REVIEW: ‘Eternal Boys,’ Episodes 1-2 “Reemployment” and “Company Housing”

Kentaro Sanada is unemployed and desperate to find a job before his unemployment benefits expire. But when he interviews for what he believes is a sales position, he finds himself being brought on to an idol group for middle-aged men. Now Sanada will have to try to keep his head above water as he acclimates to the new trajectory his life has taken in Eternal Boys Episodes 1-2 from Liden Films.

Conceptually speaking, this series will feel like an easy pick-up for many. A fish-out-of-water story about a guy trying to claw his way back from near ruin after his former job of 17 years closed feels like the perfect recipe for an endearing story that people will easily be able to jump into. Sanada is billed as an average person, who is picked up for this newly-born idol group for reasons unrelated to his qualifications. As he discovers what he has signed up for, viewers can easily sympathize with the character as he is torn between fleeing from the imposing nature of trying to perform for the masses and his desperate need for employment.

While the premise for its lead feels like gold, Eternal Boys Episodes 1-2 lands more in the bronze to the silver range when it comes to utilizing the series’ prime concepts. While the series’ opening episodes don’t fail at much, they rarely ever seem to succeed, either. The story manages to move along at a brisk clip, and the personalities the viewer is introduced to are charming enough, but there is a little flair to the proceedings. The supporting cast that makes up the rest of the idol group runs the gamut from the child star struggling to stay relevant to the athlete switching fields. While none of these characters feel overly noteworthy here, they have enough background presented that there is plenty of potential for interesting character growth later on. Also, with each episode being a scant 15 minutes, the show feels like it’s still laying the groundwork for what is to come. The series just feels like it needs to find that extra element that will help it stand out among the unending waves of anime that come out each season.

Much like its star, the visual presentation is solid, if basic. With the bulk of this opening pair of episodes comprised of interviews and meet and greets, Eternal Boys Episodes 1-2 has little chance to show off at all in the animation department. But that being said, what is here comes across well, with key characters each designed with their own unique look, making everyone easily recognizable. This is always an important element to shows, especially when they introduce a considerable number of characters one after the other.

Eternal Boys Episodes 1-2 does a fine job of getting its narrative going. While it doesn’t manage to do anything that truly makes it stand out, it doesn’t make any major mistakes either that could turn off audiences. This hopefully leaves the series open to growing into something more as the weeks move on from here.

Eternal Boys Episodes 1-2 are streaming now on HIDIVE.