Wonder Egg Priority

Wonder Egg Priority is baby’s first anti-suicide propaganda. It’s just the next, trendiest puberty anime on the block, and the egg symbolizes bad writing. It’s a teen drama filled to the brim with metaphorical imagery and action which screams their exact meaning so loudly and with so little nuance, they’re nearly literal, and as a result of this, anyone with even the slightest modicum of emotional maturity or life experience will find themselves knowing everything this show is going to say as soon as its subject matter is made so clumsily clear. Minor spoilers ahead. I once said about Nijigahara Holograph, a great thing about crushingyour story under the weight of its own symbolism is that it becomes so interpretive, critics can’t even parse through enough to say it made no sense. However, unless you, the author, actually dare to explain yourself and your imagery, you yourself can’t say it did in fact make any sense either. This is why abstract art isn’t typically respected by critics, and that’s a problem for Wonder Egg Priority, because ultimately, it’s just an artsy student film. It’s abstract art which portrays teenagers fighting personifications of suicidal tendencies in an effort to overcome them in this weird egg limbo to empower the audience who presumably finds their problems relatable, but the degree to which the show actually grasps what it seeks to comment on wavers greatly throughout the show to the point it almost makes these very legitimate adolescent anxiety issues seem laughable as a consequence of how over-the-top the imagery is. Ugly little CG goblin bullies called “Seeno Evils,” other ugly CG abominations called “Haters,” a heterochromic main heroine named “Ohto Ai” who’s name is enunciated “Odd Eye.” I mean, come on people! Explaining this kind of shit to an eleven year old would be patronizing, yet when these kinds of symbols appear in the same show as a very realistic portrayal of someone cutting themselves and a very poignant analysis of why people generally do so, it really begs the question how serious the authors were about tackling either issue. One episode it’s dangerously suggesting all chūnibyōs are medically schizophrenic, another episode it’s outrageously claiming boys never commit suicide for emotional reasons, and another episode it places a transgender boy, a biological girl, in the egg limbo after having established no boys are allowed in the egg limbo…so I guess it’s based and redpilled? My point is it’s extremely hit or miss, but when a show is hit or miss while touching on delicate topics, especially a show like this which is always soapboxing and using its cast as a moral mouthpiece, it just comes across as ignorant and disingenuous. For a show about dissecting people’s problems and helping them fight their mental hangups, the characters are, ironically, by far the weakest link. In the first episode, Ai completely rejects to the point of physically running away from the cordial and friendly advances of the most calm, collected, and kind girl on the planet, but then immediately afterwards in episode two, she’s suddenly trying her hardest to shamelessly insert herself into the life of the most stuck-up and thoroughly unapproachable character in the show, Neiru, as if we didn’t just watch an entire episode of her being portrayed as unmanageably shy. Momoe is a masculine looking girl who's self-conscious about her appearance and wants to look more feminine. Her problem is even though she's straight, she only attracts girls she has to constantly turn down who thinks she looks handsome and dashing. Men don't approach her because she looks too boyish, and she doesn't approach men because she lacks the self-esteem. One day, a man approaches her and asks her to go on a date, but when she shows up for the date, this time wearing a dress that accentuates her femininity, the man reveals he was gay and mistook her for a guy, and dumps her. The problem is this established Momoe—a character with short, straight hair who for some reason wears a collared shirt under a slim-fit sweater and khaki slacks—can, indeed, look like a girl if she puts even the slightest bit of effort into doing so, therefore invalidating her entire internal crisis. Ai’s school counselor who the show insistently implies is a creep who grooms his students, and who Ai saw after school being intimate with her friend who committed suicide soon thereafter, is suddenly turned into a contrived love interest/father figure when he hooks up with Ai's mom. Even character development that sticks the landing like that of Rika, the final of the four main characters, feels fruitless because it doesn’t change the group dynamic at all, and unfortunately, the plot turns out to be way more important than you thought, and the plot is nothing short of boring. The writers seem to be under this weird impression that by introducing supernatural elements into their story, you’re not allowed to criticize its internal consistency in any way. The whole egg limbo with all the crazy egg fights and bizarre monster designs never have any thematic weight, and despite the fact what little emotional weight is there usually misses the mark entirely, the big autistic shounen battle speeches they give usually leaves you feeling as if their emotions are all that really matters in this world and not to really mind the details of the allegory since it’s probably shallow anyway. However, given everything I discussed in the last paragraph, trying to dissect the characters typically falls apart, so all that’s eventually left to chew on is those visuals, which the show seems to want to sell you on without actually offering you any understanding of, kind of like how a magician will let you watch their trick a thousand times but never let you touch any of their mechanisms. Now, don’t get me wrong. I'm all for interpretive media, but said media has to actually suggest interesting interpretations. The egg monster representing a rapist has a big dick nose on his face with an unruly mustache around its base, the egg monster representing a coach who body shames their students has giant rolls of fat and absurdly large and saggy tits...okay, cool, so is that it? The issues the show wants to portray are always deeper than the symbolism—let alone its thin characterization—gives them credit for, and when the plot finally rears its ugly head, it tries to lazily wrap everything up by explaining away all the supernatural nonsense with a ridiculous pseudo science fiction plot which takes the time to imply all women who take their own lives only do so impulsively, and if it wasn’t for that fleeting moment of weakness, our villain who we just introduced five seconds ago who can poison people’s minds never would’ve been able to lead them to suicide. Meanwhile, I still can’t decide which is more offensive. That shit, or the aforementioned suggestion that boys don’t kill themselves for emotional reasons. Unfortunately for the ideologues in charge of writing Wonder Egg Priority, their little snowflake here isn’t special, and the same rules of storytelling which apply to everything else also apply to it. The show always comes down to pacing, but since everything gets shoved towards the tail-end of the story, elements of the narrative which probably wouldn't have been as egregiously melodramatic with proper set-up end up piling up at the end and making the whole thing a total slog, because the empty-headed artsy student film it was at the beginning ultimately didn’t have any legs, and the misguided Flip Flappers/Magical Girl Madoka★Magica/last two episodes of Evangelion/Kara no Kyoukai: Fuukan Fukei rip-off it was at the end did little but make an internal mess of its already externally messy symbols and expose this show for exactly what it is: a largely incongruous anime inspired by those far more genuine and artful than itself. I have an inherent respect for a commentary on how modern Japanese society handles mental illness and suicide, but as entertainment, it’s mediocre far longer than it is interesting. One may argue the show concerned itself more with visualizing its themes than it actually did with being mysterious about what they were, but that would imply any of these images were deeply meaningful, and more to the point, part of a plot which explored them appropriately at all. I’m only now realizing I haven’t said a single positive thing about this show yet, so I guess, if only in keeping with how back-heavy the show itself is, I’ll flip the script and admit this isn’t actually a horribly bad show as much as it is a confused one. Despite a hellish production crunch which resulted in a recap episode and some inconsistent quality throughout the latter half of the show, Wonder Egg Priority is gorgeous, and this obvious passion behind the animation proves the show isn't as much of a grifter as I made it out to be. It’s just an amateur therapist who needs to work though their own problems before trying to help others overcome theirs. Thank you for reading.

It has been a long time since an original anime truly pushed the bounds of the medium and really diverged from standard cookie cutter series. Wonder Egg Priority is not only original in that it has no source material, its original in that its concept has rarely been done before in any other anime series. If you have long been awaiting an anime with a dark magical girl atmosphere similar to that of Madoka or Flip Flappers, along with Mawaru Penguindrum style character designs and color pallets, with all the symbolism included of course, then this is a must check anime from the 2021 winterseason. This review will delve into why Wonder Egg Priority stands out among anime originals and why it is a contender for anime of the season even among one of the most stacked anime seasons in years. Story: 7 Initially the premise seems like the backstory for a high school set drama, however this quickly shifts during the first episode. At the start the protagonist, Ai Ooto, goes full hikkikomori due to personal issues, some of the issues include a close friend committing suicide and Ooto generally being ostracized while at school. She lives her days full of regret and dreaming about her friend, Ooto knows she should have stood up her for her friend who was being bullied, especially since it was because her friend protected her that she became a target. All of this is just the prologue to the actual story which begins when Ooto picks up an egg which asks her if she wants to change her future. The story really launches at this point, the audience is introduced to a dreamworld full of the regrets and the personification of inner problems that suicidal girls face, Ooto is given the task to save the girls who are in the eggs. She obtains eggs from a gacha machine and cracks them open, afterwards she needs to find a way to solve their regrets or help them overcome their inner problems. More is revealed about this later on, the plot twists involving the gacha eggs and the system are really well done and the messages the show deliver are executed in a completely satisfactory way. Every important scene is full of symbolism, this is definitely the type of show to watch with your full attention, it is also highly recommended that you pause and reflect between each episode. There are also a lot of heavier themes in place mixed with the lighthearted atmosphere, the themes are handled well and do not conflict with the more easy-going atmosphere outside of the dreamworld events. The director very effectively balanced the show so that it was never oppressively dark or painfully edgy but still carried the serious tone that should be expected given the themes and subject matter. Overall, the story is, until its ending, fairly well executed and one of the most original ones in recent anime, it tells a wonderfully crafted story of self redemption and overcoming inner turmoil, it gets a 7 out of 10 for its creativity and originality but it loses points for failed execution near the end. Art: 10 The artwork is movie quality, it does not feel like a TV anime at all, every single scene looks like something out of an anime movie. From the background art which looks lifelike at times due do some absolutely amazing tracing work, to the food which looks like it belongs in a Ghibli film with its detail and rich colors, everything in the show has a lot of love and care put into it to an extent that is shocking for a TV anime. Most of the transition scene backgrounds, such as Ooto walking in the rain or the flowers in the fields can very well work as wallpaper for a 4k computer background, it cannot be understated exactly how detailed all the art is for this series. The symbolism is reminiscent of Mawaru Penguindrum and Madoka, while the action is about as fluid as Mob Psycho despite the massively more detailed character design. With a combination of rather unique looking enemies, excellent fight Choreography and cuts during major attacks, Wonder Egg Priority might have some of the best action scenes among recent anime even though action is not even the main focus given the nature of the story. Character designs for all the girls were quite well done as well, the studio used a very saturated vivid color pallet for each character which can conflict with lighter backgrounds, however the characters actually contrasted in quite a beautiful way with the scenery present. The girls had unique traits such as a variety of skin tones, eyes colors, hair highlights and subtle differences in body type that set them apart from each other in a bold way, the studio did not use cheap tricks like recycling the character model with different hair colors or overdoing the body type differences between the girls to differentiate them. Every girl also has a unique outfit, texting style and accessories that convey their personality, an interesting weapon in the dream world which reflects their trauma, and they all have some of the most detailed reaction facial animations for when the girls are tense, excited, smug, frustrated, upset. Its worth adding that very few shortcuts were used like blank faces during distant convos, characters speaking without being seen, and there was next to no CGI at used at all for character movements despite the intense detail in their character design. Now the combat animation wasn’t perfect in that characters did have a lot of transition cuts during fights, however it was done in a tasteful way that actually added a lot of impact to the hard hits, blood splatter, knock back effects present. Wonder Egg Priority also managed to achieve something only a handful of anime have ever achieved, true horror during a fight scene, anime by design is pretty terrible at conveying a sense of horror due to how difficult it is to make a scene looks revolting, but that crocodile and butterfly scene really does it. Overall, the presentation of Wonder Egg Priority is spectacular, the show essentially has no notable flaws and exceeds expectations in every way, there is nothing present or lacking that lowers its score and due to this it receives a very rare perfect score for its art production values. The sound: 8 Interesting OP, an ED that closed each episode perfectly, sometimes in a hilarious tonal shift, but I maintain that it was perfect, the show also highly effective sound effects for fights. The OP itself including both the sound and the visuals really fill the audience with a strong sense of familiarity, it genuinely feels like the richness of daily life and all those small moments we take for granted being highlighted in the form of a warm and slow song. The background music soundtrack by itself was not that impressive, unlike other shows this series is compared to, for example Madoka Magica. However, on its own, it still complements the show well enough, and its memorable, therefore an 8 feels like a fair appraisal of the music. Characters: 8 The cast is all female, and they are all focused on saving someone they knew that committed suicide, this binds them together and gives them a common background. Outside of the common tie, these girls come from entirely different socio economic and familial backgrounds and they all have entirely different, but complementary personalities. Every girl is well fleshed out and this anime feels like an inverse Bechdel test in ways, there are next to no men present, if they are present, they are either a source of trouble or irrelevant to the cast. In short, the cast is very similar to most magical girl shows; however it goes a step above and beyond in both their characterization and their distinct designs, all of the girls have an important story to tell and they are all in this important journey together. As noted, before, men in the show are usually portrayed as bystanders or active antagonists, there is not much character development for them except one man who was very relevant for the protagonist. This is a notable weakness for the show, the antagonists are not really solidly fleshed out, the final antagonist was thrown in without any significant foreshadowing. It can be argued that the system itself and the girls inner problems can substitute as an antagonist, but its always nice to have a well characterized antagonist with their own motivations and goals that are clearly explained, while a true antagonist is sort of provided near the end of the series it felt a bit too rushed in to be counted. Despite missing a properly built up antagonist character, the main cast does grow together and complement each other well, they have their disagreements, conflicting opinions on whether or not they really have to undertake the egg gacha, and their moments of coming together after a major event. Overall, the main cast do feel like real characters with a lot of substance and depth, with multiple motivations for their actions and solid foundation behind the friendship they form with each other. The characters are a solid 8, it would have been better if there were solid antagonists and if the secondary cast such as family or the girls being saved had some more interesting moments, but the strength and development of the main cast was still quite well done. Enjoyment: 9 Between the exceptional visuals, the original plot, interesting cast, and initial great direction, Wonder Egg Priority was easily among the 3 best shows this season. This is despite the fact that some of the most well awaited and popular sequels came out in the same season. Every episode was a fun ride, and it was entertaining to come up with theories on where the show was going to go and ending up being right or wrong. It ranks very high on the enjoyment scale overall, definitely one of the most fun anime in recent history, probably the most fun original anime in years. Overall: 9 The production values, direction, story, cast all being excellent lead to this show being given a 9 overall. This was one of the best recent anime that made, definitely one of the best original anime in years, it had an excellent approach a lot of hard issues without making the story edgy and outside of the last leg of the story it was executed with perfect direction. If you enjoy visually impressive abstract shows with a psychological thriller plot, Wonder Egg Priority is right for you.

Wonder Egg Priority is a self-defacing, indecisive, insensitive, and genuinely insulting car wreck of a story seemingly only able to commit to the author’s insistence that young women definitely always kill themselves because they want to fuck older men. While often stated to be an example of a “strong start, weak ending,” this always feels highly disingenuous. While the opening act is carried by the mesmerizing forward momentum of the flash-and-fire a talented director and hardworking animation team brought to it, their devotion could only carry a horrific script so far. Beneath the facade of a sophisticated art anime lies a blatant continuation of Nojima’strauma-porn fueled daytime tv drama roots. The portrayal of young women’s suffering is at best blunt, on average voyeuristic, and at its worst actively abhorrent. The finale’s reveal of the story of Koito’s death is a thematic poison pill that retroactively rots away every inch of the story as Nojima’s true lack of empathy for the subject matter of his traumatically indulgent shitshow is revealed in full. Even ignoring thematic elements, the final act utterly fails to weave together anything resembling a compelling narrative, throwing new plot points at the wall like a drunken game of darts before it jumps out the window and baits a second season so it doesn't have to pay its tab. I originally planned to make this a much longer review, but it rapidly became clear to me that Wonder Egg didn’t deserve this level of thought - not when the sum total of it’s cultural legacy has already been reduced to “top ten darkest moments in anime” listicle fodder, and not when Nojima clearly didn’t put anything resembling that level of thought into his own work.

So, Wonder Egg Priority. Interesting show to say the least, it's up to interpretation either this show is good or a complete garbage. Well I will explain to you why this is an outstanding show, the best of winter season 2021. Story: Story is pretty simple and you could get it from the premise, but basically it's a bunch of teens fighting against depression and suicidal thoughts in human form. Every episode is a one week adventures, roughly connected with one another. An evil force is mostly metaphorical, rather than being a real thing, but as show goes on we uncover some stuff in reality also. As a standaloneepisodes are really good with giving you an important message. Art is movielike, fight scenes in this show are the best, very colourful and well drawn. Each character has unique design which in a way represents their personalities. Everything is fluid, backgrounds are well drawn. Not much to say about it, other than that being an excellent piece of work from the artists. Sound design are very good, some scenes are silent than it is necessary, OST as a whole is alright. Opening is unique, cause of how quite it is, that actually works perfectly with the saddest episodes, ending is sung by main cast voice actors, song is upbeat and catchy, idk if it fits, but I was ok with it. Characters. Well, characters is something why I enjoy this type of shows, and this one doesn't let me down. Each character has a distinct personality and goal, all of the have their own stuff to deal with. Trauma is real in this show and it making me feel what the characters feel at the moment of time. Characters progress, and have more development as the show goes on. Slice of life moments are so good, and these heartwarming moments just making me feel even more sad than something traumatic happens to them. Enjoyment: You definitely will enjoy this anime if you enjoying weird psychological dramas like Eva, or Madoka Magica. If you are not fan of these shows than you might enjoy it, idk, but I liked that either way. Overall: So that just ended on an... ... interesting point, there has to be another season overwise idk what to make of this. I will give it a ten for now and wait for the some announcement from the studio if there is gonna be an additional episodes or not. *Update so additional special, was comedically bad, but I won't change this review, cause some people seem to like it. Thanks for reading my first review! Enjoy the show.