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Episode Review: Tokyo ESP

I agree with Theron's review. This show had great potential, but was heavily hamstrung by its budget.

Additionally, the "X-men" formula is so great because it allows for such grand hero stories. It's different from the traditional hero story of people who were born for greatness. Instead, seemingly normal people who have no special "destiny" suddenly find themselves with the power AND responsibility of having these "wonderous" abilities.

The real problem was the writing quality, which was terrible. That first episode was so horrendous I could barely finish it and I then immediately bailed on the show. And since even many of its fans admit the show only got worse as time went on, I cannot imagine how big a heart attack I would've suffered had I stuck around.

I don't know what you're talking about here. The very idea of people born with special powers - encoded into their very DNA no less - automatically makes them born for greatness. You never see some random cop go toe-to-toe with a mutant and win, now do you? That's because having an ability means enjoying an unfair advantage over any normal enemy, having the opportunity to do things that others cannot, and being able to change the world in ways that it is impossible for normal people to do.

You're admittedly commenting on a single episode. I don't think you can realistically comment on the writing of the entire series.

First of all, it should have been quite obvious that I was referring to narrative destiny, not biological destiny. Biological destiny, by itself, is not a concept that is really accepted under most societal norms of morality, unless you are living in Nazi Germany or the world of Gattaca.

That terminology does not refer to characters who live a seemingly normal life for their early formative years, and then suddenly discover that they have special powers as teenagers or later, and try to figure out what to do with those powers.

But fans of the show can comment, and they have commented, and even they have said that the show goes downhill. Theron in his reviews has highlighted that the writing quality hasn't been too hot, and I've read plenty of other blogs which covered this show and lamented the same thing. All I'm doing is taking what I saw in episode one and extrapolating it out using the data that people who have finished the show have provided.

Eh, you're deliberately using a false equivalence by comparing mutants to Nazis. The Nazis wrongly believed the Aryan race was superior. Mutants on the other hand do possess abilities that set them apart from normal humans. They aren't morally or ethically better than humans (I never said they were so I don't know why you brought it up), plus they might not have more emotional and mental fortitude than a normal person. But mutants are superior in a "they can do stuff you can't" sort of way. Xavier can own you with a thought. Cyclops can destroy tanks with his eyes. Storm controls the freaking weather.