Anima Yell!

Anima Yell!

Anima Yell! anime series cover art featuring Kohane, Uki, Hizumi, Kotetsu, and Kana
Anima Yell! Cover Art

Overview

Today we’re taking a break from the usual shounen/action anime episode reviews and looking at a series I think most of my readers probably skipped over. This may come as a surprise to anyone who’s new to my blog, but shounen and action anime aren’t the only things I watch and enjoy.

So, if you tend to stick to your action series, but are reading this review too for some reason, I hope that this will be a good introduction into just one of the other genres of anime there are out there. And, if this is the kind of anime you normally watch, don’t worry, I still have plenty of content similar to this in my archives.

So what is Anima Yell!? It’s a sports anime (yes, you heard that right) about some high school girls who form a cheerleading club. However, like many similar series, it’s not really about the cheerleading, but more about how the various girls interact with each other.

The other series I would most compare Anima Yell! to is actually Love Live!, and if you’re familiar with that series you’ll know it’s extremely popular even though it’s just about some girls who start an idol group. In fact, if you enjoy Love Live!, then there’s no reason for you not to watch Anima Yell!

Another anime that came out the same season as Anima Yell!, which is also very similar to Love Live! is Between the Sky and Sea, which I plan to review three weeks from now. So, if you haven’t watched that one and would like to before my review for it comes out, then you still have time.

But, while this series is extremely similar to Love Live!, its art style and use of comedy is much closer to Comic Girls, which I know a lot of people, including myself, liked as well. You might even notice some visual similarities between Kohane and Kaos, though their personalities are fairly different.

And, I actually like this art style more than that of Love Live! if I’m being honest. The colors are brighter, the shapes are more rounded, and overall it just has a more “moe” feel to it.

Characters

I’ve compared this series to Love Live! quite a bit so far, but it’s not just how the series “works” that’s similar to Love Live!, even the characters are similar. But, that shouldn’t really come as much of a surprise because anime within the same genres as each other tend to use the same character tropes as well.

Here’s an example for you shounen fans: While Sasuke from Naruto and Bakugo from My Hero Academia are actually very different characters, they both fit into the trope of an angry rival who wants to get stronger at (almost) any cost.

So, what about the girls from Anima Yell!? Our protagonist, Kohane Hatoya, is kind of the stereotypical female protagonist for a lot of series. She has a lot of heart, but she isn’t particularly skilled at the thing she wants to do, has no prior experience with it, and has something she needs to overcome in order to succeed at it.

In her case, she really wants to become a cheerleader, but although she has a lot of spirit, she doesn’t have the stamina for it yet. She also has no prior experience doing cheerleading or anything similar, and is afraid of heights, which she needs to overcome as the flyer of her squad.

Since I’ll be using Love Live! as a comparison for the other characters, let’s use Akko from Little Witch Academia for this first character comparison. Akko wants to be a witch, but has no experience with magic, isn’t good at studying, and doesn’t come from a magic family. However, she has heart, and that’s what counts.

Kohane Hatoya from the anime series Anima Yell!
Kohane Hatoya

The next member of the cheer squad is Uki Sawatari. Unlike the rest of the girls, Uki isn’t really just one character trope, she’s a combination of a couple. She’s the sporty one, the one who thinks she doesn’t look good in “girly” outfits, but loves the way they look on others, the mom friend, and a few other minor roles as well.

Uki has important relationships with two other characters in the series, her younger brother and Kohane. She always wants her younger brother to think of her as cool, but he doesn’t find cheerleading to be a cool sport. As for Kohane, the two are best friends, but it’s also implied that Uki has a crush on her.

Hizume Arima is the “pro” of the cheerleading club and essentially serves the same role as Eli from Love Live! Hizume was formerly a part of another cheer squad not associated with a school, which was Kohane’s inspiration for wanting to be a cheerleader in the first place.

However, Hizume quit cheerleading after she felt that her teammates weren’t putting in the same effort she was. Eventually, Kohane talks her into joining her new cheerleading club, and as the resident expert, Hizume teaches the other girls the tricks of the trade.

The fourth member is Kotetsu Tatejima, a shy girl who wants to become a cheerleader nonetheless, much like Hanayo from Love Live! Kotetsu is also very self-conscious about both her name and her weight, the former of which she doesn’t feel is very “cute” considering it’s often used as a name for a sword.

Kana Ushiku is the fifth and final member of the cheer squad, and I’d be lying if I said she wasn’t almost a carbon copy of Nico from Love Live! Seriously, she even follows the other girls around while wearing disguises and trying to get them to give up on being cheerleaders before she eventually joins them.

Just like Hizume, Kana used to be on a cheerleading squad too, and in fact they were on the same squad together. But, while Hizume only cared about cheer at that time and not her teammates, Kana only cared about Hizume. So, once Hizume left the team, Kana followed suit.

Of all the character designs, I think Kana’s might be my favorite, with Uki being a close second. Of course, Kohane is the best character personality-wise, but I still like Kana’s personality as well. She may be obsessed with Hizume, but she’s also extremely confident in her abilities, and has every right to be.

Conclusion

Overall, I give Anima Yell! a 6/10. Originally I had it rated as a 7, but I felt like that was being a bit too generous. It’s an enjoyable watch, but it’s also extremely generic at the same time. The thing it has going for it most is the art style, and that alone isn’t typically enough to make a series “good.”

But, if you like series such as Love Live! or moe anime in general, then I highly recommend Anima Yell! And, to anyone else, although I gave it a 6/10, that’s actually not a bad rating as far as I’m concerned. Since a 5 is average, that means this is still an above average anime.

So, have you watched Anima Yell!? If so, what did you think of the series compared to similar ones like Love Live!? Personally, I think I enjoyed the first season of Love Live! more, but I’d have to pick Anima Yell! over the latter seasons (except Sunshine!! season 2, which I haven’t seen yet).

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