The new series Anima Yell! is another adaptation of a four panel manga but how does it stack up? Welcome to Three Episode Report. This report will judge an anime on its first three episodes to show if it gets a PASS (meaning it passed and more episodes need to be watched) or a FAIL (meaning you probably should not watch it any further).
Summary
After witnessing a cheerleading display, Kohane Hatoya, a girl who can’t stop from helping people becomes obsessed with cheering. When she enters into a high school she finds the cheerleader who inspired her Hizume Arima is there as well.
Negative
Let’s get the negative out of the way by doing the anime trope drinking game. Take a swig if you have heard of this aspects of a show before. Focusing on the girls just as they enter high school. Drink. The main character is obsessed with something and drags all of her friends into her obsession. Drink. The character who knows a lot about the subject is hesitant to get back into it because of a troubled past. Drink. If you can’t tell this series isn’t exactly overflowing with original aspects to it. Its a slice of life sports anime, so don’t expect it to be the end all be all in terms of originality. Also if you can’t stand the whole “Cute girls doing cute things for the sake of cuteness” (often known as Moe) then this is definitely not the show for you.
Positive
The show does seem to know when to its pushing itself too far. The first episode has a running joke about how Kohane keeps saying “Chair” instead of “Cheer.” It gets old fast but luckily it’s confined to just the first episode. Also, despite how sugar sweet her actions are, Kohane’s behavior doesn’t get annoying. Shocking right?
The show also knows what needs to be shown to keep the pacing fresh. On the third episode, just as Kohane and her friends form an association (as they don’t have enough members for a full club) they find themselves helping a classmate. This idea to help cheer on those they come across may result in some interesting plot points moving forward. The friend they end up helping is dealing with a mature and unconventional situation but they find a way to give some surprisingly good advice. Kind throws you for a loop.
Grade
This show barely manages to get a PASS. The third episode managed to just barely help it earn it. Hopefully more inspirational stories are shown in later episodes. Who knows the show may be the slice of life anime of the year. At the very least it looks to be better than Slow Start.
