[Summer 2021] Sonny Boy Discussion Thread

[Buckeye]

ソニーボイ

A show about high school students whose classroom ends up drifting into another dimension, all while each student has a awakened a supernatural ability.

Airs: Friday, July 16, 2021

Studio: Madhouse

ANN Entry
My Anime List
Official Site
Funimation

Empty classrooms, boring days. It was supposed to be a normal summer vacation just like any other. Suddenly, the school begins to drift through another dimension, and 36 boys and girls are left there, awakening to their supernatural abilities. Amidst the whirlpool of questions that come to mind one after another, survival in a supernatural world begins.

Notes
As usual, please try to follow these two easy forum courtesy habits when replying:
1) If you're the first person to post about an episode in any given week, please indicate in the first line which episode you're posting about.
2) If someone has already posted about an episode before you, please quote that post (or a relevant reply to that post), or include the episode title in the first line. ("Re: Episode 1") Just make sure the episode is indicated.

For more guidelines please refer to this thread.

[Buckeye]

Episode 1

X marks the spot.

Having caught the first episode during Funimation's preview, I knew that I was in for something that stands out given that this is Shingo Natsume at the helm, and stand out it did in a weird way. It looked to be another high school drama, but then once the classroom ended up in another dimension, all sanity was lost and the penalty games were in full force. And the weirdness only kicks up another notch with that ending with a guy and a girl jumping off the plank and ending up in the ocean in another dimension. Weird it was, but in an interesting way.

As usual, I'm giving it the trial period before deciding what to do with this show.

[Buckeye]

Episode 2

Down in blue flames.

And now, the class finds themselves on a desolate island, and things are chaotic here. This episode focuses mostly on Mizuho as she's a rich girl who loves cats, but is socially distant. And then there are the blue flames burning everything up and things were about to break this class apart. But Nagara kept his cool and apologized to Mizuho and she was brought back to reality. Lots of things just didn't make sense here, but in the grand scheme of things it adds nicely to all the mysterious things happening in this show.

[Buckeye]

Episode 3

Going behind the curtain.

And this show just keeps on getting more and more weird. The class is in the middle of a deserted island in another dimension, but not too far away, there are curtains that are portals leading to a place where people can enjoy their hobbies. And then there are the cats as they actually belonged to Mizuho's grandmother, but when she got dimension they were going to be released and Mizuho snuck them out to take care of them herself. And Nagara himself apparently has some sort of power to make ports appear and disappear. Things just continue to not make any sense, but in a good way seeing that this is supposed to be one gigantic mystery, and this is the show's way of not giving away anything.

[Buckeye]

Episode 4

Baseball is monkey business.

Monkeys are everywhere, at least in the one Nagara created. That was quite a nicely done baseball game there, and while Nagara can swing it, that pitch was so nasty that I'm not so sure anybody could have hit it. So after having a lot of fun in a different dimension it's time to return home and Nagara has better control of his warping ability. Except that while he can take the class everywhere they can't get back home. And then the homeroom teacher shows up. Nagara sure is in quite a tough spot there seeing that for some reason he's able to take the class everywhere except back home. It will be interesting to see how he gets out of this mess.

[Buckeye]

Episode 5

No way home.

Pretty amusing seeing the Pac-Man reference there eating mice instead of dots. But on a more serious note, Aki-sensei is here to let everybody know that enough is enough and that it's time to go home. If only it were that easy as Nagara can't make it happen. It doesn't help that he responds to the question that he doesn't care about what happens to his classmates as saying that in any situation will draw ire, much less in this situation. Apparently the power only works one way, so therein lies a huge problem. While Nagara clearly doesn't have his head on straight, this is just too much for him to handle. It will be interesting to see what Nagara tries to do in order to get out of this mess he created, and it's a good thing that Indian student is so perceptive as he has been so valuable to the class.

[Buckeye]

Episode 6

Reel'em in.

And now, Mizuho brings in a talking black dog, all while the students are watching some film reels of their graduation to come. These guys have been losing sight of themselves through this ordeal, so it is nice to see them slowly getting their resolve back. What that guy at the end there said pretty much puts a nice touch on all this as what they are watching is only a single possibility. There's still quite a lot to unpack here, but at the very least things are really moving forward in a big way.

[Buckeye]

Episode 7

Don't bug him. He's working.

And now, Nagara is carrying bricks down a spiral staircase where his powers just won't manifest there. And there are just bugs everywhere, from the food to the ones that eat up Nagara's buddy while they were looking up at the starlit sky. Once again, things take quite a lot twists there, and literally this time with the spiral staircase and all. Pretty much, this is all about manning up here as Nagara is slowly, but surely building confidence seeing that getting back will depend on him being in the right mindset.

[Buckeye]

Episode 8

Don't let it happen to you.

And now, a depressing story told from the black dog Yamabiko as he was once a human who went through a similar experience as what Nagara is going through right now. He was a loner until he met a girl who loved him. But this was going on during a plague where his fellow classmates were crystallized. His girlfriend managed to toughen it out and live as long as she possibly could before ultimately succumbing. Pretty much, this serves as a cautionary story here as Yamabiko doesn't want Nagara to meet the same fate he did as while it's too late for the dog, Nagara still has the opportunity to do something about this.

[Buckeye]

Episode 9

Cat got her tongue.

So after a talking dog, it's now an episode about talking cats as Mizuho's kitties are speaking out. And a lot more randomness here from living in the snow to a buggy video game involving ticks. And then there's Rajdhani trying to figure out the secrets of Mizuho's power, though the cat's aren't exactly in the mood to tell anything. And then there's Seiji fighting himself, first with a sumo match, and then a ray gun duel resulting in him becoming a hollow. This episode goes to show that there's quite a lot that's going wrong with these kids.

[Buckeye]

Episode 10

Only one person fits the bill.

And now an episode focused on Asakaze here as he goes down a steep gorge with Nozomi and Kossetsu, along with the teacher. They encounter a different version of War along the way. Kossetsu has been secretly in love with Asakaze, but she couldn't bring herself to confess. And after seeing that Nozomi is a much better fit for him that's kind of a moot point. Things just continue to be random, but at the very least other characters are now getting the spotlight seeing that it has been Nagara's show for the most part, and the other characters have just been there more than anything.

[Buckeye]

Episode 11

Blasting off to the real world.

And now Nozomi is dead as it turns out that not everybody who gets trapped in this dimension is going to make it out alive. But Nagara and Mizuho are going home again, though Mizuho will have to leave her cats behind. Rajdhani decides to stay behind seeing that he's there to help out everybody trapped in this weird world. So with that, Nagara and Mizuho are on a rocket to return to the real world after this adventure. One more episode left to go as while things have been quite confusing, at the very least Nagara and Mizuho are doing something about it.

[Buckeye]

Episode 12 (Finale)

There's a future ahead of him.

So it ends with Nagara and Mizuho going back to the real world after leaving their classmates behind in the dimension whether they died like Nozomi, chose to stay behind like Rajdhani, or were turned into something else. The fact that Nagara met Mizuho at school and she doesn't know who he is was foreshadowing something as Nagara would go on to meet up with the same Mizuho who he went through that crazy adventure with. And then he finds out that Nozomi is alive in this world as the one that died was a different version of her. And thus, this show ends going to show that Nagara has his life ahead of him as he has reason to look forward and not back. Pretty good way to end this show, and while there was so much that just didn't make sense, the end result was satisfying.

Overall, this show has style and unorthodox storytelling going in its favor along with the crazy animation style and supernatural aspects that make for an experience rarely seen in anime, and Shingo Natsume made it work. That said, where this show runs into trouble is the storytelling as it's so confusing, all while a lot of stuff just doesn't make sense and will leave viewers lost seeing that there's just way too much randomness going on. So to sum things up, this show's unorthodox style makes for an experience unlike anything else, but at the same time the show is so hard to follow that it becomes counterintuitive down the road.

MAL Rating: