Reviews

Kohane Hatoya can never do anything for herself, I'm saying this in a negative sense though. Kohane has always loved to help others out, the byproduct of that mindset is that she never strives to do things for herself. That all changed shortly before her start of high school upon seeing a middle school cheerleading team in action. Unfortunately, her new school doesn't have a cheer team, naturally this doesn't stop her from attempting to create her own. Her first task is to of course gather up some teammates, and what better person to start asking for help then one of the cheerleaders that was on the very same team that inspired her in the first place. A surprisingly good moe comedy awaits you, ready to cheer you up in more ways than one!

There were a number of cute girls doing cute things anime that I had tried and dropped or thought little of during 2018, Anima Yell! was one of them. 2018 was a very interesting year in that regard, because Just like Anima Yell! shows like Mitsuboshi Colors, Comic Girls, and my personal favorite Harukana Receive, are all anime I had little exceptions of. Only to then come crawling back to them and praising their entertainment value, followed by calling myself an idiot for not realizing sooner. Anima Yell! on that note has come back to haunt me here in 2020, and I'm more than okay with that, here's why.

Anima Yell! is a really upbeat comedy, and promotes positivity at every opportunity through jokes and the subject of cheering itself in a way that feels genuine and humble. All the credit for accomplishing such a narrative goes to the characters, who are so fun and more layered than you'd expect from a moe comedy anime. When we are introduced to them, it's easy to view them as your typical collection of anime girl archetypes. The genki girl, the kuudere, the shy one, etc etc. To my surprise though, as Anima Yell! progressed, it used not just it's dialogue, but also it's humor to better demonstrate the character's overall personality. Some of those jokes also happen to be very self-aware and/or include rather blunt responses, expanding the character's nature and habits further. A surprising hint of depth to say the least, hilarious in practice for comedy to say the most! Aside from the great varied comedy, the cheerleading aspects are easy to understand, and that recurring theme of encouragement stays strong from beginning to end.

Looking back, many other cute girls doing cute things anime are always fun to have around. At times though it's hard to find the ones out of the hundreds if not thousands that are worth our time. I myself, despite dedicating a lot of time to watch anime weekly, and being a fan of moe anime in general, find it hard to fit in that one extra anime in my queue. After all the time and effort though, it's 100% worth it. The light hearted fun, lovable characters, boisterous laughs, and overwhelming positivity anime like Anima Yell! offer me will always be worth it.

I'm so glad I gave Anima Yell! a second chance.