SHY is an Action-Superhero, Shonen manga written and illustrated by Miki Bukimi. It was adapted into 2 cours, each 12 episodes by Studio 8-bit, the same studio that brought you Tensura Slime and Blue Lock.
When I watched the trailer for Shy, I was skeptical but interested. I finished watching the 1st season and was left with a mediocre feeling, I hoped the 2nd season would further improve the anime.. but as of this review, I've finished watching the 9th episode of the 2nd Season and this show is making me so disinterested it should be a feat of its own.
I am someone with an open mind, I enjoy shonen, and I have a soft spot for battle shonen: I adore One Piece, Dragon Ball, Bleach, Naruto, Hunter x Hunter, Yu Yu Hakusho, Jujutsu Kaisen, etc. And I still enjoy shonen with glaring flaws, as long as the world feels rich, the story hooks me and the characters are good.
But Shy is not that, Shy feels like the culmination of every anime elitist's rant on why "all shonen are generic", the use of noticeable plot armor, how the good guys always win, and how they're only made for young teens.
For me, shonen, even battle shonen, can reach levels of quality within their respective aspects to that of most seinen: such as world-building, emotion, character depth, and impact.
Shy is a superhero story of a 14-year-old girl who becomes Japan's one and only hero, her trait is that she is incredibly shy but never gives up, as she has to fight Akatsuki daycare with the power of friendship.
After a few episodes, it was made clear, that the story was written for children only... I can't fault the author for successfully targeting their target audience. But the point of this review is to explain what you're getting into if you're gonna start this anime.
The world-building of Shy immediately threw me out.
War has been canceled??? Because each country gained one hero?
That magically solves all their country's political problems and the author never further elaborates on it.
Which I respect in a way, if you can't write it then don't try... but my sense of disbelief is challenged to its peak with this premise:
The world-building is bad, but is the story at the very least good? Nope, it is filled with plot armor, conveniences, and cliches.
The only exception to good writing was Pepesha's backstory, which made me feel genuine emotion. Other than that the story is mid, the stakes are artificial, the pacing is slow and everything was made for babies.
The hero designs are... not good. Nothing sticks and the majority of outfits look thrown together. If I were to show an image of one of these characters without the context, would you guess they're from a superhero manga?
Shy's outfit, despite being named Shy looks like they gave her the costume of Slut.
The only good I can say is that the production is solid, the art is nice and the animation is consistent. Episodes are structured well and are complimented by good direction.
Shy is not a bad anime, but do I recommend it? No.
Watching Shy is like watching My Little Pony. Both are made with children in mind, only if you lower your tastes and sense of disbelief to that of a child, would you be able to enjoy them.
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