Shy

“They had us in the first half, not gonna lie!”

Fall 2023 was a stacked anime season that brought forth the powerhouses of the summer and these new, well-known superstars ready to make their long-awaited debut. Even when the likes of ‘Jujutsu Kaisen,’ 'Frieren,'’ and ‘The Eminence in Shadow’ were breaking their limits week after week, there were a lot of new titles trying their hardest to catch the attention of new viewers worldwide.

Well, some just didn't give a damn, but it is what it is. Honestly, it was just your bad luck if you were scheduled to go on air this fall season. Going up against the big dogs would only make it easier for you to go down in history, as the title that got outshined for the most part. Shy, a title that doesn't speak much for itself, all the while giving you an idea of what it’s about, made its debut on the 3rd of October this year. Right off the bat, the title made quite a stir with that first episode.

Looking back, titles like One Punch Man and My Hero Academia raised the bar for the superhero genre. Matching and exceeding that level will be nearly impossible, regardless of title. But Shy grabbed the bull by the horns and was unafraid to inject its real twist into the series. Despite capturing the attention of both newcomers and veterans, the show needed help to maintain it, and as the episodes progressed, the show began to lose the charm that made it unique in the first place. Today, we shall examine the title that is reticent to express itself! Let’s dive right in!

It's the usual superhero story, but this time around, we're humans.

You know how it is. The superhero beats the bad guys to a pulp to save the day. The concept has been in the picture since time introduced us to the good and the evil. Shy takes the good old concept and adds reality to the blend. For starters, who even created the idea that heroes, who are humans most of the time, are supposed to be perfect?

Being imperfect makes you human, and life's journey is all about carrying those negatives and turning them into positives. Teru "Shy" Momijiyama is an excellent portrayal of that since, despite being Japan's crime-fighting superhero, she's timid and socially anxious, something that no one would expect from a hero, no matter what universe you have in mind. But she's earnest at heart and would leave no stone unturned when saving anyone in need.

However, one day, while saving a rollercoaster ride gone south, she can't get everyone out of harm’s way, which just ends up breaking her. She loses her ability to transform, and the fact of the girl being hurt when she clearly should have been able to save her haunts her for a while. Furthermore, social media keyboard warriors are attempting to "talk some sense into her" online, even though they are the ones who are following those e-girls on Twitter.

But soon after, we learn about Amalareiks's threat, and to save the world, she has to team up with the other heroes! I am confident I have your attention and that you want to skip this paragraph and start watching the series immediately; however, it is a shame that the series begins to deteriorate quickly.

Why did Shy fail?

Many factors are responsible for the title's failure. For starters, even when the downsides of being a hero and how ‘greater power brings forth an even greater responsibility’ are portrayed rather well, the title doesn't have much else to offer when you look at the superhero aspect of the show. The fights are lackluster, and since action is what ends up making or breaking a title about superheroes, it's not a surprise that the title falls flat when it comes to that.

Moreover, the animation quality starts deteriorating soon enough. It makes you wonder whether the same team behind the first couple of episodes brought the rest to life. Also, some episodes just add nothing to the story overall, and the pacing feels off at times, making it hard to add 2 and 2 together, thinking about how certain scenes and developments impact the story down the road.

I know, there's that 12-episode mark that makes you bring up the point that the studio didn't have enough time to make the title go ‘to infinity and beyond,’ but at the same time, 12 episodes are more than enough to make an impact and grab that audience for yourself.

A second season is in production with no exact release date, and we can only hope the sequel will be better. But at this point, the first season only offers little to follow through the hype the first two episodes create at the very beginning.

Bland Characters

Putting aside the animation, another massive thing about superhero anime titles is the roster of characters—all these different heroes they feature. The same can be said for the villains since both sides are essential to making an excellent superhero anime. Whether you're looking at the heroes or the villains, no single character stands out. Sure, we can say that Teru has portrayed how a real hero would feel and act in the real world pretty well, highlighting stuff like social anxiety.

But at the same time, this isn't a title like Bocchi the Rock, where the whole appeal of the show was the main character being anxious and getting over her fears while the squad helped her the entire time. None of the characters are memorable aside from ‘Shy’ herself, and it's hard to say that they contribute much to the story for the most part.

The studio behind the series, 8bit, isn't some small fry either. They've put together some great anime titles in the past, with ‘Blue Lock’ and ‘That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime’ among the two most popular projects they've worked on. That makes me wonder what happened to the animation, but hey, we'll never know the answer to that question, so it's no use looking too deep into it.

Moreover, with iconic Osts like ‘You Say Run’ adding a lot more to the charm of ‘My Hero Academia,’ Shy should've had a score that would give a lot more meaning to this universe. But the 12-episode run doesn't feature a memorable soundtrack or something that would let you look up the music on Spotify or YouTube.

The same is true for the opening and closing themes. I liked the ending, which made sitting through the rest of the episodes easier. That song was fantastic. The voice actors did an excellent job with the ending theme, and I will certainly give them credit where credit is due.

It goes without saying that these other shows will overshadow your show in a lineup of stacked anime seasonal releases like this. Shy does something new and brings in the recipe that guarantees the title standing out, sure. But the anime needs to do a better job of executing it, making the title go down in history as one that didn't exist.

I haven't read the manga, so I can't tell you about my personal experience reading it. Although I've heard it's better than the anime adaptation, I'd recommend checking it out for yourself if you want to know the difference or what happens in the story after the first season ends.

As for the rating, I'd give it a 6.5. The title had everything it needed to make the protagonist, Teru "Shy" Momijiyama, a superstar, but sadly, things didn't turn out that way. After that first episode, I had high hopes for the series but was disappointed. Let's hope the sequel turns things around and puts the story on everyone's radar. I mean, at this point, that’s all we can do.

As I said earlier, go check out the manga if you want to, since with no release date in sight, that’s the best course of action. If you like superheroes and love ‘Bocchi the Rock,' then the show might be your cup of tea, but don’t expect anything that makes shows like ‘One Punch Man’ and ‘My Hero Academia’ the masterpieces they are. Till next time, goodbye!

Please Like, Comment, Share or click one of the links below to read another post.

https://pinnedupink.com/blogs/random-thoughts-because-mondays-suck

https://pinnedupink.com/blogs/on-screen

https://pinnedupink.com/blogs/flashbacks