E's

E's (エス) is a Japanese shōnen manga series written and drawn by Satoru Yuiga. It was originally serialized in Monthly GFantasy from 1997 through 2005, and later published in 16 tankōbon volumes by Square Enix from March 18, 2003 to February 27, 2010. The series 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.

The series was adapted into a twenty-six episode anime series entitled E's Otherwise (エス·アザーワイズ) by Studio Pierrot. It debuted in Japan on April 1, 2003 on TV Tokyo; the final episode aired on September 23, 2003. Two light novels and three drama CDs related to the series have also been released in Japan.

Broccoli Books licensed the manga series for English-language publication in North America in 2006. ADV Films licensed the anime series for North American broadcast and distribution, with the English dubbed version of the series airing on Anime Network.

Plot
Kai and Hikaru are protected by a corporation called ASHURUM, from a society that fears E's. ASHURUM is 1 of the 12 corporations that rule the world. Found by Eiji, Kai was selected to be in ASHURUM’s special force AESES and had to undergo intensive training in different areas, such as combat, hacking, and psychic training.

When Kai had free time he visited Hikaru at the hospital. Hikaru's condition never improved, however. After a year, Shen-lon warned Kai that Eiji actually only wanted his sister, because she was said to possess amazing psychic powers, but she was not able to use them due to her illness. Shen-lon then went on to tell Kai that Eiji was just hoping that Kai would have those amazing powers too.

Kai didn’t believe Shen-lon and goes on a mission to Gald city, with the other E's, to infiltrate a hideout of guerillas that is said to have been using E’s against their will. Kai finds some civilians caught in the middle of the battle. While trying to save a little girl, one of the civilians that is afraid of E’s, shoots and kills Kai’s partner.

Kai, still shocked from the death of his partner, tries to help the civilians, but meets up with Shen-lon. In a rage, Shen-lon unleashes a psychic blast that decimates half the city.

Later, Kai, washed up ashore, was found by a girl named Asuka. After being brought back to health, Kai was told by Yuuki, Asuka's brother, that he would not have his psychic powers back to the level they were unless he goes back to ASHURUM. However, after spending some time in the city with its residents, Kai decides to stay with Asuka and Yuuki for a while.

Characters

 * Kai Kudou (戒＝玖堂) is the series protagonist. An orphan, his only remaining family member is his sickly sister who is said to have extremely powerful psychic powers. It is also believed that Kai has the same power but hides it. It is either he hasn't unlocked these powers yet or isn't aware of them.  He's also extremely sensitive to sweets, to the point where even the mention or sight of it makes him uneasy.


 * Hikaru Kudou (光流＝玖堂), Kai's younger sister, is really ill, and stays in ASHURUM's hospital. She is often visited by Kai or Eiji.


 * Shen-Long Belvedere (神龍（シェンロン）＝ベルヴェディア) is a very powerful psychic and hates anyone who gets in his way, especially Kai. Hates normal humans because of the rough childhood they caused him and his sister, Shin-Lu Belvedere.


 * Shin-Lu Belvedere (神露（シンルー）＝ベルヴェディア), technically the older sister to her twin Shen-Long. She cares about her younger brother a lot as an older sister should. She was put in a coma and brain washed again after recovering.  Seems to have a crush on Kai.


 * Yuki Tokugawa (勇基＝篤川) is Asuka's foster brother, he does odd jobs for money. He also takes care of the kids in a run-down city called Gald that don't have a family. He allows Kai to stay at his house for a while.


 * Asuka Tokugawa (明日香＝篤川) is first child that Yuki started to take care of in Gald, and now lives with Yūki. Asuka finds and takes care of stray animals that she finds. She attempts to help around the house, but her cooking is horrible. She is later revealed to be a witch with powers of her own.


 * Eiji Sagimiya (曳士＝鷺宮) the head of ASHURUM who claims to want to help the young psychics in his care be treated equally, but in reality desires to use Hikaru and Kai for his own purposes.


 * Maria (マリア) a witch and the granddaughter of Erimiya who befriends Yuki and later aids him in the quest to bring down ASHURUM.


 * Erimiya (衿宮) the wise man of Gald who Eiji seeks because of the knowledge he has.

Manga
Written and illustrated by Satoru Yuiga, E's was first serialized in GFantasy in 1997. The individual chapters were then compiled into 16 tankōbon volumes by Square Enix. The first volume was released on March 18, 2003 with the final volume released on February 27, 2010.

The series licensed for an English-language release in North America by Broccoli Books. As of October 2007, the company has published four volumes of the series. The series is also licensed for regional language releases in German by Carlsen Comics and in Chinese by Tong Li Publishing.

Anime
Studio Pierrot adapted the manga series into a twenty-six episode anime series entitled E's Otherwise (エス·アザーワイズ). Directed by Masami Shimoda, the episodes debuted in Japan on April 1, 2003 on TV Tokyo; the final episode aired on September 23, 2003.

ADV Films licensed the anime series for North American distribution in 2004. It initially released the series across 6 DVD volumes, with the first volume released on February 15, 2005 and the final volume released March 21, 2006. On December 12, 2006, the company re-released the entire series in a single five-disc box set. ADV Films also released the series in Germany, with German dubbing provided by Elektrofilm.

The anime series uses two pieces of theme music. "Jōhō" (情報) performed by Suitei-Shōjo is used for the series opening theme, while "Tonight/Midnight" by Chicochair is used for the ending theme.

Light novels
Two light novels adaptations of the manga, also written by Yuiga, have been published by Square Enix. The first volume, E's The Time to Baptisma, was published on February 26, 1999. The second volume, E's Unknown Kingdom, followed on January 27, 2000.

Drama CDs
Square Enix released three drama CDs based around the manga. The first, E's Volume 1 was released on September 25, 1999. The second, E'S Vol Extra, followed on March 24, 2000. The final volume, E's Volume 2, which used the same voice actors as the anime adaptation, was released on September 26, 2003 after the television broadcast concluded.

Other media
E's Zero World Guidance (E'S ワールドガイダンス 零), published by Square Enix in August 2003, is a guidebook containing additional information about the various fictional aspects of the series, characters, etc.

eSpecial: E's Postcard Book contains fifteen postcards featuring characters from the series was published in March 2003.