Despite my thirty years of research into the feminine soul I have not been able to answer the great question that has never been answered: what does a woman want? Sigmund Freud No spoilers. 600https://i1.wp.com/butwhythopodcast.com/wpcontent/uploads/2021/02/maxresdefault.jpg?fit=12802C720ssl=1 A bit of a quick and dirty one here for me. Wonder Egg Priority was by far the most excited Ive been to follow a show this season. It was like Rice Krispies it snapped crackled and popped. Every episode brought something really interesting to the table whether it was a cool idea or a great fight scene or even some fascinating revelation. But at the end of it all WEP somehow felt a little bit empty. Episode after episode Id wait for something to really tie the show together and cement it as great. But without that and no I dont think that the last few episodes quite got there it couldnt have ever been much more than just awfully good. I want to caveat that this is not a finished show technically. Production hitches mean that well have to wait until June for a real conclusion to Ai Rika Momoe and Neirus stories. But theres enough here to render a judgment. So render judgment I shall. Story 600https://i1.wp.com/wrongeverytime.com/wpcontent/uploads/2021/02/February17115242.jpg?resize=7682C432ssl=1 WEP has a fascinating premise and a great hook. Magical girls and lets be clear thats what these girls are have to save girls from supernatural enemies but if they die in the dream world...they die in real life Dun dun dun. Throughout the front half of the show theres a sense of crystalclear mission and storytelling. In the back half though things get a little bit fuzzier. Its less clear what the writers are after. There are still good ideas scattered here and there but theyre buried. And the episodes devoted to each egg feel more like a way of exploring those ideas rather than a way of exploring the characters who they represent. Rika is bestserved and Momoe and Neiru especially Neiru get the short end of the stick. Theres a great framework here it just seems to be lacking that something more that the contemporaries of this show dare I mention a certain magical girl anime that starts with M ends with a and has adok in the middle? perhaps a show about a character that starts with U? have. WEP says a lot it tries to tackle some awful big issues. Suicide gender identity the perils of obsession sexual assault et cetera et cetera. Its pretty goddamn grownup. But at the same time it never really has anything to say about those things other than that they exist. And thats valuable sure but never really feels that impressive. Its all just a bit...sophomoric. It kind of feels like the author is trying to get away with a fairly surface level read on social issues by depicting them graphically. Thats why the best moments are where things like Rikas self harm are treated because its done quietly and carefully. Art/Animation 600https://i0.wp.com/butwhythopodcast.com/wpcontent/uploads/2021/02/WonderEggPriorityEpisode6ButWhyTho.jpg?w=1500ssl=1 The art and animation is simply astonishing. The character designs are fantastic and absolutely leap off the screen. Theyre so full of life and the character acting by the animators at CloverWorks is just wonderful. The use of colour is beyond brilliant and the fight scenes are so for lack of a better word big. Actions feel like they have a lot of weight and the fighting has real inertia to it. Absolutely topnotch. Nothing really to criticise here. Music 600https://formeinfullbloom.files.wordpress.com/2021/02/wepe101.png Music is great. The OP to use a technical term frickin slaps and really fits nicely. Sound design is never knowingly undersold and even though it would be very very easy to slip into irrelevance for some of the more highconcept ideas the sound effects always feel strangely completely appropriate. The VAs put in good work with what they have although I never felt any performance really stood out. Final Thoughts 600https://i1.wp.com/beneaththetangles.com/wpcontent/uploads/2021/02/2663.jpg?fit=19972C1125ssl=1 So heres the problem. WEP by all standards should be fantastic. But at the same time it never really gets beyond just really good. While theres maturity in the writing enough to treat what are very serious issues with some measure of respect and a lot of seriousness it never feels like WEP has anything to say about them preferring instead to slip into highconcept scifi in the last few episodes. And that was a cool way to go but it never felt like it mattered past aesthetics and some interesting ideas. Perhaps the production difficulties put the kibosh on the proper expression of the writers ideas and Ill have to wait for the special coming in June to put a neat bow on the story. Perhaps. But I really dont think so. We have to judge on whats there not what might be there. And whats there is something that I never felt got that far beyond being gorgeous and feeling smart. Ultimately I think WEP is a gorgeous missed opportunity. It could have been a lot more than what it was. Anime usually doesnt treat serious subject matter well preferring instead to catastrophise allegorise and trivialise. WEP had the potential not to do any of those things and come up with a much better treatment of some societal dirty laundry that really needs an airing. What it was is still pretty good and by gosh was it exciting to follow along with Ai seeing what each week would hold. But would I recommend it to someone else? Eesh. I dont think so. And thats all you need to know. Maybe next time. Its a dream. Its a bad dream. Pointy