

. Characters Aoi, Shiho, Minamoto, Fujiko and Hyōbu also make appearances as part of special moves or as support. The game was also developed by

and released on March 26, 2009.

Reception

By July 2012, the manga had over 6 million copies in circulation. ''Psychic Squad'' was awarded the 53rd

in the Best Comic category in 2022.

Notes

References

External links

* * * * {{Seiun Award - Best Comic 2008 Japanese novels Comedy anime and manga Fiction about psychic powers Gagaga Bunko Light novels NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan Science fiction anime and manga Sentai Filmworks Shogakukan manga Shōnen manga Supernatural anime and manga TV Tokyo original programming