Towa no Yuugure is an original anime by P.A. Works… a studio that has produced some pretty good original stories and visual novel adaptations in the past, so when they decided to do one involving my second-favorite sci-fi genre, artificial intelligence, I was keenly interested in checking it out. The episode I checked out is labeled as Episode 0, serving as a prologue of sorts. Still, it was enough for me to formulate an opinion on the series. Will Towa no Yuugure be another success from P.A. Works?
Let’s go!
First Episode Synopsis
Akira lost both of his parents in an accident when he was just seven. A colleague of his father took him in, where he met Towasa, his new stepsister, who is just a year older than he is. Towasa is a super genius, already achieving doctorates and starting her own A.I. research company at the ripe old age of 18. Akira is infatuated with her and wants to follow in her footsteps, so he begins to secretly study her research in hopes that, one day, he could stand by her side, both as a colleague and as something more than just a stepbrother.
However, things aren’t going well for Towasa as several other companies within the sphere of A.I. research and development are displeased with her success and have conspired against her, even going so far as to bring religion into it, citing how immoral and unnatural A.I. is in the eyes of God. This causes a halt in research for her company. While she is on this hiatus, Akira uses the opportunity to get closer to her. Eventually, they go on a date where they end up confessing their feelings to one another.
Towasa decides to plow through the negative and resume research. She holds a press conference in the hopes that showing off her research will sway the naysayers into believing in her work. As she is giving her speech, someone rushes the stage and shoots at Towasa. Akira rushes and shields her. While she is struck, Akira is fatally shot… or so we think. Akira then wakes up in a shell of a building, looking out over the city that is left in ruins.
Worth Watching?
MAYBE – The premise is there, but the execution just isn’t. This first episode was a chore to sit through as everything felt forced. Then, the predictability hit as the foreshadowing was about as subtle as a brick to the face. Some of the plot points were also highly contrived and borderline unbelievable.
For instance, Towasa having several doctorates and her own company at 18? I mean, Doogie Howser kind of pulled off being a doctor before puberty hit, so the story isn’t as far-fetched as one may seem, but to go from her being a little kid in the opening scene, to being this massively successful and brilliant teenager while having the personality of a common girl in high school… well… reaching is a term I would describe it, but I went with it because why not?
When we first meet Akira, he’s having an almost wet dream over his stepsister. So, we’re going with the Domestic Girlfriend angle, eh? Whatever, they’re not blood-related, so it’s fine, right? Okay, I’ll roll with it.
Then, they set up the romance with the slow heartbeat of something approaching. I’m sitting here going… “Okay, as soon as she confesses, someone is coming out and stabbing her in the back.” Well, I was wrong, but about 2 minutes later, she got shot on stage at her own press conference, so I didn’t exactly win the game of Clue, but I was in the ballpark.
The only shocking revelation was Akira waking up in the future with the world seemingly in ruins… and it’s not truly that shocking because that was laid out in the official synopsis for the show, thus ruining the big twist straight out of the gate.
I already see a lot of wasted potential in this show and what this prologue episode could have been, but there was enough here to make me want to see how all of this pans out… even if everything else was extremely flat.
Also, what happened to P.A. Works? Angel Beats was an incredible-looking anime with amazing character designs, while Towa no Yuugure looked like it was the team’s first time hand-animating a show. Some of the proportions were off in nearly every scene, and the overall quality of the character designs was rather poor. Did they call up the Z Team and finally give them their opportunity to make something? It was a bit rough to watch at times. Hopefully, the quality gets a bit better from here on out.
We’ll see, though, but based on Episode 0, this one isn’t winning Anime of the Year from me, but I’ll give it a chance.
