Sonny Boy (TV series)

Midway through a seemingly endless day of summer vacation, third-year middle school student Nagara and his class, along with transfer student Nozomi and the aloof and mysterious Mizuho, are suddenly transported to an alternate dimension. The group calls the new dimension "This World", and finds it has its own set of rules and physics. Over time, while trying to get back home, they realize that they have individual supernatural abilities, but also find it difficult to navigate their own interpersonal relationships. The class later splits into two groups due to internal conflicts. As both the groups continue journeying to find their way back home, they discover many other students who have spent thousands of years in other "This Worlds". == Characters ==

; : :A middle school student who keeps to himself. He has problems with his relatives, and is distant to his schoolmates, adopting a cold attitude towards them. He is initially shown to have no powers. ; : : A mysterious transfer student from Berlin, who was seen by Nagara at the ceiling of the school, tearing apart some textbooks. She stands her ground no matter how hard the circumstances. When gone adrift, she gains the superpower "compass", which allows her to see a light at the distance that no one else is able to perceive. ; : : A student who carries her grandmother's cats, Tora, Gen and Sakura, in a tote bag. She has an attitude of "going at one's own pace", and she's honest about her feelings. She tends to isolate herself to avoid being affected by her surrounding circumstances. She has the superpower "nyamazon", where her three cats can deliver her any object she desires. Having a power indispensable for survival, the other students come to rely on her, annoying her quite a bit. ; : : A rebellious student who dislikes authority. He opposed the members of the student council who tried to control him, starting a dispute. His power allows him to control gravity, and he repeatedly helps Nagara and company in perilous situations. ; : : A very intelligent and exotic student who, after going adrift, approaches the new dimensions with curiosity, and concentrates his efforts to elucidate the mysteries of this alternate world. He gains the power "Pocket Computer", which allows him to create objects through computer programs. ; : : Born with a star-shaped birthmark below his left eye, he has a cute face in contrast with his mature personality. After going adrift with the rest, he starts to move behind the scenes, doing things like inciting Cap to become the leader of the students. He gains the power "Hope" that allows him to materialize images. ; : : The president of the student council, she does not talk much and always has a cold facial expression. She works closely with Hoshi to organize the students. She gains the power "Switch" that allows her to make the things she has touched change places. ; : : A robust student which always has a trademark baseball cap on. Even though he was elected the leader in the course of events, he really is a timid and gentle person. He was a baseball teammate of Nagara. He gains the ability "All-purpose club room" which lets him create diverse things when concentrating on an empty room. ; : : An easy-going person, he is one of the few close friends of Nagara. At the request of Hoshi, he made a list of everyone's powers in a notebook. After going adrift, he gains the ability "ET" which lets him turn on a little light in his index finger. ; : : A transfer student from abroad, she talks in Shanghainese. Belonging to the cool group, she is frequently together with Ace. She gains the ability to control electromagnetism. ; : :A female student with a fractured left arm, which is suspended in an arm sling. In episode 10, she becomes the narrator and reveals that she has been faking her ability to make objects stick to her body. Her true ability is "Monologue," which allows her to hear the voices of others' hearts. She has a crush on Asakaze and often accompanies him, but he only sees her as an errand girl. Despite knowing this, she uses her ability to maintain the demeanor he desires. According to Nozomi's letter, her real name is "Tsubasa." == Production ==

Background and staff chose Hisashi Eguchi for the design of the characters based on a long-time appreciation of his work. The series was animated by Madhouse and written and directed by Shingo Natsume, with original character designs provided by Hisashi Eguchi and Norifumi Kugai adapting the designs for animation. Producer Motoki Mukaichi had met with Natsume previously while working on Space Dandy, and he decided to offer Natsume the opportunity to produce an original series about anything he liked, making only minimal suggestions, such as the constant use of cliffhangers, thus giving him a great deal of creative freedom for the creation of Sonny Boy and the possibility to choose people for his team. The art director Mari Fujino decided to have traditionally painted backgrounds and settings, taking inspiration from painters like Henri Rousseau, and making constant use of complementary colors that, in her view, matched Natsume's writing. Writing Natsume wrote the scripts for all the episodes, also making the storyboards for half of all the episodes. Shinichirō Watanabe served as the musical advisor. == Themes ==

Sonny Boy has been noted for its metaphorical and symbolical use of supernatural elements for social commentary, He also comments on the growth of protagonist Nagara throughout the series, deeming it the main message of the show: he starts as an apathetic individual with a very nihilistic outlook of life, but changes to a more optimistic attitude later on due to his interactions with Nozomi, who has a more positive disposition from the start, which is reflected symbolically in her superpower, a "compass" that allows her to "see the way out" of the darkness surrounding the school in order to return home. == Release ==

The anime television series was announced on April 28, 2021. While the first episode was given an early premiere on June 19, 2021, the series officially aired from July 16 to October 1, 2021, on Tokyo MX and other channels. On September 14, 2021, Funimation announced the series would receive an English dub, which premiered on September 16. Medialink licensed the series in South and Southeast Asia and streamed it in their YouTube channel. On December 16, 2022, a Blu-ray box was announced, which includes scenes from the last episodes that were not used, together with some previews of the anime and recordings of the songs. Episodes == Reception ==

Critical reception Sonny Boy has received favorable reviews, having been called one of the best anime of its season and of its year, and it has been noted as particularly original within the genre. Comic Book Resourcess Maria Remizova considered the series to be the best modern anime overlooked by audiences, writing that it "encapsulates the allure of anime's more bizarre and experimental side, utilizing unconventional storytelling and visual techniques to craft a perfect mystery narrative", and further explaining that, while confusing at first, the story became very rewarding as it developed. Evan D. Mullicane from Screen Rant proposed that Sonny Boy was a deconstruction of the main theme of isekai, writing that "Far from the fun getaway of many isekai anime, Sonny Boy's This World keeps its residents as captives and prevents them from growing", thus making a critique of the escapism that is ever-present in the genre. Colliders David Lynn commented that although some initial parallels to Lord of the Flies could be drawn, the series "expands far beyond simple comparisons to its inspirations" addressing many different social and philosophical topics, and "ultimately challenging its characters to consider the very purpose of life". Lynn also noted that while the non-traditional narrative might be a major turn off for some, the series still offered compelling stories without falling into "despondent nihilism". Lynn commended how the animation work helped to accentuate the otherworldly settings of the series, calling it "a poster child for productions that can only be done justice in animation". The series was nominated for Anime of the Year and Best Director (Shingo Natsume) at the 6th Crunchyroll Anime Awards. The series was also nominated for the Anime Trending Awards in four categories "Best in Original Screenplay", "Best in Sceneries and Visuals", "Mystery or Psychological Anime of the Year" and "SciFi or Mecha Anime of the Year". == Explanatory notes ==