Sonny Boy (サニーボーイ) is an original Japanese anime television series animated by Madhouse and written and directed by Shingo Natsume. The story follows a group of middle school students who are transported to an alternative dimension where some of them gain supernatural powers. In their quest to find their way home, they unravel the mysteries of this new world, and conflicts between them arise. The series aired from July to October 2021.
Sonny Boy has been noted for its non-traditional storytelling, occasionally skipping over major events and instead focusing on characters' reactions to those events. While fantasy elements are present, the series primarily uses its setting to explore psychological themes such as identity, social expectation, freedom, and loneliness.[1] The series has been featured in several lists of best anime of its year, and has been praised for the quality of its production and animation and the originality of its visuals.
Plot
Midway through a seemingly endless day of summer vacation, third-year middle school student Nagara and his class, along with transfer student Nozomi and the aloof and mysterious Mizuho, are suddenly transported to an alternate dimension. The group calls the new dimension "This World", and finds it has its own set of rules and physics. Over time, while trying to get back home, they realize that they have individual supernatural abilities, but also find it difficult to navigate their own interpersonal relationships.
The class later splits into two groups due to internal conflicts. As both the groups continue journeying to find their way back home, they discover many other students who have spent thousands of years in other "This Worlds".