Adapting the “あんハピ♪” manga by Cotoji into anime form, “Anne Happy♪” or “Unhappy Go Lucky!” looks like your average slice-of-life comedy focused on the daily lives of five girls as they attend high school. All quite typical, except that these particular girls are all afflicted with some sort of misfortune.
Ranging from more common, believable forms of misfortune such as bad luck, fragile health or a terrible sense of direction, the show also has characters with ridiculous types of misfortune like strange romantic preferences, or unwillingly attracting all females of any species.
At first glance, it could seem like the plot of some drama anime whose characters face never-ending misery. Rest assured though that “Anne Happy♪” is a comedy, using the girls their various forms of misfortune as plot devices to trigger gags.
Opening with classic scenes of youths departing their home for the first day of school, the first episode soon reveals its true colors by having the girls encounter lots of misfortune which leads to plenty of laughs. Luckily, studio Silver Link executes the gags well, never misleading the audience into feeling somber or depressed at the girls’ misfortune.
Even though the comedy was done well and never emphasized the girls’ misfortune in a negative fashion, personally did not feel that comedy was the highlight of this opening episode. Instead, I found the girls their typical yet oddly enchanting personalities to be the most appealing element in “Anne Happy♪”.
Granted that Anne is the typical lively, cheerful girl, Botan an ojousama character or Ruri the classic serious yet caring girl, but somehow they come across a lot more endearing and likable than their overused template character would at first suggest. Their interaction and silly banter was the highlight of the opening episode.
Although the character design style by Oshima Miwa and studio Silver Link is reminiscent of their work on “Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu”, the desaturated, pastel-like colors and use of lighter background colors gave “Anne Happy♪” a much brighter look and atmosphere than “Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu”.
This season boasts many slice-of-life series, wonder if “Anne Happy♪” will be able to contend for the top spots. While it will likely provide an enjoyable watch throughout its run, I believe it will probably be a decent, yet forgettable slice-of-life series.
You can watch “Anne Happy♪” on Crunchyroll.
