Wonder Egg Priority Episode 4! Once again, this show loves to maturely tackle serious topics. This show continues to leave me speechless every week!

Here is a thread containing some of the visual observations I made, as well as me rambling about some random thoughts

Immediately we're hit with one of Momoe's many issues that she always faces, being constantly identified as a boy. Calling Momoe "Momotaro" after the famous Japanese folklore male hero, followed by a simple "okay" shows how much this misgendering doesn't surprise her anymore.

The use of curtains was excellent during Momoe's talk with Miwa about her molestation since curtains are typically used to hide things in secrecy yet Miwa is laying her whole entire trauma bare. There's also the oppressive usage of red, showing her inner rage and frustration.

It's evident that the molestation and stress in Miwa's life from her parent had a huge psychological toll. We see her suffocating within the frame in the first two shots before Momoe enters into the boxed space to provide her comfort.

I'm remembering the ribbon from episode 2 and how that was used as a weapon, like a yellow light of happiness and hope fueled into an item that pertains to what the suicide victims were passionate about in life to eviscerate the evil demons. I'm glad this imagery makes a return.

*LOUD BREATHING IN* *LOUD BREATHING OUT* HYPPPPPPPPEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!

This extreme long shot shows Momoe sitting in a row of empty chairs. Chairs are meant to be occupied by people but she has nobody to sit with in this drab train station. There's also Momoe sitting in the yellow chair to show how she wants happiness, but that might be a stretch.

Rika really does care for Chiemi. I really like the orange lily in the foreground. The flower represents pride and confidence, something she tries to push to the forefront in comparison to the rest of the characters. This also shows her confidence in restoring Chiemi.

I love it when characters don't know each other yet walk past each other. It personally makes me remember that every human on this planet is idiosyncratic and has their own troubles, even the strangers that I randomly pass when walking. Just thought I'd get that off my chest.

This extreme long shot is used to show Momoe walking in the shadow in contrast to Ai and Neiru walking in the light. It's very clear who's currently happy and who's currently not just by the stark contrast in lighting and the positioning of the characters.

Alright! So it looks like there's confirmation here that Momoe identifies as a girl and that she gets troubled by the fact that society constantly labels her as a male simply because of how she dresses. This constant misgendering seems to understandably frustrate her.

I'm just going to take this time to say that people should wear whatever they feel comfortable with putting on no matter how others might perceive them. Society can fuck itself!

I really don't know what was going on in Momoe's mind here, but what's interesting is how the train passes by when the girl disappears. Trains passing by someone is usually symbolic of a lost opportunity, I wonder if that parallels what Momoe's thinking. I could be wrong though.

I'm unsure if those white flowers on the train tracks are the same as episode 1, but white flowers typically symbolize innocence and, once again, it seems like they're damaged so, therefore, it reinforces the idea of the loss of innocence that's been plaguing these characters.

Each of the characters also has this hope that they can bring the deceased back. I think this shot perfectly encapsulates that "light at the end of the tunnel" that each of the characters, like Momoe, wants to reach in order to overcome adversity to reach their goals.

I want to know more about what happened here. There's obviously a lot of info kept under wraps, and I like how the curtains make a reappearance, once again returning to that idea of secrecy that we saw within the train.

I don't know what to make of this shot, I just thought it looked really neat, like something you'd see out of a stage play with the lights shining down on the platform.

Before Momoe can even talk, Rika interferes and talks about how Momoe's "handsome" and should be a "host", immediately identifying Momoe as a male. I think that anyone could tell just how frustrated and a bit awkward Momoe felt in this instance.

I'm a simple person. I see lines like this, I immediately think of episode 1 of Utena. Some people think WAY too much about adhering to strict gender roles.

This is a perfect use of a reflection in order to show how Momoe is concerned with how she's perceived by others. We see her crying at her appearance, she sees herself as a girl but dresses masculine yet all people see is the masculine side of her which causes identity issues.

Here's some more confirmation that Momoe wants to be identified as a girl, especially when Ai says she sees a "crying girl" which makes Momoe seem elated that someone saw her as a woman and didn't think she was male because of her attire. Ai really is a gem.

I AM SO HAPPY THIS GOT ACKNOWLEDGED! Ever since my first thread, I talked about Ai's attire with the sunflower which connects to ideas of happiness, a flower that brings people joy. Ai is like a sunflower who has brought happiness to Neiru, Rika, and now Momoe. Beautiful!

I wanted to return to this shot from earlier in the episode where Momoe wasn't framed within the light with the others. By the end of the episode, all of the characters are framed underneath the same light, everyone is now happy, especially with Ai around.

OH, OH NO, WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN? WAIT, SAWAKI? BUT THAT'S THE TEACHER'S NAME? BUT! AHHHHH!

That's it for this thread! This episode was really surprising! I like discussing topics like gender identity with people, it's really interesting and some of my favorite works of fiction handle this topic beautifully!

I hope y'all enjoyed the thread, thank you for reading it~