E's Otherwise

"They are gifted, they are cursed. Trained by a company to battle a resistance. They have the power to save, and the power to kill."

- iTunes ad for E's Otherwise

E's Otherwise (エス・アザーワイズ) focuses on Kai Kudou, an "Esper", who is recruited by an organization called Ashurum to become a soldier to purportedly save other psychics from regular humans. After a mission in Gald goes wrong, Kai finds himself living with a man named Yuuki and his adopted sister Asuka. As he learns more about Ashurum, Kai finds himself wondering what their true goals are, and worrying about his ill sister, who is under Ashurum's care.


 * All of the Other Reindeer: The Espers get this badly enough to make moving to Ashurum pretty much the only viable option, unless they manage to hide their powers from everyone. Hmm...
 * Attractive Bent Gender: Kai, who wasn't really delighted to find out his female disguise had caused some rather... intense (bordering on Stalker with a Crush) feelings in someone who just happened to see him momentarily.
 * Badass Grandpa: Erimiya, who seems like a harmless old geezer at first glance.
 * Blood Knight: Kyou, who seems to get most of his kicks out of coming back to battle Kai time after time...
 * Brown Note: Dzhyma's little gadget. Harmless to ordinary humans, causes extreme pain and, with enough power, death to Espers. He made it For Science!
 * Bullying a Dragon: Considering the Espers' powers the hostility against them is basically this. Further played straight by citizens of Gald during Ashurum's invasion, whose policy seems to be to antagonize everyone in Ashurum's clothing they come across, even the ones who are unarmed or are clearly clearly caring for one of them. This comes back to bite them in the ass since Kai might've been nice enough to not retaliate, but Shenlong, on the other hand...
 * Conspicuous CG: Cityscape in the OP
 * The Empath: Asuka, who is apparently able to sense emotions by touching people, and various intense emotions from great distances. Maria might have some qualities from this too.
 * Friend to All Living Things: Asuka again.
 * Hopeless Suitor: Dzhyma was smitten with Asuka at first glance. Unfortunately for him, Asuka only has eyes for Kai. Doesn't stop him from declaring them rivals in love, though.
 * Ill Girl: Hikaru, Kai's beloved little sister and his reason for coming to Ashurum in the first place.
 * The Ingenue: Asuka fits pretty well, except for the whole "immune to sexual innuendo" thing. (See Panty Shot below)
 * Jerkass: Shenlong. So very much.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Yuuki, who, to be honest, is basically a money-hoarding jackass who works Kai like a slavedriver, doesn't particularly seem to care about putting him into seriously dangerous positions and forces him to dress like a woman. Twice. Also takes care of orphaned children,  raised Asuka pretty much by himself and does come to care for Kai's wellbeing too. Even if he won't really admit it.
 * Lethal Chef: Asuka, to the extent Yuuki couldn't speak for an entire day after tasting her cooking. She's been given a permanent ban from the kitchen, making this... Stay Out Of The Kitchen?
 * Little Brother Complex: Shenlong, who does want to make Shinlu happy, but fails to actually listen to what she herself wants, gets rather... touchy whenever something seems to be threatening Shinlu... or taking her away from him. He pretty much crosses into Knight Templar Big Brother territory when  Then again,
 * Manipulative Bastard:  Seems nice enough and   ...until you realize it was all probably a well calculated ploy to
 * Mega Corp: 12 of them, to be exact. They decide pretty much everything.
 * The Messiah: Kai, who's convinced humans and Espers can get along despite all the All of the Other Reindeer vibes and doing his best to achieve this.  At least we know where his mindset lies on the Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism.
 * Mundane Utility: Kai's Esper powers and military training are, for most of the first part of the series, used for things like retrieving lost pets, stealing comic book thieves, getting ingredients for ramen and dressing like a woman.
 * Opening Narration: Asuka's "My life with Kai and Yuuki" story.
 * Panty Shot: Just one (and the audience never sees it) but it manages to double both as a Crowning Moment of Funny and the indication Asuka is neither the Innocent Fanservice Girl nor in need of the The Talk. Remember, Yuuki, never make a girl with a short skirt climb a ladder before her Love Interest...
 * Promotion to Parent: Kai's and Hikaru's parents are nowhere to be seen so he became her caretaker. Yuuki is this for a whole bunch of kids and basically Asuka as well, despite being more fitting to be her brother age-wise.
 * Sacrificial Lamb: Poor Ruri...
 * Speaks Fluent Animal: Asuka, of the "speaks human to the animals who make animal sounds in return and understanding is achieved" variety. Apparently, somewhat linked to her being...
 * Thou Shalt Not Kill: Kai, who will go for non-lethal incapacitations without fail. Even against Mecha-Mooks. (though the Mecha Mook in question was once human, but...)
 * Villainous Crossdresser: Shelly, who confuses things further by being rather... attached to Shinlu, making it look like Les Yay for the unaware. Made worse by the fact they don't really state it outright until the finale. Bridgets were dropped.
 * We Help the Helpless: While living with Yuuki and Asuka