Wonder Egg Priority – 04

「カラフル・ガールズ」 (Karafuru Gaaruzu)
“Colorful Girls”

I didn’t think Wonder Egg Priority could get any better. Yet here we are.

Enter the Fourth Flower Ranger: Sawaki Momoe

This week, we’re introduced to a new character – Sawaki Momoe. Considering that the counselor shares a name with Momoe, something tells me that they’re related. And their character designs definitely share similarities. If it turns out the counselor is a bad egg who groomed Koito and sexually abused her, something tells me he very possibly could have done the same to Momoe. I would say that Momoe looks androgynous. More to the guy side in terms of character design. And it was interesting to see how past her outward projections of fortitude and stoicism, she’s actually very unsure about herself. Unsure about the copious amounts of girls who fall in love with her. And uncertainty over her identity. Insecurity that people perceive her as being a guy rather than a girl.

So we had a satisfying moment of emotional resolution when Ai catches her crying, and immediately lifts her spirits by telling her ‘You look like a female super model!’. Which based off my understanding from Runway de Waratte, isn’t even wrong. On top of putting a lot of weight into physical appearance, the fashion industry typically pick tall girls with slender neck lines to be super models – with Chiyuki being unable to find success as a model early on in her career because although she looked extremely beautiful, she was simply way too short for agencies to take her seriously. Typically, female characters compliment each other as a formality. This time, I could tell it was really genuine. Really sincere. And came from the bottom of Ai’s heart – which clearly meant the world to Momoe.

Friendship and Symbolisms

I really really loved the moment where all the girls break into a casual, carefree laugh together. It was an exceedingly beautiful moment of friendship which served as a wonderful contrast, piercing through the copious amounts of pain and suffering we’ve seen so far. We have a lot of symbolism surrounding the worlds they find themselves in to save the souls that hatch from the eggs. For Ai, it’s school – where Koito died. For Rika, it’s a field of flowers by the seaside – with Chiemi’s casket being surrounded by flowers. For Momoe, it’s trains – suggesting Haruka might have committed suicide by jumping into an oncoming train. I would say more on the flower symbolism – but that’s not exactly a field I feel qualified to comment on. However, I’ll read into some of it over the weekend so I can share further insight on them in future episodes.

Concluding Thoughts

I’m curious to see where the series goes with the premise. There’s still so much we don’t know. Elements that are implied too. Most importantly for me, the characters are extremely great. Fleshed out. And not your run of the mill, young female anime characters. Who are usually portrayed as helplessly moe or something stereotypically cliche. These girls all have their personal problems. Flaws too. But their courage, determination and selflessness really shine through as they strive to save their loved ones from purgatory post-suicide, putting their safety on the line to do so as well. There’s just so much to care about them, and that’s been a refreshing change.

Anyway, that’s about everything I wanted to discuss. As always, thanks for reading this post and see y’all next week!