One normal day during summer vacation, the school and the 36 students inside began to drift into another dimension. Once there, many of the students begin to develop supernatural powers. At first, the school is surrounded by blackness, but their world soon changes, and as they drift, they find their new realities bound by certain rules.
I watched this all the way to the end because I was both intrigued and needed to in order to simply write recommendations for it. I do enjoy very unique shows like that, even if it makes my job more difficult. If you are looking for more anime recommendations like Sonny Boy, then head on down below.
Anime Like Sonny Boy
For Fans of Kids With Powers
Sakurada Reset
Kei lives in the seaside town of Sakurada, which is filled with people with various powers. One day, he meets a girl named Haruki on the school roof. She has the ability to reset things to three days prior, but even she does not remember when she uses it or what happened. However, as Kei has the power of a photographic memory, he is able to remember. The pair join the Service Club to start trying to help the people in town.
While Sakurada Reset is more time travel-orientated, like Sonny Boy it focuses on a small group of students that have unique powers in an otherwise somewhat mundane existence. A more strange similarity is that sort of lackadaisical nature that both anime series share when it comes to storytelling. Nothing happens particularly fast, yet something is always happening.
Charlotte
Yuu Otosaka has the ability to slip into other people’s mind and control them for five seconds at a time. He has been using it to get good grades, but after he is caught by the enigmatic Nao Tomori, he is forced to transfer to a special school to safeguard children with these powers from discovery. At this supernatural new school, he is forced to join the Student Council where he uses his powers to hunt down other young people who are using and abusing their own powers.
While Charlotte focuses on more of your standard drama anime story, like Sonny Boy it also focuses on high schoolers that all have various powers. It isn’t quite so enigmatic or symbolic about things, though.
From the New World
After a small portion of humanity suddenly developed psychokinetic powers, the world underwent a rapid transformation. After 1,000 years of turbulent history where regular humans struggled against those with powers, we focus in on Kamisu 66, a small town where 12-year-old Saki Watanabe finally awakened her powers. This awakening means she is finally able to join her friends at the Sage Academy. However, things in Saki’s life do not remain as simple as those precious days. With missing children in the village, rebellious rumblings, and a world steeped in myth and mystery, Saki and her friends are about to face the shocking truths of their peaceful society.
Both series, most notably, have a bit of a passion for getting visually surreal on occasion. However, while Sonny Boy keeps many things vague and leaves them to be filled in by the audience, From the New World extensively builds out its world and has a plot that is easier to grasp by the end.
Talentless Nana
Earth has been assaulted by monsters that have come to be known as the enemy of humanity. To combat this, secluded schools were formed to train children with extraordinary powers to fight back. However, that is an elaborate lie. The truth is that these super powered children are the threat to humanity and one powerless girl has been sent to their school to kill them off.
Whereas Sonny Boy was often a bit of a thinker, Talentless Nana is less so. It is more what I secretly hoped Sonny Boy would turn into, though. Both series involve kids in a secluded location who all have powers. Talentless Nana then proceeds to follow a girl that attempts to kill them without getting caught. If you enjoyed the variety of powers in Sonny Boy, there are some interesting ones here too.
For Fans of Surreal Exploration
Wonder Egg Priority
After the death of her best and only friend, Ai Ohto became a shut-in. One night while on a walk, she is convinced by a mysterious entity to buy an egg. In a world that only materializes in her dreams, she breaks the egg. This summons a person haunted by fears, regrets, or otherwise some trauma. There Ai is tasked with saving them, and by saving them from their trauma, she can perhaps save her friend, too.
You could say that both shows share a similarity by being visually interesting, though for different reasons. However, they also share an element of “what the fuck is going on” at times. Wonder Egg Priority gets less ambiguous, but also less impressive as it goes on. Both series do enjoy their symbolism as well, but again, Wonder Egg Priority is easier to grasp onto.
Mawaru Penguindrum
The Takakura family has always been dealt equal hands of joy and sorrow by fate. For the twin brothers Kanba and Shouma, they have had more than their share of sorrow with their parents dead and their sister critically ill. When their sister Himari is given temporary leave from the hospital, they take her to the aquarium where she collapses. However, Himari is inexplicably revived when a penguin hat from the souvenir shop is put on her head. Her revival comes at a cost, though. There is a new entity in her body that tasks the boys with finding the mysterious penguin drum.
If you really enjoyed the ponderous nature of Sonny Boy as well as its passion for wonderfully odd visuals, Mawaru Penguindrum is a must. At first it seems like abstract oddness, but things definitely became more clear as it goes on.
The Tatami Galaxy
At a mysterious back alley ramen stand, a lonely college student in his final year accidentally bumps into a man that calls himself the God of Matrimony. There he pours his soul out to the god about all the regrets he has about his college life, which he spent bitterly trying to break up couples. However, soon he finds himself back at the very start of his college career. Can he change the past or will he just repeat past mistakes?
Immediately notable is that the two share a similar style of animation, but they actually share quite a bit more. They play with different realities and enjoy throwing time right out the window. You have to sit through very slow pacing in both, but each series grows quite grand and interesting by the end.
For Fans of Having The Audience Fill in What’s Happening
Serial Experiments Lain
Introverted Lain Iwakura finds herself one of many girls to receive an e-mail from classmate Chisa Yomoda, even though Chisa Yomoda recently committed suicide. Averse to technology, Lain soon finds herself able to enter the Wired, a network system similar to the internet. From there, her life gets turned upside down as she finds herself the target of mysterious men and mixed up in a series of cryptic mysteries.
Neither Sonny Boy nor Serial Experiments Lain are in the business of hand-holding when it comes to plot or themes. They are both very much the kinds of shows that give you the information, but you have to put it in the right slot in order to understand it.
Kaiba
In this world, it is possible to store memories so that the death of your body is not the end. However, it has also led to the rise of memory trading, the illegal act of stealing memories. One day, a man named Kaiba awakens in a ruined room with no memories and a pendant with a picture inside. This is his story of unraveling his own mystery and that of a ruined world.
Both Sonny Boy and Kaiba are difficult series to both get into and recommend to people, because how do you even begin explaining them? If you enjoyed the vagueness of plot and surrealism in Sonny Boy, Kaiba is definitely for you.
Boogiepop Phantom
Everyone knows about Boogiepop. The legend goes that if you meet her one dark night, you will be taken. However, the rumors of Boogiepop which coincided with a string of grisly murders that happened five years ago have started to whirl up again. Something is out there. Are you safe?
While Boogiepop Phantom is darker and can be more action-oriented, it shares a similar thought-provoking nature. It does tend to be more on the blatantly philosophical side, though.
Do you have more anime recommendations like Sonny Boy? Let fans know in the comments section below.
