Manga Adaptation by 8bit
Streaming on Crunchyroll

Premise

In an era when superpowered individuals have ushered in unprecedented peace and prosperity, Teru Momijiyama, a.k.a. Shy, is the young costumed heroine charged with representing Japan in a global alliance against an impending alien threat. Unfortunately, as her name implies, Teru suffers from severe social anxiety and would rather not don the mask she’s been made to wear at all.

Aqua’s verdict: FINE

There’s been an interesting cultural exchange going on in the world of superhero media, with comic books like Radiant Black and Ultramega bringing some tokusatsu flavour to the Western market while over in Japan, manga like One Punch Man and My Hero Academia are injecting the shounen genre with a healthy dose of colourful spandex. SHY appears to be another manga conceived in the wake of this cross-pollination. The titular character may be Japan’s only superhero, her brightly coloured costume, domino mask and standard Superman-esque powerset make her look like she walked right off the pages of a Marvel comic more than an issue of Weekly Jump.

The spirit of Stan Lee living on in SHY‘s overall characterization and vibe is by far its strongest suit. Like many of the greatest capes, our main character is a reluctant hero, bogged down by a fatal flaw but ultimately called to action by the belief that with great power comes great responsibility. SHY even provides a unique, culturally defined twist on this old chestnut — Teru’s position as Japan’s designated savior in a one-hero-per-nation system that is clearly bigger than her making her responsibly not merely a personal choice, but a societal obligation. If you like your superhumans more human than super, SHY is definitely worth checking out.

Nevertheless, I can’t shake the feeling this show would be a much easier recommendation if the kinds of stories it is paying homage to weren’t going through the most lucrative victory lap in human history as we speak. Sure, Spider-Man’s classic origin story is old enough to apply for a state pension at this point, but comics, films, games and series featuring the likes of Miles Morales, Kamala Khan or the beloved alternate universe incarnation of Gwen Stacy are retelling that same tale as we speak. Compared to these characters’ more unique identities, backgrounds, personalities and powersets, Teru comes across as pretty darn generic — a fairly typical anime wallflower going through motions that at this point do require a protagonist with a bit more pizazz.

SHY‘s potential, then, lies not necessarily in its titular heroine, but in its universe. A world at total peace may be a bit of a childish fantasy given the current political climate, but the idea of individual heroes representing the interests and ideals of entire nations does have merit, even if so far, that whole premise has given us little more than some jokes about Russians loving their vodka. Because of how Teru represents a distinctly “Japanese” take on the costumed superhero, however, I’d be interested to see if SHY will manage to integrate the conventions and ideals of other countries and cultures into their representative heroes, as well.

Overall, this is a rather paint-by-numbers, but otherwise perfectly cromulent anime-fied take on the traditional superhero narrative. Director Masaomi Andou’s signature reliance on split-screens and slide-in panels, previously seen in Scum’s Wish or Astra: Lost in Space, hammer home the classic comic book vibes, and original artist Miki Bukimi’s supremely huggable character designs shine through in this pretty enjoyable production. SHY makes up for its lack of excellence with broad appeal. In an anime landscape where these kinds of shows tend to either get hyped beyond reason or woefully underrated, this may not be such a bad position to be in, though.

Iro’s verdict: Shy of Being Interesting

SHY is perfectly content to retread bog-standard western superhero tropes (you can’t save everyone, the public will turn on you at a moment’s notice, etc) seemingly without any attempt to add anything new other than a focus on its socially awkward, thigh-high wearing, explicitly-14-years-old anime girl protagonist. This isn’t inherently bad (yet), but I simply couldn’t find anything to grasp onto. If only it had aired last season, I suppose.