I watched Sonny Boy over the last week or two. I quite enjoyed it overall, it’s interesting on multiple levels. The ending was a little bit melancholic and upsetting, but that’s consistent with the rest of the show. I didn’t think too deeply about the philosophy and metaphors that the show put forward; it might’ve been good to reflect on and write about each episode.
I was a bit unenthusiastic going into this episode, thinking that it might be some drawn-out flashback. While the flashbacks were long, I found the whole episode to be a fun trek through Natsuko’s inadvertent romcom maneater adolescence.
Each flashback had little surprises, while also emphasizing how Natsuko is 200% dedicated to her craft.
Fukushima’s (the animation studio’s president) perspective was also interesting. Drawing a parallel between Natsuko and the director of A Tale of Perishing (who, unlike the bird, is smiling in Fukushima’s recollection), and challenging Natsuko to surpass her current limitations.
The PV linked above is from 3 years ago and is for the first novel. Here’s a PV from 10 hours ago for the anime. The new PV is mostly just review quotes.
We get some, uh, character development with Destiny, we get introduced to Justice (and actual character development), and we have a brief encounter with lady-bird.
It was a bit hard to watch the end with all the foreshadowing that Natsuko was going to mess things up.
The Spirit Tortoise arc, part of season 2, was particularly painful to watch. So it does get better after the tortoise, but it does not get good.