Summer 2021 First Impressions: Sonny Boy, Scarlet Nexus, Peach Boy Riverside

Sonny Boy

Short Synopsis: Infinite Ryvius but set in the only place scarier than space: High School.

Armitage: I can safely assume that most of you reading this have not seen HBO’s The Leftovers, though I highly recommend you do so as I consider it to be the best story I have experienced in all of entertainment media. Sonny Boy’s core concept is basically a rip-off of The Leftovers but set in a more constrained setting of a high school, because anime. There are also elements of Lord of the Flies, the art is reminiscent of Anthem of the Heart and the school kids have superpowers, because anime. Basically, it’s not a highly original setup. But it’s the presentation of all these disparate elements conjoined together that makes for an incredibly arresting viewing experience.

The world, well… the school, truly feels like an actual place with paint coming off from the walls and iron rails covered in patches of rust. This is very much a place that’s been standing for years, maybe decades. Even with the empty void that surrounds it, it feels like a place that people lived in. A place now inhabited by a cast of somewhat emo teenagers who just want to escape. To be anywhere but here. The ‘punishment rules’ in place are supposed to mirror a totalitarian governing system and I do believe the superpowers and lack thereof would lead to some scenarios of prejudice reminiscent of BnHA and MP100. But while watching this premiere, I couldn’t help but get that nagging feeling of having seen it all before. That is until the last 30 seconds of the episode when Sonny Boy took a deep dive into uncharted territory. There’s every chance that it might still end up rehashing established genre tropes but it’s given itself a solid opportunity to stand out as something more than the sum of its parts.

Potential: 80%

Lenlo: I’ll be frank: I have no idea what this show is. High school? That’s normal. Superpowers? Ok, we’ve seen it before. Transported to another world? All’s good in the hood! Yet Sonny Boy’s strange mix of them all feels… unique. Perhaps that’s just the mystery of the whole thing tinting my perception. Whatever the case though I am intrigued by what Sonny Boy is doing, even if it doesn’t yet make any sense. Meanwhile production wise Sonny Boy is right up my alley. The loose style reminds me a lot of Yuasa’s more fluid, low-detail character designs – the kind that tend to allow his team to distort the bodies to really fit the movement they are trying to sell. Top that off with some great effects work on the powers, such as shattering the entire screen (plus some iffy CGI), and you have my hope for the season (he says after watching one show so far :p).

Potential: 70%

Scarlet Nexus

Short Synopsis: A psychokinetic teen and his childhood savior fight against alien flower monsters.

Wooper: I’ve seen some recent pushback against the habit of calling anime adaptations “advertisements for the source material.” I get why people are moving away from the phrase, since it paints with too broad a brush, but a series like Scarlet Nexus demonstrates why it became prominent in the first place. The show started airing just days after its parent video game’s release, and it’s so disinterested in its own story that spending 60 dollars on the game seems worth it, if only to avoid the anime. Characters talk in bullet points, introducing themselves and providing background information with robotic precision. The very second they’re finished reading their lines, aliens appear, creating a sterile transition into unexciting combat scenes. A little girl unleashes a classic cry of “Momma!” as a means of motivating the rookie protagonist to join the battle and Save the Children. If you’ve ever read or watched a piece of dystopian fiction, Scarlet Nexus won’t have anything new to offer you (apart from its bizarre antagonists, which might best be described as legged floral arrangements).

Potential: 10%

Lenlo: As far as sci-fi video game adaptations go Scarlet Nexus is… fine? Wooper hits all the notes above, it’s a straight laced, stereotypical dystopia with a sci-fi aesthetic. And the sad part? I actually think the video game looks better. The outfits are clearly designed for 3D models and are far too complicated to animate any complex actions. Meanwhile the pacing, as Wooper points out, is more suited for a game than it is a 24 minute-per-week TV show. In fact I actually went and watched the opening hour of the playthrough and I think you would get more value out of just watching the cutscenes or a Let’s Play of that game than you would watching this anime. I don’t know whose idea this series was but the money would probably have been better spent taking everything they put into this and instead recycling it back into the game.

Potential: 5%

Peach Boy Riverside

Short Synopsis: A runaway princess meets a demihuman rabbit who then follows her to repay her debt.

Lenlo: I don’t think there is a single unique or creative thought in this show. It’s a medieval fantasy with a big-breasted female lead and shallow racism that, for some reason, our lead has never heard of and doesn’t believe in despite growing up in this world just like anyone else. There’s nothing about Peach Boy that in any way catches my eye, except maybe like… the cute rabbit monster.

Potential: 1%

Mario: Apparently Peach Boy Riverside’s director chose to rearrange the source material for the anime, which explains why it starts in media res. It’s not that hard to grasp the story, though, as it’s pretty straightforward. So far it’s a road trip where the main girl finds out about demihuman discrimination and her own bloodlust, but neither she nor her discoveries are appealing so far. The way Peach Boy tackles discrimination is totally on the nose, and the fact that she was previously unaware of it is so unnatural. Moreover, what I found most underwhelming is how it approaches the story. The tone is all over the place, to the point we have no idea if certain scenes are supposed to be funny or not. In one sequence, when offered octopus, the main girl immediately thinks of tentacle sex. The way the show focuses on her bouncy boobs, the rabbit girl’s habit of wearing a modern school uniform despite the fantasy setting… all the obvious otaku pandering left a distasteful impression on me. (sigh) I did have some hope for the show before watching it, but with its generic setup, shallow exposition and thinly-written characters, Peach Boy Riverside sets the bar incredibly low for this Summer season.

Potential: 0%

Spring 2021 Summary – Weeks 12-13

Wooper: It’s just me, myself and I for the last of the season’s recap posts. I’ve gone through a bunch of shows over the past few months, and dropped a fair few of them – here are the series that still had my attention at spring’s end. (Also, I won’t be running this column over the summer, so it’ll be up to a different author to pick up the torch if they’re interested!)

Yoru no Kuni – 1-2

Now here’s an interesting project. Yoru no Kuni is directed by ryo-timo (animator of the iconic running scene from The Girl Who Leapt Through Time) and features music from Aimer (whose songs have served as EDs for After the Rain and Vinland Saga). These are both artists whose work I enjoy, so I’d follow this ongoing web series regardless of its merits, but thankfully it’s quite good. In both episodes, a noble half-avian creature named Yoru serves as a guide for a troubled child, entering their dreams and gently prompting them to resolve their emotional issues. There’s a painterly look to Yoru’s “Night World,” as he calls it, where shooting stars, glittering hillsides and luminous butterflies have their own unique textures. Despite that brightness, watching Yoru no Kuni is a soothing experience, with visuals that don’t grab your eyes so much as they caress them. The second episode is noteworthy for maintaining a dreamlike feeling despite the questions of its older and more cynical subject, who nevertheless has a profound epiphany within her dream. Both episodes can be found at [these] [links] if you’re interested – I highly recommend them if you’re into animation with a storybook vibe.

Continue reading “Spring 2021 Summary – Weeks 12-13”

Summer 2021 Season Preview

Lenlo: Spring 2021 had a lot of hopes riding on it, from sequels like My Hero Academia S5, Zombieland Saga and the final season of Fruits Basket to new adaptations like Super Cub, To Your Eternity and Shadows House. Even originals got a chance to shine with works like Odd Taxi taking everyone by surprise! Sadly Summer 2021 has none of that and might in fact be one of the emptiest seasons we’ve seen in awhile. Sequels like Higurashi are going unnoticed as the remake appears to have fallen flat, though some might be excited for another season of Slime Isekai. Meanwhile adaptations feel like they are scraping the bottom of the barrel with works like Bokutachi no Remake – the lone hope there perhaps being The Detective is Already Dead. And originals? Well originals are my sole hope for the season as Sonny Boy has me all kinds of excited.

Think I’m being pessimistic? Well read on, take a look and let us know down below what you think is worth keeping an eye out for this summer! You have no idea how much I want you to prove me wrong and point out some good anime to me. Please, I can’t have Throwback Thursday be the only good thing I watch this season.

This poll is no longer accepting votes

What will you be watching this summer?
  • Sonny Boy (30 votes)
  • Vanitas no Carte (16 votes)
  • Hamefura S2 (13 votes)
  • Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon S (13 votes)
  • Tantei wo Mou, Shindeiru (11 votes)
  • Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Sotsu (10 votes)
  • Peach Boy Riverside (9 votes)
  • Shinigami Bocchan to Kuro Maid (9 votes)
  • Slime Isekai S2 Part 2 (9 votes)
  • Shiroi Suna no Aquatope (8 votes)
  • Kageki Shoujo!! (7 votes)
  • 100-man no Inochi S2 (6 votes)
  • Jahy-sama wa Kujikenai! (6 votes)
  • D_CIDE Traumerei the Animation (5 votes)
  • Meikyuu Black Company (5 votes)
  • Scarlet Nexus (5 votes)
  • Uramichi Oniisan (5 votes)
  • Genjitsu Shugi Yuusha no Oukoku Saikenki (4 votes)
  • Getter Robo Arc (4 votes)
  • Bokutachi no Remake (3 votes)
  • Heion Sedai no Idaten-tachi (3 votes)
  • Magia Record S2 (3 votes)
  • Mahouka Koukou no Yuutousei (3 votes)
  • Night Head 2041 (3 votes)
  • Re-Main (3 votes)
  • Cheat Kusushi no Slow Life (2 votes)
  • Kanojo mo Kanojo (2 votes)
  • Love Live! Superstar (2 votes)
  • Ore, Tsushima (2 votes)
  • Seirei Gensouki (2 votes)
  • Deatte 5-byou de Battle (1 vote)
  • Megami-ryou no Ryoubo-kun (1 vote)
  • Tsuki ga Michibiku Isekai Douchuu (1 vote)

Middling Expectations

Peach Boy Riverside

Studio: Asahi Production
Director: Shigeru Ueda
Series composition: Keiichirou Oochi
Source: Manga

Mario: The Peach Boy Riverside manga is written by Cool-kyou Shinja, a creator involved in two other adaptations this season: Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon and Heion Sedai no Idaten-tachi (though they only did character designs for the latter). Now, if you’re expecting Peach Boy to be in the same domestic comedy style as Maid Dragon or I Can’t Understand What My Husband is Saying, you couldn’t be more off the mark. From the little I’ve read of the manga, this is going to be a straightforward fantasy shounen show with slightly darker and more twisted characters. Asahi Production is not a big studio name, and the same goes for the director, whose first series in the big chair aired just three years ago. Series composer Oochi is more prolific, having written for comedies like Hinamatsuri and dramas like Oregairu’s recent third season. Will he be able to pull from his experience in both of those genres to elevate Peach Boy’s middle of the road source material? The odds aren’t great, but only time will tell.

Continue reading “Summer 2021 Season Preview”

SSSS.Dynazenon – 10-11

Looks like Dynazenon’s format-breaking episode arrived in its tenth week, rather than its ninth. “Which Memories Do You Regret?” was a challenging piece of work, much like Gridman’s “Dream,” and though I don’t think this season’s experiment went over quite as well as the previous one, the shake-up was appreciated. It wasn’t just the ‘kaiju of the week’ formula that received an adjustment, either. The character designs were noticeably looser – more angular in motion, yet rounder (and occasionally deformed) in close-up. “More with less” was the animation director’s mission statement for this one, as moments like Yomogi bursting through the barrier to Yume’s past were made hectic by limited frame counts, yet he still found time to slow down for a sisterly heart-to-heart in the second act. This assortment of styles put me in mind of the late Osamu Kobayashi, who surely would have enjoyed this episode for its aesthetic detours. That probably means a lot of other people didn’t like it, but hey, Dynazenon wasn’t built to be a crowd favorite.

Continue reading “SSSS.Dynazenon – 10-11”

Spring 2021 Summary – Week 11

Wooper: We’re bringing back the pre-column author’s notes this week! Not for anything too exciting – just a heads up that there won’t be a recap post on June 21st, since that’s Summer 2021 Preview day. We’ll do a final Spring Summary on the 28th, though, before jumping straight into first impressions mode. Seasonal anime never stops running, and neither do we!

Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song – 12

Helghast: What kind of super AI records in a 4:3 format and has an antique VHS overlay when recounting Vivy’s one hundred year journey? With that kind of tech, maybe it came to the conclusion that humanity has become stagnant and that AI should replace them to continue to evolve much like how children end up replacing their parents in the long term just with killer robots and apocalyptic imagery. Speaking of killer robots, that entire mission could not have gone more poorly for Vivy and her crew trying to take down the Archive. Everyone is dead and humanity got its ass kicked by hundreds of thousands satellites falling from the sky. I’m glad that Toak brought some rifles to the party and there were some awesome sequences, including a fight with the archive that bordered on abstract art.

Unlike Teppei’s other works of Re:Zero, there are no more retries. The autosave overwrote the timeline where Osamu is still alive and placed Vivy at the door of the final boss. At least Vivy finally has an answer to her question of what her heart is. I suspect it has something to do with her own desires and dreams of protecting those close to her and conveying those strong passions through her singing. With next week’s episode title being “Fluorite Eye’s Song,” I certainly hope that it will be a banger to close off a spectacular original show.

Continue reading “Spring 2021 Summary – Week 11”

Spring 2021 Summary – Week 10

Bishounen Tanteidan – 5-6

Wooper: There was a reason I opted not to follow Bishounen Tanteidan on a weekly basis, and this hour of the series showcased it beautifully; for me, listening to this author’s dialogue is like overdosing on Ambien. All of his characters talk circuitously, and they don’t manage to generate intrigue in the process, either. Take episode 5, for instance – in its final minutes, all Doujima needs to do to expose Lai as a cheater is watch him carefully, since she knows he’s taking cues from an invisible man. Instead, we have to suffer through her internal monologue about concentrating all her thoughts on a single point, which leads her to realize that she has to look “at her own self” because she’s been accepted by her new friends, who she really wants to help by exposing Lai as a cheater. See how we looped around to where we started? This show is full of shit like that, and even when it’s not skipping Composition 101 to do donuts in the parking lot, it’s engaging in gab sessions about art that have nothing to do with the smaller stories it wants to tell (see episode 6). When even a windbag like me can’t appreciate your meandering script, you know something has gone sideways. Dropped.

Continue reading “Spring 2021 Summary – Week 10”

SSSS.Dynazenon – 8-9 [What Are These Wavering/Overlapping Emotions?]

You really had me going this week, Amemiya. Chise’s Kubrickian vision at the start of episode 9 left me anticipating another extended dream sequence, like the one we got at the same point in Gridman’s run, but it never came. The previous episode even ended by tinting the frame a dreamy sunset color during Yomogi’s conversation with Yume (whose name literally means “dream”). Dynazenon’s structure is a bit different than its predecessor’s, so it makes sense that my dream went unrealized this time around – it could happen in a few years’ time, though, since there have been rumblings of a future third series in the Gridman universe (unless that was just a dream I had).

Now that everybody’s feeling nice and rested, hit the jump for some thoughts on the last two Dynazenons.

Continue reading “SSSS.Dynazenon – 8-9 [What Are These Wavering/Overlapping Emotions?]”

Spring 2021 Summary – Week 9

Fruits Basket S3 – 8

Amun: This final season is intense. For all the almosts the previous season(s) of Fruits Basket had, it’s all coming together here. We have (attempted?) murder, sex, confessions, backstories…tired of the emotional tease and need some feels payoffs? Here ya go! I’m mixed on the reveal of the Kyo-Honda-mama connection – on the one hand, it’s like a modified childhood friend route – a bit overdone. On the other, the reactions and character’s actions are spot on – this is a show about trauma after all. It’s clear the feels train is barrelling into the station – taking a broader view of how we got here, there have been some overall surprises. Early on in the show, I didn’t really expect Kyo to be the main character, honestly I thought it would be a more Yuki-centered story. The big genderbender was a shock too – and really complicated matters intensely. I thought Shigure would be a sleazeball with a heart of gold – but actually he’s just a sleazeball. If I’m rooting for anyone to get shanked, it’s him. I guess I would have liked to see Akito wield their power over the Zodiac a bit more – they come off as really childish and we didn’t see the sway over the other animal spirits quite enough. That’s pretty much my only gripe though, since this has been a banger of a season. Get your ships in order, hold on to your childhood hats, as we try to land this hot mess and get everyone out alive!

Godzilla SP – 4-5

Wooper: I’m hardly acquainted with any of the characters in Godzilla SP, but I’m hanging in there. The show has ways of making its ultra-nerdy dialogue palatable, whether it be putting scary monsters on screen, cutting to interviews with laymen about the proliferation of kaiju, or enlisting Pero 2’s help to explain difficult concepts to Mei. The two of them were involved in my favorite scene from either of these episodes: a one minute and forty second flurry of text messages between Mei and Yun, with Pero showing up in various LINE stickers on Mei’s end. Showing a text conversation on screen is a fantastic way to lose your audience’s attention (doubly so if it’s about molecular arrangements), but the intrigue of two scientists collaborating without knowing a thing about each other kept me interested. On the other hand, I care about very few people on the periphery of the story, especially the researchers who escaped the massive Radon tank in episode 5’s big set piece. Even if that’s the tank from which Godzilla will eventually emerge, there are at least two degrees of separation between all of those characters and our heroes, maybe more. Every second spent watching them, or anyone not directly involved with Yun or Mei, feels like lost time.

Continue reading “Spring 2021 Summary – Week 9”