Wonder Egg Priority has a somewhat simple premise. A young girl gathers mysterious Wonder Eggs to travel into an alternate universe and protect the people in them. All this is done in order to bring her best friend back. The set-up is interesting and heartwarming, but the show does so much more than provide a cool sci-fi premise. Each time Wonder Egg Priority reveals a character, you can see the narrative become that much more nuanced and impactful. Over the course of its currently 12 episode season, it becomes a look at what makes relationships the source of both character growth and pain.
Wonder Egg Priority makes it hard to forget a single character. From the four main protagonists, to each and every person met within the Egg Dreams (or alternate universes), everyone has something important to say about trauma and the struggles of youth. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what makes the relationships between the main protagonists so special. Seeing four people with a lot of differences and multiple reasons to dislike each other bond over their loneliness and past trauma was still refreshing. The show brought them together under dire circumstances but their relationship was full of positive growth and support.
However when it’s bad, it’s straight up traumatizing. The show is as much of a story about friendship as it is trauma. Almost every episode depicted children struggling with the ways the adults in their lives have abused them and taken advantage of the power they had over them. Anime characters are often children, and I appreciate that Wonder Egg Priority accurately showed the ways in which they lack autonomy. Fighting supreme monsters and making “adult” decisions doesn’t give children power and it showed.
My only wish for Wonder Egg Priority is that it gave abuse and the Egg Dream victims the same treatment it gave its main characters. There was space for growth and real statements to be made, but the episodes never went deep enough. As the show ramps up more forms of traumatic relationships presented themselves but without the critique I feel is necessary. The characters within the Egg Dreams really showed what turns relationships sour. If anything those were the people who deserved the most respect. However, just like their lives, the show treated them horribly. They felt like fodder and while that’s a bit ironic, it simply felt bad. It didn’t seem as though the show was attempting some sort of commentary.
The show’s story does branch out in a variety of ways. The one thing that managed to stay concrete was its ability to show how easy it is for characters and relationships to change, as well as the many forms trauma can take. Despite my hesitation to praise its handling of violence, I do want to at least acknowledge that. The four protagonists were some of the best characters I’ve seen in a while. Watching them go through the motions of experiencing life as a pre-teen and the confusion that comes with it felt incredibly real.
Wonder Egg Priority is currently available through Funimation. A special 13th episode will air this summer on June 30, 2021.
Published: Apr 18, 2021 03:00 pm