Cheer Danshi!! Episode 2: [Your First Cheerleader Smile]

I’ll admit,  I was looking forward to the second episode. 
What can I say? 
Bishounens are my weakness

The episode opens straight with Megane-kun making weird noises that could lead to confusion. It reminded me of that infamous Black butler scene so I guess we can add it to all the “my mom just walked in when I was watching this” awkward moments.
There’s going to be a new member in the club which makes Megane-kun so happy that he starts jumping everywhere. He is amazing, he’s so gay, I love him.

During their chinese lesson [I don’t actually know what language it was, but it sounded like Chinese to me] a random dude suddenly starts screaming because there’s a ladybug on his arm. At this moment I knew. It’s only episode 2 but we already know that whenever there’s a strange dude doing strange things, it only means that he’ll end up in the cheerleader club. This club is going to be the meeting point of all the weirdos of the campus…

This is going to be fabulous!

And the weird-cute guys invasion doesn’t stop here! At the restaurant they meet with Koji Tono, the chubby guy who happens to be holding the record for some pork rice challenge thing. It is only relevant since at the same time another weirdo, whom I’m sure is going to join the club later on (because he’s weird and is in the OP sequence), tried to win that challenge. Of course he failed and got ditched by the two ladies that were accompanying  him. But anyway, Tono wants to join the cheer club because he wants to change and that’s SO CUUUTE!

Later that day, Kazu explains to everyone the different positions in a cheerleading team:The person at the top must be light and is the one doing most of the jumps so it’s most likely going to be Haru and Kazu. Then the base will be Tono and the Spotter, Megane-kun.

I’ll admit: the whole time they were explaining the roles of each position, I couldn’t stop laughing because they were basically arguing on who is going to be the top and who is going to be bottom…and that’s funny because you know…. Top and bottom… ahaha

I’m sorry…

Back at home, Haru meets with his sister who asks him not to quit the judo club. She thinks he’s giving up jut because he’s not good enough, which is wrong, but Haru is not explaining things either. I guess that’s not all the problem, there must be something else, another issue between him and his sister.

They have their first training session in the park during which Haru remains usure about his motivations and wherever he is fit or not to be a part of the team. He also still hasn’t told his friends that he has a fear of heights. Better do it quickly son…On the other hand, Tono, who is not really athletic, is doing his best. He shows he is determined to change and this impress Haru who admires him for that.

After the training session, the whole gang see that curry rice guy and the bug dude doing backflips to impress the ladies. However, they are in the Tennis  Club, so that’s a bit problematic. Our gay cheerleading gang invite themselves to their after match party in order to convince the two lovers to join them.

So meet with Gen, the pork rice guy and Ichiro the bug dude. Both do not seem satisfied with the tennis club and have the abilities to be great tops since they do all the crazy jump things. Kazu then, tries to convince them to join while Megane got drunk, laughing at every sentence. Oooooh Megane-kun… I love you.

So they continue their training and this time decide to have a team performance on the campus to recruit more members. I must say… it was a bit embarrassing to watch but at the same time you could feel they were giving their best. Haru finally managed to overcome his shyness and gave us his “first cheerleader smile” hence the title of the episode.  Also, apparently, this smile was so powerful that it made Gen and Ichiro want to join the club but also maybe because they still want to impress the ladies.

It is interesting to note that even if it’s not the focus of the series there’s still the mention of the stereotype: “Cheerleading is for girls”. Nothing is said quite clearly but a few characters mentioned their surprise when hearing about that “male only cheerleading club”. So I’m wondering where this is going to lead.

The pacing in this episode was a bit slow but it didn’t bother me that much. Hopefully the new members are going to be introduced fast and then they’ll be able to start the real practice. Maybe we’ll even get to see a competition! Who knows?

So far I’m linking the characters and the comedy very much. Each of them has its own personality and some of their actions are hilarious, like Megane-kun for exemple, dear lord, this guy is a living meme. Haru and Tono are adorable and Kazu, well, he’s a cool guy but I’d like to see his weaknesses, he’s a bit too perfect for my taste.

Also next week we are going to see that guy: 

I don’t know about you, but I’m already in love. 

Ps: This anime cheerleading team would apparently be inspired by the Shockers, an actual all boys cheerleading team in Japan. Names, outfits and style of cheering are too similar for this to be a coincidence.  See for yourself: 

★★★★★★