Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. The 2010s saw the rise and triumph of superhero movies. With the MCU movies producing hit after hit, superheroes became the hottest trend in cinema. Japan was also getting in on this action as we saw the rise of manga centered around superheroes such as One Punch Man, My Hero Academia, and today’s anime Shy. Real talk, I thought this was an original anime, but nope, it’s based on a manga written by Bukimi Miki. Making its debut in 2019, Shy got overlooked thanks to the popularity of MHA and One Punch Man, which is a shame because I actually did read a few chapters and it’s not bad. It’s got a Saturday morning feel to it. In 2022 it was announced that an anime production was in the works and in 2023 it made it’s debut. The anime was produced by 8-bit (Reincarnated as a Slime) who were having a slow year with shockingly Blue Lock being their most hyped anime that year. Let’s get ready to see a cute girl save the day. This is Shy.
Opening and Ending Theme
The opening is “Shiny Girl” by MindaRyn. I wouldn’t call this a bad song. I like the way the song starts off and Ryn’s voice is nice, but the song just sounds generic to me. It just feels like a normal song you swear you’ve heard from another anime.
The ending is “Beside You” by Shino Shimoji & Nao Touyama. This song is better and cute. It’s a good song about friendship and being beside them through thick and thin. Shino and Nao do a good singing together and like I said just an all-around good song that makes you feel warm inside.
Episodes 1-4
The anime begins in the middle 21st century. War is a thing of the past (physically. On the internet it’s still running strong) and has given rise to superheroes all over the world. One of these heroes is a girl named Teru aka Shy, a new superhero in Japan who is shy (making her adorable). Making her debut three months ago along with her partner ABO some kind of flying robotic fish-like creature. While promoting a superhero show at a theme park one of the rides breaks down and Shy springs into action to save everyone. One by one she gets everyone off the coaster except for one school girl named Iko as the coaster collapses and sent her flying. Shy managed to catch her but she got seriously injured and fell unconscious. As you would expect, the media had a field day with bashing not only Shy but heroes in general. A month passes and Shy goes into hiding where she can’t transform anymore and blames herself for what happened. As she beats herself up over what happened she receives a visit from Pepesha aka Spirit the Russian superhero (and a total drunk) who tries to cheer her up before being called away. Sometime later a building catches on fire and after seeing a young boy try to rescue everyone she finds the courage she needs to transform and save the people from the burning building. After the rescue, Spirit appears and takes Shy into space where they meet Unilord the supervisor of Earth’s heroes (scene here: https://youtu.be/K-z_7y3Ml-k?si=Zpg7Twd6NXhevpBa) who warns them of a great evil they will face down the line (I think we spotted them in the episode). The next day at school we see Iko transferred over to Shy’s school and they’re now classmates.
In episode 2 Iko gets accustomed to her new school. Everyone is nice and seems to be welcoming, but Shy keeps her distance. She still feels guilty about not being able to rescue Iko and letting her get hurt. However, Iko reveals she holds no resentment toward Shy after Shy helps her to the nurse’s office (scene here: https://youtu.be/z2ZWRI3i4ak?si=FW9O1z92TULyhyHq, yeah, do you know how many people die from roller coaster accidents? While it sucks she got injured it’s nothing short of a miracle that’s all she got). While in the nurse’s office, a mysterious boy appears and inserts a dark ring onto Iko’s finger transforming her into a monster (sure is getting Sailor Moon S1 up in here). We find out that Iko blames herself for disasters happening to people around her. Her parents died in a fire while saving her and now she blames herself for Shy getting backlash for not saving her. She believes that her getting saved is a sin. Shy finally transforms and faces Iko head on by accepting all the anger she’s been holding onto these years and finally frees her from it.
Episode 3 sees Shy and Iko go out together (scene here: https://youtu.be/ASb8ZqQgXx0?si=k5nYdMMEJghGOqVU). While out they get called out into space where we get to meet Stardust, Britain’s hero and rockstar (if he was Irish I’d swear he was Bano with blonde hair). These three heroes have been called in order to talk about the events of last episode. The mysterious boy that they’re now calling Stigma has been appearing all over the world. The ring draws power from the dark emotions of a person’s heart and transforms them into a monster. Stardust was the first one to see the ring in action but was unable to get a ring that wasn’t damaged. Now that they know what they’re up against, the conversation turns to Shy. Unilord wants Stardust to fight her. She got lucky last time but next time she may not be so lucky so she needs to get stronger. Spirit protests this but Shy says no. She agrees that she’s weak and needs to get stronger if she wants to protect everyone. She agrees to fight Stardust even putting her title as hero on the line. Shy’s condition to win is to punch Stardust in the face.
We get the fight between Shy and Stardust in episode 4. Shy’s attacks can hit Stardust because he’s mastered Gojo’s broken Infinity ability (or he has a cheap knock-off of the ability). It’s a bit uncomfortable to watch as Stardust brutally beats up Shy (keep in mind, this is a 28-year-old man beating up a girl half his age) but at the same time you get why he’s doing what he’s doing (tough love for the kohai). As the fight goes on Shy does unlock the power of her bracelets which is fire (not gonna lie, the image of the flame coming out of her eye was cool). It takes all of power but she manages to break through Stardust’s Infinity barrier and land a hit on his cheek before passing out. While in the infirmary she meets Lady Black the Switzerland hero (ironic, I thought they’d be neutral) and Doctor Schwartz the Germany hero (is it racist to say he looks like Einstein?). These two are part of the Black Cross, a medical team that specializes in treating others. While Shy may have won, Lady Black doesn’t acknowledge her as a hero as she gives up too easily and tells her to become a hero with no regrets.
Episodes 5-8
In the first half of episode 5 Lady Black real name Piltz comes to do a follow-up on Shy to make sure she’s okay. After this, Shy begs her to heal the back of an old lady who runs a store Shy visits from time to time. Piltz heals her back and the next day the two climb a mountain with her (old people are tough). During the climb we find out that Piltz has prosthetic legs (did not see that coming). She lost her legs in an accident and was looked down upon by everyone around her. But she channeled her anger to walk again and prove them wrong (as well as become a little tsundere in the process). In the second half, Shy is trying to master her fire powers but isn’t having much luck. However, thanks to the power and knowledge of calligraphy, she takes a step forward in mastering her new powers (and almost burning her house down).
In episode 6 Shy and Spirit get put on a mission in the North Pole (trying to find the Fortress of Solitude? It’s right next to Santa’s Workshop). On the mission, they partner up with Mianlong the Chinese hero (who I thought was a girl when I first saw him. What? He’s got a cute face) and look for some people who got lost out in the snow. While they search via helicopter, they get shot down by a mysterious girl with ice powers named Tzveta who seems to know Spirit. We see Spirit get pierced in the liver (well she won’t be drinking any time soon). Shy and Mianlong combine their skills and manage to beat her but Stigma and he’s got a whole posse which he calls Amarariruku (that sounds so Magical Madoka).
In the first half of episode 7 not much really happens. They patch Spirit up and she decides to do her own investigation on Tzveta and how she knows her. In the second half, Shy does another live show this time cosplaying as the hero of this magical girl show. One of the fans there calls her a fake but she saves his balloon and he now sees her as the hero from his favorite show (looks like Shy has a new die-hard fan).
Episode 8 sees Shy go to Russia to visit Spirit and investigate Amarariruku. We find out that Spirit was raised in an orphanage and keeps her hero job a secret from everyone (as heroes tend to do). She does send money and other supplies to the orphanage. After greetings are done they begin looking through past albums in the hopes of finding out who Tzveta is but have no luck. However, one of the workers shows Spirit and Shy a picture of Spirit’s mom when she was a child and she looks just like Tzveta (woah, I did not see that coming. Your mom must be on some Peter Pan shit right there). Tzveta and a new character named Kufufu attack the orphanage and in case it in ice (if you start singing Let it Go I will leave).
Episodes 9-12
Episodes 9-11 gives the fight between Shy and Kufufu vs Tzveta and Kufufu. Shy takes on Kufufu who fights using cartoonish tricks (scene here: https://youtu.be/mfvz51temYA?si=3LMqPNcjE-AVeFmY, she’s like an evil version of Pinkie Pie). Spirit takes on Tzveta where we find out that she’s Spirit’s mom, Letana. Shy sees the memories of Tzveta where she lived in extreme poverty raising Spirit by herself. It was rough. They barely had enough to get food and holding down a job was difficult. Wanting a better life for her daughter, Tzveta made the ultimate sacrifice and put Spirit up for adoption. The two ladies are now are odds with each other over their grief. Tzveta believes Spirit hates her because of the life she gave her, while Spirit believes Tzveta hates her because she put her up for adoption (misunderstanding upon misunderstanding). They drag the fight on longer than they should have but the two eventually hug and say how much they love each other which puts Tzveta’s heart at ease and she starts to fade away because she no more regrets tying her to this world. Before disappearing Tzveta tells them that Sigma’s plan is to create an adult-free world by destroying the current world using corruption (he really is Peter Pan. Only evil and minus the whole Disney scandal). After sharing a drink with Spirit (yeah, that looks wrong), Tzveta finally disappears. Leaving behind a ring with a snowflake centerpiece.
In the final episode Shy and Spirit wrap up their mission and leave. When Shy returns to Japan she faints from a cold and Iko carries her back home. Iko takes care of Shy and realizes that heores are just like humans which puts her at ease. Back with Amarariruku, Stigma starts plotting his next move and the world governments agree to work together to stop them.
Final Thoughts
Shy for the most is a good series. It’s got the Saturday morning vibe. It’s like a more grounded version of MHA. The villains feel like a cross between Sailor Moon and Magical Madoka. Like I could totally see this group fitting into the Magical Madoka universe. The anime does lose me in the last third as it seems like they’re stretching things out and it gets boring and mundane. I did like the character of Shy and how they portray her. Her shyness is a realistic shyness. She takes the steps to leave her comfort zone and grow as a hero. Every time she gets stronger it’s because of her determination. It doesn’t feel forced or a cop out. It’s earned and deserved. The rest of the characters are good to. I like Iko’s friendship with Shy. Spirit the happy-go lucky but serious big sister when she needs to be. Stardust the tough but caring father figure. Lady Black the tough friend who cares for everyone around her. They all get a chance to shine throughout the anime and don’t overstay their welcome. The music in this anime is good but the fighting could use some improvement.
Final Score
The final score for Shy is a 5.5/10. It’s an okay anime. If you like MHA and One Punch Man I say give it a watch and see what you think of it. A second season is set to premiere next month so we’ll see if this series can fly or not. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.