Anima Yell! Episode 1: My First Time Cheerleading [First Impression]

Listen, I don’t know. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. It’s not that I don’t like cute things. Far from it, I love cute things. But I usually don’t watch moe blob shows? I had expressed some interest in Anima Yell because it’s about cheerleading, and cheerleading is a sport, and I like sports anime. And I ended up liking it? I guess I’ve made questionable choices in anime before. I also ended up liking this season’s moe vampire show and the slime show, so maybe I just don’t give a fuck anymore.

Anyway, here’s Anima Yell.

And boy there’s a lot of yelling because our main character, Kohane Hatoya, has a lot of energy. Her character is pretty simple to sum up. One day as she was walking home from school, she passed by a cheerleading group performing by the river. A lot of people were there watching and she ended up watching too. Watching their smiles, jumps, and cheers, Kohane instantly fell in love and decided that she would cheer! Except she keeps saying “chair” and confuses her best friend, Uki. And of course, when Kohane finds out that her high school doesn’t have a cheer club, she wants to make one herself. Kohane is your regular run-of-the-mill genki girl. She’s loud, energetic, and stupid. But she’s also a very kind-hearted girl who just enjoys helping people. And by that, I mean she really helps anyone that needs help, even if she was doing something else. Like when Uki was talking to her in the hallway and Kohane ran off to help a girl who dropped papers. Or when she walked home from school with Arima and stopped to help an old lady cross the street. She’s kinda dumb, but she’s a really nice girl with a kind heart. Cheerleading really captured her attention also because it plays into that part of her personality. With cheerleading, she can help people lift their spirits by cheering for them. And for such a positive girl like her, that’s actually very fitting for her and Uki thought that as well.

But it won’t come without some problems as Kohane is actually scared of heights. And because she’s a little dumb, she totally forgot that cheerleaders do stunts that require flying around in the air. Oops. Also, I feel like Kohane’s love of helping people might come back to bite her in some way later on.

The plot of this episode was centered around Azumi. Kohane immediately recognized her because Azumi was actually part of the cheerleading group she had watched. But when asking Azumi if she wanted to join, she turned her down. It was pretty interesting that we got a bit of a serious tone when it came to her little backstory. Turns out that Azumi used to be part of a cheerleading club but decided to leave when the girls in her club got jealous that she was too talented. Pretty shitty when you feel you need to tell someone to lower themselves for your sakes, just because your jealous. Of course Azumi refused that, and in the end she ended up quitting cheerleading. She turns down Kohane many times but of course Kohane is persistent. Azumi ended up lashing out at Kohane, and learning what happened to Azumi, Kohane decides to start practicing to reach Azumi’s talent so they can be equals. That practice includes getting over her fear of heights, and I thought it was sweet that Uki was into helping her. Of course, in the end, Kohane and Azumi get along and Azumi joins. Kohane ended up making a cheer for her and climbing a tree to make her feel better, but it ended up with some crashes but a budding friendship as well.

I also have to mention Uki, who I feel sorry for because she has to watch over Kohane like a hawk or else she’ll do something stupid. But Uki seems to care a lot for her friend and expressed joy and some relief when she heard Kohane say she wanted to get into cheerleading. Kohane is always putting others before herself and helps other people all the time, so much so that she never really focuses on herself and what she wants to do. So Uki was glad she finally found something to do. Uki seems like a really shy girl, but she’s sweet as she helps Kohane with her training so she seems like a very good friend. And because of the OP, we know she’ll join the cheer club eventually. 😛

Kohane’s antics were entertaining to watch and she made me laugh a few times. The fact that she couldn’t even pronounce cheer correctly was kind of cute, but her weird way of showing cheer moves was hilarious, from a bon dance to a weird ritual dance. Her methods of trying to win over Arima was funny as well, with following her to leaving a note about herself. Her bird facial expressions were adorable and made me smile, and while she can be a little loud, she’s just really cute. I like her positive energy, and I like that she’s a genuinely good person who would go out of her way to help those around her. The animation in this show isn’t impressive or anything, but it looks fine. It’s soft, blobby, the colors are vibrant, and the girls are cute. It’s just…cute. And I guess there’s nothing wrong with that, it just gets the job done.

We already have our three girls. We just need to meet the shy brown-haired girl and the mean redhead, but maybe we won’t meet them soon. Oh, also the OP was cute and catchy.

So yeah, I left pleasantly surprised by this. Very surprised, and confused at myself. This show probably won’t be magnificent or anything, but for a cute moe show, at least the first episode showed that it might be a fun and entertaining one. Basically, it’ll be harmless. Of course, I’ll understand why some people won’t like this.

Possibility of watching: High

Possibility of blogging: High