PA works had an insane summer season with 3 anime original series airing. Two of which being in my top 10 of the season. For me, Narenare was just slightly below Mayopan, but I still loved it. A cheerleading anime was novel for me. The girls were great, the plot lines were compelling and I learned a lot about competitive cheer. Despite PA works usual Yuri bait, I enjoyed the chemistry between the characters as well. There’s a powerful message of accepting friends with disabilities throughout the show that gave me a newfound appreciation for the studio. This was just a really good CDCT watch and I am certainly going to miss it.
For me the best part of this show was the bond between the pompoms girls. The cheering stuff was cool and all don’t get me wrong, but the girls coming together, forming a cheer group, overcoming their obstacles and past trauma and moving forward as a unit was awesome. All of the girls got adequately fleshed out and there were so many emotional moments that got me on the verge of tears. I had no idea how difficult competitive cheer could be or all the mental hurdles that went into preparing for a cheer competition, “flying” etc., until this show and now I have a profound respect for people that do this at a competitive level. It’s something you have to prepare your body AND mind for and if either isn’t in perfect sync it could be disastrous. There’s several points where characters are going thru mental issues and just can’t give their all to cheering, I liked how their arcs were developed and ultimately resolved. Each girl has a “ship pair” as I like to call them, basically a best friend within POMPOMS that they’re clearly gay for but PA works won’t let it develop.. all of them felt so intimate and tender, it’s a shame they didn’t go to the next level though.
Arguably the second most important part of this show is Anna. Probably the most accurate representation of a Brazilian in anime history, Anna stole every scene and honestly felt like more of the MC than the actual MC of the series. She’s the voice of reason, hilarious, beautiful, you name it the girl was phenomenal and just has a presence that takes up the whole screen. I know it seems a little weird naming a character as the second best part of a whole series, but she truly was that great and anyone who has watched will appreciate it.
To further my point on disabilities, there’s a character in the show who had a disability. The rest of the cast NEVER isolate her or make her feel like a burden. In fact, they go out of their way to include her in every activity just like she can walk on her own. It might seem like a minor thing to some, but for me this sort of humanity from an anime cast has to be applauded, especially because this character is in the show so much
I’m a big fan of the colour palette and unique art direction they went with for this show. It’s so bright and cheery and I think it matches the vibe of the story well. The animation is solid, the cheer sequences often incorporated CGI, but given the complexity of them, I can’t really fault that. I will say that when we actually had cheer meets, they looked really good. One of the few complaints I’d have with the series in addition to the Yuri bait would be that there weren’t many cheer comps. You had the requests that the group would take on, but not a lot of trials or comps.
If you’re a fan of cute girls doing cute things and want it in a new environment(cheer), like Yuri vibes or PA works originals in general this is an easy recommend. It’s not perfect, but I really loved this show. The characters, the interpersonal drama, the girls growing as individuals over the course of the show etc. it’ll be missed
Narenare gets 8 out of 10.