Towa no Quon is not exactly original but it's certainly good. The show borrows some elements from Terra-E and Xam'd and those who've watched both of them may be a bit troubled through its first episode. But endure it and you'll have a fairly good show, with nice twists, some good combat sequences and a nice drama about society rejection and mutant humans being hunted by those who fear their power (this is certainly the unoriginal part, but it's well presented at least).
Art & Animation
Towa no Quon lacks consistency here. Not only meaning the quality of animation and art through episodes, but the atmosphere of the show is not always presented with the most fitting art. The art style of the human characters is somehow typical, while the foes are darker and the monsters are colorful creatures that are completely out of place amongst everything else. The animation is good but sometimes uses a bizarre distorted style to emulate better combat sequences. Considering the OVA format of the show and comparing it to many others of its kind, the quality is very lacking, but at least is good enough to watch.
Sound
In truth, Towa no Quon music never caught my attention. It was certainly not remarkable, but was also not lacking because I never felt silent moments or boring scenes. The lack of a intro to bring the atmosphere of the show is a negative point, but the ending musics are good enough, only wasted at where they're put. Voice-acting is very solid and aid the overall presentation, without annoying voices that are usually torturing the audience nowdays.
Story
Towa no Quon story is not very original. It has the typical elements brought from the old X-men and many other series that places mutant/esper humans amidst a society that treats them as a source of fear and chaos. The hunted espers are brought together by a single powerful one known as Insania and he is always trying to save more and more espers only for the sake of living. The absurdly evil villain is always on the hunt and the show tells the struggles of these espers and mainly the darker past of the protagonist. While the concept is not exactly amusing, the twists and turns of the show are very entertaining, creating nice moments and making the show enjoyable for the whole run.
Character
The protagonist is the savior kind of guy, but unlike what his art style implies, he's not the typical japanese student or anything like that. He is more serious but borrows the stupid elements in terms of never giving up regardless of the situation. He becomes more complex within the show but the rest of the cast is very limited to give anything exceptional. The support cast is full of cartoonist examples of steroetypes and are not exactly developed. The enemies are completely mindless and lack reason to act, making their whole participation only a excuse to create nice combats and cyborg armors. It's a shame the cast is s shallow because the twists are great and create the necessary elements for better characters to evolve.
Value
Originality is not the forte of Towa no Quon, but it's 40-minutes format and the nice twists of the show make it a more enjoyable watch than you would think after knowning its initial idea. The characters are generally shallow and the monsters are far too colorful for the darker setting. The show could be a lot better it if had a more fitting art style and perhaps if the support cast were less sterotypical. Towa no Quon brings nothing truly new or exceptional, not even a great animation quality that is common to OVAs, and that's a shame.
Enjoyment
With weak characters and an unoriginal concept, many would think Towa no Quon to be a boring show. That happily doesn't happen. Towa no Quon twists, the nice combat sequences, the good tense atmsphore and the episode format makes it a enjoyable experience that makes up for the overall shallowness of the show. Those looking for anything similar to Terra-E may find some joy here, as well as any looking for a nice shounen show that is not dependant on the tsundure and loli-plagues.
Comments
First of all, Towa no Quon made me remember early 2000's shows. Not because of its quality (which is not great, but also not bad), but because it uses a balance of action, drama, and comedy that was more fitting to shows of that age. You won't see tsundures, you won't be plagues by loli girls, by ecchiness, or anything like that. The more "comedy" moments are subtle and never break the dramatic atmosphere of the setting, and that alone was worth for me to watch it.
However, even though I enjoyed the show, I can't hide its weakness. It is far too unoriginal and has characters that you are likely to forget their names and motivations as soon as they are removed from screen. Only a few nice characters remain and they alone are not enough to make the series truly shine.
I can only say that animes are far better presented in 40-minutes episodes. As far as I remember, even the most stupid of the shows that had a 40-minutes format had a better impact than some average shows with 23 minutes. It's unlike for the japanese tradition to change, but I'm certainly in favor of having more and more shows with these larger episodes.
