Photon Earth is a bit of an idiot. He is not too smart, but he makes up for what he lacks with his incredible strength and kind heart. When his friend Aun Freya runs away from their village, he embarks on a quest to save her and bring her back.
On the way he gets involved with the space pirate Kiine Aqua, who crash landed on Photon’s home planet, the Star of Sand. She’s after her grandfather’s Aho recorder – and the location of the powerful lost Brain Stone.
After her is the Emperor’s loyal agent, Papachari the 7th. Together with his loyal (but incompetent) henchmen, the Puchis, they seek to capture Kiine for the favour of the princess Lashala.
Together, Photon, Kiine and Aun embark on a fun-filled adventure, dealing with things like disastrous cooking contests, exploding spas and cheerleading aliens. All the while the chase continues in the madcap action adventure.
Photon is one of those animes that provide nothing more than some mindless fun. But this one is done in a really good way. Photon, Aun, Kiine and Papachari are really fun characters. Papachari as an over-the-top villain his humour is handled in a very clever way. The story, based on the power of black marker pens, is actually well thought out, and a coherent (if a bit sandy) world for these characters has been created. The fact that you are dropped right into the middle of a storyline doesn’t seem to make a difference because the writers have ensured that you know more than enough of what is going on. Plus, the main character likes sleeping in a box. How much more cool could you ask for?
The visuals of this anime have been well handled. It has found a nice cross between well-drawn anime and the deformed type style usually preferred for this genre of anime. The facial expressions are what make this anime. Photon’s eyes and Aun’s expressions had to the hilarity of the situations they find themselves in. There is a little bit of nudity in the show, but nothing too tasteless. Although some could argue that it is a bit gratuitous. Still, whatever makes the Art Director happy.
The soundtrack didn’t stand out as anything special. The voices were okay, Papachari stealing the show for me. His little minions (Puchis) were pretty cool sounding too.
Overall, this anime was one of those fun little ones you watch when you don’t really feel like concentrating too much – Plus it’s worth a couple of good laughs.
(Historical Note: This was written back in April 2003. Thankfully my writing has improved greatly since then.)
Related Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photon_(anime)