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Jan 11, 2022
Summary: UNDERRATED. Wonder Egg Priority is a thrilling psychological drama. If you are into psychological dramas or just good TV this is a MUST WATCH.
--------------------------------------------------- Story ---------------------------------------------
The main premise of Wonder Egg Priority (WEP) is working through trauma. It is a character driven story with a somewhat simple plot. The 4 main girls are given a chance to save a friend from suicide. All they have to do is fight through trauma in their dreams, literally and figuratively.
For the most part episodes are very structured, following a consistent formula. We start with one of the girls struggling in the real world with their
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own trauma. This is then either followed by a transition into the dream world or is interspliced among it. Although structured I hesitate to use the term 'Episode of the week' as a lot of effort goes towards keeping the episodes fresh. Episodes are centred around each girl and their trauma, with each girls situation differing greatly from the others.
Within each dream one of the main girls encounters a new girl struggling with a similar yet different issue to their own and must defeat the manifestation of this issue, a deformed version of the individual caused the trauma. The issues explored through these dreams are heavy and always uncomfortable. At times it is difficult to watch but the enjoyment comes from watching the girls struggle with these issues and eventually overcome them.
For a really good show there is one thing stopping it from being great and that is the ending. There is a lot of loose ends left open and I feel it could have benefitted from another 2 episodes. What makes it hurt more is the setup and reveals leading up to the ending were perfect. Regardless it does not mean that this show is not amazing.
--------------------------------------------- Characters ---------------------------------------------
This is where WEP really shines and I honestly doubt I can do it justice in text.
There are four main characters, four 14 year old girls each with their own issue and trauma associated with it.
Ai is the victim of bullying and after the suicide of her only 'friend' struggles to go outside. Neiru is a child genius, who struggles to connect to others due to her intellect and her trauma is the suicide of her sister. Rika is an ex-idol who struggles with self worth, this is further exacerbated when her words cause the death of one of her fans. Momoe (my personal favourite), struggles with her self identity. She is often mistaken for a boy despite being female and her trauma is the suicide of the only friends who reaffirmed her personal identity.
A really excellent job is done to flesh them out. Episodes are centered around one girl at a time and this gives us the chance to really get to know them. We see how they cope with their issues, often poorly, and how their environment contributes to it. They all feel real. The girls have really good chemistry between each other and it's really rewarding to watch them bond with each other and help each through their traumas.
I chose to highlight each of the girls and their issues because I feel that they were key in understanding the appeal of WEP. We meet the girls in a transitional state in their life, one i feel everyone goes through. The struggles the girls face at their core are something that everyone can relate to, especially for a female audience which it targets.
--------------------------------------------- Art + Sound -------------------------------------------
There's not much to say here other than WEP looks all round amazing. There's a strong art direction and the directing in this is some of the best I've seen. Even the fights, the least important part, are fluid and energetic. Honestly, they wouldn't look out of place in a modern shonen battle series.
A minor aspect that I would like to highlight is the attention to detail in the location of the girls dreams and the weapons they fight with. Rather than being just another environment or weapon they serve to inform you about the characters.
The same can be said for the soundtrack all very high quality with great attention to detail. It's often understated, setting the mood silently rather than being centre stage. That doesn't mean it isn't felt.
Finally, the voice acting is incredible. It feels so real, it sounds like how you would expect a 14 year old to talk and not how a 14 year old anime girl would sound. The voice actors just like the character have great chemistry and really outdid themselves.
--------------------------------------------- Final Thoughts ----------------------------------------
I truly believe this is an underrated gem. I stated it earlier but the enjoyment of this show isn't the most readily apparent. It's not always a fun watch but watching these group of girl grow past their trauma whether that be through their fights in their dreams or from their bonds with each other is really rewarding. It also helps that it is VERY well made.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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May 15, 2021
Main draw to this series is of course its story. Great concept and good execution imo. My favourite parts of story were definitely the past lives, they kept it feeling fresh with new settings and themes and never over stayed their welcome, with the longest being 7 chapters. Manga is middling in terms of length at 45 chapters but uses it well for the most part and is paced well. I do feel a few arcs could've done with a slightly longer run, to flesh out things such as character motivation more.
Moving onto the characters, there's only really 2 of note and that's the 2
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main characters. Other characters play a side role outside of their ghost companions but can't talk about them without entering spoiler territory. The main girl Kouko I like as a character conceptually but when I mentioned fleshing out character motivations, I was referring to her. We know why she acts the way she does bit its too bare bones imo and I would've liked to see more. Moving to the main character Fuuta this is where the story really shines. His characterisation especially through his 7 past lives really do well for his and the antagonists (also himself) depth and intrigue. One other minor flaw is I feel that the authors attempt to put them in a relationship was a bit forced, it was barely focused on and felt like an after thought. Sometimes cute sometimes cringe but mainly because it felt forced.
Finally I'd like to mention the art. It's definitely the largest barrier I feel for most people, being accustomed to the authors work already it wasn't an issue for me. It if serviceable but not additive, at times it can be subtractive notably in scenes when touching on darker themes it can be jarring to see the authors goofy cartoony style but it doesn't negatively affect the series so is another minor issue.
Final thoughts, unique and refreshing and worth a read at 45 chapters. Images will give a general idea of the feel of the series but they are a bit biased in terms of my taste.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jul 29, 2019
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Part 5: Golden Wind
Golden Wind (GW) is a disappointing sequel to it's predecessor Diamond is Unbreakable (DIU). GW duffers from a messy plot structure and at times poor realisation into the anime format.
STORY 5
The anime starts of quite promising with an introduction to our main character Giorno Giovanna. I particularly liked the choice to not reveal the exact details of his stand until later as it creates suspense immediately drawing you in.
One of my major complaints of this part is the plot it is very uninteresting and boring. The entire plot of the part can be summarised as one massive
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goose chase and it heavily relies on stand battles to keep it interesting. Of course as a Shonen battle manga, the battles should be the highlight of the series but that is besides the point. Outside of the battles nothing really happens.
The change in setting to a mafia organisation in Naples should have promised great change to the series and SHOULD HAVE made it more interesting. This was not the case. Part 5 feels like a heavily truncated version of Part 3 and it felt like I was re-watching part 3 of the series all over again.
Another complaint, though based on your discretion you may see this as minor, is that the first third of the anime is spent 'getting to know the main characters'. This on the surface does not seem that bad but is executed very poorly in my opinion. It follows a very repetitive and obvious pattern; character is isolated with a villain, your introduced to their stand, they beat the villain and you see a flashback somewhere in the middle of how they got to join Bucciarati. This for viewers who watched this simulcast might not have been a bother over the course of 13 weeks but marathoning it like myself, it was unbearably boring to sit for over 4 hours watching this same pattern be repeated 4 times.
ART 6
The art wasn't anything stand out in my opinion. It was an at best okay adaptation of Araki's gorgeous manga stills. One enormous failing for me was the background art. Buildings and scenery were so plain and sometimes ugly that they actively took me out of the experience.
My opinion on the art might be perceived as harsh but in comparison to DIU and even Phantom blood, GW lacks so much colour and personality. In part 4 the backgrounds were coloured in vibrant reds green and blues that gave Morioh so much character but in GW, the backgrounds are just sort of there and don't really add anything to the story being told.
SOUND 7
The first OP for GW was very good but in my opinion but is still the weakest out of all the Jojo openings. The second OP was mediocre. Nothing about the OP stands out too much to me but I did really enjoy Giorno's theme. It was a vast departure from previous JoJo themes being played on a piano but it still held a lot of character and suited Giorno to a tea.
CHARACTER 7
As I said earlier a third of anime is spent establishing the characters so they are developed, though I would argue that some of them are underutilised. One of the characters is never seen again after the halfway point of the anime. Though you can tell the characters apart I wouldn't
say they have extremely distinct personalities. They are fine but other than Bucciarati and Abbachio in my opinion none of them are deeply interesting. They're fine. Abbachio is my favorite character for this exact reason his personality is very clearly conveyed through his actions toward giorno.
My main gripe with the characters are our protagonist and antagonist.
Giorno has so much potential due to his 'Joestar' heritage and I feel this wasn't fully explored except for a few easter eggs. It feels like the whole explanation of his heritage was put there as nothing but a easter egg and held no real usage in the story. Giorno has no real personality outside being a Joestar, he shows all the typical traits of a JoJo but doesn't really have anything that makes him stand out. He also often takes a backseat to many of the other main characters, this paired with his lack of any character development makes Giorno one of the most boring Joestars to watch.
Our main antagonist is rather poor and disappointing. He starts out as extremely intimidating with his stand ability being invincible but this is made near redundant when he is almost killed by a non essential character. The antagonist quickly changes from a mysterious and untouchable figure into an incompetent fool with no real fear factor by the end. The antagonist fails mainly due to the high standards set by Araki. He lacks any of the presence that the Pillar Man or Dio possessed and is so very embarrassing when compared to Kira of DIU.
The final battle between Giorno and the antagonist is extremely anti-climactic ending in really a few seconds.
OVERALL
I don't hate this part though my extremely negative review might lead you to believe. The characters can be extremely amusing to watch on screen. I just felt that based on the high standards set by DIU and my own expectation this part drastically underperformed. The series does very well in my opinion in the stand battles. Stands are a lot more well used with more interesting abilities than any more exciting battles as a result. If you go into it knowing it won't be the most tightly written and artistically realised series and you don't scrutinise it too deeply. It will most definitely be an enjoyable experience.
Score 7.1/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Mar 30, 2019
I scrolled through some of the reviews on this and I say 10s, plural, this show is not very good. As you can see from, my score I didn't love this season, my emotions ranged from excitement (surprisingly), to boredom, to hate. Mainly boredom though.
The show starts off ambiguously with us straight in the game world, the art and animation look great, the fantasy ambient music is playing in the back. It makes the first initial seconds feel really atmospheric. Your introduced to the first two main character as kids, within the first 3 minutes they come off as really endearing and loveable.
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I really can't give enough praise for the first episode or at least it's first half. The first episode is 40 mins long with the first part taking place in game and the second outside. If you've ever played Assassins Creed, you'll get a similar feeling when watching this. I love the in game world. I hate everything outside.
The outside world doesn't play as significant a part as the initial episodes might lead you think. The main problem with them is it's just boring there's no real progression of the story everything outside of the in game world serves as a prelude to the events in game or as exposition neither serve to further the plot. Episode 5 and 6 are especially guilty of this. What are they? Two episodes of straight exposition, it so boring, I don't know who thought it was a good idea to do this. It took me 5 sittings to watch these two episodes, two of which I fell asleep in. That tbh is the main problem with this it sort of disguises itself with the high production quality of its earlier episode but is mediocre. Nothing really happens past episode 12, Kirito and Eugeo enter a tower where they fight for 5 mins and listen to exposition for the rest.
By far what cemented this show as mediocre in my mind though was the ending,ignoring the garbage cliffhanger and setup for a a sequel, the whole situation that leads up to that makes no sense. The antagonist has no meaningful characterisation whatsoever, she's evil because she wants power or somehing like that. The whole final battle before the final battle and the final battle itself make no sense. It's really badly choreographed, it's just the same fight scene you see in every other action anime with a respectable budget. Things just sort of happen and if your looking, not watching or are maybe younger in age this might appease you but if that does not apply to you then like me you might just be like, wtf. You would be right as well because none of this is explained, it just happens.
There's so much more that's wrong, Kiritos lack of characterization, the lack of interesting characters with this but I'm tired of typing. This show went from being really exciting for what I'd hoped to be a good season of a show that I was fond of in my childhood but just turned out to be boring. Really boring.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Oct 21, 2017
Soul Eater to me cones off as a show with a lot of potential but fails to do anything memorable with it.
Story: 5
For the most part i feel indifferent to Soul Eaters story with its continual setups and failed executions it ends up as being another point where the show falls off. The story is split into two halves with the first half in my opinion being the better of the two. The first half of the show takes a less serious more playful tone, I'm glad to say that the humor of this show is one thing it does right. I found it to
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be one of thefew shows I've seen in recent memory to really make me laugh. The first halfs episodic style also serves to develop the cast. The second, Looney half of this show is disastrous suffering from extreme tonal inconsistencies leaving the show feel like nothing is at stake. The story is rushed, convoluted and makes no sense and the end of this show is just so unsatisfying, it really pulls this show down.
Art: 9
This shows art is absolutely amazing, the character designs are striking distinct work and forthe most part there isn't a character who's design in this show i dislike. The aesthetics overall are very interesting and unique. Studio bones one again does an outstanding job with the animation it feels fluid and alive with every fight scene leaning new on the edge of my bed.
Sound: N/A
The sound in this show unfortunately want something i really pushed attention to so can't give much of an opinion on it but on voice acting i personally preferred the dub of this show finding the subbed version to be annoying and finding somr chatacters such as black star to be intolerable.
Character: 8
Despite the show having seven different main characters they all for the most part have something likable about them, with black star and tsubaki being the most stand out for me. Black Star's confidence in himslef though at the start can seem obnoxious becomes a funny and endearing character trait. Tsubaki on the other hand stays dull and boring and serves to drag out their character arcs. These seven characters despite being likeable are hit or miss for the most part. Tge chargers having their own unique traits means that you'll most likely find at least one person you like but with so many of them there is never really a chance to fully develop them or time to grow fully attached to a specific character.
Enjoyment: 7
Despite its many flaws, soul eater is still relatively enjoyable. The chemistry between the characters and the humor still make this show a somewhat good watch, and a fun show to watch around Halloween time.
Overall 7/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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