Anne Happy

Plot

Tennomifune Academy (天之御船学園, Tennomifune Gakuen) is an elite school where students train in various subjects such as arts and sports. That is, except for the students of Class 1-7, a.k.a. the "Happiness Class", who have been deemed "unfortunate" and must try to overcome their own misfortune and achieve happiness. The series follows Anne "Hanako" Hanakoizumi, who has terrible luck, and her classmates Ruri, Botan, Hibiki, and Ren, who each have their own misfortunes, as they try to find their own happiness.

Main characters

Anne Hanakoizumi (花小泉 杏, Hanakoizumi An) / Hanako (はなこ)

Voiced by: Yumiri Hanamori A cheerful girl who has a constantly positive attitude despite having absolutely terrible luck, causing her to fall into manholes and the like. She loves animals but is constantly getting attacked by them.

Ruri Hibarigaoka (雲雀丘 瑠璃, Hibarigaoka Ruri) / Hibari (ヒバリ)

Voiced by: Haruka Shiraishi A caring girl who seems perfectly normal albeit for a strange romantic obsession with a construction sign mascot.

Botan Kumegawa (久米川 牡丹, Kumegawa Botan) / Botan (ぼたん)

Voiced by: Kiyono Yasuno A fragile girl who gets injured very easily (e.g. a handshake breaks her hand bones), though being the daughter of a doctor, she is efficient at treating her own injuries. She also has a negative aura and gets depressed over the smallest things.

Hibiki Hagyū (萩生 響, Hagyū Hibiki) / Hibiki (ヒビキ)

Voiced by: Hibiku Yamamura A girl with a terrible sense of direction who gets lost easily. She has a crush on her childhood friend Ren and is hostile towards females who get close to her.

Ren Ekoda (江古田 蓮, Ekoda Ren) / Ren (レン)

Voiced by: Mayu Yoshioka Hibiki's childhood friend, who has a strange condition in which females of any species are indiscriminately attracted to her. She is also rather dopey and enjoys sleeping.

Other characters

Kodaira (小平)

Voiced by: Yumi Hara The homeroom teacher of Class 1-7.

Timothy (チモシー, Chimoshī)

Voiced by: Chitose Morinaga A robotic rabbit butler who serves as a guide to the school.

Tsubaki Sayama (狭山 椿, Sayama Tsubaki)

Voiced by: Chitose Morinaga A student with social anxiety, and the one who controls Timothy.

Saginomiya (鷺宮)

Voiced by: Ami Koshimizu The homeroom teacher of Class 1-1, who does not agree with the methods of Class 1-7.

Sakura Hanakoizumi (花小泉 桜, Hanakoizumi Sakura)

Voiced by: Yūko Gibu Anne's mother, who suffers a similar amount of misfortune as her daughter.

Principal (校長, Kōchō)

Voiced by: Hiroshi Naka The principal (head teacher) of Tennomifune Academy.

Manga

Cotoji began serializing the manga in the February 2013 issue of Houbunsha's Manga Time Kirara Forward magazine, sold in December 2012. The manga is licensed in North America by Yen Press.

Anime

An anime television series adaptation is animated by Silver Link, directed by Shin Ōnuma and written by Hitoshi Tanaka, with character designs by Miwa Oshima. The series aired in Japan between April 7 and June 22, 2016, broadcasting on AT-X, Tokyo MX, Sun TV, KBS Kyoto, and BS Fuji, and was simulcast by Crunchyroll. The opening theme is "Punch Mind Happiness" and the ending theme is "Ashita de Ii Kara" (明日でいいから, "I'll Do it Tomorrow'), both performed by Happy Clover (Yumiri Hanamori, Haruka Shiraishi, Kiyono Yasuno, Hibiku Yamamura, and Mayu Yoshioka).

Reception

Anime News Network had four editors review the first episode of the anime: Theron Martin gave praise to Silver Link and director Shin Ōnuma for crafting a debut effort with sharp comedic direction, vibrant character artwork and movement, and an intriguing setting full of likable characters; Lynzee Loveridge commented on the show's debut being adequate with appropriate animation but middling humor, and added that the charm of the characters will determine the viewer's enjoyment; Rebecca Silverman was amused by the moe aesthetics and the characterization of both Hanako and Hibari but found the rest of the episode devoid of any substance and resembled more like every other gag manga adaptation. The fourth reviewer, Nick Creamer, commended the decent background art and light-hearted charm but said that the show doesn't do enough to distract viewers away from repetitious humor, generic characters and unearned moments of friendship and sincerity, concluding with, "Failing both in terms of humor and atmosphere, Anne-Happy counts as a pretty bottom-shelf genre entry."