REVIEW: ‘Wonder Egg Priority,’ Episode 7 – “After School at 14″

Content Warning: Wonder Egg Episode includes depictions of addiction, self-harm, suicide

Unlike a lot of titles this season, Wonder Egg Priority is an anime-only series with no prior manga or other forms of media. That being said, this intense, thoughtful series about bullying, suicidality, dreams, and friendship has made its mark and is steadily on its way to being a contender for one of this season’s strongest anime. Wonder Egg Priority Episode 7 only continues that.

In Wonder Egg Priority Episode 6, the quartet continues to deepen their friendship in reality versus the dreamscapes. Additionally, the girls got some upgrades in the form of cute, magical reptiles that assist them in the Dream World. The episode ended with Ai deciding to return back to school, something viewers have anxiously been waiting for since the series launched. It was a truly heartwarming episode that helped set up a lot of good plot as the show looks towards the end of its cour.

Naturally, Wonder Egg Priority Episode 7, “After School at 14”, picks up with Ai getting ready for school, as well as Neiru, Rika, and Momoe. It’s kind of thrilling seeing the girls get ready because finally, Ai will be joining them in their everyday routine: going to high school.  Ai, Neiru and Momoe all have pretty normal starts to their days. Rika, however… doesn’t. You see, Rika’s home life is… troubled. That’s something that viewers got a hint of in episode 3, “A Bare Knife.” Now, Wonder Egg Priority Episode 7 is going a bit deeper, at least for the moment. 

What’s immediately clear is this: Rika’s mother struggles with alcohol. Moreso, it’s clear that her mother’s struggles have strained their relationship to a great degree. It also altered how Rika relates to her mother. Where this will go is yet to be seen, though it certainly explains a lot of Rika’s behavior. Rika’s brash personality, which at first, might seem grating, is a cover. Like so many of us, she’s just trying to survive her situation. One can only imagine how lonely Rika must be.

The ambiguity around Rika’s life only increases once we get into the meat of the episode: figuring out who Rika’s father is. And of course, all of this comes crashing down on Rika’s birthday. To some degree, a lot of this episode comes out of left field, primarily because episode 6 primed viewers to think we’d be focused on Ai. I don’t think it’s wrong to assume that yeah, we were going to refocus on Ai. That’s what the plot was hinting at and, assumably, leading viewers to believe.

However, that’s not to say Wonder Egg Priority Episode 7 is bad. In fact, I think this might be one of the strongest episodes, and that’s saying something.Wonder Egg Priority is already a very strong, very earnest show. Yet I have to admit that Wonder Egg Priority Episode 7 really wowed me with its strong characterization of Rika.

Rika is, at her core, a child. She’s a child who’s hurting, a child who wants reassurance. A child who just wants the world to work in her favor.  Wonder Egg Priority Episode 7 isn’t afriad to explore that vulnerability. I really, really love that, especially since young girls and women are probably watching this series all around the world. I

In my review of Wonder Egg Priority Episode 3, I remarked that I really didn’t like Rika. However, over the course of the series, she’s really grown on me. I’d say that she might be my favorite of the girls.  I think that’s because Rika’s never treated as a caricature. Instead, the staff of Wonder Egg Priority has portrayed her as a very real teenage girl, especially within Japanese society.

In the end, Wonder Egg Priority Episode 7 was unexpected in all the best ways. I went in expecting to see Ai’s return to school. In fact, I anticipated following her through her first day back in class. Instead, we got a very strong Rika-centric episode that explored her characterization and gave us a lot of reasons to care about her. Well, more reasons than viewers already had.

Hopefully, Wonder Egg Priority Episode 8 will dive into Ai’s school life. I think that Wonder Egg Priority Episode 7 was very important. But, I’d really like to see our main character start to physically move through her trauma and come out the other side. After all, I think the core message of Wonder Egg Priority is all about healing. Seeing Ai face her fears with a safety net and support would be the catharsis that I think this series wants to deliver on.

If you’re not watching Wonder Egg Priority yet, I implore you to consider picking it up, even this late in the Winter 2021 season. Be mindful of the content, as Wonder Egg Priority is a difficult show at many times. In fact, here’s an incredibly helpful on-going tweet thread by Twitter user @orbladys covering the triggers for each episode released thus far. That being said, if you’re in a place where you can watch and engage with this show, then please, don’t miss out on one of the strongest anime in years. Wonder Egg Priority is just that good.

Wonder Egg Priority is streaming now on Funimation.