content material warning: quick, non-consensual kiss (as a part of a “humorous foreigner” trope)
What’s it about? Misora Kanata is a freshman cheerleader at Takonosaki Excessive Faculty. Regardless of her distinctive expertise, she has one flaw: she will be able to’t bounce after witnessing a significant mistake in a contest. Along with a gaggle of latest buddies underneath the workforce identify PoMPoMs, she may simply discover her cheer mojo once more. Or will she really feel sure to the previous?
I had a cheerleading part due to the notorious Carry it on! sequence of movies that turned more and more anti-black regardless of Rihanna being in certainly one of them. Humorous how that works, huh? (That is sarcasm.)
However Narenare -Cheer for you!- (after this Narenare) is its personal factor and, upon some fundamental analysis, seems to be an anime-original sequence. Higher but, it appears to take its sport – cheerleading – fairly significantly and approaches it from loads of attention-grabbing angles. However is that sufficient to make me do somersaults on this summer time premiere? Or am I being let down.
(Okay, sufficient puns, let’s get to the evaluate.)
Episode 1 opens in Takasaki Metropolis (situated in Gunma Prefecture) on a sunny April day at a cheerleading competitors. It’s instantly obvious that this can be a severe in-world sport, and because the lights dim and the music involves life, the ladies shift into formation and start the excessive kicks and flips in a dance/cheer combo that feels immediately enjoyable and sassy. That is additionally the place we meet protagonist Kanata and discover out what precisely the “flaw” talked about within the present’s description is.
In a single second, she sees a cheerleader thrown off stability, her again to the mat, a glance of expectant shock on her face as she falls backward. We don’t see the affect, however the aftermath is obvious, as is the reminder of how harmful cheerleading could be.
Flash ahead to the long run, and Kanata remains to be traumatized by her teammate’s harm, despite the fact that the workforce has positioned of their league. It feels extremely actual, this shattered religion Kanata has in her favourite sport. However life goes on and so does Kanata, despite the fact that she’s beginning to keep away from the coaching and the trauma in her coronary heart. Fortunately, there’s a model new group of scholars who’re going to assist her via that ache, huh?
And that is what a lot of the anime is about: women at an all-girls faculty attending to know Kanata and serving to her lay the inspiration to seek out her cheerleader mojo once more so she will be able to go all out.
I absolutely admit it, Narenare charmed me. It has a forged of very relatable teenage women, though I don’t admire our biracial Brazilian-Japanese group member Anna Aveiro Nakamura dos Santos Morella Cuccittini, or simply Anna, kissing Kanata as a joke. It’s simply gross to be affectionate like that with out asking permission (to not point out enjoying right into a “helpful foreigner” stereotype). I’m fairly certain they’ve consent in Brazil.
Plus, it’s simply not my type of humorous joke, even when it’s only a kiss on the cheek. It’s a bit too long-winded and doesn’t actually add something to the episode, however it’s pleasantly sufficient the one instance of any type of service. This present is definitely fairly chaste: nobody will get an upskirt whereas flying via the air, and there are by no means any revelations, together with the quite a few kicks and flips the ladies do.
Conserving all that in thoughts, I really like this about as a lot as issues like: Let’s make a mug too. There’s a sure easy slice-of-life attraction to a real story of restoration and the heartache that comes from hurting the game you’re keen on. I’ve a sense a giant a part of the story might be about Kanata coming to phrases with the bodily affect she’s had on her good friend Megumi, who spends a lot of the episode in restoration. I don’t assume that’s a foul factor: in spite of everything, among the greatest commentary on life comes from slice-of-life sequence.
Whereas I do in the end like this premiere, I’ll say that it feels prefer it 90% of the time. A number of characters are launched and we be taught quite a bit concerning the dynamics which might be being arrange for the eventual cheer sq. that Kanata might be part of, however loads of them are cute women being cute and I’d simply somewhat extra content material in between. I’ve a sense this present will develop and set up itself in its plot, together with creating the cohesion for Kanata and crew to truly turn out to be a gaggle.
Total, this wasn’t a foul premiere: it undoubtedly makes you sufficient to need to see the incorporation of a bunch of various teenagers, starting from Suzuha, who’s Olympic stage in leaping and operating, to Megumi, who makes use of a wheelchair. My hope, primarily based on the OP, is that these women type a gaggle that celebrates who they’re, variations, skills, and ability ranges included.
For now I will watch and set my expectations to zero. I discover it is typically rather more pleasing after I try this. I extremely advocate you take part for a style of one thing totally different!
