Wonder Egg Priority

*spoilers for Wonder Egg Priority* Watching a critical darling turn sour over the course of its run never produces a good feeling. Instead of getting excited for a work that will satisfy you or blow your mind, you begin dreading it, perhaps even looking forward to it out of morbid curiosity instead. It’s a Hindenburg, a Titanic in slow-motion, as the cracks begin to show and the behind the scenes production troubles start coming to light. The show was on fire, and it was never gonna amount to what it promised. This is the story of Wonder Egg Priority and its decline in both quality and reception. Let's start with the good and promising aspects, first. One of the things WEP didn't get a lot of praise for, even back during the glory days of the first 7 episodes, is its OST. DÉ DÉ MOUSE combines a lot of trippy, artsy, and sometimes even distorted tracks with electronic music and even grindcore. These tracks are often dynamic, and even the more lighthearted tracks have a sinister, dreadful undercurrent to them. This in turn, fits both the lighthearted and frenzied sequences well, at least for the most part. Towards the end of the show, the placement of the tracks falters significantly at points, but for the first 10 episodes, it's used appropriately. Admittedly, the OST also does feel a bit overplayed by the end as well. Then there's the OP, "Sudachi no uta'' by Anemoneria. It's a tranquil, fragile melody that blossoms into a beautiful chorus by the seiyuus of the main 4 girls. It's easily one of the best OP themes of Winter 2021, and one of the standouts of the year. The same can't be said for the more forgettably produced ED, though. What immediately caught everyone's eye was the fact that this is a CloverWorks production that actually looked good. This is easily their best work to date, often boasting bombastic and impactful action sequences. The colors and character designs were also vibrant without feeling oversaturated. Shin Wakabayashi's direction is also fairly strong at points, both with the dynamic fight scenes, and when the story wants to punctuate some of the heavier moments with interesting shots. The best example would be episode 7, where we get to see Rika grappling with her hatred for her mother as well as her own suicidal tendencies. These sequences are visceral yet tastefully done. The art style is also rather solid, and works for some particularly fun facial expressions here and there. That doesn’t mean the visuals were amazing. Oftentimes, whenever any liquid is animated, it's horribly choppy, sometimes holding on a frame for over a second before any movement occurs. Environmental CG and textures are both about as bad as one would expect from the studio if they’ve ever seen the likes of Bunny Girl Senpai. Following episode 1, a lot of weird motion-blur backgrounds get used to sometimes jarring effect. By the end of the show, sometimes visceral moments are just shown off in the distance instead of being given the full, on-screen treatment. The show doesn’t look bad, but perhaps it doesn’t look quite as amazing as Twitter often painted it as when it started. Then we come to the characters. The best part about them just so happens to be the interactions between the 4 main girls: Ai, Rika, Momoe, and Neiru. Their chemistry tends to be rather rock-solid, and the show really captures what it’s like for teenage girls nowadays to just hang out, chat shit, text, etc. without coming off as out of touch pandering. The personalities of Ai and Rika can be quite endearing and audacious, respectively. Rika in particular, can be comically morbid, especially when the airs she puts up paint her as an exceedingly bad person compared to who she actually is. Unfortunately, this is where the tone of this review takes a dramatic turn. To explain why, let’s discuss what Wonder Egg Priority is actually about. The show is about girls who have to break eggs to then protect the girls that hatch out of them. They protect them from not only evil minion creatures, but the physical caricature and embodiment of whoever/whatever is responsible for or most associated with their suicide. The show uses this for visual metaphors often tangentially related to the girls’ traumas. One of the biggest problem with the show is that it sets up a bunch of bleak or hot topics for its character to winge over such as suicide and bullying, only to not follow-up on them very well and in some cases, ultimately just abandon them or treat them without the level of tact or grace required. As for the lack of exploration, there are two exceptions (one of which is bad) and two examples that really embody this. Let’s start with one of the rules before we get to the exceptions. FIist, there’s Momoe’s experiences as a trans girl, and just how the show handles trans representation and strife in general. Momoe is a trans girl but some one-off antagonists don’t consider her such and she beats them. Sounds fine and dandy, but then some weirdness comes into play. For one, every episode that involves her identity in a major capacity also involves rape and sexual assault of those she’s trying to protect. While the handling of those issues isn’t the worst thing in the world, it is a bit scuffed that those only ever come into play when Momoe is the focus. Additionally, after her introduction, Rika and Neiru, two of the other main girls, get suspicious and misgender her in an accusatory fashion, believing her to be a guy. This results in her eventually breaking down in tears when she leaves, although it never gets brought up again, and they never apologize. It’s as if nothing ever happened. There’s also the fact that these things only ever came up in episodes 4 and 10, meaning that for the rest of the show, it’s not even touched upon outside of the backstory of the person she rejected who killed herself. While it can be seen as a nice thing that the main girls just accept who she is and never seek to deny her the identity she has, it’s indicative of how the show treats its themes and subject matter that her identity and issues barely come up at all outside of the episodes primarily focusing on her and the concurrent rape and sexual assault stories she has to learn about. As for the exceptions, let’s go to something positive again for a moment. Rika’s story is probably the best of the 4 main girls. The idea that she’s grappling with cutting herself and perhaps committing suicide due to a combination of her neglectful drunkard of a mother, her search for her elusive dad with only clues of 5 possible men to go off of, and the guilt of being a former idol responsible for an obsessive fan’s suicide is interesting. In episode 3, we see the latter get explored via a reveal after Ai and the situation the two find themselves in make it so she can no longer put up airs about her “wallet” she’s trying to save. In episode 7, we explore the latter and how in two specific moments, she contemplates giving up on life. One time, she attempts to cut herself but can’t bring herself to do so. The next, she’s giving into a suicide cultist responsible for the death of the dead person she has to protect this episode (and we’ll get to that idea later). The execution of her friends’ intervention getting her to break out of that and moralize about life does feel a bit rushed and obvious, but there’s nonetheless adequate exploration for the most part. Next, there’s Ai’s feelings for her teacher, Mr. Sawaki. ugh For some god-forsaken reason, this is the plot point that gets by far the most focus. Her teacher is in love with her mother, but she finds herself jealous about it. As it turns out, her dead friend, Koito, may have had a thing with her teacher according to speculation from her, so the teacher thinks she must hate him for that. She doesn’t, but hates the fact that he and her mom are dating because, no matter how many times she tries to deny it in front of her friends or suppress it when he invites her to c…

Pretty bad. I went in hoping for a show that would tug on the heartstrings and left irritated. The series introduces a lot of themes that have the POTENTIAL to be deep, but it only ever skims the surface and acts profound. That or it handles the topic very very poorly. There were a lot of scenes that had me scratching my head thinking, "Is that really what you wanted to tell the audience???" This would be forgivable save for the fact that the subject matter is SUICIDE and very often SEXUAL ASSAULT. In fact, the series brings up and deals with sexual assault flippantly, never ever delving into it. The whole thing ends up coming off as pretentious, especially with the next problem. This series likes to drop random plot points and heavily obscured symbolism in the hopes of being deep and shocking. Many of the story beats have zero foreshadowing, are completely misaligned with the running themes, are unreasonably unlikely/illogical to the point of humor, or are never elaborated on. This theorycraft bait for anime Matpats ends up destroying the plot and making the characters come off as unrealistic and unbelievable. The problem is it isn't being done alongside the plot, but rather INSTEAD of the plot. Essentially the author tells you, "Isn't this so bewildering and mysterious? No I'm not telling you anything about it, watch a youtube essay or something." Ham-fisted. Also I don't really need to say this, but AN ANIME 13 EPISODES LONG DOES NOT NEED 2 RECAP EPISODES. In case you were wondering: NO the special episode (HALF OF WHICH IS ANOTHER RECAP) does NOT make things better. It makes them WORSE. Please spare yourself the waste of time and skip this one. 3/10

I haven't watched anime in years and I decided to come back to it with Wonder Egg Priority. Was it a good decision? Yes. I expected some kind of Slice of Life in the beginning but that thought was shattered after just a couple of minutes. The beginning can be somewhat confusing to people but it's going to get better over time. The characters are great and I adore the story. I love how this anime deals with social criticism. I love the animations too! It's really, really well made. Honestly, if you haven't seen it yet you really should go for it.

100% one of my favorite anime’s ever. The way the show manages to fit so much into so little time is astounding. I definitely feel as though it was intended to be longer but I believe that with the time they did have they really made the most of it. This show is such an anomaly amongst anime, the all teen girl [non sexualized!!] main character cast, and especially the heavy real life subjects being handled as well as they did, really made this something super special. I absolutely adore this show. The plot is kind of everywhere at times, especially towards the end, but it never really bothered me. All the main characters in the show all have such unique personalities it’s impossible not to love all of them. And even despite how cool and lovable the girls are they all have a flaw of some kind that really rounds them out making them such perfect character archetypes. One of the biggest things for me is how theres absolutely no fan service in this whole show. It’s not prevalent for even a moment and I just adore that on a whole other level. Not only does it just make the show feel more serious, since the girls are actually dressed like normal teenagers and not monster fighting in clothes that don’t fit, but it also just makes the show a-lot more wholesome, I guess is the word im looking for? Its not a kids show by any standard, the topics are dark and serious, but they don’t take advantage of this fact by adding unnecessary inappropriate scenes. I 100% recommend this anime to everyone no matter who you are, its such a short-not-always-sweet masterpiece.

Trying to write if Wonder Egg Priority is good or bad is a difficult exercise, because most of the reasons why some will love this show are the very ones why others will loathe it. My take will be to try to give some hints that will hopefully help you to decide if you're likely to like it or not. No need to waste 6 hours of your life if you're not a good candidate for this kind of shows. This review should essentially be spoiler-free. I believe you might like this show if: 1/ You're fine with non-linear storytelling Wonder Egg Priority doesn't tell a story in a straightforward way. The plot inside a given episode will move from dream to reality and back, will not always present events in a chronological order, may show you how things really happened or how things were perceived by the involved character instead. There are always some hints to allow viewers to sort out this apparent mess, but it takes some thinking and possibly additional visions of the episode. This is made even more complicated because some topics that seemed very central in one episode can be basically forgotten after that, their resolution being only suggested by some hints two or three episodes down the line. It is a very sophisticated writing but it will put off a lot of people who don't want to turn a detective to enjoy an anime show, which is perfectly understandable. 2/ You're fine with having loose ends and unresolved topics The show tends not to explain anything. A lot of events occur and there are here and there hints to understand why they took place, but it is very rarely strong evidence and almost always subject to interpretation. This can be frustrating to some but it also gives a powerful sense of reality and insecurity, as the watcher is almost as lost as the characters. 3/ You're fine with going with the flow The writers obviously decided to play with the habits of anime viewers to categorize characters, behaviours and anime styles. They take a nasty pleasure to bait viewers with apparent evident behaviour or character type, just to fool them in the next episode. The fact is the show is completely unpredictable, always going where nobody will expect it to go, changing the mood, even the style along the way. Going in with a particular expectation will almost certainly be a frustrating experience, as the show will never be what you want it to be, it has its own path. You can only enjoy it, I believe, if you're willing to let go and accept wherever it'll bring you. 4/ You're fine with difficult subjects Wonder Egg Priority brushes over many difficult topics, suicide of course, which is one of the main ones, but also all of the underlying reasons that may bring young people to this extent: rape, bullying, harassment, despair, and in a more general way how badly our societies tend to deal with females. It does so in a very modest way, never entering into graphic horror, but concentrating on the characters that endured the trauma. That's a very powerful and also very touching way of giving the possibility to talk, for people who, most of all, lacked the chance to be listened to when they were living. It does make the show sometimes very impactful and can be quite shocking. It is usually well balanced with lighter moments, but might still put off very sensitive viewers. How accurate this depiction of traumas may be is difficult to fathom. I can just say that all commentators I read, who claimed to have experienced some of the traumas described in the show, said it was very good at it, while none said the contrary. It seems to me a good indication that the writer did his homework properly. 5/ You're fine with multiple layers of symbolism The show uses a lot of symbolism all along the way to convey some meanings. Each scene has obviously been given some thoughts on how to be framed and directed to be meaningful, and, although there is an obvious first layer that most people will find easy to decipher, there are many others that are a lot less obvious (check for instance the use of flower language described in various articles on the Atelier Emily blog). These lower layers give hints on interpreting what's going on or what some character said, usually illustrating the mood of the character or warning that what he/she says may not be the truth. You need to question whatever is shown, whatever is said, and not take anything at face value. 6/ You're fine with flawed characters Characters in Wonder Egg Priority are essentially traumatized ones, and as such, they're usually not frank with themselves, let alone with others. They may not actually lie but have just incorrect views on many subjects, because they are biaised, because they are not knowledgeable enough, because they can't face some truth. In short, they are very real. They are at best unreliable storytellers and everything any of the characters say must be questionned and evaluated with the little information we have. This led to some controversies about specific sentences in some episodes, coming from the fact that too many viewers are taking them at face value. Most if not all characters can also be frivolous, unfair, real cowards. They're not heroes. Wonder Egg Priority is a show like none other, for good or bad. Some viewers will see references to some other animes but that's because they concentrate on one episode or one aspect of the show. I find some similarities with Paranoïa Agent by Kon Satoshi, but that's probably just the non-linear storytelling, both shows are quite different in most other aspects. The truth is that it combines many elements coming from many sources in a very unique way. As such, it takes some radical stands, and I hope that the above hints will help you to decide if you should give it a try. As for me, this is definitely my prefered show ever. I liked how I've been constantly surprised, moved, sometimes shocked, without ever relying to cheap tricks. I liked how the girls feel real and indeed 14-years old. I liked how all the difficult subjects are presented very delicately, without moral or judgement, but also without shying away from the painful truth. I liked how the edition and direction show a lot of attention to details. I liked how the animation so exquisitely renders teenagers movements and attitudes. I liked the usage of music and the direction of the voice actors. I liked the whole ambition of the project. But I guess I'm right in the middle of the target audience for this show. Hope it helps.

At the start of the series everyone rated it as above 8 but somehow people got bored by the concept or did they not like the dialogs of the later episodes I don't know! But for me it was a solid 8 to the end![MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD] Story [9] Story starts with cute as hell girls getting bullied and somehow getting a weird egg in their dream where they fight to save the person that came out from their wonder egg. Story is well designed maybe some element like Neiru being a man made baby was a little too much and the girls had a little too much of mood swings every episode but I think that's what make it feel so real! I mean every person from that came out those wonder eggs had a good story of it's own. And I was seriously blown away by the story of how the wonder egg came about! Story is fresh, I don't think I have ever seen it some where else! Art[9] & Sound[7] No one can complain about the art and animation of the series. Fight were so fluid and punchy. I mean if you think about it this anime got a magic girl fight anime of it's own LOL. And for sound I say it's good but never so good that you will notice it making an impact, After the episodes ends I don't think I ever talked or thought about the sound separately in itself. Character design[7] No complains in character design either as the design suits the personality and the background of the character maybe a little generic for characters belonging to the cliché genres one being troubled ,one rich, one boy-like, one gyaru. So nothing new but nothing to complain about. Overall[8] I think the story is fresh and unique so even if the characters are a bit dull it doesn't matter that much. Definitely worth a match.

I loved it, from the art-style , characters , writing , world building and in depth thought provoking ideas on suicide and relationships. Overall the story was really engaging and entertaining and it takes me back to FLCL and serial experiments lain. Making the viewer think about the deeper meaning to the story and allowing for interpretation. It was really fun to watch but it also made me cry a lot, which gets bonus points for me personally. Soundtrack and visuals 10/10 To sum up cute girls do cute things 10/10 deep story that goes in depth talking about social issues 10/10 Ai being a wonderfully designed and well thought out character that brings me comfort and joy 10/10

There is a reason why no one talks about this anime nowadays. This anime had everything to become a cult classic in the community. The premise was great, most of the characters were interesting and you could get attached to their drama, but everything goes downhill around episode 7. It felt like the writers didn´t know where to lead the story or, in the best case scenario, the story was too big for only 12 episodes. For what I´ve read back in the day, the production was full of troubles, the whole team was working extra. All of that and the anime was a flop among japanese public, and by the ending, most people had already gave up. The ending is so, so bad, that it ruined everything the anime had built. All the praise the anime had received? forever gone. The only reason I give it a 7 is because the first episodes were really good. DO NOT WATCH THE ENDING!

What is Wonder Egg Priority about? This is a story about four girls who, through the extraordinary process of their involvement with Wonder Egg, reveal their own real-life psychology, circumstances, and problems, and then become aware of, resolve, and change their own lives. This is the focus of the story from start to finish. I think it is necessary to be aware of this first. (Various topics such as suicide, self-injury, and sexual violence appear in the course of the story. However, it is clear that attempts to present unrealistic solutions there, to assert the author's values, or to challenge social norms are not what this anime is aiming for.) The viewer must decipher the psychology, circumstances, motivations, past and future of the four main characters, which are presented suggestively throughout the storyline. I think that is where the fun of this work is found. Some people may find Wonder Egg Priority completely incomprehensible or confusing. I think that understanding the basic structure of the story will help them understand it. I don't want you to take this wonderful work in a negative way by misunderstanding it, so please allow me to give you a brief explanation based on my own interpretation. Through the basic development of cracking the Wonder Egg, defeating the Wonder Killer, and freeing the girls from their trauma, the psychology and circumstances of the four main characters are explored, and the girls become aware of themselves and change, which is generally the same process in each episode. Each of the sub-character girls is important in getting to know the main character girls. In Ep1, Ai realizes that she has wanted a friend through her relationship with "the girl who has no real friends". This changes Ai to try to make friends in Ep2. (This is the first time for Ai to try to make friends, as Koito had been her only friend until then, and her awkwardness is expressed in Ep2.) "Friends" is the part that leads to Ep13. In Ep2, Ai's relationship with the "the girl who despises herself." suggests that she has a "Needy" side that wants to be cared for by those around her. It gradually becomes clear that the reason for Ai's withdrawal is not only the psychological damage caused by Koito's suicide. This is the part that leads to Ep11 and Ep12 later on. In Ep6, Ai's relationship with "the girl who can see invisible things" suggests that she is "trying to make assumptions based on her suspicions and not confirming them with her own eyes". Ai realizes this and runs to see Sawaki. Then, Ai begins to attend school, which is a change. (Here we are also shown at the same time that Ai has hidden feelings for Sawaki, which are also foreshadowed in Ep3.) Based on these narrative structures, I think it is possible to organize what each episode of Rika, Momoe, and Neiru is also trying to show. For example, "the girl who doesn't want to grow up" and "the girl who ran away from home because she didn't have a place to stay" in Ep. 5 are foreshadowing for Neiru and Frill later on. The above structure is also true for Frill in Ep11. Frill is a "14-year-old girl" created by Acca and Ura-Acca's idea of "girlishness". (If there is a prejudice in the two men's lines, it is just an indication that such prejudice exists in the world, or that it is the character's idea, not that the work is trying to affirm it. It is out of line to be upset with the author.) She was created as a "14 year old girl" and therefore cannot grow from a 14 year old girl, either physically or mentally. Since she was created as a "child" in a position to seek love, she cannot be a giver of love to anyone. Frill is such a "created girl". Frill's situation in Ep11 parallels that of AiOhto. If we view Ep11 in the structure of the previous episodes, we can see Frill as a contrast and a suggestion of AiOhto's psychology. This suggests that AiOhto was jealous of his mother and Koito (foreshadowing of this can also be seen in the direction of Ep6). The fact that AiOhto is able to say "I want to thank Koito" and "I want to support my mother" in Ep12 shows that he has grown mentally from the "Needy" like Frill in Ep11. If you think of this Ep11 to Ep12 flow as "trying to expand the story by suddenly starting a new enemy backstory", you will lose the essence of the story. It is not a deviation from the basic structure of the previous episodes to use Frill, the "girl who cannot grow up" in Ep11, as a contrast to suggest AiOhto's psychology and to connect it to the changes in AiOhto in Ep12. Also, Frill's existence has been hinted at since Ep5 and is not abrupt. The fact that Frill is an "AI" is part of the contrast with "Ai" and is clearly not an attempt to expand on the "artificial intelligence" story. It does not matter if Frill is an AI, a magical girl, or Peter Pan. It is the symbolism that should be considered. The story consistently focuses on the psychology and development of the four main characters, and if you look at it with this in mind, that it is a wonder egg as a device to portray this, the plot should not seem cluttered. And the story does not stray from its theme until the very end. Acca and Ura-Acca use the four girls for the purpose of opposing Frill (bringing Himari back to life). However, the four girls have never used that as a motive. Even if Acca and Ura-Acca wanted to talk about their purpose, it was never important to the girls. (This is shown in Ep10, when the four girls put Momoe's love story ahead of what Acca wanted to talk about.) The girls were only cracking the Wonder Eggs with the motive of "wanting to meet the suicides". Therefore, it is not surprising that after going through the process where that is no longer their purpose, there is no reason for the girls to continue to be involved with the Wonder Egg in the face of the danger to their lives. The situation that arose in EP13 with Neiru, who ran away from home because she didn't have a place to stay, gives Ai motivation again, but not to deal with Frill. Ai goes to crack eggs again to meet her friends. That is Ai's priority. The result of Ai's "Wonder Egg" cracking is a "friend". (This is hinted at in Ep1). So are Momoe and Rika different? I don't think so. Because Momoe and Rika's initial motivation was also to meet their friends. Therefore, we can expect the four of them to get together again someday. It is a hopeful ending. If we assume that the story is centered on the girls who are the main characters until the very end, I think the way the story ends can be seen as bringing closure to the fundamental theme of this work. This work does not present an unreasonable solution to a delicate problem. For example, self-injury does not stop as soon as the person wants to stop, even if you tell him or her to stop. It is important to respect and empathize with the person's will to overcome the problem. Rica's acceptance of herself is an important step. Also, in this work, the reasons for the suicide are kept as much information as can be inferred, and there is no attempt to simplify the situation by offering a simple answer or solution. I think you have given this part of the story a lot of thought. As you have said, the artwork of Wonder Egg Priority is unquestionably excellent. And as long as the focus is right, I think everyone who loves the four characters will experience a great story. The attempt to delve into the familiar psychology of the real world and the humanity of the characters in an extraordinary unfolding story makes this work a rare and worthy one. The story, visuals, and sound would not have been as engaging without any of them. If you have already seen it and are unaware of its brilliance, I encourage you to rewatch it again with the story in order.

aesthetically opulent in so many ways, one of the best looking anime out there and not just in visuals, the animation is also top-notch and i lost count of the amount of time i kept asking myself how much crunch the animators had to go through. i'll jump straight to the couple last episodes: they tried to pull a madoka magica, a serial experiments lain, a persona and hell, even a k-on but they failed in all fronts. it's unbelievable how not only bad the plot becomes, but it also ends up borderline evil and sexist with its message about female frailty and inability to take care of themselves so they need two geniuses men to exploit their struggle and unhappiness so they can redeem themselves for... creating a murderous AI? i don't know. there'll be a special in a couple of months but it's basically impossible the salvage how deep in the quicksand wonder egg priority put itself in with its awful and nonsensical plot development. ALSO, people mentioning it's very respectful of trans people forgot the fact that a boy that was assigned as female at birth is in one of momoe's dream, which completely goes against the trans identity since the directors are basically saying "he is a girl, that's why he is in this dream, he just IDENTIFIES as a man but he is actually a girl!". fuck that. and momoe is also full of wrong characterization and queer baiting.

WHAT THE FRICK. Wonder Egg Priority started out magnificently. You had no idea what was going on, but in a good way. You were suddenly thrust into this dreamland with the main character, except it was more a nightmare than anything. You actually wanted to figure out what was happening, and the story had so much potential. It even reminded you of a somewhat more realistic Madoka Magicka... maybe even a better version of it. BUT THEN, after episode 7, it turned into you not knowing what the hell was going on, in a very, very bad way. It became nightmarish, unintentionally, and you were lost in the worst way possible. Wonder Egg Priority started out with amazing writing and fantastic characters, but in the second half, the writing became on-level with Sword Art Online, or something comparably bad (IF YOU'RE BUTT-HURT OVER THAT COMMENT, YOU DON"T UNDERSTAND GOOD WRITING. I DON'T CARE IF SAO IS YOUR GUILTY PLEASURE.) --sarcasm I understand the studio had some setbacks, so the story didn't exactly turn out how they wanted it to. I also understand that there's going to be a special coming out in June to officially wrap up the series. However, I am only basing my ratings on what these twelve episodes are by themselves. I plan on watching the special when it comes out, and maybe, if it's somehow so miraculously amazing that it explains everything, I might think about rating the series as a whole. Or I might rate the special by itself, so as to not drag its own rating down. Anyway, I don't understand how some people are still giving this series a 9/10. The whole thing with the Sensei was just kind of left up in the air, and then it was suddenly thrusted back into our faces two episodes after it was last addressed... still with hardly any explanation. Not to mention the flash-back episode that's just kind of thrown into the series. It incorporates a whole load of garbage into the story, trying to add depth, but, in the end, I just ended up caring about the characters less. THEIR INTENTIONS DID NOT MAKE SENSE. You turned two of the most mysterious characters in the series into puppet-heads that just did things to do them with no real reasoning. AGHH! Plus, what I forgot to mention--why is there a fourteen-year-old CEO?? Just. Why? If this was supposed to be an anime that broke all rules of logic, why did it have to reel me in by starting out so strong? I get that it isn't exactly "realistic," but I guess it would make more sense if the nonrealistic things stuck to the "dream world." In the end, if you want to watch this series, feel free to watch the first seven episodes and then drop it! Episode eight is just a recap, and then it's all scrambled eggs after that. A lot of you won't understand half of this review unless you've actually watched the show, but if you decide to watch it, I hope this helped give you a fair warning! First, The Promised Neverland Season 2, and now this? Pardon me, while I go cry in the corner. Maybe I'll rewatch Brotherhood or start the second season of Kaguya-Sama as some sort of therapeutic treatment for my loss of trust and good faith. I'd also like to note that this review is very satirical. Some people have been offended, but I just want you to know that it doesn't matter if you like SAO or whatever. Like what you like, because it's what you enjoy. Don't be offended by someone who's writing a sarcastic review. I have my own taste, just like you have your own.

Seemed like a breath of fresh air at the start. I was expecting one of the strongest titles of the year. Story: The whole anime is trying to describe the problems of suicidal tendencies; self-acceptance and few other corresponding problems. I haven't seen animes with similar narrative so it felt unique for me. Basically main characters should help other teenagers (that've already passed away) fight the reason of their suicide. That might be a crowd of strange little creatures with knifes (people that avoid noticing bulling) or some specific weird-looking boss-characters (abusers themself). I find this concept kind of interesting. But there are three main weak spots of the story: - For a few episodes in the middle anime seems to be stuck portraying main cast. - There is a recap episode - There is no actual ending (seems like some special will be release ~mid-summer but for now it remains a huge problem) Art: Art style of the anime is really great and even kind of unique. The amount of gore here is also a lot higher than you might find in other titles. Sound: OP seems fresh while ED is mediocre. Sound in anime itself is also average. Character: I like character designs here but not characters themselves. Sometimes I don't understand their motivation; some parts of their background stories are just absurd and the development of the characters is not really strong here IMO. Ai and Ura-Acca are the only two characters I find interesting. Enjoyment: Even while I didn't really like most of the characters I did enjoy around half of the episodes. But few boring episodes + recap episode + absence of the ending left me frustrated. Overall: decent 5.

This anime was difficult to watch. Not because of it's themes of suicide, self-harm, and depression etc. but because it was so goddamn stupid. Reviewed after watching that disaster of an OVA Cloverworks really should know better if it wants to become a power player in the industry. Wonder Egg Priority is a genuinely beautiful looking show backed with excellently animated action scenes and clever use of media mixing. Unfortunately the troubled production which killed the already-waning hype the show generated at it's introduction rears it's ugly head far too often throughout the show. The show frequently has off-model and janky single-digit fps animation that distracts you in the best of times. But the greatest travesty of this show is that it's just really badly written. Wonder Egg Priority is an anime that wants all of the pay-off with none of the setup. It's troubled production shows in it's rushed writing and sheer lack of any narrative zenith. It doesn't even try to tie up any of the many, many loose ends it shambolically tore through the narrative fabric in it's attempt to be deep and complex. And that's really all it is- an attempt. It doesn't make me feel anything towards the characters and their emotional backstories because they never rise above their store-brought collection of tropes. And it's way of tackling it's heavy themes is inappropriate and confusing. Yes I wish I could have just fight my post-covid depression by releasing my inner Hulk and screaming how angry I am like these characters. "Show don't tell" is basic storytelling advice that WEP flat out ignores. For such a symbolism-fueled show it is grating to listen to some of the least subtle dialogue in writing- episode 5 having some of the most blatant "I watch other edgy anime" dialogue I've ever heard that has to be seen to be believed. One of the better aspects of the show was the designs of the boss trauma monsters. The anime always has the girl explain her whole sob backstory while slowing the entire thing down. WOuld it not be more subtle and effective to express their fear and trauma through just the monster alone? The heavy-handed dialogue and designs of the monsters are more than enough for the audience to infer what horrific experiences the poor girl had. Perhaps the writers and director just didn't have enough faith in their story. All this makes the show feel bizarrely tone-deaf as if it did all it did just for shock value. And don't even get me started on that ending. That is End of Evangelion levels of bullshit except unlike that the ending of WEP understands absolutely nothing about itself. Seriously the people who still believed in this show had to wait three months for probably the worst and unsatisfying ending in anime since Ex Arm. I get what the anime is trying for and I respect it. Giving the cute, suicidal girls a physical and very flashy way to fight their literal manifestations of their broken psyche is an empowering thought. But it's hamstringed by how little anything makes sense. I'm not the kind of guy who needs to be told every little detail about a fictional world but this anime does not have any sort of world-building that matters. The anime raises more questions than it could ever answer on topics like what the eggs are and how they work or why any of the events are happening. The whole "plot" feels like an excuse to just put some shocking themes in without actually attempting to explore it. If I wanted to watch an anime about cute girls fighting in a surreal dream world I would just watch Flip Flappers. That's not a perfectly cohesive show by any means but every part of that show oozes personality. If I wanted to watch a more grounded realistic show about teenage angst I would watch Bunny Girl-senpai. If I wanted to be depressed while watching something serious I would watch Heavens Feel. There's nothing about the plot of this show that other anime just do better. Having heavy themes doesn't automatically make a work good. It has to earn it - which this anime unequivocally doesn't. The characters really need to chill half the time. I don't mean to sound insensitive to people who actually relate to them (bless you) but I simply don't care about them. WEP commits an anime cardinal sin of saying the characters got development "because they told us so" so to speak. One day the blue-haired is depressed af then suddenly she gets angry and isn't as depressed. She's pretty boring and one-note. Then there's the has-been idol who has daddy issues that don't get explored in any meaningful way. She's also pretty meh. But don't worry she clearly grew as a person because one of the two mannequin guys said so. They also say that a lot for the other characters. Yeah you get the note the strongest (only) trait of these characters is their personal issues which means the best way to use them is to give them catharsis. And WEP fails to deliver. The writers either had no time to flesh out the characters and their arcs or were just lazy and hoped the audience would fill in for them under the pretense that the work as a whole is "open to interpretation". God. What a convenient expression to cover for the realistic outcome that I simply do not give a shit about any of these characters. that have zero personality. Again, you got to work for it. I do wish this show wasn't as terribly conceived as it was. It's a dictionary definition of wasted potential. If it had more talented writers or directors we could have gotten something special because that first episode actually promised a lot. Hopefully Cloverworks won't make this a trend because they've been doing great work but just haven't been consistent with stuff like this and Promised Neverland season 2. But that's it for this review. Give this one a hard pass. There's just better shows that do what this does better without needing to resort to bullshit to avoid explaining anything it does.

"Wonder Egg Priority" is so disappointing, it's infuriating. At first, viewers are immersed in carefully woven world, one which animators took painstakingly fastidious effort creating. Unfortunately, all story building components are, in comparison, a letdown from their polished handiwork. The directive vision of the first few episodes muddles what could have been a mysterious and sublime conclusion. Instead, every character is given shallow motivations, the basis of the show generates a plethora of forgettable and irrelevant characters, and thematic elements of tragedy are handled with abhorrent insensitivity. Heroine Ai Ohto loses her best friend, Koito Nagase, in an unfortunate series of circumstances that follow her life of being bullied and, therefore, isolated. Ohto is originally presented as meek and rebellious, a clear representation of an identity that lasts for around one episode. With the introduction of the other main leads in the series, Ohto suddenly embraces the social butterfly personality in conversation. This example, along with numerous other cases, demonstrate clear character inconsistencies which make rooting for any particular character for their redeeming qualities practically impossible. Although this show doesn't fall into the pitfalls of generalization for sad anime, the attempts to make use of "edgy" and shocking graphic scenes are executed without any careful consideration. Every traumatized girl that spawns from wonder eggs and their dilemmas to face those troubles serve less to offer emotional depth to the show than prove that, yes, the world they inhabit is very susceptible to various injustices. Abuse, sexual harassment, parental absence, and the like all rooted deep within the main and supporting characters are given little second-thought or downplayed tremendously just to meaninglessly provide some action onscreen. Many questions are left unanswered and the conclusion is hurriedly left on a unfulfilling note. The viewer has to endure hours of episode-by-episode drivel which merits little reward for why character affairs are sentimental. Not to mention that every major character introduction ends up as awkward and without much explanation, especially the victims and their abrupt involvement in wonder eggs. Aonuma Neiru's existence in the first or second episode left me completely clueless as to whether she would even become a character of interest. In any case, when an anime, especially an original work, devotes an entire episode to recap, the equivalent of blindfolding yourself and walking aimlessly into a minefield is an appropriate analogy for how the creators managed the show's overall organization. The show falls in the middle of the pack, 5/10.

Overall, I think that this anime is amazing. At first, my expectations was for it to be a slice of life, where Ai makes friends with a girl who came out of the Wonder Egg. But it was so much more, and honestly way better than I could have imagined. A world where dreams and reality are mixed together, and the struggles of the egg people (being the bosses that the cast has to face). Definitely not my favorite anime, and not one that I see giving a 10/10, but it is definitely a must watch for anyone who hasn't watched it yet.

Wonder Egg Priority. That's a weird title if I ever heard one. When this anime was first announced, there was literally no information on it except for it being about a girl and her friends getting eggs from a gachapon machine. Nobody knew what it was going to be...and nobody expected it to turn out the way it did either. Needless to say, Wonder Egg made a huge splash for its luscious animation, dark, heavy story that was willing to push boundaries, and star very flawed but relatable characters that didn't quite fit into the archetypal anime molds that we're so used to. This is especially notable considering this is the product of a small group of animators, a new director, a creator who mostly had experience working on live-action stuff, and a new studio that only just formed a few short years ago. It wouldn't be a stretch to call this one of the most ambitious anime of winter 2021, and for good reason. That being said, as you can tell by my score, it's...not great, and this is actually due in part to a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff in regards to the staff and animation team behind this project. So let's see if we can make an omelet out of these eggs, shall we? The story begins with a young girl, Ai Ohto, reeling from her best friend's suicide. Having been previously bullied because of her heterochromia, losing a friend in such a gruesome way has made her shut herself at home, so she refuses to go to school. One night while out on a walk, she buries a dead firefly...which reanimates and leads her to a strange place where she is told to get an egg from a capsule machine. Later, she wakes up in a strange dream world that looks a lot like her school, where monsters known as Seeno Evils run rampant. The eggs she's told to break contain the spirits of young girls who committed suicide due to their traumas, and Ai, along with three other girls—Neiru, Rika, and Momoe—have to not only protect the girls from Seeno Evils, but defeat the manifestations of their traumas, Wonder Killers, in order to save the people they hold dear. Thinking this'll bring her friend back, Ai takes on the challenge, but she and the other girls have no idea what they just got themselves wrapped up in. Not gonna lie, the animation is absolutely luscious. Packed with movement and immaculate detail in nearly every frame, and all of it is always used for a specific purpose, from the flowers and their symbolism to the dynamic character animation. Everything is just brimming with life, from the fantastic use of color to even little things like the way characters carry themselves really show just how much effort the producers put into this. It's practically at the level of KyoAni's standards of animation...although, it wasn't without cost. Apparently, the animation team assigned to WEP was fairly small, so they didn't have a lot of the resources other companies did. Because of this, the production process behind the show was really, really tough. Like, animators being sent to the hospital because of needing to meet deadlines and biting off way more than they can chew tough. I'm not even kidding. Japan's animation industry isn't perfect, as people work long hours for startlingly low salaries, often times to the point of being stuck at work for literal days without end, glued to their desks, which resulted in one animator being sent to the hospital twice due to overwork. There's a reason the Japanese made up their own word, karoushi, meaning death by overwork. I mean, I love when animators really do their best to make a show look as good as possible, but it should never be at the expense of their physical and mental health. I don't have much to say about the soundtrack. The background music is nice, and the opening and ending songs are great too, even if the latter is deliberately unfitting, being a cutesy, peppy J-pop song in a dark urban fantasy anime. The characters are where things start to get tricky. For one, a good portion of the main cast are very well developed and have a lot of depth to them. They all have their flaws, strengths, weaknesses, and layered personalitites that make them stand above the typical anime archetypes we're so used to seeing. Rika in particular stands out for the better, as although she's mainly on the side of good, she's an insecure teenager and former teen idol who starts off as a mooching little bitch, freely admits to fat-shaming a former fan into starving herself to death (and continues to fat shame her even as a statue), shoulders a lot of guilt because of what her actions caused, and pretty much acts like any teenager in her situation would. That being said, other characters aren't so lucky. Neiru starts off as an aloof girl, but some aspects of her character stretch my willing suspension of disbelief, like the fact that she, a 14-year-old, is the president of a big company. More is revealed about her character later on that...don't make a whole lot of sense. Plus, Momoe's situation is really vague. Just what is her deal? Is she transgender? Does she not like constantly being mistaken for a boy, or girls confessing their love to her? If she doesn't want to be mistaken for a boy, why does she wear a suit and keep her hair short? The anime doesn't really explain what Momoe's issues are all that well. But I can deal with a lot of this. The story for the first half of the series was intriguing, I liked the mystery aspect, and the idea of these teenage girls becoming friends and helping each other through their issues was definitely very appealing to me. But then everything after episode seven happened. The series started to get really shaky in the eventual reveals that came later, and the final episode...dear God. Derailing is a really big word, but that's exactly what Wonder Egg Priority does in episodes 11 and 12, and I'm not going to lie, Wonder Egg really shit the bed. HARD. No, seriously, I have never seen a series go from so good to just so incredibly BAD in such a short amount of time, especially in the finale, which need I mention, was delayed by two months because the animators were overworked. Aside from the animation and the first half of the story, I honestly can't bring myself to say anything good about the last half of it, from all the piss-poor writing decisions it makes, to the really important plotlines it randomly introduces and then just completely forgets about or straight up ignores in the very next episode (Kind of like how A Wrinkle In Time established this big force of evil that the main kids have to deal with, but then completely forget about it and go about their merry lives at the very end), making the characters act way out of character for no reason at all, and losing all of its nuance and subtlety. This show would have been amazing if the piss-poor execution in the latter half didn't completely shit the bed and spit on everything the series previously established. Seriously, I could write a better ending to this series that would actually wrap up all of its plotlines, or at the very least present them in ways that are not only cohesive, but not nearly as ruthlessly mean-spirited as the actual show would turn out to be later. It's especially bad when the creators are given time to make their final episode one hour long, but not only do they spend it on a SECOND recap of the series that serves no purpose, but could have used that time to actually address and wrap up its different plot threads but didn't! God, I really wanted to like Wonder Egg Priority. I really did. It's really sad that the anime turned out the way it did, because had it not been plagued with production troubles, or even had better writers or planning, this anime could have been a masterpiece. It seemed like it was really going to be something different and ambitious. It certainly tried, but in the end, it just fell off a cliff and didn't stick the landing. Wonder Egg Priority, you deserve better. But with the way it is now, I can't bring myself to recom…

Wonder Egg Priority was an original anime that stood out a lot in the winter season of 2021. And I would go even further. It was one of the great highlights of that year, even though it is unfinished and we are just setting sail for the second anime season this year. An ambitious and complex project that brings together a great effort on the part of the production to deliver something of incredible quality. In a perfect world I would be writing this text with the anime fully completed. Unfortunately, this text was written before the final episode of WEP was aired. The reason for this is about the problematic production of this project that went through real hardships, for example: delays, animation of the episode being delivered in the same week that it would be released, accumulation of work and a staff that only grew with each episode. All this with a team totally focused on delivering the best of yourself for this project that went beyond a simple seasonal anime. This all led to the case that decreed the final postponed until June 29th, the eighth episode was not ready to be delivered, being transformed into an unplanned recap, etc. Due to the fact that there was no more space in the anime's broadcast schedule originally, there was no room for the last episode. If you are interested, you can read in detail in an article published in Sakuga Brasil. Before starting to write about the anime itself, it is necessary to give some warnings of possible triggers since the anime deals with several sensitive topics such as suicide, self-mutilation, bullying, pedophilia, sexual abuse and themes of the LGBT + sphere. With that in mind, it is possible to imagine that all of this is just played to generate drama for free. However, I come to reiterate that all of these issues are dealt with responsibly and are exposed to promote debates on taboos in society, especially the Japanese. In the very first minutes, WEP piques his curiosity to find out who is that girl who looks like Coraline with heterochromia, who needs to be carrying a mysterious egg. Which is convinced to break the egg by a mysterious person within a mysterious world of dreams, in the greatest Persona or Inception style. And, to our surprise, upon accepting to break the egg, a girl ends up leaving who must be protected against small lackeys called Seenos Evils destined to kill the person who came out of the wonderful egg. Furthermore, to make matters worse, there is still a big scary monster to be defeated. After that, we discover that this protagonist named Ai Ohto suffers from bullying at school, and that, from her only friend, Koito, ends up committing suicide at school. Only we are presented with a solution and that is the great move in history. There is a way to save your friend by bringing her back to life, only for that, it will be necessary to protect the fallen souls, who are also there because of suicide, for this, it will be necessary to defeat their mental traumas that are the personified in big bosses (in the greatest classic videogame style) called Wonder Killer. All of this being presented with a sophisticated look, worthy of being considered with a cinematic quality, unlike many animes that are broadcast on TV. The animation is smooth and prizes for its small details. Having many scenes that bring out an aspect of body language to express the feelings of the characters. Remembering many Kyoto Animation anime. Another highlight is the intense action scenes. It will please all fans of this type of scene with an arsenal full of volume and weight that cause a lot of impact. With each episode we are presented with new surprises and discussions of heavy topics, thus adding to the mystery. And that typical anime where you can spend time thinking with friends about countless theories (that's what I did) or end up understanding nothing (it happened to me, too, haha). This could end up leaving a big mess in the script, but the anime proved to be concise in dealing with all of these issues addressed, without losing the line even with a turbulent production and without an ending shown in the schedule, demonstrating a great effort of the production to bring something memorable for the industry. Besides, it is even more enriched when we talk about the cast of characters, highlighting the main nucleus of the four protagonists. All are very well presented, with episodes focused individually on them for further development, and along with small details in the animation that enrich their personalities. The plot gets denser with each episode, leaving the viewer more distressed and wondering the real reasons for all that with the characters, and it all ends up generating a lot of empathy for those girls as they pass on what is revealed. Possibly one of the best animes of the last seasons, with a high level of direction, script, animation, characters, etc. If you are looking for an anime with an impressive look and with a psychological suspense, this is the right choice. The purpose of the anime is that girls can better understand death and suicide so that they can resist this temptation. Many of the questions raised by the anime will be focused on this or other heavier and more complex themes, so I do not recommend it to someone who is in a more mentally fragile moment. Better to wait for a more favorable moment to enjoy this work. If you feel truly prepared for this style of heavier narrative, this anime is a true full plate to nourish your desires. Here we can see the potential of real talents in this industry even in chaotic production.

This review will contain spoiler. At the beginning, I did not like the anime , It was very very strongly inspired by Madoka magica and the beginning was very boring but after episode and after episode, I started to like it because I felt like the anime was heading for something deeper, more refined. The quality of art is a 10/10 The main story is clearly a 4/10 or a 3/10 but the side story can be occasionnally be interesting It is not a bad anime or a good anime, but a anime that can be enjoyable. SPOILER SPOILER The background of the characters was interesting, the wonder egg priority mysterious. But in the end the origin of the wonder egg is a little stupid and convoluted, you do not understand how they can resuscitates people ? How the other characters react to seeing a character who must have committed suicide come back to life by magic, it's a hell of a paradox and yet it never explained ... But even more stupid, The main goal of the anime was to resuscitate their friend so why in the end they seem to not give a shit when they come back to live. We never see a single reunion between them and their dead friend, we have the impression that we have passed this plot, we forget and we move on to the next plot, i was like "WTF" ? They are more interested in risking their lives to avenge their pet that they have known for 1 month while they no longer have any interest in doing this because they have already resuscitated their friend, my god, why the end of the anime is so dumb.

Pretentious anime and some unnecessary scenes. Problematic and lazy plot. Sexist tones. Watched it because of a youtube review that said it was probably the only good anime that came out last year. I assumed the anime was already finished airing but after some episodes and no next button, I went to myanimelist to see if it's still airing and it is. Boi was I so disappointed and angry. Watching shows made by random people I don't know made me learn how to avoid unfinished work because they can be really traumatic if they end up to be offensive and Wonder Egg is now one of those.

The top reviews of this are garbage. Aggressively saying "I get it. It's not that deep," when the show still hasn't REALLY laid all its cards on the table is bad form, even if I would have STRONGLY preferred a conclusion to the series with the final episode. The show built up enough goodwill within me that I'm willing to wait for the summer. How did it build that goodwill within me? By tackling really messy subjects in really messy ways, and acknowledging that they're hard while not shying away from them. Were there cringe moments where things weren't as depicted as well as they could have been? Yes. But it took its risky swings with such confidence that I had to give it props for trying most of the time. And as things went on within an episode, it usually came back around to being a nice message in the end. Yes, also I felt the shift into ultraviolence in the latest episodes was unpalatable. The rape scene was too abrupt and too far for me as I was watching it. But you know what else is unpalatable? Men creeping on little girls and constructing them socially as though they're little more than dolls. That's what people seem to be missing, especially when they nonsensically accuse the show of misogyny because the victims of the violence are girls. News-fucking-flash: the way men creep on little girls is violent. Nothing Acca and Ur-acca did was ever justified, intentionally. If at any point you read them as sympathetic, watch it again. Frill's actions weren't justified, but they were prompted by the way that Acca and Ur-acca created her context and then just moved on when there was someone else. Twice. Frill did not choose to exist. These men made her to be a certain way and they didn't care about her, and that's a core contradiction of her whole existence. To put a fine point on it, she was molded by them because they're men; she could never mold them because that's not the way our society is set up. And the way our society is set up does violence to women spiritually in the same way that Frill did physical violence in her attempt to achieve her ends. And the victims in both scenarios are women. Ugh. And that theme repeats itself all throughout the lead magical girls' stories, of course. Most of those were pretty good. I have my gripes over, for example, Momo not actually being trans or there being next-to-no time given to portraying Rika's history as an idol, but it's all usually solid. And if it isn't solid, then it wraps around to being OK at the end. Most of this show is SO GOOD, even before you talk about the regularly great animation choices. I mean, I feel like I missed a lot of that during the first half because I came here to watch a magical girl show and was focused on the girls to the exclusion of the men because the men were creepy. But the show is about a world where women must operate as though men are creeps by default, even the ones your mom brings home. I feel like previously conceiving of myself as a man also made me less sensitive to this. But it's all right there. The scene with the painting of the girl as a woman was absolutely sinister. My problem is that I was absolutely in love with the show when all four girls were on screen and interacting at the same time, and there's just not enough of that. It was beautiful to watch them come together and support each other just by being themselves while surviving in such horrific circumstances. But their battles are mostly solo. Most of the episodes in the second half are explicitly solo adventures. Why. It makes it feel like progression stops dead and clashes with their attempt to convey that Shit Is Getting Real after Episode 10, which is a big one. This problem also extends to the episode that serves as the temporary finale, because that it is ALSO a solo episode. Why. I hate that they left the main series so unresolved like this. This show has so much fucking potential, and it's running on so many cylinders, and it built up so much good faith in me, but I feel a little betrayed by that. If they couldn't deliver on a team magical girl show, I just don't understand why they even sold it like that. Or maybe I'm projecting because I want this show to be that different thing so badly while hitting exactly the same thematic notes because those are so satisfying. Anyway. It's a good show. Don't make the mistake of believing Acca and Ur-Acca are telling the truth just because they're handsome and wear nice clothes. They are the worst of the worst villains from the jump. I hope this show gets the "Negima!" or FLCL sequel treatment. I want more from these amazing girls, but not a strict continuity. There's so many stories they could tell.