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"Shit! I'm found out!" These are the first words in Photon, the desperate cries of a beautiful, flying woman fleeing from your archetypical-flowing-hair-and-locks villain. The comedic factor of Photon is apparent from the start, and this futuristic/rustic anime almost defies a clear explanation of its genre. You might be wondering why this is so... well wonder no more - the same man that brought us Tenchi Muyo also brings us Photon, which immediately explains the similar character designs as well as the mix of technology and backwater planets.
As Photon begins, we are first introduced to the beautiful, fleeing woman scurrying through her spaceship. After the initial villain contact and resolution, we are then abruptly transported to some dry desert planet where a young boy is being dumped out of his favorite box in front of the village elder. His mission is to find his sister and return her(and the magical "shinki" that she stole - it looks just like a magic marker, and guess what, it IS a marker), but hyper sister Aun has intentions of her own. She's traveling across the desert to find her sweet Laman-sama, a famous rock star, and marry him. Photon comes along to save the day from the Desert bandits when Aun gets in trouble; we are now introduced to the true power of Photon - a young, quiet boy who apparently has tremendous mystical powers. Even the great big machine that turns pebbles into massive boulders is no match for Photon! ^_^ Well... you'll get it when you see it. Upon rescuing Aun, she escapes again to find her sweet Laman - but before doing so writes the word "baka" on Photon's forehead while he sleeps(oh, the ignominy!). After becoming lost in the great ravine chasing Aun, Photon comes upon a vessel that has crashed deep in the earth - and the mysterious woman Kiine from the beginning is resting quietly. He writes the mark "baka" on her forehead and cozies up. On this planet, a man and woman are considered to be married or the equivalent if they possess the same marks on their forehead, and the marks of a 'shinki' cannot be removed.
The animation in Photon is completely acceptable, especially if you're a fan of Tenchi Muyo. The anime often features lush backgrounds and carefully angled 'camera' shots. While it's nothing on the style of the biggest anime badboys, Photon certainly holds its own in the animation department. The music does tend to range wildly depending on the current mood - Photon switches between dramatic tension to comedic action in the blink of an eye, and the music follows accordingly. From a dramatic orchestral instrumental piece, to 90's guitar J-pop, to a sexy spanish guitar strumming quietly in the night, Photon has it all.
If you're looking for fun and mystic powers in a race for ultimate power, then check out Photon and you probably won't be disappointed. On a scale of 1 to 10, I give it 8 stars.
Number of episodes: 6
Approximate RunTime: 300 minutes
Aaron Post
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