Not entirely original, but still a fun opening act.
What They Say:
No man, not even a superhuman, can stand alone against a faceless adversary. In futuristic Tokyo, a new breed of humans, known as Attractors, awaken to find themselves prey to Custos, a sinister organization of cyborgs. However, strength lies in numbers and hope for survival grows from the emergence of a leader: Quon, an idealistic youth with the power to heal. Along with the speed demon Yuri, psi-voiced Kiri, telepath Tei and teleporter Takao, the Attractors only chance to survive is to unite and fight back – HARD. The best names in epic, superhero sci-fi anime come together to produce a new kind of legend: TOWANOQUON!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Towa no Quon is a feature film that is being broadcasted in six parts. Here in the US, the Anime Network will be streaming each part in a sub-only format, with the first part available now, and each additional part scheduled every other week. Having now watched the first part, I won’t go out of my way to say I was blown away, but I did have a lot of fun.
In a futuristic world, certain people have started to develop strange powers, from psychic abilities, to super speed or strength, and even things like teleportation. These people, known as Attractors, find themselves the target of an organization known as Kustos, who want to eliminate the Attractors in order to promote their own brand of world peace.
Enter Quon, a member of the counter-terrorist organization Insania. Quon is an Attractor with the power to shape shift and heal any wounds. With Quon’s assistance, Insania is dedicated to finding and protecting Attractors before Kustos can eliminate them. Unfortunately, Insania is small and cannot be everywhere at once. The question is whether this group can be I enough places to foil Kustos’s plans.
Towa no Quon is not exactly an original idea. Groups of people with special powers fighting each other for their ideals is a plot that I’ve seen plenty of times before. The way this story is working out through the first part is particularly reminding me of the X-Men. I say this because the origin of the powers is (to this point) mysterious, and they all develop in different ways. Quon can transform and has a healing factor, Kiri can make things happen with her voice, Yuri is super-fast, Tei has telepathy, and Takao can teleport. And that’s just the main members of Insania. The same power doesn’t seem to show up twice.
But what Towa no Quon lacks in originality, it more than makes up for in being fun. Quon is very likeable as the idealistic protagonist, Kiri is adorable and is shaping up well as Quon’s potential love interest, and Kaito is looking to be a delightfully evil antagonist. Add in the fact that there is quite a bit of fun and well rendered action between Kustos and the forces of Insania and some nice understated humor in the quieter moments. I got lost in this episode for the full forty minutes, and really that’s the only thing I ask for.
In Summary:
Towa no Quon may not have the most imaginative plot, but this first part was very entertaining. The cast is likeable and there is some great action. Considering the overall brevity of the series, I have faith that it will keep it up. I can’t wait until the next part. Recommended.
Grade: B+
Simulcast by: The Anime Network
Review Equipment:
Windows 7 PC w/2.66 GHz Intel Core i7 Processor, 6GB RAM, XFX Radeon HD 5770 1GB DDR5 PCIE Graphics Card w/ HDMI-out to Magnavox 37MF337B 37” LCD HDTV