Telepathy Shoujo Ran - Episode 5

I started referring to Telepathy Shoujo Ran as some kind of Japanese Scooby-Doo for 2008 pretty earlier on, and with episode I can't help thinking back to that point as a pretty good call. While you could easily point of myriad differences between the two shows, the overall feel of the series from the sense of mystery that really isn't so mysterious if you think about it through to the unmasking of the villain of the piece who is always obvious in a slightly off-kiler way is all present and correct here.

That isn't to say this is a bad series though, and this episode once again does a passable job of presenting its story and major plot points in an entertaining way, while also keeping the inter-relationships of Ran, Rui and Midori ticking along nicely.


We do however see at least one stupid moment in this episode, where everyone is amazed at the blossoming of the Emahi grass after they all burst out laughing, only for Rui to mention that all the stories about the grass say that's how to make it blossom anyway. I mean, he could have mentioned it a little earlier, couldn't he? I was also going to point out another daft moment which came courtesy of Rui, who tries to resuscitate Midori after she stops breathing without actually performing mouth-to-mouth. However, Wikipedia (see, I do my research about these things) has informed me that this isn't actually a necessary part of CPR any more thanks to the latest research, so I'll let him off on that technicality. You learn something new every day, huh?

Somehow I feel that I shouldn't be so impressed by this series, yet it somehow manages to work its characters and story in such a way that I really can't find it in my heart to dislike it. It's certainly nothing new in any shape or form, but the 'special powers' angle is played pretty well, and the main characters are all worth watching in their own ways, which contributes to what is a strangely fun little series - Assuming you didn't loathe Scooby-Doo for some reason, that is.