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[series:3228#628] | ||||||
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(All episodes watched): Early in episode one, the premise of this show seemed ridiculous to me and I was impatient for it to end. But something strange happened, and by the time it was over the premise seemed fairly plausible and I had taken an interest in it. The strange thing that happened must have been that the three characters underwent a good deal of development and became believable, likeable people who I could root for. Kazuma's reason for going into male cheerleading actually makes a lot of sense, which definitely helped turn my attitude around. And I especially like Mizoguchi, an odd law student who seems more enthusiastic than even Haruki or Kazuma. The OP/ED sequences suggested that the 'Breakers' squad would be pretty large and impressive by the time the story ended, and I was curious to see how these guys would make that happen. So, I decided I would add Cheer Danshi to my viewing schedule for the season. At the end of episode two I had a grin on my face and the thought that this is definitely a fun show crossed my mind. In fact, it became my favorite of the Summer 2016 season (though in part because the competition is pretty lackluster). I would say that this show is fairly funny, and has an intriguing longterm plot as well. That is critical, because humor alone is not good enough to justify watching an anime unless it is truly LOL grade, and few anime, including Cheer Danshi can claim to be that. The plot here isn't fantastically sophisticated, but it gets the job done. A couple of fairly interesting people (there are far too many Breakers members to keep track of them all) have a worthy goal and are struggling towards it in a plausible manner--what's not to like? Plus, you learn a few things about how these acrobatic performers do their tricks, which is interesting. The reason they chose the name 'Breakers' makes a good deal of sense as well. The warning they get from a professional coach about just how difficult what they have set out to do will be was genuinely discouraging, which makes their determination all the more admirable. The show just makes sense and is convincing. It has a few decent laughs but has the good sense to rely primarily on the story rather than the jokes. The pace seems to slow down as a flood of new recruits enlist in Breakers, and it's hard to keep track of them all--actually, I never even pretended that I'd be able to do so. For a while episodes are largely devoted to one new member and how he overcomes a particular problem in order to become part of the team. These sub-stories aren't brilliant, but they give each member some personality and thereby make them more interesting. I was unsure if this was the best thing to do or if it would have been better to focus on a handful of original members, but things worked out OK. The pace of the series as a whole slows down a bit in between the amusing introduction of the premise and the climactic competition that the Breakers have set their sights on. But the story comes to a pleasing conclusion as the Breakers, having demonstrated their skill and having learned a lot about themselves, give a convincing performance. Cheer Danshi wasn't a brilliant show, but it was a thoroughly satisfactory one. I never lost interest and was left feeling good at the end. Last updated Thursday, November 10 2016. Created Sunday, July 10 2016. | ||||||||
