Super Sonico Episode 11
What They Say:
“Super Sonico” debuted as Nitro+’s live mascot girl, and her world will be brought to life in the anime, “SoniAni – SUPER SONICO THE ANIMATION -”!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Christmas has come to the world of Super Sonico, which we only really know because, well, they say it and it looks a little colder out. And the Christmas trees in the shops. You can’t tell by how the girls dress though as the skirts are still incredibly short for most of them, but there’s just a reality to that which I know from my own daughter. There’s a certain mood and atmosphere that comes with the show in the opening frame with the way the season has changed as it just has a bit of a cooler feel with an overcast and gray sky and that does a decent job by itself. It just feels like it’s colder and that changes how you view things compared to the more free form and open to anything events of the summer part of the series.
With this episode, we get something that I’ve seen in anime before, but it’s not exactly a staple of the Christmastime storytelling. What we get here is the shopping distract that’s competing with the big department store that exists in the area and they’re intent on not losing out this season since the big chain store draws away so many of their customers. While there’s the ease of shopping in one location, selection is always an issue and the shop owners struggle with why people can’t understand that. The solution, with a little help, is that they’ll get a lot of cute girls to cosplay in Santa style outfits and draw in through the fanservice. Of course, the girls are the ones we know and there’s a really great mix of costumes that we get, including a reindeer one that’s awkwardly cute. Never mind Ouka wearing a Santa outfit that has a death figure of some sort in its front pouch.
While things go well for a bit, especially with the whole idol group they get in, it doesn’t last since the public is fickle, which is no surprise at all. It’s amusing in seeing how the department store pushes back, with their version of hot male Santa’s (Dimension 3, overseas hotties) and other tricks of the trade to encourage visits. There’s a kind of simplicity about the episode that’s fun with the personal touches, especially when the “real Santa” shows up at the airport and is glad to be of help there. There’s some cute material with this as it goes on, as Sonico had befriended a young girl, and seeing her making sure that she gets there to be a part of it all is pretty nice. Caring characters towards young children at the norm, but it just seems to click really well here since it’s invested in a whole lot more than just the Santa Claus aspect itself.
In Summary:
Christmas episodes are almost always predictable and while this one isn’t as clearly defined in some ways as the usual ones we get in your more straightforward comedies or romance shows, it has those familiar elements. But it also plays well with the mood and nature of it so that it’s light, fun but also filled with the right amount of heart and enjoyment that leaves you smiling and feeling good, which is all that Sonico wants out of life for everyone. Simple and fun.
Grade: B-
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Apple TV via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.