English Dub Review: Wonder Egg Priority “An Adult Child”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Things are wrapping up in the world of Wonder Egg as our heroines start to complete their missions. Rika manages to free Chiemi, but then Dot shows up and murders Mannen in the same way that Momoe’s sidekick was killed last week.

Later, Ai enters the Acca’s house and finds Ura-Acca, who decides to tell Ai the story of how the brothers went from mere researchers to whatever they are now. It involves an AI daughter, a real daughter, and lots of mistakes along the way.

Our Take:

After almost an entire season of plot in the present with only the faintest hints of exposition and backstory, this week’s episode of Wonder Egg Priority turns that on its head with what is basically a full on flashback episode. An Adult Child tells the story of Acca, Ura-Acca, and the monstrously cute creation they concocted named Frill.

As told to Ai by Ura-Acca, the two brothers worked as researchers for a certain company. Always under surveillance lest they sell out to other companies or countries, the two of them became bored and listless. What started out as a way to pass the time became a full on obsession as they worked to craft an AI that could be like a daughter to them. The result is Frill, a redheaded 14-year-old menace who seems to have the intelligence of a grownup genius with the emotional intelligence of an angsty teenager. The Accas say they set out to make her unstable and complicated, and boy did they succeed.

When Acca meets a fellow researcher named Azusa at a technical symposium, the two of them quickly fall in love, marry, and start a family of their own. But while Ura-Acca claims to be at peace with his friend/brother/husband’s life choice, the same can’t be said for Frill. She winds up electrocuting the pregnant Azusa in the bath and is thrown into a dark, tomb-like pit by Acca for her deed. This is where things get a little confusing, as Frill continues to cause chaos thanks to being connected to the Internet and having created friends named Dot and Hyphen to help with her schemes.

It’s unclear why Acca didn’t just destroy her or shut her down or at least change the Wi-Fi password. I suppose they were attached to her, and since they are responsible for her creation, he felt bad in a way. But she stays in the pit for years, while Azusa and Acca’s baby grows into a girl named Himari. After a strange dinner with Ura-Acca, Himari seemingly commits suicide in the tub later that night. Unable to believe it, Ura-Acca goes to Frill’s place and sees that she’s up to something.

There’s been a lot going on in the past few episodes of Wonder Egg, as the show attempted to stuff its plot into a single season while also falling behind in production and having to air a recap episode. An Adult Child is especially crammed with lore, however, which makes it a hit or miss type of episode. If you’re into taking a step back and learning more about the Acca’s weird family history, then this is an exciting addition to the show’s mythos. If you’re just interested in the main cast and their struggles against Dot and Hyphen, however, this week’s episode could feel like a waste of time. Either way, there’s only one episode left in the original season of Wonder Egg — although that bonus episode that serves as the real finale is coming up soon, too.