Sonny Boy ‒ Episode 9

Every canine has its day, and Yamabiko already had his compulsory one final week, so now it is time for Sonny Boy‘s speaking feline trinity to paw their approach onto middle stage. In a way, it is again to enterprise as traditional as we comply with Nagara’s group by way of the newest leg of their fuzzily-defined journey, however “business as usual” for this collection remains to be loaded with surrealism and metaphor. This time, the battle takes the type of a millennia-long feud over a strand of hair, the place a pair of twins and their energy to show again time have ensured the battle’s perpetuity. Additionally, this episode returns to the cornerstone thriller of the drifting phenomenon. It even offers a solution, nevertheless it’s one which solely raises much more questions. That, in any case, is the Sonny Boy approach.

I really like Mizuho’s cats, they usually make an excellent “addition” to the solid (remembering, after all, that they have been round because the premiere). The collection’ penchant for dry humor instantly comes by way of within the nonchalant approach the chilly open reveals they’ll discuss. The undeniable fact that these Nyamazon staff simply occur to be debating labor points is icing on the present’s allegorical cake. Their function on this explicit episode is twofold: they drop some bombshells concerning the true nature of Mizuho’s energy, they usually additionally open a small window into Mizuho’s previous and psyche. Sakura specifically, nevertheless, is the episode’s most compelling character.

We’ve been advised that solely college students from Nagara’s college populate these infinite parallel worlds, however now that we all know they’re sentient, Mizuho’s cats make for an enchanting exception to that rule. The one factor these different worlds have constantly lacked is adults, and people are the footwear (or, should you’d desire, kitten mittens) these cats fill with their lovable toe beans. Sakura particularly sees herself as Mizuho’s caretaker, withholding the reality about her ward/grasp’s copying energy with the intention to defend her from the implications. As Yamabiko accurately factors out, although, Sakura’s motives will not be solely altruistic, as a result of this drifting phenomenon is the one cause Sakura could be with and maintain Mizuho within the first place. It’s a pleasant little instance of the anxieties that fester between a dad or mum and an adolescent little one. More usually, it is also about discovering the stability between caring for somebody and trusting them sufficient to maintain themselves. Sakura’s not mistaken to fret about Mizuho, however she’ll must put her personal fears apart if Mizuho—or any of the scholars—shall be allowed to truly develop up.

Through a flashback, Rajdhani offers a very good cause for Sakura to belief different individuals. As a lot as I’ve loved the departures within the Sonny Boy‘s second act, I’m very glad that Rajdhani wasn’t completely written out of the story. This wide-eyed teen scientist was one in every of my favourite characters earlier than this episode aired, and now that I do know he is written his personal tick-focused relationship sim, he is undoubtedly jumped up a couple of tiers. I’m not going to fake I absolutely perceive the causal hyperlink between this copying energy and the drifting phenomenon, however I additionally suppose the specifics of which can be past the purpose of the episode. What’s essential is that Rajdhani figured it out along with his personal intelligence and inquisitiveness (and feline polygraph check). He did not succumb to despair after their failure in episode six, and he did not level fingers at Mizuho in enraged desperation afterwards; he discovered a solution and went off to seek for extra. Maybe the world is basically absurd, and possibly it is not. Either approach, that should not cease individuals from searching for options.

But talking of absurdity, Sonny Boy lathers itself in its alternative model of significant silliness in the case of inspecting the feud between Sou and Seiji. The collection understands that struggle is a sophisticated idea—simply have a look at the earlier episode—however that does not imply it might’t have enjoyable paring the immense historical past of human battle all the way down to its core, petty essence: a single additional hair out of hundreds and hundreds extra. Wars, arguably, have been fought for a lot much less. Because there are many examples of tales that use comparable metaphors to make comparable factors, this episode feels extra by-product than final week’s surreal tour-de-force. However, I nonetheless respect how firmly Sonny Boy buries its tongue in its cheek when delivering commentary. For occasion, my favourite a part of this battle arrives when, in response to a suggestion they pluck out the additional hair from Seiji, Nagara sheepishly suggests they add an additional hair to Sou’s head as an alternative. Now that is what I name diplomacy!

The predictably unpredictable Sonny Boy wrinkle on this battle is that Sou and Seiji will not be twins, however copies of the identical particular person. Metaphorically talking, this provides an much more humanitarian slant to the episode’s commentary on struggle—that we’re all basically the identical, but we insist on hurting ourselves. On a smaller scale, although, the craving for self-negation additionally retains effervescent up all through this story. Asakaze’s inferiority complicated hasn’t gotten any higher, and the insults he hurls at Nozomi are apparent projections of his personal internally-directed scoldings. Nozomi, too, voices that she’s thought of ending every thing, nonetheless haunted by her “other” self’s dying and crushed by her lack of energy and objective. However, Nagara extends his hand to her. She won’t see the guiding gentle of Compass anymore, however simply by being herself, she as soon as confirmed Nagara the way in which in the direction of changing into a greater model of himself. Now he returns the favor, displaying her a light-weight in her darkness. It’s a small and mild second of reciprocated kindness within the midst of an apocalyptic wasteland. Perhaps probably the most we will ever hope to have is a set of those small and mild moments.

Sou and Seiji aren’t so fortunate. Their solely information this episode is Aki, the fake grownup, who acts as a foil to each Sakura and Nozomi. As we already coated, Sakura’s deception stems from each selfless and egocentric locations, however general she genuinely cares about Mizuho, and her tiny cat coronary heart is in the best place. And Nozomi could also be impolite and overconfident at instances, however she’s nonetheless as critical as her pals about discovering a approach house. Aki is simply plain manipulative. If I needed to guess, she (efficiently) orchestrates the toy laser gun duel to not whittle the variety of clones again down to 1, however to destroy each of them. After all, if Seiji’s energy may doubtlessly revert everybody again to earlier than the drift, then clearly Aki would need to forestall that. She believes that God’s will is for his or her drifting to proceed (i.e. preserving the world/worlds they’re presently in), and she or he makes use of God’s weapon to make sure it. Maybe that is why she’s maintaining such a detailed eye on Asakaze as properly.

Episode 8 is a troublesome act to comply with. While this installment does not depart my head and coronary heart aching almost as a lot, it is nonetheless a singularly surreal and unsettling expertise like solely Sonny Boy can ship. I’m most likely most shocked that the characters seem like headed within the route of some type of “resolution” to their drifting. The anime has been so highly effective and evocative in its wanderlust mode that I would not thoughts if the remainder of the season consisted solely of unusual facet tales with melancholic musings. Nevertheless, I nonetheless like seeing Nagara, Nozomi, and Mizuho develop as characters, individuals, and pals, and I actually will not thoughts if they continue to be the collection’ sentimental core by way of the top.

Rating:

Sonny Boy is presently streaming on
Funimation.

Steve writes dangerous jokes weekly for This Week in Anime, and out of doors of ANN, you can discover him making Sonny Boy aesthetic posts on his Twitter.