A Note From Anime Hajime:
A pillar of Wonder Egg Priority’s story centered around the topics of suicide and suicidal thoughts. Per the nature of these themes, the following may evoke strong emotions. Although the primary purpose of this review is to examine the merits of the Wonder Egg Priority series, how this show chose to frame and talk about suicide cannot be overlooked.
Therefore, if you choose to stop reading at any point, feel free to do so.
Additionally, should you suspect someone you know is in danger of hurting themselves, contact one of the following hotlines for help:
- The United States – National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255
- The United Kingdom – Samaritans: 116-123
- Canada – Crisis Services Canada: 1-833-456-4566
- Japan – TELL Lifeline: 03-5774-0992
More from the Wonder Egg Priority series:
***Warning, the following WILL contain spoilers for Wonder Egg Priority. Reader discretion is advised.***
The Set-Up
Wonder Egg Priority saw its original, twelve-episode run between January 13th, 2021, and March 31st, 2021. For audiences, they were left with a story that did not yet have a conclusion. That finale, and the focus of this Impressions post, released as a one-hour special on June 30th, 2021.
I want to be honest with you. I went into Wonder Egg Priority Special with hesitation. Although this series had a fantastic start, its journey to greatness was halted by a narrative that lost track of everything it had been doing so well.
In the beginning, Wonder Egg Prirotiy introduced us to a group of girls trying to make sense of losing people who had died by suicide. Along the way, they had to come face to face with their own demons and battles, hoping to undo an act so final. Slowly, the girls were coming to terms with their heartache and learning how to push onward.
Then the series ruined all that by shoving in a nauseating amount of confusing science fiction elements. There were artificial intelligence, parallel worlds, and dimensional super beings. Then as a final twist of the knife, episode twelve came with a dubious “To Be Concluded.”
Well, that conclusion is here. Did this series manage to salvage a story that could have led it to be one of the best anime of 2021?
The following are my impressions of Wonder Egg Priority Special.
Impressions
To the question, “Did Wonder Egg Special salvage its story,” the answer is a firm, definitive, absolutely not. If anything, this final episode took a series that was sliding downhill and pushed it off the cliff. The word “disappointing” doesn’t come close to describing it.
And to start us off, calling this finale an hour-long special is not at all accurate. Sure, the second half of this episode was a “conclusion” to Wonder Egg Priority. The first half, though, was just a twenty-plus-minute recap of the original series.
To give this special some credit, I was a little thankful this recap was here. Although I had watched Wonder Egg Priority a little less than a month before this post, I had forgotten many of its nitty-gritty details (an occupational inevitability when you review two to three anime a week).
However, the recap was a hindrance, and it did this series a disservice in two ways.
First, the recap wasted a ton of precious time Wonder Egg Priority Special did not have to tell a satisfying conclusion. If you were scratching your head at the end of the anime, see what happens if you give this episode a shot.
If Wonder Egg Priority were to have any chance of recovering from its last-minute attempts to include an unneeded villain and overly complicated details, it would require an entire second season. Instead, it had an hour which it decided to undermind by overly summarizing what people have already seen.
Second, this recap was a heartwrenching reminder of Wonder Egg Priority’s fall from grace.
When this special starts, you’re immediately reminded of how beautiful this show is. The animation, the visuals, the settings, the music, the atmosphere, it is all gorgeous. Then, as the recap moves on, you remember what our characters are fighting for; you remember what is motivating them. You see their pain and how much the deaths of those dear to them affected them.
Upon seeing this, I began to wonder, “Was I wrong?” How could I not recommend this show; there was so much good to its name.
Then the recap continued, and I remembered exactly why I did what I did. And to make matters worse, the summary didn’t help all the much. Wonder Egg Priority Special added a ton of extra details that had not been introduced in the previous twelve episodes.
For example, it turns out that the people our characters were trying to save were saved, but not really. No, those who died by suicide were dead. The people who came back were just an alternate version of themselves from a parallel universe with no memories. So, when Ai Ooto reunited with her friend, Koito Nagase, it was bittersweet because this other Nagase had no idea who Ooto was.
Also, the fact that Ooto could save Nagase didn’t make any sense.
Despite the information vomit that was the end of Wonder Egg Priority, the series made clear a force was compelling girls to choose death. The problem is, Nagase didn’t choose death; her apparent suicide was, actually, a horrible accident. Her being in the Egg Dreams doesn’t fit.
Believe me; I wanted – no – I hoped Wonder Egg Priority Special would pull off a miracle. I wanted to look back at my review of the series and say, “I was wrong.” Sadly, the only thing I feel is sickening vindication.
This was a good series until it wasn’t. And Wonder Egg Priority, which the special double-downed on, stopped being a good series when it introduced a villain.
Rather than exploring why people choose suicide, this show placed blame on an “unnatural” force. Never mind how suicide results from a long-lasting illness, an illness often compounded by external factors: trauma, unchecked mental conditions, bullying, financial situations, unrelenting societal pressures, etc. No, that’s not what does it. According to this show, suicide is the fault of a vindictive A.I. program.
Wonder Egg Priority did not have to go in this direction. Hell, it WASN’t going in this direction for the longest time. I don’t have any basis for what I am about to say, but it really feels like someone on the production team got cold feet.
This series could have been foundational; it could have broken barriers. People could have looked back on this show and say, “this is how you can talk about darker subjects in anime.”
Unfortunately, Wonder Egg Priority will be a poster child for greatness that could have been.
Final Thoughts
I only had to wait a few weeks to get this story’s conclusion. I can only imagine what it was like for those anticipating for months. Regardless of when you watch this final episode after the original series, the result will be the same:
Utter disappointment.
This show ran out of time. It tried to do so much. That was sad to see because the direction this series went in ruined what it had already done well.
Although I wanted it to be different, I can’t say I’m surprised. Let me reaffirm; Wonder Egg Priority can be skipped.
But these were just my thoughts. What are yours? Have you seen this series? How were your impressions of Wonder Egg Priority Special? Leave a comment down below because I would love to hear what you have to say.
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