Wonder Egg Priority (2021)

Wonder Egg Priority is a 13 episode original anime. It follows Ai Ohto who has become a recluse, staying at home rather than going to school. The reason? Her best friend committed suicide. We’re quickly shown bits and pieces of what happened, with Ai being heavily affected. Ai feels guilty given that she was too apathetic to the things that were happening to her best friend, which ultimately led to that fatal decision.

The fantasy side then comes into play when Ai meets two characters, who give her an egg and promise that it will grant her wish. When Ai breaks it, she is sent to a dream world where while it’s a dream for her, it’s not a dream for the other people in it. The girls that are in that dream are being hunted down by “Seeno Evils”, which looks like these little evils with a crazy smile holding a knife.

Ultimately, Ai learns that she needs to protect these girls from danger, and the more girls that she successfully saves, the closest she is to bringing her best friend back. She soon meets other girls that are like her that get these eggs and tries to protect others in the dream world. Each character has a different tragic reason behind why they’re doing it. The anime begins in a more episodic manner, as Ai tries to save a different girl in each episode.

Given the episodic nature of the anime, each episode in the first half can be somewhat predictable. In the beginning, she’ll meet a new character to befriend with, then in a later episode, we will see what trauma they each carry within them. We see the reasons for their fighting. It tackles some heavier themes, and it is nothing to make light of, but at the same time, it doesn’t quite work out in certain moments, where it’s trying to be serious but then glosses over other elements.

The plot starts to go somewhere towards the end of the season. All the set up and backstories have finally finished, and it can move on. The biggest mystery of course is about the wonder egg and what its purpose is. Most viewers would suspect something bad, and the anime will deal with that plot thread. Although the pacing in general is quite slow, and it’s not as if it suddenly goes faster as a result.

The anime had production issues, and there are some signs of that, such as the recap episode in the middle of the season, and then half of the final “special” episode also being a recap. However, towards the end of the season, the plot really takes off as we finally get some more insight into the eggs. It’s still grounded in such a way that there is some psychological horror, and there’s a distinct creepiness to the atmosphere as well. The chill and dread that you’d feel as the events unfold was executed nicely.

Unfortunately, that execution and pacing couldn’t be sustained to the end. The ending felt rushed in ways, it closed off most of the plot points, but not particularly well. There are some great concepts there, but it is shown poorly. It seems after the long journey of watching the whole season, none of the character arcs come to a satisfying conclusion. It was messy, confusing and contradictory to earlier themes.

Overall, Wonder Egg Priority has moments where it shines and is full of potential. It collapses under all that expectation though, and we’re left with an inconsistent story that is at times confusing and messy. Even right until the very end, the plot didn’t feel like it could wrap up in time, and it ended up being a rushed job. Wonder Egg Priority is an average anime that gets worse as the season progresses.

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Toy Review: Transformers Generations Studio Series KSI Widow (Deluxe)

Review:  #900

Name:  KSI Widow

Brand:  Transformers

Allegiance:  Decepticon

Line:  Generations - Studio Series

Year of Release:  2025

Size Class:  Deluxe (Wave 29)

Mold Status:  new

VEHICLE MODE:

KSI Widow is a "Concept Art" character, in that she never appeared in the movie, and is based upon the concept art.

That said, the vehicle, surprisingly being a licensed McLaren MP4-12C did appear in the movie.  And this is a fantastic vehicle mode, with transparent windows, and painted both front and back in the appropriate places.

She's an okay size for a Deluxe.  Being a supercar, the vehicle's stance is wide and flat.

There are some panel lines but it's fairly clean for the most part.  Surprisingly, the headlights are painted, as well as the back section, plus her hubcaps.  It's impressive for a Deluxe toys these days...

The wheels roll on a flat surface and that's it for play value.  Both her robot weapons store underneath the car, out of sight.

There's really no compromise in vehicle mode, and is one of the best we've had.

TRANSFORMATION:

KSI Widow has an interesting transformation, although it is one we've seen before.  Basically, most of the vehicle, being the middle panels spanning the whole car, will fold and collapse itself into the robot legs, thereby eliminating most of the kibble.  This is similar to how the Prime Vehicon figures did it, and while it's a little bit less impressive here, it's still very cool and neat.  The front fenders then form the shoulder pads, and the rest of the robot is basically revealed.

ROBOT MODE:

KSI Widow's robot mode is stunning, and not hampered by matching an onscreen model, so there's no faux kibble or anything.

And she doesn't have much kibble.  The vehicle doors fold behind her back, but that helps to bulk up the torso.  Most of the car ended up being folded into the legs.

The head sculpt is one of those that's more organic looking, and she's definitely a Decepticon based on that look.

She's slimmer in robot mode compared to your usual Deluxe.  Due to transformation, a lot of the mass is down in her lower legs, which is a bit chunkier than it should.

Articulation is great, with joints for her head, shoulders, elbows, waist, hips and knees.

She comes with two blasters.

These blasters aren't designed to be held, but rather pegged onto the forearms (similar to Shatter's), and they look really nice there, as if integrated into the arms.

Those blasters can also store on her back by plugging into the the doors.

This is a unique robot mode, not only due to the design, but also the orange color scheme.

From the side, you can see the thicker legs, and these also stop her from having ankle articulation.

Still, she has great shelf presence and she holds together well in robot mode.

A wonderful robot mode that barely has any flaws.

OVERALL:

KSI Widow is one of those figures that's a good toy because it's a good toy.  She has a fantastic vehicle mode, an interesting transformation, that leads to an equally good robot mode.  Sure, she may have some slightly restrictions in her lower legs due to transformation, but that's barely a nuisance.  She just looks so great that even if she never appeared on screen, she's still worth getting.

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Toy Review: Transformers Generations Studio Series Elita-1 (One) (Deluxe)

Review:  #899

Name:  Elita-1

Brand:  Transformers

Allegiance:  Autobot

Line:  Generations - Studio Series

Year of Release:  2025

Size Class:  Deluxe (Wave 30)

Mold Status:  new

VEHICLE MODE:

Based upon her Transformers One design, Elita-1 transforms into a pink Cybertronian motorcycle / vehicle.

There are actually two wheels at the back, making three in total, and the robot jetpack is attached to the back, so this looks like a chunky bike-like vehicle from the rear.

For a female Transformer, she is actually fairly decent in size in vehicle mode for a Deluxe.  Although most of that are just panels, given she doesn't actually have that much mass to her.

The robot gun can attach to the side, and you can kind of imagine it as some sort of massive exhaust... maybe.

Her wheels roll, and that's about it for play value.  She holds together okay in vehicle mode, there are tabs, but they can also be prone to popping out since tolerances aren't perfect, particularly the front fenders.

From the bottom, you can see the hollow parts, it's not too bad but it is definitely there.

A cool looking vehicle mode at first glance, and while she does look good, handling her isn't nearly as nice.

TRANSFORMATION:

Elita-1 is one of those figures that suffers from an awkward transformation scheme, where it is too fiddly and things pop off or poor quality control lead to floppy joints, just making everything worse.  Her transformation relies on a few panels that need to be moved and then pegged somewhere else, the problem is that those panels also like to pop off at the slightest touch.  Otherwise, the sides are the arms, while the legs are from the core of the vehicle mode.  The torso is revealed and you fold the rest of the bike up in panels on her back.

ROBOT MODE:

Similar to vehicle mode, at first glance, Elita-1 looks great in robot mode.  The pink does seem to have a slightly shimmery sheen to it.

She had some kibble, such as behind her forearms, and also her backpack, but isn't too bad overall, which is surprising.

The head sculpt is also very nice, and the silver paint pops.

She's very slim in robot mode, and you can see just how much of the vehicle mode was panels, masking her mass.

In theory, her articulation is good, with joints for her head, shoulders, elbows, waist, hips, knees and ankles.

She comes with two accessories, one is a jetpack, while the other is a gun.

The jetpack can plug onto her back and bulks her up.  This same piece can also attach to Studio Series versions of Transformers One Optimus and Bumblebee.

She can hold the gun in either hand, although it's huge, and so looks kind of awkward given she's so slim.

So this is where the main flaws of Elita-1 lies in, and those are poor quality control or design.  Her chest panel in particular likes to pop off and doesn't stay properly attached.  The other panels do a similar thing, and makes the whole figure feel fragile and something you don't want to touch since it's annoying to put the pieces back where they were.

Her legs also don't feel great, they just feel fragile.  It's like there is something stopping her from being properly posed, it's not as if the whole figure is a floppy mess, but it gives off that vibe.

So Elita-1 looks good as a display piece, but not one to be played around with.

OVERALL:

Elita-1 feels like the rest of the Transformers One figures, and that they feel a bit rushed to market, despite being released a year after the movie.  The designs are flawed, and so we get flawed figures that are frustrating because we know that they could have been better.  Elita-1 isn't a disaster, she looks good in both modes, but is just something you don't want to play with.

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