Sonny boy is an anime about a class of teenagers for whatever supernatural and unexplained reason get transported into a realm outside of reality. Their new reality is just a school and a void outside a certain distance from the school. Many of the students also seem to develop certain supernatural powers. Nobody knows what the hell is going on, nobody even seems to care than much about everything that is happening and prelude of this strange event is never explained nor shown. We as the viewer are just slapped in the face with this obscure and baffling situation and the fact none of these high school students seems to worry or care that much adds to the baffling experience.

The absolute surreal nature of the first episode I believe is by design to inform new viewers from the get go that this is not a conventional slice of life series. Each episode vaguely follows the students nonchalant attitude towards trying to solve the mystery of how they end up in this strange predicament. A de facto group of students seem to take up some semblance authority as leaders of the students.

Sonny boy is one of those rare series that is impossible to be spoiled. There are some significant events that happen in the last few episodes though that may be really shocking or just baffling stupid depending on how you interpret it. This series breaks conventional rules of text book good story telling. Characters do not seem to develop, their personalities are pretty dull and regular, the rules of the mysterious circumstances are explored to a certain extent but in the end of the day nobody knows what is going on. In terms of plot there is arguably no plot, things just happen and nobody really knows why. One can speculate but in the end of the day there is nothing concrete.

After writing the above 3 paragraphs it would sound as if I am bashing this series for terrible writing because it does not cater to conventional writing right? Not at all, I was merely describing how the plot progress and I am not describing it in a negative light. It is merely the way the plot is presented. What gives sonny boy its mystical charm is its really obvious abstract underlying themes and narratives that although are never directly explained, is obvious enough in the surreal representations based on the actions of the community of students 'trying' to figure out the mystery of this supernatural setting. Dialogues and scenes are presented in such jarring ways that it is obvious they are meant to be listened by the audience and not confined in the fictional setting of the series. They manage to break the fourth wall without actually breaking the fourth wall which is such a difficult thing to describe unless you watch it yourself. But this is something most people seem to not understand that the exposition presented should not be interpreted in the context of the fictional setting but in an extremely indirect way as a presentation to us the viewer.

Of course at the end of the day merely having profound themes, symbolism and narratives alone does not make for a great series. The animation for sonny boy is absolutely beautiful and stunning. The pastel colors and clean simplistic art style makes for a comfortable and mesmerizing viewing experience which totally harmonize with the surreal setting of the world. For most of the series there is really no background music but somehow it just works, maybe it really wants us to pay attention to the seemingly nonsensical exposition which is really the selling point of the show in my opinion. But at the end of this series where the world gets more surreal they do provide us with a really fittingly surreal sound track to send of the main characters into 'another journey'. Which is an absolute mesmerizing way to send them off.

Sonny boy is one of those really artistic abstract piece of work that allows for a multitude of interpretations and experiences. I know this sounds like pretentious modern art talk and in a way it totally is. But sonny boy is one of those modern art that do not rely on its pretentious meaning and symbolism and underlying themes to be good. It stands out by itself well enough with its beautiful visual design. I personally also abhor modern artist trying to justify a white painting or a toilet seat made out of gold is 'good art'. At the end of the day if its not something that encourages me to have a second look it is just bad art, I do not care what meaaninggg or representations it is suppose to have. And this is what sonny boy really does well it is definitely a pretentious work of art but at the same time it is really pleasing to look at and follow throughout.

At the end of the day I believe Sonny Boy is one of those works where either you love it or hate it. But its art is so gorgeous even those that cannot relate or find entertainment in dissecting its underlying messages cannot seem to look away.

To answer the question: Do I need to be pretentious to enjoy Sonny Boy?

No, but you have to be in order to find it a masterpiece.

On a final note, Sonny Boy not only breaks basic writing conventions it also breaks basic anime traditional conventions of not having an OP and ED. If I want to be speculatively pretentious I can argue the intention is to subvert expectations of what a traditional anime functions... but I am just going to tell you really simply. There is no OP, they lead you straight into the surreal world that is Sonny Boy and its ED is totally a banger. I will end this pretty pretentious review by urging you to listen to it like how it always sends me off at the end credits.

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