GROW UP SHOW -Sunflower Circus- Premiere Gets Mixed First Impressions
The premiere's mixed reception highlights the challenge of balancing period authenticity with contemporary anime aesthetics in an original story.
Reporting from 1 source: Anime Feminist.
Anime Feminist's review of GROW UP SHOW -Sunflower Circus- episode 1 notes contradictions between its 1950s setting and modern character designs, a lack of acrobatic spectacle, and a solid but unremarkable dub. The premiere introduces Mizuka Tsurumaki, a girl sold into a circus for orphaned girls, and features a unique visual representation of face-blindness anxiety.
The review points to Mizuka's possible prosopagnosia, shown as amoeba-like squiggles obscuring faces, as a rare central depiction in anime. The show is set in 1950s Japan but the character outfits feel more suited to the 2010s, and the premiere offers little acrobatic action despite the circus premise. The dub cast gives solid performances but underwhelms. Despite these contradictions, the reviewer found the episode enjoyable, noting the foundation for a story about war-orphaned girls finding a family.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.
Sources
- Anime Feminist GROW UP SHOW -Sunflower Circus- – Episode 1