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Tuesday, 10 January 2012 00:00 |
 There seem to be a lot of "super-powered humans take on oppressive authority" shows these days, and Towanoquon is another example - a series of six feature-length instalments, it follows the adventures of Quon and the 'larvae' like him that he tries to protect - and it seems that he's been doing this for quite a while...
1 - The Ephemeral Petal
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...
2 - Dancing Orchid in Chaos
Custos have been investigating a string of killings, and have discovered some unusual chalk drawings that seem to be connected to them - the sign of a mind that's at the end of its tether. Kiri, meanwhile, has met a rather moody young boy and, in an attempt to cheer him up, introduces him to the others at Fantasia Gardens. Which turns out to be something of a mistake, as her new friend turns out to be connected to the recent killings - which not only brings them to Custos' attention, but places the Attractors in danger when they boy targets them...
3 - The Complicity of Dreams
Epsilon, the newest of Custos' cyborgs, is being troubled be memories of his family - specifically, of the night his little sister Risa was killed, ten years earlier. It's something that makes his medical supervisor curious, and becomes a more pressing matter when, during a battle against Quon, he suffers a 'malfunction' that may be related to his difficult past. In the same attack, Tei slips into a coma - and it seems that she and Epsilon are now sharing the same dream - and death awaits them both if a way can't be found to bring them back to the real world...
4 - Roaring Anxiety
It seems there are strong similarities between Epsilon and Quon, which leaves the Fantasia Gardens group wondering how best to deal with Epsilon. Custos have decided that he's unstable in his current state, too much of a risk to allow him to continue as-is - and so the decision is taken to use him for further testing, with the possibility of erasing his personality data should he show any signs of problems again. Meanwhile, the revelation that Quon has killed people in the past causes problems, as some of his group are no lnger sure if he can be trusted...
5 - The Return of the Invincible
Kamishiro's attack on Fantasia Gardens has brought the wrath of his backers down on him - he may have had an almost free-reign in dealing with Quon and his supporters, but there were still limits to his authority, and he's gone way beyond them. Not that this seems to bother hi - as far as he's concerned, he answers to a higher power. Beneath the city, the former residents of the Gardens make their way through the sewers to safety, while beneath the rubble, Epsilon has managed to survive - and now he's rather pissed. Quon, meanwhile, is still missing - could he have been killed in the blast..?
6 - Eternal Quon
Kamishiro has gained the trust of at least some of the former Fantasia Gardens kids, while Quon no long really know who to trust, after finding that his brother Towa was entombed beneath the park all along. For now, the first priority is to get Towa back from Custos' "tender" care - but first there are preparations that must be made, and issues that must be dealt with.
Towanoquon comes from BONES, the studio behind the likes of Eureka Seven and Xam'd, and was released in Japan as a series of theatrical releases - which shows a certain level of confidence in the story they're trying to tell. Although if you've read the episode summaries above, you'll realise that there's not a lot here that's hugely original - kids with special abilities being persecuted by a shadowy governmental / quasi-military group is not something new, and the series doesn't really do much to try and break away from how you'd expect that sort of tale to play out. The one point where it does, perhaps, is in the way that each of the kids' powers has a downside to them - in a way a little like the "price" that Contractors pay in Darker than Black. Grumpy teenager Takao, for example, can teleport, either on his own or with others if he needs to - but he'll break bones if he does, and the more people he brings with him the more bones he'll break. That's probably the most drastic example, but it's a common theme - these powers aren't perfect. Quon has his healing power, but he's also got potentially awesome fighting power - and the more he pushes himself in combat, the more he risks losing control of himself, and part of his backstory goes into graphic detail of what he's capable of if that happens.
The series also tries to keep the interest by making sure that this isn't a straight black versus white battle - Custos on the surface are definitely the 'bad' guys, but the cyborgs they use in their missions carry baggage of their own - human motivations, a bundle of neuroses that come along with their new implants and their status within Custos as little more that guinea pigs and, later, realisation for some that they're on the wrong side. It's a shame that, with the exception of Epsilon, we don't get to see more of them, as what we do see piques the interest nicely - but the series doesn't follow through on that interest as well as it could have. Custos leader Kamishiro is another case that isn't made the most of - he's a right bastard throughout the movies, but there are a few major plot twists centered on him in the final two movies that could well have been used to make him more of a person than an "oooh, aren't I a bastard" stereotype. Again it isn't done - making you wish Quon would just hurry up and get on with the job of getting rid of him.
The main reason for this is that the cast is simply too large - there are six movies here, but with a character count that's well into double figures, there's just no time to give them all the focus that they need. Quon, most definitely the star of the show, barely gets enough; as does Epsilon, who ends up filling an important role in the story - but for the rest of the cast, you get outlines of who they are and that's about it. On the character front as well, then, "disappointing" is most definitely the word.
There is some interest to be had from the conspiracy tale / greater plan that centres around Kamishiro, but that's not much of a high-point as it's not anything new or differently done. As a result, the overall package is nothing more than okay - it's not a bad series, by any measure, but neither is there anything here that makes it something you'd need to see. As something that comes along with a streaming subscription, it's a perfectly good way to waste some time, but would I shell out the money to buy it? Probably not - and that's a shame, as the material here could have been used to create something far better.
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