Telepathy Shoujo Ran - Episode 12

After being kidnapped by Shimotsuki's bodyguards last time around, the hunt is on to find Ran before something terrible becomes of her. Of course, being telepathic at a time like this is always handy, as Ran can simply tell Midori where she is and give her directions like some kind of astral TomTom.

So, for a fair bit of the episode we see Rui, Rin and Midori chasing through floods and rain to get to Ran, while Ran herself has plenty to contend with of her own, as she discovers that the reclusive Shimotsuki is in fact part of the Three Eyes clan, and has a handy line in hypnosis that would make HypnoToad jealous (although if I'm frank it also makes him look a bit stupid when he uses it).


The searching trio turn up just in time, and Rin somehow manages to overpower about a dozen bodyguards single-handedly - Never mind telepathy, I can see a spin-off series emerging here in Incredible Hulk Rin. As Rin handles the guards, so Midori and Ran follow Shimotsuki, who has hypnotised and taken Reika hostage under some crazed assertion that she is in fact his dead daughter. Which she is. Except she isn't. Yet she still holds their mysterious powers. My head hurts now.

Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself here - After catching up with the old man, Midori and Ran get subjected to the whole sob story of how the Three Eyes clan were persecuted and discriminated against, although I can't help but feel they might have been liked by the general populace a little more if they didn't go around hypnotising and kidnapping people, but that's just me. Midori speaks up regarding her own history of persecution, pointing out that she never looked for revenge on those who hated her for her powers, even though this is a blatant lie because that's exactly what she went around doing in the first episode or two.

After all this, and some pleading from Reika who isn't but is only isn't, the old man realises the error of his ways, and throws himself to his death from the handy mountainous drop nearby. Only he doesn't, because his daughter who isn't but is just happens to have a special power which is a tractor beam, so she saves him. The whole thing comes to a close with a landslide on the mountain, leaving Midori and Ran to save everyone by creating a forcefield, again belying their real abilities - These girls aren't telepathic, but rather they have whatever special powers they want to fit the context of that particular episode. I guess Special Powers To Fit The Context Of Each Episode Shoujo Ran just doesn't have the same ring to it.

While this was quite an entertaining and fast-paced episode, it did introduce inconsistencies and confusion that you could drive a bus through, which really took a lot of the sheen away from it and left the whole thing as enjoyable in a more Allison to Lillia-esque "who wrote this thing?" kind of way. Still, there was never a dull moment, and considering that episode ten was just one twenty-five minute long dull moment the return to storylines where things happen is a welcome one.