Content warning for the discussion of self-harm and suicide ideation in this episode. This isn't anything new for Wonder Egg Priority, but considering the graphic nature of this episode in particular, I wanted to preface it here.
Rika's dark night of the soul begins with smeared lipstick and ends with a stale birthday cake. Her life doesn't magically improve. She doesn't exorcise her demons. She barely exorcises the demon haunting her egg ward. She is as weak as ever when she wakes up for her cruddy midnight snack—a whimper of a fanfare for her brush with self-annihilation. Yet in her own way, she leaves this episode stronger than she's ever been, tempered by her physical and emotional wanderings. Wonder Egg Priority's most singularly-focused episode to date intently follows Rika on her journey, scrutinizing her through the lenses of her various relationships, and tempting her with some its bleakest material yet. This is a tough episode to watch, in a series already rough with the painful burrs of trauma, but it also celebrates the meaningfully small triumphs that pull us out of our darkest moments.