Wonder Egg Priority
Studio: Cloverworks
Genre: Fantasy, Psychological horror, Magical Girl
Hello my friends. Welcome to another entry of my blog, and… It is Easter…
And now… I am going to start reviewing one of those Easter-themed movies that i watch a long time ago… Sony’s Peter Rabbit.
Based on the novels from Beatrix Potter, and released in 2018, Peter Rabbit tells the story of Peter, a little, mischievous rabbit, who is living with his family, making…
Alright. Enough already.
But seriously. I didn’t come for rabbits, I came here for eggs, and not precisely Easter eggs (Obviously). I came here to make a promise that I own you my friends, and that is talking about a fascinating anime that really got my attention at the beginning of the year, and that has the potential of becoming one of the most rave anime of 2021, along with Horimiya, Mushoku Tensei and Kemono Jihen.
And that is…
But first, I want to ask you a very important question:
Are you guys ok? Feeling healthy?
If the answer is yes, then I am happy.
However, due to the plot of Wonder Egg Priority and the intensity of the themes (especially for those who already watched the whole series), I think I will become a bit more personal about writing this blog, because I also got my own anecdotes, inspired in what our protagonists are trying to fight, and I know many of my readers will understand.
With that said, are you guys ready for my entry? Yeah? You are? You are?
PREMISE
Released in January 2021, Wonder Egg Priority tells the story of Ai Ohto, a young, introverted student thta quits going to school due to the sad death of her best friend, Koito Nagase. During one of her trips, Ai finds an old gachaman machine that gives Wonder Eggs, and by breaking them, they transport Ai to a Dream World in which she must protect another girls from the Seeno monsters, or that is what it is. Then, Ai is told that, if she can save enough people, Koito can be brought back to life.
Now Ai is determined to save all the people that live in the Wonder Eggs, along with her, three more girls join Ai; the reserved Neiru Aonuma, the former idol, Rika kawai, and the androgynous, Momoe Sawaki, who tunrs to be the niece of Ai’s teacher.
As of April 01, Wonder Egg Priority was released by 12 episodes, but it was recently announced that the series will release a special episode on June. And like Horimiya, the animation done by Cloverworks proves that it is a worthy subsidiary form the legendary A-1 Pictures. Finally, one of the most notorious elements from Wonder Egg Priority is its violence, which despite being done from the psychological perspective, it feels so real and so relatable to the viewer, particularly due to the fantastic animation and the weird imagery, which seemingly draws inspiration from Neil Galman and David Lynch.
Don’t believe me? Check this out.
Something that would make Coraline’s Beldam proud.
What is really fascinating is that the author of Wonder Egg Priority is Shinji Nojima, famous for his many manga about psychology and… brain worms. Personally I am starting to read some of his works, I hope I can make it, because, as I said, I have personal issues regarding many of the themes of Wonder Egg Priority.
Having said that, let’s go to…
STORY
Now that I think of it, the reason of why I didn’t write about Wonder Egg Priority before is because I was trying to make my opinion about how to express my feelings about what I said before, especially because there is an element that prevails on the main theme of the series, suicide. Some members of my family have suffered with this problem before, and a part of me fears suicide, because during my early years, I thought it was too much, and there was a point in which I wanted my life to end, because I consider that this will ease the burden, and that perhaps I didn’t have a place in the world.
Please don’t worry about those feelings, that was in my teenage years.
My point is that, somehow, the imagery of Wonder Egg Priority portray the feeling of guilt, death and confusion that many can feel in depression. basically from the monsters. Somehow, the enemies that Ai, Neiru, Rika and Momoe fight are monsters created by the despair and loneliness of those they are trying to protect.
I feel like I am talking about Silent Hill.
Moreover, it seems that we are seeing a new Wave of Magical Girl genre, one that is going on deeper, riskier fields, starting with Madoka, and passing through Magical Girl Site. Those who read My First Impressions of the latter, will know what I am talking about.
And after some considerations, I get to the conclusions that Wonder Egg Priority follows this trend. But instead of making you feel depressed or anxious about the evil of the world, Wonder Egg Priority sometimes focuses about the value of friendship and being honest with your heart, and to love yourself more, so, on that sense, the feeling is different, and by the end of every episode, you feel this happiness, because the girls were able to save the inhabitants of the Eggs. And the more you get into the episodes, the more you love the story and relate to the characters.
Furthermore. How could you stand idly by toward the animation?
The attention of detail toward landscapes, the colourful character design, the detail of blood, and the battles. By this point, if you are not a fan of the fantastic animation work of Cloverworks, especially after Horimiya, you cannot consider yourself a fan.
In fact, I think that this was the intention of the staff, makes us feel the same calm after watching the painting. of Vincent Van Gogh.
But seriously, the story of Wonder Egg Priority is more episodic and oriented on the characters than anything else. And that’s what make it more fascinating.
CHARACTERS
Finally, our four heroines are really the ones who are keeping the story in an excellent shape. All are so different, so unique, yet they have a same purpose: they want to save as many people as they can so they can bring their beloved ones back to life. Furthermore, some of them carry some kind of trauma.
Ai is a bit timid, Neiru feels distraught due to the attack suffered from her sister, Rika, as an idol, rejected a fan, and Momoe wants to bring a girl that fell in love with her, Haruka. Throughout the series, all of our heroines have a lot of character development and you grow to appreciate a lot whenever you see them, especially Rika, because her boyish personality also shows a very compassionate side of hers. And one of the qualities that you will appreciate from Ai is how she makes friends so easily.
But… Am I the only one who want to «ship» Momoe and Ai?
Sorry. But you can always choose your favourite characters, but all of the four are simply memorable enough. And for an original anime, that is quite a accomplishment.
Kudos.
CONCLUSION
Along with Horimiya, Wonder Egg Priority is one of my favourite anime of 2021, and a great step forward for Cloverworks, who has proved to give a great number of shows. But… let’s pray that…
…what it’s been said about The Promised Neverland, season 2 is completely false.
Now… Who’s up for an Egg Hunt. Peter?
Jainituos Presents 