There are many aspects which distinguish Tribe Cool Crew as a standout production. The dancing, the music, and the cast are perhaps the most important of these--without these 3 things, TriCool would not be anywhere near the same show.
I. Dancing
The dancing in Tribe Cool Crew is done almost entirely through CGI models mapped to a motion capture of real-life dancers. There's an incredible amount of behind-the-scenes footage for this anime, showing the variety of dance groups the studio hired as mocap dancers for the many different dance groups in the show. Each character and group have their own dancing style, from breakdancing to tutting to jazz dance and more. The show explains a bit relating to the different dancing styles, but the most striking thing about these styles is how visually different they are from one another. Even as someone who knows practically nothing about dance, even I could tell how each style was distinct from one another, and came to really enjoy how the different characters had different strengths and interests relating to which kind of dancing they did.
Admittedly, the CGI in TriCool isn't great. Some of the models look worse than others, and the eyes on Kanon's model in particular can look quite disturbing at times. One dance even has what would otherwise be one-time-use models simply being all black, backlit silhouettes, presumably due to budget restraints. Amazingly, it does manage to make the dance look very intentionally cinematographic. Even with the mediocre quality of the models (in a show from 2014, mind you), the dance quality still absolutely holds up. Each different dance is distinct from one another, and the series of new and different dances in the last leg of the tournament in the show was absolutely amazing. The directing of the camera during the dances absolutely improved the experience as well, with one dance coming to mind in particular from near the end of the show. In that dance, the character Yuji did a solo section for a good 60-70 seconds, with the camera following his every move and really making his dance look more and more impressive by the second. You could really tell the labor of love that went into the dancing in this show. Everyone including the mocapped dancers, the character designers, the person or people in charge of the camera, the people who worked on the music...they all clearly were passionate about what they were working on, and really wanted to have the audience fall in love with dancing.
II. Music
The thing to me that makes this all work, though, is the music. The soundtrack for Tribe Cool Crew is absolutely phenomenal. A-bee worked on most of the music for the show, with such tracks as Crazy Burst ~ROLLIN BA9ON MACHINEGUNS, CREST HOUSE, GET READY, and WORLD END as particular standouts. A few songs are a bit of a miss though, including the often-used remix of Heartbeat, the main opening theme. This song in particular is why Tribe Cool Crew's opening few episodes are so weak (something I'll get to later), because they reuse this song and dance almost every episode for the first 15 or so episodes. So, if you don't like the song like me, it can be really rough to get through. The song has certainly grown on me since I first heard it, but it still remains my least favorite song in the show.
Tribe Cool Crew's opening theme Heartbeat is also quite unique in that it's longer than the typical anime opening (90 seconds), clocking in at around 2 minutes. TriCool also doesn't have an ending theme, meaning lol's Heartbeat is the only and main theme for the show's entire 50-episode run. Interestingly, lol (pronounced el-oh-el, according to their Wikipedia page) was also involved in the production of TriCool beyond just providing the main theme song. The members of the band acted as voice actors for an in-universe contest in one episode of the show. Similarly to the passion involved with the dances, you can really tell that that same level of care translated to all aspects of the show. What other show has the band who performed the opening song as voice actors in the actual show, acting not as a character even, but as themselves? It's truly incredible what TriCool was able to do from a production standpoint, as no other children's show I've ever encountered has been quite as involved as this one.
III. Cast
Production-side, all of what I have mentioned is amazing. But without compelling characters, all of these things would fall flat. Especially due to its status as a children's show, it must be entertaining first, and everything else second. And through its cast, TriCool accomplishes exactly that.
Tribe Cool Crew has an extremely well-thought cast. Tribe Cool Crew (the show) is named after Tribe Cool Crew, the in-universe dancing group made up of the 5 main characters--Haneru, Kanon, Kumonosuke, Mizuki, and Yuzuru. Haneru and Kanon are engaging child protagonists with a lot of agency, led on by their 3 mentors, Kumonosuke, Mizuki, and Yuzuru. Kumonosuke acts as a mentor for Haneru most directly, as both share a similar dancing style and have similar fiery personalities. Mizuki acts as a mentor for Kanon, with both once again sharing similar dancing styles, and the outgoing Mizuki acting as a role model for the shy Kanon. This dynamic makes for a good main group of characters, with plenty of room for conflict between the polar opposite personalities of Haneru and Kanon, as well as plenty of room for reconciliation with the guidance of Kumonosuke and Mizuki, who are good friends despite also being quite opposite from one another. Yuzuru also acts as a mediator many times, helping to resolve the episode-to-episode conflicts between Haneru and Kanon in relation to both their personalities as well as their dancing. While there are a few episodes where the writing of a particular character may seem a bit deviated from the norm, the show never fails to make Haneru and Kanon grow from their conflicts, and creates a very sweet friendship between the two.
However, as great as the main cast is, in my opinion they are no match for the side characters of TriCool. The show has several dance groups who are also a part of the tournament, including BA9ON MACHINEGUNS, Team Sakura, and LuiMoe. These characters are where TriCool really shines as a show.
BA9ON MACHINEGUNS is made up of 3 members, of which only one is more deeply explored by the show--Yuji. Yuji is a flirt who acts as Haneru's rival, constantly flirting with Kanon and Mizuki, bickering with Haneru, and challenging him to dance-offs. While Yuji often annoys Haneru with his antics, Yuji ends up getting his own episode where the show addresses his home life, his reason for dancing, and the reason behind his somewhat abrasive personality. This episode really humanizes him in a way the show does not manage to achieve for any other character. Particularly due to TriCool's status as a children's show, Yuji's character manages to address some of the more serious topics explored in TriCool in a way children can understand and relate to.
Team Sakura is made up of two rich sisters who look almost identical. The two rely on each other quite a lot, not just due to their status as twins, but also due to absentee parents who leave them up to their own devices at home. Largely raised by their servants, the two sisters can be quite arrogant and callous towards their "lessers." Team Sakura provides a great canvas for Kanon to explore her own personality, as well as share her ideals and thoughts with the sisters.
Finally, LuiMoe is a team made up of Lui and Moe, both of whom are adults. While it would be spoilers to get too far into it, LuiMoe serve as a springboard for all of Tribe Cool Crew to show off dancing for the sake of dancing, as opposed to dancing for the sake of money or power. In the context of a children's show, they provide a good way to demonstrate to children how important it is to pursue the things that interest you, and to not push yourself too hard due to the consequences which can accompany overexerting yourself.
There are also several other antagonists, as well as the mysterious Jay El who is hosting the main tournament of the show despite having not been seen in public for years. All of these characters together make up an incredible cast full of vibrant personalities. There are many words to describe the cast of Tribe Cool Crew, and "boring" is certainly not one of them.
IV. Problems
Despite all the gushing, TriCool is not without its issues. The evil dance "Crowd High" being based on a dance historically invented and performed by an ethnic minority group (as far as I know), which is not a good look for an otherwise well-researched show. This might just be a Japan moment, but it's quite disappointing for them to specifically demonize the dance rather than the recklessness of the dancers as what's causing the dance to be harmful and "evil."
The other main issue that I have with Tribe Cool Crew is its portrayal of women. Every female character in TriCool is very feminine, with little room for alternatives to exist. Although TriCool does offer a few interesting designs for its female characters, such as Mizuki when she was a child or Kanon's best friend at school having short hair, these things end up not mattering due to the personalities that these characters are saddled with. Kanon's best friend only ever talks about school or boys, Mizuki is a bit of a femme fatale, and Kanon is a shy girl who looks up to Mizuki due to her being more outgoing and comfortable with her appearance. The only other notable female characters in the show are the Sakura sisters, who are also hyperfeminine, as well as wear clothing which may not be the most culturally respectful. Kanon also has a sister and mother, both of whom are very feminine as well. While there's little harm in having feminine main characters in your children's show, I do wish that there was at least one character who provided an alternative definition of what it means to be a girl/woman. When your only older female mentor figure in the show is the somewhat sexualized Mizuki, it can be quite problematic for the show as whole in that it alienates girls who don't relate to that level of femininity (expressed or otherwise), and can leave girls both young and old wanting a character who isn't quite so stereotypically "female." It's especially gutting due to Yuzuru both enjoying and embracing what would be considered feminine hobbies, yet TriCool still not having a female character in the show to do the same but for masculine hobbies or activities.
On that same note, TriCool also features a dubious relationship between Yuzuru and Momiji, who is most definitely a minor.
As previously mentioned, I also am not a big fan of the Heartbeat remix featured in approximately 10-15 episodes, and it can be quite annoying to watch the exact same dance with the exact same dance 5+ episodes in a row at the beginning of the show. The show also can be quite tonally weird, especially in the last arc where they reveal some of Jay El's backstory. His backstory honestly doesn't seem appropriate for children in the slightest, and I have no idea who decided to write his backstory in the way they did. I actually really like his backstory because of how ridiculous it is, but surely someone at some point should've voiced their concerns about it being a complete tonal whiplash from the rest of the show.
TriCool also changed production studios halfway through its run, and though I do not believe much of the staff changed due to both studios being owned by the same parent company, you can definitely tell a bit of a difference between the first and second halves of the show.
V. Conclusion
Tribe Cool Crew is an amazing, one-of-a-kind show. I somewhat doubt any other show this in-depth about street dancing will ever be made again. The production staff clearly cared a lot about the property that they were working on, as can be evidenced in TriCool's spiritual successor show Brave Beats, which features much of the same staff, voice actors, and more (including easter eggs to what the TriCool characters are up to after the end of the show!). It is not devoid of issues, and those issues can be quite major--I actually dropped this show back when it was airing in 2014, and didn't pick it up again until 2022 to finish it. However, if you can get past its somewhat rocky start, Tribe Cool Crew has a ton to offer. I would highly recommend TriCool to anyone interested in street dancing, to anyone who likes the soundtrack, and to anyone who likes children's anime.
