Of all the shows I blog, this one might come closest to being strictly for myself, judging by the sparsity of views and comments.  And that’s really too bad, because it’s a worthwhile series.

In some ways I think you could argue that this is the best show BONES has done for quite some time, though probably I’d give the nod to UN-GO on balance.  The problem is, Towa no Quon is a very characteristic BONES series in that it has an extremely complex and involved plot.  For me at least, the every few months format has made it pretty hard to keep track of exactly what’s happening.  I’ve said before this would have been excellent as a one-cour TV series – why BONES chose the theatrical route I really can’t say.  But hard to follow or nor, the series has definitely been improving with each episode, and the fifth was the best so far.

It certainly isn’t going to shock anyone that Quon wasn’t dead with a third of the series still to go – his combination of immortality and main character armor is a formidable defense.  That doesn’t mean that this penultimate effort wasn’t full of legit surprises, though – it was pretty much the episode where the truth was revealed, in order to be resolved in the finale.  With the Fantasium Garden destroyed and Quon missing, things were looking pretty grim.  Kannazuki guided his charges to the home of his old friend Sanada-san, shaved his beard, and proceeded straight to Custos HQ, where he revealed himself to be one of the 10-member “Order” that was in charge of the whole operation being run by Kamashiro.  Things turned pretty ugly for Kannuzki, though, when Kamashiro learned the truth.

As revelations go that was small potatoes compared to the two that followed, though – and I’m not talking about Quon being alive.  First, it turns out that Towa is alive too – suspended in a crystal underneath Tokyo for a thousand years, having sealed to himself in fear of what his attractor powers were doing to the world.  That’s what Kannazuki has been hiding – from Custos, from his friends, and from Quon (who’s none too pleased when he finds out).  Then another bomb drops – turns out Kamashiro is an attractor himself.  He claims to have been collecting the children not to kill them but to protect them, and reveals that his power is the ability to co-opt other attractors powers (kind of an Adam Blade Needless thing).  And Towa’s power has the ability to enhance others’ powers, which makes he and Kamashiro a nasty combination.  Kamashiro sends his cyborgs to attack Sanada’s fortress, and even sweet talks some of Quon’s children (including Takao) into going with him.

Where all this “Tears of Time” stuff and Kamashiro’s true intentions and Kannazuki’s true intentions slot together is lost in that mess of BONES plot avalanche.  But it isn’t necessary to put it all together to feel the emotions of the episode strongly – Kannazuki’s pain, Quon’s sense of betrayal, the confusion of Quon’s followers, and best of all the conflicted nature of Shun.  The cyborg-turned-attractor is the most interesting character in the series, and his arc the most compelling.  The episode was fast-paced and exciting start-to-finish, earnest and dark in the way so much BONES sci-fi can be.  Or used to be, anyway, and doesn’t seem to be so much anymore.  I know the last episode is already out there and I’ll be posting on it as soon as time allows.