SHY is a superhero anime set in the near future, where war on Earth has ceased and various countries are under the protection of an individual Hero. The show revolves around Teru Momijiyama (Shino Shimoji), a 14 year old socially anxious girl who operates as Japan’s rookie heroine Shy, hence the show’s title. I’m curious who came up with that name because it’s both deprecating and on the nose. And no, the name has zero bearing on Teru’s powers, which appear to be pyrokinetic in nature.
Based on the premiere, SHY appears to be the classic struggle with one’s superhero career. Obviously, Shy is a nervous wreck and the pressure of being a rookie and Japan’s only Hero doesn’t help either. The episode opens up with Shy rescuing civilians from a malfunctioning rollercoaster in an amusement park though the last one she saves gets horribly injured and people badmouth her as a result. It’s an extremely unfair assessment but it’s also a believable one and more importantly, it does a number on Teru’s already low self-confidence. Teru goes on a month long hiatus though she rebounds when she sees a burning building and one of the people she rescued at the amusement park tries to participate in the rescue effort, spurring her to take action. All of this is very traditional but it’s competently executed and it establishes Teru as a likable and relatable superhero with a potentially interesting arc.
The premiere introduces some of the other superheroes in its world. The first is Pepesha Andranof/Spirit (Mamiko Noto), Russia’s hero who appears to have the ability to manipulate air. Pepesha serves as Teru’s mentor and she loves drinking booze so automatically, she makes a good first impression. There’s also Unilord (Kikuko Inoue), a celestial being who resides in a space station and acts as a supervisor for Earth’s heroes (I’m guessing there are other planets with a similar arrangement). While she mostly comes across as prestigious figure, there is one comedic moment where she jokes that her nickname is “Yunicchi” and funnily enough, Pepesha decides to roll with it.
At the end of the episode, Unilord informs Teru an imminent threat that’ll require the involvement of all of the Heroes in Earth. While that certainly sounds ominous, this isn’t actually the hook left at the end of the episode. Rather, it’s the development that the girl who got injured at the amusement park, Iko Koishikawa (Nao Toyama), has coincidentally transferred to Teru’s school. Now, that has to be interesting. Iko appears to be in good spirits though that doesn’t necessarily indicate how she feels about her close shave with death and Shy’s failure to protect her from harm. I also wonder if Iko joining Teru’s class means that she’ll eventually learn of our main hero’s identity. Plenty of superhero stories have a civilian friend in the know so maybe that role will fall onto Iko. I do hope Teru and Iko grow close because the situation is really darn awkward right now and poor Teru could seriously use a friend (besides her drunk mentor, I mean).
I’m doubt SHY will break any ground but I enjoyed the premiere a fair amount and I’m curious to see how the story evolves from there so I’ll continue watching it for now.
Watch SHY on Crunchyroll
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