Sonny Boy, a new anime by director/creator Shingo Natsume from studio Madhouse, tells the story of Nagara, Nozomi, and their high school classmates who become trapped in a dark void after their school building crosses into another dimension. While stuck in this strange reality, the students discover that they have developed fantastical abilities. With their newfound powers, they begin to explore their surroundings and travel across dimensions in search of a way home.
Sonny Boy is an incredibly unique and bizarre anime that is best experienced firsthand. The show’s off-kilter vibes, distinct visual style, and peculiar environments and situations make it incredibly appealing. It is an experiential journey that draws viewers in and encourages them to lose themselves in the story. To avoid spoiling the experience, this review will refrain from delving too deeply into the narrative and characters.
What can be said is that Sonny Boy’s characters are incredibly endearing. Nagara’s quiet nature and inability to communicate, Nozomi’s straightforward attitude, Mizuho’s love of cats, and Rajdhani’s intensity and wisdom make for a compelling cast. They are displaced and forced to work together to find a way home, and it is through their journey that the show shines. Sonny Boy explores themes of disconnection, drifting through life, and the sacrifices necessary to form meaningful connections. Against a backdrop of superpowered teens traveling through different dimensions, it is a story about perseverance and growth.
Sonny Boy is a refreshing and captivating anime that defies expectations. It is a must-watch for anyone who enjoys unique and thought-provoking stories. The first episode alone is enough to hook viewers and draw them into the show’s strange world.
The outcome is such that Sonny Boy evokes a sense of odyssey, where the characters are adrift in their exploration and learning of their surroundings and one another. The enigmas of the worlds they encounter, ranging from islands to deserts, train stations to cliffs, and domes adorned with stained glass windows, as well as the rules that govern these worlds, are ever-changing and fascinating. The eclectic nature of this type of world-hopping, the revelation of new rules and student abilities, and the peculiar passage of time throughout the series fluctuate between incomprehensible and naturally intuitive.
This balance captures the overall essence of Sonny Boy - at one moment, characters engage in heartfelt discussions about whether it is better to pursue one's desires or observe from afar, while at the next, a student enters the frame feet first or the primary cast listens to a long monologue about a monkey baseball league (not a joke). Sonny Boy refrains from excessively explaining itself, avoiding the practice of lampshading its every decision or detailing at length the abilities of all its characters. Instead, it allows these aspects to fall where they may, leaving it up to viewers to decide how much they wish to engage with it. I hold great respect for this approach. In my experience, the best way to appreciate Sonny Boy and its peculiarities is to allow oneself to drift down the river of twists and turns, savoring the unexpected surprises the series offers on its own terms and within its own context.
This release of Sonny Boy presents some interesting special features in the form of "Sonny Boy Shingo Natsume Master Class" and "Sonny Boy Behind the Scenes," both of which are making-of featurettes. The two videos feature interviews with the director, editors, animators, sound editors, and other members of the Sonny Boy team, discussing the process of creating the series and the choices made during its production. Although the two featurettes contain some overlapping content, the "Behind the Scenes" version is the superior option as it runs for a longer duration and includes additional material. The featurettes offer intriguing insights into the technical and artistic decisions made while the team was working on Sonny Boy.
The provision of insight into the decision-making process to assign different animation directors to each episode, instead of having an overall chief animation director for the series, is noteworthy. This approach was adopted with the aim of creating diverse compositions throughout the series. Additionally, the use of sound effects, such as ocean waves and cicadas, throughout the majority of the episodes, while reserving background music for pivotal moments, was a deliberate choice. The featurettes also highlight the Director's intentional decision to exclude character monologues, instead opting to rely on non-verbal communication through expressions. These featurettes offer a valuable and intriguing glimpse into the meticulous effort and attention to detail that went into the production of Sonny Boy.
During an interview, the Director of the anime series Sunny Boy expounded upon the remarkable divergence of the show from any other current in the same space, and posited that a mere 2-3% of the populace would likely find enjoyment in it. Personally, I belong to that minority. The peculiarities and tribulations of the youths portrayed in the series, along with their proclivity for perseverance in the face of the unknown, the confounding account of monkey baseball, and the enigmatic power of one character, referred to as "sweet water" (whose attributes I shall not divulge), all contributed to my fervent appreciation of Sunny Boy. The series is replete with bizarre occurrences, yet is imbued with a profound sense of heart and ardor. Should one permit oneself to be carried along by its serpentine narrative, replete with twists and turns, while adopting an open-minded stance, one will discover that it provides a wealth of substance.
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