Japanese manga and anime series
Anima Yell! (アニマエール！, Anima Ēru!) is a Japanese four-panel manga series by Tsukasa Unohana. It was serialized in Houbunsha's seinen manga magazine Manga Time Kirara Carat from its April 2016 to October 2020 issues and has been collected in five tankōbon volumes. An anime television series adaptation by Doga Kobo aired from October 7 to December 23, 2018.
Plot
The story focuses on Kohane Hatoya, a girl who is constantly helping others. Taking an interest in cheerleading, Kohane decides to start up her own Cheer Club upon entering her freshman year at Kaminoki High School, recruiting her best friend Uki Sawatari and veteran cheerleader Hizume Arima.
Media
Manga
Anima Yell! began as a four-panel manga series written and illustrated by Tsukasa Unohana, which was serialized in Houbunsha's seinen manga magazine Manga Time Kirara Carat from February 2016 to August 2020.[4][5] The series' chapters have been compiled into five tankōbon volumes published by Houbunsha as of September 25, 2020.
Anime
An anime television series adaptation produced by Doga Kobo aired from October 7 to December 23, 2018, on AT-X, Tokyo MX, and BS11. The anime is directed by Masako Sato, with scripts penned by Fumihiko Shimo and character designs handled by Manamu Amasaki.[1] The opening theme is "Jump Up↑Yell!! (ジャンプアップ↑エール!!, Jump Appu↑ Eiru!!), and the ending theme is "One for All", both performed by Yuka Ozaki, Yuina Yamada, Mikako Izawa, Tomori Kusunoki, and Haruka Shiraishi.[2] Crunchyroll streamed the series.[7] The series ran for 12 episodes.[8]
Video game
Characters from the series appear alongside other Manga Time Kirara characters in the 2018 mobile RPG, Kirara Fantasia.[9][10][11]
Anime News Network had five editors review the first episode of the anime:[12] Nick Creamer found the humor "too mild and one-note" to illicit any laughter and the characterization of Kohane and Arima feeling "underwritten" but gave credit to the aesthetic work of both the backgrounds and facial expressions, and the jokes having effective sound design to emphasize them; Theron Martin was mixed about Kohane's overall character, saying she can be grating at times and misinterpret things heard but admired her for having tons of enthusiasm and heart to be proactive in conquering her fears and being a motivational voice towards Arima's low self-worth as a cheerleader; James Beckett was critical of Kohane's obnoxious persistence to make friends with Arima and start a cheerleading club but felt that character quirk will be fixed in later episodes to deliver on both its slice-of-life and sports content with decent cheerleading animation and cutesy antics, saying it will be "perfectly acceptable candy-coated fluff" for its target audience; Paul Jensen agreed with Beckett's sentiments towards Kohane's overly upbeat personality being an annoyance and criticized the repetitious and over-explanation of its characters throughout the episode. The fifth reviewer, Rebecca Silverman, also echoed what both Beckett and Jensen said about Kohane but was optimistic that she'll grow up into a more tolerable character as the series continues, concluding that "In the meantime, this feels like a slightly more exciting Cute Girls Doing Cute Things show than we normally get; in fact, it may be a full-out sports show, although I'm inclined to think it'll land somewhere in the middle. The animation for the dancing looks smooth and the characters are all distinct and distinctly cute, so if you can handle Kohane's constant barrage, this episode makes it look like Anima Yell! could be very appealing."[12]
