Sonny Boy – 2 [Aliens]

Welcome everyone to another season of anime! This is a pretty slow one all things considered but through some clever word play, see “asking nicely”, I was able to get what I think is the most promising show of the season: Sonny Boy! So without further ado lets dive in!

Starting off lets talk about how Sonny Boy, with one of the more unique styles, looks . Character wise all the designs have low line counts and each section of their body is flatly colored. There’s no complex shading or patterned clothing, these are very simple and straightforward designs. In that way Sonny Boy reminds me a lot of Masaki Yuasa’s work and the freedom it grants him in their animation. Sonny Boy hasn’t yet done much with said freedom, a nice water splash on Nozomi, some nice character work across the episode and on Mizuho, but that’s it. Instead Sonny Boy has focused on evocative imagery and heavily stylized effects work. The blue fire, shifting sand or water around Asakaze’s landing for examples of that. And I have to say… I like it. I like the style and the unique scenery it brings and I hope for more.

Moving on to what actually happened in the episode we simultaneously have little and a lot to talk about. What I mean is that Sonny Boy is clearly trying to say something here. The school, the island, these “worlds” all come with pre-made rules that are specially built to challenge these students. Not physically so far, as all of their needs are cared for, but emotionally and psychologically. It creates situations such as the “have” and the “have-nots”, forcing them to interact and communicate to survive together. Indeed that’s one of the main thrusts of the episode as Mizuho, despite not doing anything wrong, refused to communicate with anyone. She locked herself away in her ivory tower giving everyone what they asked for. Never considering what she might want or need in return, or what they might think of her.

Similarly our “lead”, Nagara, is also starting to experience this. We learn, in a rather straightforward conversation, that he was abandoned early on in his life. We get see how that has effected his personality. That he avoids interaction and conflict with other people, leaving them to fend for themselves and him for himself. He’s… disconnected from the group and I expect him to start suffering for that. Or to at least start trying to reconnect with everyone at the behest of this friend and co-lead, Nozomi.

As for where I believe this is going? I’m expecting Sonny Boy to go down the communal route. The idea that, individually, these character’s can’t do anything. That regardless of how much individual power they might have they cannot escape, cannot change the world, alone. And the big scene that set me on this idea was the finale! Mizuho managed to burn down the entire island and everything on it, ruined the whole thing, only for it to be magically fixed at the start of the next day. These students have destroyed the school, ripped it apart from the inside, only for the same thing to happen. They food is provided for them, their stuff is fixed and safety guaranteed. Its like a playhouse for children and that their journey will be progressing from individuality focused kids to community, teamwork oriented adults. Will it play out that way? Who knows.

With that lets take the opportunity to talk about these magical, rule-bearing worlds. I think that each one is meant to be some kind of metaphor for growing up, the rules changing as they progress through life. That meta-bullshit aside though, I like what these worlds bring to the table. Each one provides us a unique locale and scenery, an excuse to change locations often and wildly. Its a godsend to a medium that is usually trapped within the same highschool or specific walled town in Germany. Additionally I think these rules have a lot of potential for creating interesting scenarios. Assuming that they can do whatever they want, and that they are abusable like in the 1st episode, I’m looking forward to the kind of conflict and creative problem solving that will come out of them.

Speaking of the rules there is one character I realize I forgot to mention above: Hoshi, the student council member. I don’t trust this guy. He knows to much, more than he should, and he approaches every situation in a way I find deeply concerning. Manipulating people into doing what he wants done without every standing behind those things himself, hoisting the responsibility onto someone else. I almost thought he wasn’t actually a student but rather an arbiter of these worlds since he seems to know and understand the rules so well! But the flashbacks to the real world with Pony and Mizuho today proved that not to be the case. So instead I am forced to believe the knowing the rules of the worlds they visit is his power and he simply hasn’t told anyone so he can continue to manipulate from behind the scenes. Regardless, don’t trust Hoshi!

With that said, when all things are considered, I quite enjoyed this episode of Sonny Boy. It didn’t go the route I expected, that being a greater focus on the powers rather than social dynamics, but it still pulled it off well. There are so many threads going on that I couldn’t even mention them all in this post. Stuff like Mizuho’s infatuation with her teacher, Hoshi and Pony’s abuse of power, etc. I also like the visuals and designs, though I do hope it does a bit more with them as the season progresses. For now though? Sonny Boy remains my favorite anime of the current season. And no amount of gay vampires, isekai or battle games with cat girls is going to change that.