Sonny Boy

I honestly couldn't wait to talk about this anime somewhere. I started watching it when it was already on episode 7 or 8 so I didn't want to spoil myself on /a/ or anywhere else. This anime has a lot of things which I love, coming of age themes, weird atmosphere, meaningless wandering, weird monologues, things left open ended and up to interpretation etc. The animation stood out, especially the colour palette. The undrawn faces in far away shots, the ost... A lot of nice things basically. I had a big fear that it would turn out to be Wonder Egg 2.0 but I think Wonder Egg was a lot more style over substance than this, even though it had a lot of potential.

Nothing will change how much I like this anime, even though I've been reading a lot of lukewarm opinions about it. I think over time I've been getting better and better at deciding what I truly like (even if it's not really that good) and not being influenced by online strangers opinions. A lot of people seem to find this anime too uncertain in its ending, or thinking that the characters did a 180 in the last episode. I've also seen people absolutely obsess over the romance and shipping wars, and cucking and ntr. It really makes me feel like the collective iq of anime watchers dropped down drastically, but it's probably just me growing up. These topics will be what I'll mainly cover in this review.

First let's talk about romance. A lot of people were PISSED that Nagara got LITERALLY CUCKED!!!! by the turbo Chad Asakaze, probably because they self-inserted a little bit too much. While I don't think the main theme of this anime was purely escapism, I think that wanting Nagara to end up with Nozomi would be a pure escapist wish fullfilment fantasy. Nozomi had a bit of a manic pixie dream girl role through the most of the show, the quirky, extroverted qt to the boring, uninterested and introverted boy with a shitty life. She lifted him up like she did with the sick bird, and she nursed him back to health. Her role was that of a saviour, and I think even the show highlighted the fact that she didn't go through any catharsis like the other main characters did with her being dead in the real world, or so we thought. She was there for Nagara to help him realize who he is and to help him use his power to save others. In one discussion someone mentioned to me that Nagara returned the favour and helped Nozomi with deciding something but for the life of me I can't remember when that happened. I still feel like their relationship is more onesided in the victim-saviour way, and that Nozomi isn't that much of a romantic interest. Now, they made a promise to stay friends in the Real World if one were not to remember the events of the Other World, but now I bring to you episode 11. Rajdhani stated how you have to make a sacrifice in order to go back to the Real World. He was talking about Mizuho's cats whom she had to let go off in order to go back. He didn't mention Nagara, but that's because Nagara already made the sacrifice so to speak, he lost Nozomi. Which is why I think he didn't rush to her immediately in the Real World. But that's open to interpretation as well, since now that he knows she's alive, he can make that choice. But also I think, Nagara doesn't need Nozomi anymore. She helped him and their chapter in life is over. Maybe now that he's not broken anymore, she wouldn't have any interest in him. Maybe now, they wouldn't be compatible anymore? Much to think about! Mizuho is very similar to Nagara in that way, as she was saved by her cats. They gave her a purpose to live and grow and she was really attached to them. Therefore she let go off them. Do I ship Mizuho and Nagara? Not really, I don't mind it either way and I find it ridiculous that people are so focused on romance in this anime. Their relationship would make more sense to me as they have more things in common but they could also be good friends and anchors for the rest of their lives sharing that one crazy experience. Both outcomes seem fine and natural to me.

Now I'll move on to the "why did both Mizuho and Nagara become pussies in the Real World". I feel like this opinion is just an outcome from people being used to media that always has the characters progress in some way, and never look back or doubt themselves in significant moments. Doubt and regression are treated as more of an obstacle to overcome in the story than as part of living, if that makes sense. And I feel like this anime treats it as a part of life which I appreciate. One's growth as a person is not linear, and people will always make mistakes and doubt themselves, it's natural. When Nagara came back he saw Asakaze with Nozomi and felt discouraged. That's normal. He saw Mizuho brush him off and he didn't chase after her. That's normal. But he works in order to escape his bad family. He did make progress. Mizuho tried going back to the Other World when she got confronted with her shitty reality. Again, that's normal. But she ended up talking with Nagara and having a nice discussion with him. He even gave her great advice, and so did she. Personally I absolutely love this. We'll never know if their lives will turn out perfect and happy, but that doesn't matter. What matters is they both had the resolve to make this choice of going back, and they're going to try actually living this time.

Rajdhani was my favourite character in this anime, and the 11th episode really solidified it. I am happy with his ending, and I am happy to have him as an example that choosing to stay in the Other World isn't escapism, it supports my theory that this show isn't about hurr escapism bad wagie life good a la rebuild 4.0. He happened to wander for a very long time and he even sought after death for a while. His existence (as with many others) proves the Other World isn't an escapist fantasy we had hoped it would be but instead it is just Another Type of an Existence. Maybe after helping his friends he decided to die in his own way by becoming a forest, or maybe he just entered another stage of life of his ideal existence. Who knows but I really liked him.

Lastly I'll talk about one character I disliked which was the big breasted teacher whose name I forgot and refuse to look up. I was surprised how the show had no fan service but she had to show up. The fact that all students have normal bodies (and the fact that she's also a middle school student) made me hate her. But I think I fell for the trap, because she was made to be a hated character that causes strife. What made me hate her even more though was the abundance of positive comments from people watching the anime. She was just so annoying lol. Since she's kind of a student larping as a grown person, maybe she really just willed that ridiculous physical appearance into existence and used it to make people go crazy. Oh well, I still don't like her. Also her design stood out from the rest and she looked like she came straight out of Devilman Crybaby which I absolutely disliked. I know a similar bunch of people were behind these anime and Tatami Galaxy which is one of my favourites but it was such a horrible anime and I still hate it. Or maybe it's just the animators? I'm too lazy to research it I apologize. Adding to that, Japan Sinks also sucked.

I could talk about many other themes in this anime but I'm getting pretty tired now. All in all a really great anime original.