The winter 2021 anime season is winding down, and soon it’ll be time to say farewell to all the great shows we’ve been blessed with. This season has had it all: bold new isekai fantasy worlds to explore, mindless fanservice when we needed to turn off our brains and relax, awesome conclusions to long-running series, plus smart and innovative new shows that took risks to tell bold and dramatic stories. One of the standouts this season has been Wonder Egg Priority, an original anime about four girls battling their inner demons. Are you watching?
If Stephen King Made an Anime, it would be Wonder Egg Priority…
In a world where fans complain about cookie-cutter isekai, idol, harem, and ecchi anime shows, it’s refreshing to see an original anime that’s not afraid of taking risks, telling a dark and horrific story that deals with themes that are usually just not talked about, even for late-night anime. Every time I think “oh no, they did not go there!” the story explores some new taboo subject.
As I described in my first post on the show, the story of Wonder Egg Priority is the journey of four girls who are given mysterious eggs that contain girls who they must defend from terrible monsters similar to the world-eating Langoliers from the Stephen King novel, using magical girl-like powers. Each egg-girl has committed suicide, and part of each quest is to ask the girl why she ended her own life and be supportive of her. Every “level” contains a boss called a Wonder Killer that must be defeated, which allows the egg-girl to finally rest and be at peace.
The Characters of Wonder Egg Priority
First, there’s Ooto Ai, a girl who became unable to go to school after the suicide of a close friend. She has heterochromia (differently colored eyes), which is known as “odd eye” in Japanese, making her name a pun on that feature. In addition to unraveling the mystery of the Wonder Eggs, she must cope with the death of her friend Koito and find a way to rejoin society.
Aonuma Neiru is a quiet dark-skinned girl who’s a super-genius, part of an organization called Japan Plati who created her through artificial procreation in a lab. A textbook kuudere, she’s trying to find a way to bring back her sister who committed suicide.
Rika Kawai starts out being the least likable of the girls, living her life by the slogan that “a pretty girl doesn’t need to carry a wallet, because someone else will always pay for her.” A former junior idol who’s trying to make amends for abusing the feelings of a fan and accidentally driving her to suicide, Rika’s ultimate goal is to find her real father, but her mother was is such a slut, even she’s not sure who Rika’s father is…or so she says. Rika’s internal struggles are so intense, she sometimes engages in self-harm.
Momoe Sawaki is a tall and slender girl who’s so attractive, most people believe she’s a boy… then promptly fall in love with her. Momoe struggles with her androgynous nature but secretly wants to be feminine and find a nice man to date. She’s trying to bring her friend Haruka back to life.
J-List’s Ranking for Wonder Egg Priority
Visuals: 5/5 stars. The show is one of the most gorgeous of the season.
Voice acting: 5/5 stars.
Music: 5/5 stars. The OP is my favorite of the season.
Peter’s CGI Hate-o-Meter: 0/5 stars. While some CGI was used for the complex battle scenes, it was done very tastefully and with restraint.
Thanks for reading this post about the Wonder Egg Priority anime, which is definitely one of the most pleasant surprises of the current season!
To thank everyone for their warm support of J-List over the past year, J-List is offering…some stimulus for everyone! Until Tuesday, you can get $20 off of any order of $100 or more of in-stock products, making this a great opportunity for you to browse for some awesome anime artbooks or how-to-draw books, stock up on doujinshi or manga, or grab that special “naughty” product you’ve had your eye on. Use code STIMULUS at checkout for the instant $20 store credit! (Sorry, preorders and J-List Box snack boxes not included.)
