Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Wonder Egg Priority
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DuskyPredator
 Posts: 15457 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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My personal interpretation of those scenes are the opposite, in the sense that they were for the opposite person. It is not the teacher Ai had feelings for, it was for Koito, who had a very romantically coded interaction with Ai in the first episode, she is sad that Koito did not confide with her. And of course Ai would be upset to be presumed to be wanting his attention, if she lost her maybe crush to him. Ai also talks to Neiru that Rika said he was hot, noting that he said something about the teacher, like she doesn't understand that thing very well. Ai is a girl that I think has commented quite a bit on the appearances of girls, about their figure and stuff. There is also a picture in the ED that is framed as a picture of Ai and Koito together, that is super easy to read something into the dynamic of. There might be nothing, but certain elements do feel like they are so blatant that they might be Hibike Euphonium level queerbait saying they are just friends in the end. |
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musouka
Posts: 707 |
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I also thought there might have been something between Ai and Koito, but episode 3 did a lot to disabuse me of that. In the very least, the implication that Rika was right that Ai is using Koito as an excuse for her actions simply by virtue of Ai's feelings for Koito not being powerful enough to control whose dream she wound up in--something else that also upset Ai. (There has to be a reason that was pointed out, I assume?)
I wouldn't be surprised at a queer narrative for Ai at this point--as I said, there's a lot left up to interpretation right now--but because of how (deliberately) vague everything is, I'm not sure I'd go so far as to say they're absolutely heading in that direction either. |
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Goldenboy1990
Posts: 7 |
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One interesting piece about this episode was in regards to Neiru. Her “dreamscape” seems to be in America as it looks like she is fighting on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco (living here it looks exactly like that). The music especially in her first fight had a distinctly western jazz vibe and the girls whom she saved seemed distinctly more western than their Japanese counterparts . I am guessing that this was the area where she was stabbed by her sister as each girl’s dream area seems to be tied to the location of their loved one’s suicide. Even then this could be far from the truth as while Ai’s location is a school where Koito committed suicide, and Momoe’s beloved could have died at a train station, Rika’s doesn’t make much sense unless it is the location she thinks Chiemi committed suicide. The one thing that was giving me the creeps was how the black haired girl whom Neiru was protecting seemed to be siding with the enemy. Also she appeared older than most of the other girls whom have hatched from the eggs. So I also wonder if we will see women whom are past their adolescence “hatch” as suicide occurs in all age groups...Unless the Aca bros have different gardens for age/gender. This also makes me wonder if our protagonists will have to fight a girl who hatches at some point...
When the first monster appeared in episode 2 I was disappointed by how derpy it looked. I was looking forward to something more abstract and evil in appearance similar to the witches in Madoka Magica. Instead it looked like a bad Muppet with its goofy face abd bright colors. As the show has gone on, however I find these monster designs to be brilliant and match the tone of the show. I see them as a bastardization of childhood, being bright, colorful and goofy, but having violent, and exploitative motives and actions. In fact I find the contrast between their goofy appearances and their abusive tactics to be incredibly unnerving each time they appear. I remember hearing some criticism of how this show mashes incredibly disturbing topics with a bright, sometimes cheerful aesthetic, but I feel as if this is a more accurate portrayal of youth in comparison to he grimness of Madoka Magica or others of its kin. Childhood, even abusive ones, are punctuated by moments of levity, beauty and kids being kids. This show does just that. As a child I too suffered from the effects of bullying (being queer and black in a white community) and battled depression, but also loved playing video games with my friends and watching anime. Both things were happening in my life at the same time. As a result I find this show to be a much better and realistic portrayal of youth and the problems they can and will face as opposed to all these grim dark shows which are trying to say the same thing. In a ways I am reminded of why HBO’s Euphoria worked for me as where 13 Reasons Why did not. One show dealt with drugs, addiction, sexual abuse, and self harm, but also let teens be their dumbass selves, let loose and just be kids. The other was just a slow spiral of pain and suffering to the point that that was all the characters had. I never knew what hobbies they had or any aspirations outside of their misery. So I applaud Wonder Egg Priority in understanding how teens can be in the world even when in bleak situations. |
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whiskeyii
 Posts: 2245 |
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I totally missed the Golden Gate Bridge connection, but I think that strengthens the idea that Wonder Egg Priority is consciously saying something about Japan and how it regards people of color, rather than making Neiru a dark-skinned but completely ethnically Japanese person, like Hattori Heiji of Detective Conan.
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ScruffyKiwi
 Posts: 673 Location: New Zealand |
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Holy c**p. So Ai's mum and creepy teacher ARE a thing! How long has this been going on for???
Last edited by ScruffyKiwi on Tue Feb 16, 2021 8:35 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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dm
 Subscriber Posts: 1354 |
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I really loved the conversation among the girls this week --- especially them watching Ai "be really mad" as she crossed the plaza to join them.
Every episode ends with me wondering where they are going to go next. I don't usually rewatch episodes immediately, but this series has me doing it regularly. |
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harminia
 Posts: 1997 Location: australia |
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I'm finding it really interesting how they keep discussing the theories and speculations we've all been thinking. It's like they're making the conclusions easy to realise on purpose so the characters themselves can just start saying them and talking about it.
The teacher and Koito were having a fling? Discussed in show. Ai has a crush on the teacher? Discussed in show. Ai's mother and the teacher are dating? Discussed in show. Felt pretty bad for Momoe this ep. she's in a pretty awkward position. Her excitement at the possibility of getting to be related to Ai was so adorable though. The character animation in this ep was so good, especially Ai moving her hair at the end of the ep. Also Ai being really mad and destroying stuff then immediately realising she shouldn't have done that was so good. |
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dm
Subscriber Posts: 1354 |
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Yes, that was pretty significant. |
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whiskeyii
Posts: 2245 |
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Show, I don’t know what to do when you hang all these lampshades on my theories; it makes me think they’re *all* red herrings. Ai’s revelation aside, even if she is crushing on Sawaki (and even as someone who proposed the idea, I’m still not sold on it), I do find it creepy that Sawaki always manages to not-quite-confront Ai in overly familiar situations. Someone seeing you right after a bath is really more intimate than should be allowed by someone who’s practically a stranger to you outside of school, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence.
But also, like, c’mon Mama Ohto, dating your daughter’s teacher while he’s still her teacher is such an obvious issue that I can’t believe it wasn’t even touched on. The ethical implications alone are at least a little sketch. Interestingly, Momoe seems to dress feminine at school, so I’m not sure why she feels the need to keep up her masculine appearance outside of school. If anything, I thought her gender presentation issues would be school centric, but I guess not? And I’m just waiting for the show to drop about these magic sidekicks. The Accas were pretty clear that there’s no such thing as a free lunch in their twisted system. |
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DuskyPredator
Posts: 15457 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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The series made it clear earlier that nothing is more expensive than something free, and they just get handed free gifts in this episode that were also noted as being valuable. They are cute, but they were just a shot off from saying to sign a contract and become a magical girl, where you get a free wish and a soul gem out of it. I would say that it is inconsistent if there is not something going on.
And there is that feeling of any theory discussed openly could turn out to be a red herring, such as those ideas that Ai likes her teacher. It is quite possible, but at risk of sounding like I am just blindly holding to my own early theories, there is another possibility of who Ai might have liked that gave her complicated feelings. Maybe something that the sudden thought of an item could allow her to talk to them again could send her running at all force back to school. |
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whiskeyii
Posts: 2245 |
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I really hope Ai's not into Mr. Sawaki, if only because the idea of yet another story about two girls fighting over a boy is so overdone that I think its inclusion could only tarnish the story. But on a personal note, while the show had the girls interpret Ai's flustered reaction as "the lady doth protest too much", it reminded me an awful lot of how frustrating it was to try and convince my middle and high school friends that I really wasn't into Classmate A, but without the knowledge or vocabulary to articulate my asexuality and how I was dead sure that the way I felt about my close friends wasn't at all how my friends felt about their boy- or girlfriends. :/
Probably just a personal projection going on here, but WEP loves keeping its cards close to its chest and being juuuuust vague enough that things could go either way. |
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moony_badger
 Posts: 50 |
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I think you really hit the nail on the head for how I feel about this whole situation; I think at this point it's certainly possible that Ai is crushing on her teacher but I really hope that's not where the story is going. It is ambiguous enough at this point that I'm hoping her having a crush on him is a red herring, and that she's actually going to school again to try to find out more about why Koito committed suicide. A lot of her interactions with her Egg girls also ties into this, especially this last one. The girls she's helped out are victims of aggressive mentors, harrasment victims, and one girl who says bad things are happening to her that no one else can see. There's also just something about the framing of the scene where Neiru asks Ai if she likes Sawaki that feels... romantic? Neiru is VERY close to Ai's face, like kissing distance. And maybe I'm reading too much into it, but Neiru reminds me a lot of Koito. Their quiet mannerisms, green eyes, and gentle fondness for Ai. I'm hoping that could mean that it isn't Sawaki that Ai liked, but Koito. I could see Koito asking Ai something similar, and Ai being confused about her feelings. Does she like Koito or Sawaki, and who is she jealous of when she walked in on them in classroom? For as many hanging lampshades Rika has pointed out, Ai having a crush on Koito hasn't been one of them. |
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DuskyPredator
Posts: 15457 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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It is true that these girls getting right into Ai's personal space could be interpreted as having a romantic connotation. Perhaps if a lot of what we see are through the lens of Ai, thus I don't think we have seen much of such thing with the teacher, both Koito and Neiru have unintentionally invoked feelings that Ai does not understand about herself.
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asneakysnake
Posts: 28 |
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Ai liking sensei should be obvious after the whole "invisible elephant in the room" battle. she's been avoiding him because she felt guilty about her feelings and didn't want to know about what kind of relationship he and Koito had because it could make her more jealous of her dead friend or show she had been jumping to conclusions.
Also the chameleon pal is very fitting for Ai since she changes personalities so easily. it also makes me afraid that in her jealousy she ended up joining the bullies against Koito. |
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meiam
Posts: 3442 |
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Is Sawaki still Ai teacher at this point?I though in japan teacher moved with their class in grade, hasn't it been months since Ai attended school? Wouldn't her class almost certainly have moved in grade while Ai would be held back and so she'd have a new teacher? I do hope the situation is more interesting than "teacher is creepy", simply because the show is spreading it so thick at this point it makes it hard to not see it as a red herring. Maybe we could see the situation from his side. If he's really innocent and just a good, maybe naive, guy it must be pretty awful to have one of your student commit suicide as a new teacher. It'd make sense he'd try to help Ai as a way to avoid another Koito and atone for not preventing it. |
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