Esper (Akira)

The Espers, nihongo|Masaru|マサル, Kiyoko (キヨコ) and Takashi (タカシ), are a group of three fictional characters in the manga, "Akira", and the adapted 1988 anime movie of that work, also called "Akira". In both the manga and the movie, the group is used as paranormal human test subjects by the Japanese government. The term "Esper" is never used in the film or manga, but refers to the character's extra-sensory perception.

Past

The original four

The four children were the test subjects of a secret government project (most likely used for military-related purposes) which sought to unlock and harness their psychokinetic abilities. They were among the most talented of their series (numbers 20 to 29), with Akira having by far the most impressive powers. Kiyoko was designated "Number 25", while Takashi was "Number 26," Masaru "Number 27," and Akira "Number 28." Most of the 20 series died because of the stress produced by the experiments. Their motives for resisting such torment is, as shown in the manga, their close friendship and loyalty towards each other.

Akira

When Akira (perhaps unintentionally) destroyed Tokyo and started World War III, Masaru, Kiyoko, and Takashi were the only other test subjects that survived the catastrophe, and the only surviving remnants of the project. Akira was placed into a cryogenic chamber underneath the "Heart of Destruction" - the crater left from Akira's onslaught - to avoid another incident, while the other three children were kept in military custody.

Lady Miyako

In the manga version of the story, the religious leader Lady Miyako is revealed to be a former test subject herself, designated "Number 19". She is not a contemporary of the children. Having formed a temple, she began training gifted children and followers towards an imminent confrontation against a greater power, such as Akira and Tetsuo. She informs the resistance, through Nezu, of the existence of Akira and is killed during Akira's second destruction of Neo-Tokyo. In the film she has a cameo as a man who is a leader of a religious cult announcing the return of Akira, he is killed when Tetsuo causes the bridge to collaspe among the choas he is hit by a falling car and falls to his death.

Sakaki, Miki, Mozu and the Monks

Exclusive to the manga (volume 3) Sakaki, Miki and Mozu are three gifted girls trained by Lady Miyako. They are not Espers in proper words, as they're not nearly that powerful. They are extremely fast, but they aren't physically stronger than any other child, the very thing that costs them their lives. They are given the mission to recover the non awake Akira and bring him to Lady Miyako. Sakaki discovers that Kaneda, Kei and Chiyoko, who held Akira, were somewhat loyal to Nezu, and informs Lady Miyako of the situation. Lady Miyako sends the three girls to recover the child, but Miki is killed by Nezu's henchmen, Mozu is killed when confronting Takashi, and Sakaki is shot when trying to escape from the military, and dies in the explosion caused by Akira. Sakaki was very fond to Miyako, as she was like a mother to her. Miyako mourns deeply for her loss through the remainder of the volume 3.

Also exclusive to the manga, the monks are followers and servants of Lady Miyako, some of them gifted and taught in the power. They're also not Espers, but they are, in a way, enhancers of the Esper's powers in the confrontation against Tetsuo. Most of them die in a raid led by Tetsuo's Aide. When battling Tetsuo, the remaining Espers, Lady Miyako and a few monks channel their power towards Kei (a medium, and in some level a user of the power herself) to confront Tetsuo. As the espers leave to meet Akira, and Lady Miyako is shown alone, forced to abandon her physical form, it's a conclusion that the gifted monks die during the collapsing of Miyako's temple, or are killed in battle.

Powers developing

As the years progressed, the children began to exhibit a startling physical change. While their bodies didn't grow and they didn't mentally reach adult maturity, their faces became very wrinkled and their bodies grew weak with age (this was perhaps a side effect of the experiments done on them, their own powers, the drugs used to keep those powers under control or a combination of the three). Eventually, Kiyoko grew so weak she was confined to a bed, and Masaru was also confined to a chair. However, their powers were still impressive, especially when the children possessed Kei to battle Tetsuo Shima in the military's skyscraper headquarters in Neo-Tokyo. Of the three children, Takashi is shown as the most doubtful and the least self-controlled (which may be the reason why he was able to escape with Ryu's help); even though he does not dare to contradict Colonel Shikishima he is the most emotion driven, and often he asks for more exciting activities, such as seeing movies about dogfighting.

Role in the story

The Espers in the manga

In the manga version, the only female Esper, Kiyoko, has a dream of Akira and Tetsuo causing mass destruction. Kiyoko's precognitive vision greatly concerned Colonel Shikishima and spurred the children to attempt to kill Tetsuo. When the Colonel mounted a coup against the government, he used the children to find Akira, who had been freed by Tetsuo and was also being hunted by Kaneda and Kei, as well as Parliament member Nezu and his private army. Eventually, the Colonel managed to find and capture Akira, but Nezu, while trying to kill Akira, fatally shot Takashi in the head. His death traumatized Akira, and caused him to destroy Neo-Tokyo. After the event, the children became targets of Tetsuo's Great Tokyo Empire, but were taken in by Lady Miyako. As Tetsuo's powers were forcing his body to grotesquely expand to absorb his surroundings, Masaru and Kiyoko worked with Lady Miyako to use Kei to fight Tetsuo. As Tetsuo "awakened" - i.e. he unleashed an Akira-style psychic blast of his own - the children worked with Akira to use his power to absorb Tetsuo and canceling out his event. The children and Tetsuo were never to be seen again.

The Espers in the film

In the film version, Kiyoko has her vision of Akira's mass destruction, and later tells the Colonel that "you mustn't let [Tetsuo] go. His power..." Because of this vision, the Espers attempt to kill Tetsuo, causing an immense and bizarre psychic battle, where they disguised themselves as giant toys and attacked him in his bedroom. Tetsuo then broke out of his room and made his way to the so-called "baby room" where they lived. Tetsuo attacked them and destroyed the baby room before he escaped. During the climatic battle against a mutated Tetsuo at the Neo-Tokyo Olympic Stadium, the children appeared and summoned Akira, who started destroying Neo-Tokyo in an attempt to "take [Tetsuo] away." The three children then used their three combined minds to successfully rescue Kaneda (trapped inside Tetsuo inside Akira's blast). The children are never seen again after the event. By Kaneda and other characters, they are often called "Kids" or "Those kids".