Anne Happy♪ – Anime Series Review

Episodes: 12

Genres: School, Slice-of-life

Aired: April 2016 to June 2016

Also Known As: Anne-Happy, Unhappy, あんハピ♪

Summary: The story centers around class 1-7 of Tennomifune Academy, where all the students with bad misfortune and luck seem to have been gathered. Hibari, a student in this class, meets the unlucky Hanako and the perennially unhealthy Botan on her first day of school, and together they try to find a way to turn their school life into a happy one.

Review: Many of the shows I review potentially share a similiar premesis: “cute girls do things.” I won’t agree or disagree with this broad-sweeping statement, but I do try to talk about things that would differentiate shows from one another. And if I were to deem that this to be the bottom line for shows, I would struggle to recommend Anne Happy♪.

The show really plays up the “these girls are unlucky and it’s really funny that bad things happen to them” jokes, but I just can’t find it to be good humor. Occasionally there’s a funny moment, but the gags just seem to fall flat more often than not.

The purpose of Tennomifune Academy quarantining class 1-7 is supposedly to help them turn their unlucky school lives into happy ones, but the school doesn’t seem to really help the girls. In fact, the authorities seem more content in monitoring the girls and watching them suffer for laughs.

One thing I will say is that the show is very pretty. The studio behind Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu, Silver Link, was in charge of Anne Happy♪, and it shows through the plentiful amount of vibrant still frames. There’s also a magical girl scene and mecha scene which serve as homages to other popular series – they, too, are very well done.

While the girls can be considered cute (as expected of this kind of show), I would dare to say that Timothy is the highlight of the show. Apparently, he rarely shows up in the original material (similiar to how the Director in NEW GAME! doesn’t show up as much in the manga), so it becomes apparent that the anime gave him more scenes. However, he doesn’t seem out of place at all, so they did a real good job with inserting him. His rap song is rather catchy, too…

Speaking of which, the OP is even catchier. Personally speaking, the tune will stay in your head. The ED isn’t bad, either, but it’s rather forgettable in comparison. To be honest, I finished the show back when it aired in Spring 2016, but I still remembered the OP very clearly. Meanwhile, I had to go look up the ED in order to jog my memory.

As for the yuri, Hibiki has it really bad for Ren. Hibari may or may not like Hanako, but she already has a person (?) in her heart. It was cute seeing the girls act flustered, but I don’t think it was enough to redeem the show. And yes, Botan remains the odd girl out like she is.

For a show about unlucky girls being sanctioned off in a seperate class, the school doesn’t really seem to do anything to help these poor girls get past their misfortune. The jokes are off-point most of the time, as well. Maybe you should give Anne Happy♪ an episode or two to see if you like Timothy, whom I consider to be the most entertaining character. If you’re not intertested in Timothy, then I can’t be sure you could find a reason to watch this show unless pretty images and a catchy OP is enough to keep you hooked.