The right aligned text is what I think of now.
Better view on a Desktop mode, Mobile users.(Ah! There was typo, F!) That was me, 8 months ago in a discussion forum on AL. I remember (re)watching the first episode of Sonny Boy when it aired a month prior to it's actual release season and was really excited. The lack of background music creating a mysterious feel, the simplistic & vibrant art style and that jump scene still gives me chills, so I decided to watch it weekly when it aired but I gradually got bored and thought it was becoming way too complex for it's own good. Except for episode 1,7 and OST at the final episode, I didn't liked everything else from this Anime and shoved among the 'Art House work I didn't liked' list. But I wanted to give it a rewatch, and see how much does this rewatch changed my views.
When it comes to media, entertainment has always been a center of focus. 'Even if it's bad, it should be entertaining'; many new recycled Anime (or any other Media forms) just follow this motto. And while Sonny Boy with it's first episode certainly says that it is going to be different, I still went into it with the mindset of getting 'entertained'. And it DID entertained me with it's world puzzling mystery in the first half, but it gradually lost that entertainment value and became way too 'not entertainment like' (My vocabulary sucks!) in next second half. I had the same problem with a similar anime. It's this shift is what made me gradually loose interest in this. Sure, it did had an interesting turn of events and some social commentary episode I liked (like Episode 7) but it wasn't entertaining enough to be satisfied with.
On my rewatch, I threw out the thought of getting entertained from the get go, and while it's not enjoyable, it certainly is a better experience than what I had before. Yamabiko's backstory, the mind reading girl's episode, the final episode and a few initial episodes were actually pretty good which I missed on my first watch. And just like before, my favorite episode is still Episode 7, the Babel episode. Out of all episodes, this episode showed how aimlessly office workers seem to work (& how I was in a similar situation), this episode spoke to me a bit, and this rewatch made me appreciate it a bit more.
It's absurd, dialogue-heavy, and so many things just happens for simple reasons like 'just because' yet they have a big effect on the story. I really didn't liked how dialogue heavy episode 4 was actually;
Every episode of Sonny Boy makes itself very clear what it's trying to say, the questions on society norms, beliefs, and many others topics that are worth discussing about. But what I think the problem is the Exposition & Time Limit. For a single episode, the show crams in a lot of sci-fi elements that feels a bit excess at times. The exposition is mostly done through dialogue than visuals, and dialogue heavy Anime aren't really my thing (with exceptions). It just shoves into your mind and wants you to process it all, which worked initially but I gradually stopped caring everything it's trying to show and just accepted the social commentary questions it's posing on it's surface and was done with it.
Annoying & Unlikeable bunch. I despised how spineless Nagara is, I found it annoying how Mizuho refuses to talk (if she just said a simple 'I didn't do it' in episode 2, all that melodrama would've been avoided), I found Nozomi to be annoying, didn't liked Hoshi's "May God safe you foolish sheep" attitude and the overall cast is just... Unbearable! Rajdhani was the only who felt like he's trying something and actually cares about solving the mystery.
I still don't think my initial impressions are different, I did had the same impressions even after a rewatch with a small understanding of their nature. Nagara, the center of story and whose growth we're supposed to follow while is slow & small, is still pretty grounded & satisfying. All his growth can be shown in two images; Once he didn't saved the bird in front of his eyes but now he did. It's not grand but still is satisfying. Nozomi is annoying, but that's because she's the only one who's asking the right questions about the characters, and actually serves like something that we should reflect on. "Is this is a Utopia or hell?", "Are you a Sunflower or Dandelion?", "So you're just going to give up again?", and finally, "Don't trust girls with big boobs" (Pretty sure this is meant for all those horny people out there). Rajdhani is still my favorite character. Mizuho.. Well, she felt more like a supporting character for Nagara's growth so my impression on her is still pretty much the same. Yamabiko's backstory was actually way more impactful than I thought. It kinda shows how kindness doesn't always work on people.
The visuals are certainly unique, and probably one of the few things I found appreciable in the Anime but nothing memorable. The OST during the final episode's "escape" is also really great (adding to my playlist).
Yeah, we can agree on that one. I kinda forgot the sheer brilliance I felt in that "escape" scene, where Nagara & Mizuho started to run in some multi dimensional sand glass. I kinda liked the existence of those long shadows in that scene, not really sure how they even exist though. With shows that use the same OST for every scene, Sonny Boy does know when to use background music & insert songs to a good effect. And yeah, that OST is brilliant.
So, I think it's a 5/10 and you think it's better than that?
Yeah, think of giving an 8/10 or 9/10
*... Are you sure you're not getting swayed by the "This is a Landmine in Anime" comments?**... And are you sure that you didn't hated just because it's getting that "This is a Landmine in Anime" comments, just to grab attention?*
...*... How about this? Let's give it a 7. It's in the middle ground and we both can be on equal temrs.*
*.. OK. Let's do that. Honestly, who gives a dime about scores anyway?*Yeah, really. Why bother about a single vague score when there's a whole review for it?
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