Funny story, I almost passed up on giving this series a look entirely (I don’t even remember why, but possibly simply because there was so little info on it back when the other shows of the winter season were being announced). Sure glad I changed my mind on that one.

I’ll keep this post short and sweet, because I earnestly believe that a) you don’t actually need to know much about Wonder Egg Priority before going in, and b) the less you do know, the more impactful the experience will likely be. It’s not that the content, in terms of base plot, is overly spoilerish per se, but this is certainly the kind of show that implies a lot more than it says outright, and I’ve always been a big fan of that. (It also means that almost anything I say on paper is all but guaranteed to not do the writing or presentation justice.)

What I will say is that typically, I’m not one to embrace all things weird and surreal. In fact, I often find deeply surrealistic shows to come across as pretentious or incomprehensible, if not both (which is why, for example, I’m not that keen on much on Ikuhara’s work). What I therefore find incredibly refreshing about Wonder Egg Priority’s premiere is that it’s by no means difficult to understand, while at the same time being highly and viscerally impactful. Despite most of the episode (and I assume many, and perhaps most or even all future episodes will do the same) taking place in a symbolically-rich and seriously unsettling dreamscape, I didn’t struggle to understand the actual meaning behind any of what was going on – indeed, I didn’t even feel like I had to concentrate hard to do so. Sometimes simple really is best, and Wonder Egg Priority presents its goings-on, however mysterious, figurative, or disturbing, in what seemed to me a wonderfully straightforward manner. That may sound like an oxymoron to some, but I maintain that a story shouldn’t need to be tough to parse to be considered ‘deep’.

Incidentally, I really like the artwork on display here. Again, it’s not that the art style or animation is especially unusual or metaphorical, it’s just that it looks… well, good. The lines are clean, the colors are crisp and very vivid, and the character designs are both distinctive and immediately appealing. Honestly, this is probably CloverWorks’ best-looking series overall to date, and at 12 episodes, I see no reason why (budget permitting), they shouldn’t be able to maintain this kind of quality throughout the entire show.

Bottom line: yes, you should give Wonder Egg Priority a try. I can only hope the rest of this anime-original lives up to the potential it displays with its first episode.

Score: 8/10