First year high schooler Midori Asakusa loves anime so much, she insists that "concept is everything"
in animation. Though she draws a variety of ideas in her sketchbook, she hasn't taken the first step
to creating anime, insisting that she can't do it alone. The producer-type Sayaka Kanamori is the
first to notice Asakusa's genius. Then, when it becomes clear that their classmate, charismatic
fashion model Tsubame Mizusaki, really wants to be an animator, they create an animation club to
realize the "ultimate world" that exists in their minds.
(Source: Crunchyroll)
Animation is a wonderful medium, isn’t it? The way drawings get put into a consecutive illusion of motion, combining all sorts of aspects of art and color to create spectacles that inspire others to do the same. That’s the power of visual media: creative inspiration. You can look at all sorts of auteurs and visionaries such as Quentin Tarantino and Hideaki Anno, and they’ll tell you their inspirations: anime, movies, tokusatsu productions, etc. It’s the origin story of most in all creative industries. Creativity begets creativity, so it’s all the more wonderful to see works that celebrate it. 2014’s Shirobako was a charming and immersive look into the anime industry from the perspective of 5 friends working in different aspects of that field. 2017’s Re:Creators brought all sorts of fictional creations to the real world to showcase the many sides of what writers and authors are capable of as well as what kinds of influences and intentions their works hold. Now that we’re in the year of our lord 2020, Keep Your Hands off Eizouken provides a charming look at 3 passionate high school girls in different production roles of animation, and how they work with each other to create their own anime. It’s gonna be difficult not to gush about this show on a level that most of its main characters do, so pardon me. The energy of this show radiates a level of autistic CBF energy I adore to no end as its passion and charm breathe life into me. The eccentric, high-energy nature of Midori Azakusa and Tsubame Mizukashi is precious with how they gush about the technical aspects of animation. Their chemistry with each other and resident penny-pincher and schemer Sayaka Kanamori is a sight to behold. Their no-chill energy might be a bit much for some people, but they alone could be fun in almost any scenario, as the anime shows us. The way they gush over animation techniques and still make it presentable, the way they come up with ideas like a moving logo akin to the Pixar lamp, the way the three casually interact with a mix of hyper and deadpan energy, all make my mind race at a thousand miles per hour! I love how they have to keep thinking about believability in their fantasy before making concessions. I love the theatric air they sometimes put on in their declarations. The show is just a joyous bundle of joy, one with a lot of comedic value such as them praying to the fallen comrade of 30K yen or what comes of filming Azakusa falling off guard rails on the second floor of a building. It also tackles a robot anime while having the characters balance the unrealistic nature of the genre in general with a level of plausibility, coolness, and internal logic in a way meant to harken back to the appeal of mecha in the first place. Needless to say, the mere concept of the arc excited me, and bias aside, the execution delivered! There are some problems with the show’s pacing. While the arc structure is generally solid, the episodes themselves can feel almost lackadaisical, as if we’re just flowing or cutting from one scene to another with little in the way of escalation. Episode 11 is probably the biggest offender of this, as it ends up feeling a lot longer than it actually is as a result. There are a few examples of episodes that also can’t figure out a good stopping point, either. It’s not the biggest issue in the world, and it being more of a slice of life title does help excuse it a little, but it’s still a problem that exists. One can argue that these characters aren’t especially layered or complex compared to some of other Yuasa titles such as Ping Pong: The Animation. As true as that is, it might be missing the point as a criticism of Eizouken’s writing. These characters are essentially vectors for this passion for animation that this somewhat dramatic slice of life-esque title presents. On top of that, while one can argue how similar Azakusa and Mizukashi are to the point of being as similar as Carole and Tuesday (from the eponymous disappointment of 2019) are in terms of characterization, they at least have incredible chemistry with one another and with Hinamori. Frankly, this dynamic of friendship is what sells the trio for me, as it’s fun to see them not just talk about the medium or about cash, but about anything else as they just have fun with whatever they’re doing. Azakusa’s definitely a ball of energy who gets too carried away with herself, but one who is otherwise laid-back and socially awkward. Mizukashi’s similarly energetic about a different part of animation --hence the two coming off as similar at times-- but she’s an incredibly sheltered girl at the end of the day, and one who just wants to follow her passions. Hinamori is the tough girl of the bunch, as she’s a schemer always on the hunt for money, and a deadpan hardass to boot. They’re not the most fleshed-out or interesting personalities in the world, but for what they are, the show takes advantage of them and explores their dynamics well. It’s also amusing to see all the little sound effects characters make and that Azakusa is capable of nitpicking and breaking down the believability of settings and ideas in anime, though that’s the aspie and reviewer in me talking, respectively. The show also takes advantage of how painful being an animator can be. The girls working for free is made for a morbidly humorous comparison to the low wages animators work for. Cuts take absolutely forever and require absurd lengths of time to complete as animators work for what feels like nonstop. Understanding realistic or plausible physics of whatever an animator is shooting for can be downright aggravating, like with smoke, sword movements, or hair movements. Several concessions often end up having to be made for the sake of getting a work of animation done in time, resulting in cost-cutting measures that can look cheap if desperate enough. An example of this is when the characters talk about how to convey the fast movement of a tank rolling around, and they discuss the idea of a background with moving highlights before Mizukashi rightfully calls out how much she hates the technique and they find a better solution. If Shirobako takes a somewhat lighthearted approach to what troubled production looks like, Eizouken does the same regarding the grueling nature of working as an animator, even on freelance projects not commissioned by anyone but themselves. I’m also intrigued by the strange, sci-fi school setting. We always see new bits being fleshed out with each episode like how clubs work or what getting lunch is like over there. Student council students are a level of hardass even Kanamori has trouble keeping up with, and club presentations can reach a level of violence where armored guards are forced to step in to protect club members with shitty presentations from getting trampled and beaten. The school itself is this strange hodgepodge of inconsistent elements in its design, as Azakusa points out in the first episode. It’s a chaotic mess that vaguely resembles the real world while having the grandiose and almost bloodthirsty attitude present in say, Kill la Kill’s Honnouji Academy. There’s also this semblance of reality and fiction melting together much like Satoshi Kon’s filmography, as the overactive imagination of characters physically transports them into whatever they’re visually brainstorming or whatever gets shown on-screen. The level of immersion characters reach gets to a point where they react and interact with what isn’t even there. Then again, with how great the visuals are, hard not to gush about and get immersed in them as much as the characters do. Masaaki Yuasa and his team at Science SARU do a beautiful job of taking the strange and creative world of the manga and bringing it to life. The absurd and extremely emotive facial expressions characters have all of the time are all amusing and ever-shifting. The character designs all feel distinct from one another with different head proportions that still feel grounded in the same world. The colors all pop while still feeling somewhat cool, almost akin to Tokyo Godfathers. This is most exemplified by the drawings the characters make, which radiate this endless, unbound youthful energy to them. Of course, where the show tries to flex its muscles the most outside of its character animation is when the characters immerse themselves in a setting. The beautifully unfinished setting models are just adorable, as pencil marks remain on models that haven’t been fully colored. It captures the setting and design sketching phase beautifully, and it does so while keeping the models consistent. It’s fun to see how the outfits our characters wear change in response to these scenes, and models such as the dragonfly plane sketch our characters envision themselves piloting in episode 1 make for the best use of 3D CGI in a 2D anime I have noted in years. Of course, the level of detail in the animation itself is impressive in terms of fluidity, about as much as when the show tries to recreate Future Boy Conan, one of Asakusa’s favorite shows. The way she gushes over the physicality of the characters’ movements and other aspects of animation are represented perfectly in this recreation of an anime classic. This is all just gushing about episode 1! I haven’t talked about a single thing about the rest of the show’s visuals, the stellar animation showcases that make up the climax of each arc, or about the vibrance present in the OP and ED. That should tell you just how visually stunning the show is, and I didn’t even talk about my favorite moment from the first episode. There are several gorgeous scenes thanks to Masaaki Yuasa’s directing as well as due to lovely art direction that works perfectly with the strange school setting our characters find themselves in. Perhaps nothing is quite as artsy as say, Berserk 1997’s shots, but there are still gorgeous moments such as the space scene at the end of the big imagination setpiece of episode 1. Sunsets are as warm as they can be without ever feeling plain like most other anime, and the CG water somehow looks both photorealistic and capable of usually blending in with the environment of the show. It doesn’t always work out and there are a few awkward CG moments, but this is still a joy to look at. There are other details, such as at the end of episode 2 when Azakusa and her family are shocked at a video of her falling that got filmed earlier in the episode. She’s so embarrassed that she’s literally malformed and shittily drawn compared to everyone else in the shot. A lot of the techniques and explanations this show employs get nice visual representations as well. I’m not entirely sure if this is my favorite Yuasa work from a visual perspective, but it is certainly one of the best in this regard. Not every episode quite lives up to episode 1, as there are a few CG problems and several moments that do admittedly look plain. This is to be expected from a contemporary anime production, and what they get away with on a regular basis is still vibrant and imaginative enough to properly convey and live up to the intricacies of the medium it puts on display. The series captures this overactive imagination that I envision every day given that I often think visually, and I love that. As you can tell, this show is hyper and that energy has rubbed off on me. If I had to find the weakest link, it would be the OST. This is the first anime OST done by Oorutaichi, and while it fits the setting and vibe of the show rather well, little of it is particularly memorable. The show also overuses certain tracks, as if there is one specific piece meant to be used every time the characters go into their visually-driven imagination setpieces. That said, I did notice how each arc of the show introduces new tracks, all of which are nice enough. I also like the brash and peppy energy presented by the OP, “Easy Breezy” by chelmico. The visuals of the OP have been memed to death thanks to the Drake-inspired dance moves the girls show off, but the song itself is still what I like most about it, though it isn’t especially remarkable. I’m less fond of the ED so that’s all I’ll say about it. It’s hard to avoid spilling everything I love about the show and what it tackles in detail. This review needs to maintain a level of coherence, after all. The show isn’t this 10/10 hype beast that I adore from beginning to end, but it resonates with me on a level that makes it difficult to get bored or find much to complain about. I didn’t even get to touch on the main conflicts much like with how beautifully and earnestly Mizukashi’s conflict with her actor parents concludes, or go into scenes like when the characters travel to a location for inspiration. The final arc involves the show’s understanding of social media marketing and how star-power gets many interested in a studio’s body of work so that the more invested can follow it thoroughly and deep-dive their catalog. I also never got to talk about the decent supporting cast and how interesting the scenes where they and our main trio come to an understanding are. Barring minor contrivances, everything feels natural rather than forced. All of the conflicts and interactions have this genuineness to their execution. There’s so much love and passion for the medium oozing out of Eizouken, and it’s hard not to get invested. Sure, the high-energy nature and how specialized it is in this field can turn some away, but it’s hard not to appreciate just how much about anime the series covers. Its heart isn’t just with animation, as the show has a few beautiful character moments and emotional climaxes of its own. The likable characters and wonderful visuals accentuate the joyful feeling of this show and how much it cares about what it covers. The show does not shy away from the darker and more complicated aspects of being an animator, even though it doesn’t dwell on the grim nature of it all. Eizouken’s simply a treat to watch, and certainly a contender for anime of the year moving forward. It understands, and that’s what allows it to shine so brightly.
~~~All of my reviews contain __spoilers __for the reviewed material. This is your only warning. ~~~ -------- You could just kind of tell from day one with *Eizouken*. It was the kind of thing that almost *everyone* seemed to agree was worth watching, a rare moment of the popular zeitgeist lining up with a show that’s expertly-crafted, incredibly interesting, and written straight from the heart. It’s rare for *this many* people to agree on anything in an anime fan community that is increasingly fractious and divided. img880(https://i.imgur.com/6P7fbmq.png) Popular rumor states director Masaaki Yuasa found the manga by having it brought to his attention on Twitter, with fans saying he should adapt it. Those people (if the story is true) are heroes, but the idea that there was an *Eizouken* before the anime adaptation can feel a little strange given its heavy emphasis on anime as an artform. Indeed, it doesn’t really feel like part of the general anime seasonal cycle at all, though most of Yuasa’s work can be said to have that same quality. Being tasked with summing up *Eizouken* in an interesting and concise way feels like being told to write something new about those anime that have just kind of always been there. Your Ghibli movies and your *Evangelion*s. img880(https://i.imgur.com/S5NmN3d.png) Yet ultimately that feeling is something of an illusion. *Eizouken* is very much an anime of the new 20s and its consciousness of its own medium aside, it *is*, factually, a product of the manga-to-anime process that defines much of the industry, and some of what makes it good has more to do with that than one might assume. As such, here we are, a few months later, audience appraising the artist and their art, same as always. But there is a little more to it than that. Criticism is piggyback expression. You are writing about someone else’s art. If we take that to be true, there must be some chain effect involved in reviewing an anime about making anime adapted from a manga about the same--effectively one person appraising someone interpreting art about making art. If you’re feeling slightly dizzy, please know we’re only just getting started. *Eizouken*’s core premise is so simple it needs no introduction. Three friends. High school. Anime club. Making, not watching. That’s about the long and short of *Eizouken*’s actual *setup*. It’s easy to lose sight of this, but for everything it does that’s innovative or draws from well outside this plane, *Eizouken* is at its heart a school life series. It takes that simple core premise and turns it into a dual thesis; On one hand, on what it feels like to express yourself creatively and to be inspired to make that leap to expression in the first place. On the other; a look at the vast diversity of *people* and what motivates us to do what we do. That’s quite a lot for three high school girls to carry on their shoulders on its own. That it *also* gets into the nitty-gritty of how to make those dreams a reality is something else entirely. That it *then* ***also*** manages to be nuanced enough to not lose sight of the fact that there are a billion and one different approaches and reasons for making art, and that all of them are valid in their own way, is nothing short of astounding. Anime about anime aren’t actually a recent development, but they can sometimes feel like one. It’s a piece of subject matter that’s seen something of an uptick in recent years. Both in series that actually tackle anime production (this one, *Shirobako*) and shows where anime and the real world intersect somehow (*Re:Creators*, *Anime-Gataris*). What *Eizouken* gets right from the jump is that wanting to make an anime is not exactly a rational thing. img880(https://i.imgur.com/JByB4u5.png) Two of our leads; the short, kappaesque Midori Asakusa, and the teenage model Tsubame Mizusaki, are ultimately driven purely by passion. Midori is a talented background artist and director and Tsubame a prodigal character animator. What, or rather *who*, actually makes the two able to work together to productive ends is the show’s third protagonist, Sayaka Kanamori. Tall with tombstone teeth, a generally intimidating demeanor, and in sharp contrast to our other two leads, a head passionately and almost exclusively for finance. Kanamori is both the group’s glue and arguably, the show’s. Since she’s so different from the other two characters it’s through her that the series can present *very* different ideas of what it means to make art and sell it. It would’ve been easy to paint her as an antagonist, but Kanamori is never depicted as anything less than necessary for the continued function of the Eizouken itself. img880(https://i.imgur.com/u2shfb0.png) Of course, Asakusa and Mizusaki are pretty different from each other too. In the show’s middle we explore Mizusaki’s passion not for anime specifically but for animation as a *concept*. Her background as a model and child actress leads to a lifelong obsession with motion. We see her as a child become fascinated with the way her grandmother tosses excess tea onto the grass outside and try to replicate it. Later, the cut of her grandmother doing that is echoed in one of Mizusaki’s own cuts in one of the Eizouken’s shorts. Saying that *Eizouken* has passion for its medium is not enough; the series integrates its own characters’ passions into the narratives they make, and its *creators*’ passions into *Eizouken*, thereby layering itself. We see, in this repetition, the inherent artistry of Mizusaki’s grandmother’s motion, Mizusaki’s own fascination with that motion, and, crucially, the skill and passion of the *real world* animator--[Shuuto Enomoto](https://www.sakugabooru.com/post/show/112610)--as well. Weaving its characters’ and creators’ own passions into the visuals is one thing, but *Eizouken*’s strong character writing shouldn’t be ignored either. It’s cheap to say that none of the characters here feel like familiar archetypes, but they genuinely don’t. Kanamori for instance has what initially seems like a quirk--her money-first attitude--explained pretty readily by her backstory. We learn about halfway through the series that her grandparents’ liquor store closed due to a lack of visibility when she was younger. It’d be easy for *Eizouken* to milk this for drama, but Kanamori’s experiences shaping her character is taken as a simple fact of life. We are, indeed, *all* shaped by our experiences--another message the show pushes pretty hard. img880(https://i.imgur.com/MSceFvs.png) The contrast between this approach and the one often used by big-ticket manga adaptations is sharp, but it’s easy to take for granted. This in fact is the part of the series that draws most heavily on Sumito Oowara’s original manga. Good writing can transcend the constraints of its format, and in keeping that element, the anime retains a strong emotional core. In turn, this is what makes the show’s exploration of the creative impulse and celebration of diverse experiences feel *resonant*. Every part of the series is bursting with life in that same way. There’s nuance here too. Kanamori’s conflicts with the student council and the school itself, and a discussion in the final episode about how peoples’ sharp differences of opinion can cause conflict aren’t just window dressing or bet-hedging. The show does acknowledge that earnest expression--which is ultimately what unites both halves of its core point--can be *hard*. img880(https://i.imgur.com/5duBOsJ.png) *The show has a lot of impressive visual tricks, but this one, with almost every controversial subject under the sun depicted as part of a literal torrential downpour, might be the most purely clever.* --------------------- However, the fruits of the Eizouken Club’s labor prove that it can also be *worthwhile.* And *that,* right there, is what ropes *Eizouken* back into the circle of broader anime discussions. The difficulty but necessity of communication is of course a popular theme for art in general, but in a certain sort of anime it has found a particularly fertile place to bloom. You can draw broad thematic lines from here to things as otherwise wildly different from each other (and *Eizouken*) as *Symphogear* and *A Place Further Than The Universe*. The show ends with one of the Eizouken’s own shorts playing in its entirety. An 11 minute student film about a war between land-bound humanity and sea-dwelling kappas. A war that occurs, in-film, because of a lack of communication. Not exactly subtle, is it? img880(https://i.imgur.com/hJyt3kN.png) But subtlety is perhaps overrated. *Eizouken* is a lot more than just an “anime about anime”. It’s a celebration of the vast diversity of the human experience, arguably the thing that *makes* us human in the first place. If that message speaks to enough people--and I believe it has--we can stop beating around the bush and just call *Eizouken* what it is; the first truly great anime of the 2020s. Or, more poetically; the future. img880(https://i.imgur.com/ItUfwT7.png) ------
~~~img(http://starcrossedanime.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Eizouken-Banner.png)~~~ It’s not often an adaptation suits a Director as perfectly as _Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken_ suits [Masaki Yuasa](https://anilist.co/staff/100068/Masaaki-Yuasa). Of course you have works like [Gen Urobuchi’s](https://anilist.co/staff/105308/Gen-Urobuchi) _[Puella Magi Madoka Magica](https://anilist.co/anime/9756/Puella-Magi-Madoka-Magica/)_ or [Satoshi Kon’s](https://anilist.co/staff/99580/Satoshi-Kon) _[Paranoia Agent](https://anilist.co/anime/323/Paranoia-Agent/)_. Yet those works were originals, dreamed and created from the ground up by the directors for the anime. Yet here we have someone else’s manga, their work, fitting together perfectly with a renowned industry veteran. Everything from the narrative to the visual aesthetic of the series seem tailor made for him. The highly detailed backgrounds and setting to the rough character designs. The subject material and focus on animation itself to Yuasa’s own life experience in the industry. It’s an aligning of the stars that oh so rarely happens, yet when it does we get something amazing. And that’s what we got this season with _Eizouken_. Let’s dive in. __(_Disclaimer_: This review contains minor spoilers for _Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken_. I am also working to make 50 the new "average". 70 is not an average score people. 70 is above average. You can also find individual episode write ups and comment on this review on my [Star Crossed blog](http://starcrossedanime.com/keep-your-hands-off-eizouken-anime-review-90-100/). Carry on.)__ ~~~img(https://i1.wp.com/starcrossedanime.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Eizouken-6.4.png)~~~ # __~~~Art/Animation~~~__ As always, I want to begin with _Eizouken’s_ art and animation. There is a lot to talk about here, from its variety of styles to how the presentation informs the story. For the sake of clarity, I am going to leave the more meta aspects for later in the review. Focusing entirely on the technical stuff for now. And let me tell you, the technical stuff is pretty damn fantastic. From the rough, seemingly incomplete sequences from [Kai Ikarashi, Hakuyu Go and Atsuko Nozaki](https://www.sakugabooru.com/post/show/110015) to the beautiful character work of [Shuuto Enomoto](https://www.sakugabooru.com/post/show/112610) and [Nick Mckergow](https://www.sakugabooru.com/post/show/109621). The passion of these animators is infectious to me. And the best part of it all in my mind is how they work in just the right amount of jank. Keeping them professional while still managing to present the cuts as if they were made by our lead characters. As for the characters themselves, I find their designs and style to be very appealing. _Eizouken_ itself explains this in the story at one point, but their simplicity makes them incredibly expressive. With each of their faces, eyes, noses and mouths being clearly different. Meanwhile there is a clear delineation in their heights and body types. Allowing the viewer to tell who is who at a glance, far before you actually start to take in any details. It’s as if each of the three leads has their own little microcosm of visual stylings. Kanamori consisting of straighter, more rigid lines such as her mouth, while Asakusa is much more rounded like a ball. This isn’t a hard and fast rule throughout its run time, but I feel it helps express each characters personality well before they even speak. This leads me to the variety of styles that we see throughout _Eizouken_ and the clear lines between them. What I mean is, _Eizouken_ switches art styles on the fly to fit the context of the scene. Both its regular, fully colored and detailed story with simple but expressive character designs to the looser more imaginary ones are very appealing. In particular I always enjoy the storyboarded, as if it was colored with a marker, worlds of the girls imagination. Clearly delineating reality from make-believe while providing a great excuse for these fantastical backdrops. Meanwhile as I said before there is just the right amount of jank and “incompleteness” in these scenes to inform the viewer that the characters are still working through them. It’s a brilliant visual motif, I feel, that I will definitely go into more depth in later on in this review. All in all, while _Eizouken’s_ production isn’t the most impressive or flashiest thing this season, it is my favorite. The set pieces are grand, yet fitting. The variety in styles is both engaging and interesting as it informs each new scene with each new style. I could go on and on about individual episodes or how _Eizouken_ uses the medium both to inform the viewer technically while showing it off in the moment. However I will save that for the end. As an anime, _Eizouken_ feels wholly unique this season visually. And while no amount of credit is to much for the series original creator [Sumito Oowara](https://anilist.co/staff/138890/Sumito-Oowara), Yuasa’s influence cannot be understated either. Where one has created these designs and this world, the other has given them beautiful life, filled with expressive motion. And dear god, do I want more. ~~~img(https://i1.wp.com/starcrossedanime.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Eizouken-10.3.png)~~~ #~~~__Direction__~~~ Next up we come to _Eizouken’s_ direction, which is just as responsible as its animation for its visual quality. From the clever use of CGI environments to the variety of styles and decisions on when to use complete animation, etc. Even simple things like shot composition help _Eizouken_ stand out amongst the chaff. As Yuasa positions shots in recurrening ways, like the close zooms on Asakusa’s face, so we can see her progression as the story goes along. My favorite examples of Yuasa’s directing here is actually the make-believe/imaginary environments and how he uses his resources. Applying CGI backdrops with the marker/watercolor style, where it won’t be out of place, to both save money and make them feel different. Yet he doesn’t just stop there, he actually makes use of the environment for some sweeping camera moves as well. Turning corners and the like. I love it. That said, it’s actually really difficult to critique _Eizouken’s_ direction because of how solid it is. I don’t have a film degree, i’m an amateur anime critic who writes these in his free time. It’s always going to be easier for an amateur to critique something bad than something good. Something bad is bad in obvious ways. Whether it be over-using dutch angles, breaking the 180 degree rule or just having terrible shot composition. These things stand out. But good direction is often much more difficult, as it accomplishes its job without screaming it to the rooftops. Especially in anime, where a fancy camera move or scene is just as much a product of its animation as it is the direction. So suffice to say, while this section is short, it’s not due to a lack of effort on _Eizouken’s_ part. Simply me not knowing how to talk about it. ~~~img(https://i2.wp.com/starcrossedanime.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Eizouken-11.5.png)~~~ #~~~__Setting/Story__~~~ This leads me to _Eizouken’s_ story, which while simple, I love for that simplicity. The easiest way for me to describe _Eizouken_ is like an anime version of _Ed Edd n Eddy_. Three friends hanging out in their town with a dysfunctional and exaggerated cast alongside them. While more structured than _Ed Edd n Eddy_, _Eizouken_ follows this same basic format, where the real drivers are our lead 3 characters as they try to make anime. This might lead you to believe that the individual story arcs aren’t that complex or deep, and you be partly correct. Afterall the true value of these arcs comes from the characters, and we will talk about them later. But I think that ignores a large part of _Eizouken’s_ charm, and that being how it relates to the reality of being an animator. The reality of starting and running a studio. It’s part of why I think _Eizouken_ meshes so well with Yuasa, who started his own studio in Science SARU. Him and his team are able to pour their passion and experiences into _Eizouken’s_ story. Taking what could only do so much in manga form, and giving it that spark of talking about animation _in anime_. As throughout _Eizouken’s_ story our leads have to deal with the realities of running a studio. It asks them the question of what do you do when you run out of time, but aren’t happy with the product? Where do you find the passion when you are creating someone else’s creative idea? _Eizouken_ even manages to dip it’s toe into the business side of things, with how much money their work hours are worth. How difficult it is to just break even on projects that take hundreds of hours to complete. A specific example of this, and perhaps my personal favorite arc, is that of the Robot Club. Not only is this the first time they are making someone else’s creative vision, but they are being paid for it to. They now have a responsibility to their client to get it done, and actual resources to help them do so. And while all of that is great, the real meat of the arc comes from the characters. From Mizusaki’s passion for motion and the Robot Club President’s love of Mecha. Indeed, my favorite scene from the entire series is his run through campus evading security. Ugly crying with joy, like it’s the best day of his life. Combine this with Mizusaki’s relationship with her parents and the number of layers to this arc is astounding. Hitting everything you could want from an arc. To make a long story short, _Eizouken_ is not a complex narrative. There are no commentaries on society, religion, or any number of socio-economic issues. It isn’t going to preach at you or attempt to explore the depths of depression and mental health. _Eizouken_ is a show about passionate people doing what they love, made by passionate people in that exact same field. Everyone from the animators to the sound designers to the director can no doubt see themselves at some point in _Eizouken_, and it shows. And its this passion, this love and joy for the medium, that it managed to reach me. For you see, I am not a particularly emotional person. But its hard not to react to the sheer, unfiltered emotion that _Eizouken_ manages to convey in every arc. ~~~img(https://i0.wp.com/starcrossedanime.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Eizouken-2.3.png)~~~ #~~~__Characters__~~~ With all of that out of the way, I can finally get to my favorite part of _Eizouken_, the characters. There is so much we could talk about here, but I only have so much time. So for the sake of my word count i’ll keep this short. None of _Eizouken’s_ characters are particularly complex like say _[Ping Pong the Animation](https://anilist.co/anime/20607/Ping-Pong-the-Animation/)_, another Yuasa work. But that doesn’t mean they are without value. While each character is relatively simple, together they are greater than the sum of their parts. Cliche, but stick with me here. Right off the bat each of our main 3 characters represent a different aspect of the animation pipeline. From Kanamori handling the business side to Mizusaki the animator side to Asakusa, in the directors chair. Together, they form the best leading trio I have seen in anime in awhile, and they aren’t without value individually either. Even beyond their representations of their roles in the industry though, each of the three stand out. Kanamori for instance opens the series as a rather upfront and cold individual. Focusing on making money through every scheme or project they work on. As _Eizouken_ progresses however and we learn more about her, she doesn’t change, but our perspective of her does. We learn she focuses on money, because it’s what keeps the lights on in their club. We learn how hard she works, just like the other two, to make sure their projects are a success. From organizing deals with other clubs, to collaborations, to protecting them from the student council and teachers. Kanamori cares for these productions and her friends in her own way. Only laying down the law when there is no other choice, if it ensures the production’s completion. Similarly Mizusaki could easily be seen as a sort of rich privileged child at the start. She has a successful modeling career and all this could easily have just been a hobby. But as _Eizouken_ progresses, we see the lengths she is willing to go to. The work she is willing to put in. _Eizouken_ shows us her love of motion from a young age, and how it as influenced her day to day life. One of the best sequences in the entire season was Mizusaki’s backstory with her grandmother, which I won’t spoil here. Suffice to say, each of these characters have layers, and they are present from the beginning. Waiting to be revealed when the time is right, all the while building on the character analogy that is the animation industry. ~~~img(https://i1.wp.com/starcrossedanime.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Eizouken-10.7.png)~~~ #~~~__OST/Sound Design__~~~ Next up comes the OST and Sound Design. Sadly, most of _Eizouken’s_ OST is not publicly available at this time. So while I will reference some specific tracks here or there, your best bet is to just watch the show for them. That said, there are two tracks I want to draw your attention two. Ones which I will be calling [“Inspiration”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUwHu_xHddw) and [“Montage”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4cpnVh7TjQ) because of how they are used in the series. In case it wasn’t obvious, “Inspiration” is just that, it’s the audio equivalent to a light-bulb going off, to figuring something out. It’s bright and airy, like you are soaring through the sky, head above the clouds. Energetic and free, “Inspiration” plays primarily during the imagination segments as the trio is experimenting with their ideas. It’s sound is completely unique to anything I have ever heard before, which fits _Eizouken_ to a tee. The other track, which I dubbed “Montage”, is much the same. It sounds almost random, as if it was made just bit hitting a wood stick on things found laying around. The xylophone and… perhaps a kazoo (?), fits these playful kids perfectly. Meanwhile unlike “Inspiration” it stays rather constant throughout, dragging you into its rhythm and then keeping you there. Making it feel like no time has passed at all once its over. As the name I gave it suggests, it is used primarily during montage scenes in _Eizouken_. So while this is only a small sample of _Eizouken’s_ OST, I think they are emblematic of the series as a whole. Bright and hopeful, energetic even in it’s downtime, _Eizouken sounds_ like a show that just makes you happy. I know that was my experience with it. Meanwhile the sound design of _Eizouken_ was one of the most endearing things I have listened to in awhile. And not because of general sound design of Eizouken, that is all well and good. It does what it needs to and works. No, the part that I love are the sounds made by the VA’s. We see it throughout the season, mostly during the imagination sequences, where everything is made of our leads. From backgrounds to designs, its ostensibly all made by them… so why not the sounds too? From the _pat pat pat_ of propeller blades to the _ch ch ch_ of a train on the tracks. Even the _whoosh_ of wind rushing through the air, is done by the leads VA’s. It’s incredibly charming, fits the scenes perfectly, and lends itself well to _Eizouken’s_ “homemade” aesthetic. I couldn’t help but smile every time I heard it. So long story short, _Eizouken’s_ OST and Sound Design are both incredibly unique and upbeat. They fit the narrative to a tee, and just like every other part of the project, they bleed passion. There was not a single episode where I didn’t smile or laugh at the VA’s sounds. Where I didn’t bob my head along with the music or find myself hyped up. One could argue that that balancing on some scenes was a bit loud, or that they reused the same track a few to many times. These are both valid criticisms, and were I doing this for an award of some kind, I might make them. But as far as personal enjoyment and quality of time spent? I have no complaints. I can’t wait for the OST to be released so I can listen to it in full. ~~~img(https://i2.wp.com/starcrossedanime.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Eizouken-6.3.png)~~~ #~~~__Meta Aspects__~~~ Finally, we come to the part of the review where I put everything I didn’t know where else to put. Everything from _Eizouken’s_ direction and animation to its story and characters have something in here. To start with, there is so much more to _Eizouken’s_ direction and animation than it simply looking good. Than simply conveying its message. As a series focused on the actual animation process, similar to _[Shirobako](https://anilist.co/anime/20812/SHIROBAKO/)_ in a lot of ways, it’s not surprising we get some interesting uses of the medium. But a lot of my favorite bits are actually rather meta in nature. We have scenes where Asakusa is describing different ways to animation faces. The pros and cons of simplicity in design. All the while her own face is making use of the exact same things she is talking about. Showing the audience visually, rather than only telling them. We see this throughout _Eizouken_, though primarily in the beginning, as we begin to learn about animation as a process. One of my favorite sequences for example is the development of the windmill. Where Asakusa and Mizusaki design and animate a broken windmill near their club. Iterating and building on it, changing the design and showing how the animation changes with it. How reality influences it, almost like we are watching an actual animators thought process at work. Only to, at the end, explode into this giant imaginary sequence as they destroy a building to open it up to the wind. Or how when describing sound design and such, _Eizouken_ visually shows the sound waves, with characters moving and cutting them fully animated. It’s a very different approach to animation compared to _Shirobako_, which focused primarily on the business side of things. All of this is to say that, even if _Eizouken_ wasn’t a good show, and it is, I would tell you to watch it. If you have any interest in animation as a medium, as something more than just good fun shows to watch. Because while it is presented in a fun and lackadaisical form, _Eizouken_ is truly the story of young animators. Their passion, their struggle, the compromises they have to make along the way to achieve their vision. I could go on and on about the various scenes where _Eizouken_ uses the medium to its full effect. Where it demonstrates the very techniques visually the characters are talking about narratively. So while yes, it’s idealized and unlike _Shirobako_ it makes no attempt to stay confined to reality, I think for animation enthusiasts both _Shirobako_ and _Eizouken_ are worth the watch. ~~~img(https://i0.wp.com/starcrossedanime.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Eizouken-8.2.png)~~~ #~~~__Conclusion__~~~ So all in all, what do I think of _Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken_? I bloody love it. The only reason it isn’t in my top 10 is because Yuasa already has 2 others there with _Tatami Galaxy_ and my #1 of all time, _Ping Pong the Animation_. The fact that I am even considering _Eizouken_ in the same space as those two says a lot about my opinion of it. Like every Yuasa show, _Eizouken_ is unique. Visually and narratively there is nothing like it airing this season, and possibly even this year. Part of me hopes that it gets a sequel, that Science Saru can continue this story. But another part just wants to freeze _Eizouken_ in time so it can never be hurt or changed. Regardless of what happens in the future though, I know one thing: I am so buying the BD’s when they release. Thank you for reading.
~~~ # _Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken_: A Review ##__This review contains spoilers. You have been warned!__ ~~~ ___ ___ Let me start off this review by saying how much I love this anime. Great story? Check. Good characters? Check. The list goes on and on, but this is a review and I need to review the anime I'm talking about here. So let's go. I'll be rating based on a few categories. Story: __Fantastic!__ (warning: spoilers here) ~! The story of *Eizouken* is (warning: oversimplified) that 3 ~~friends~~ comrades start an film club at their local high school. Well, it's technically a film club, but it makes anime instead. Why the "film" name? There was already an anime club at the school, but it did not *make* any anime. It was simply a research group. So, Asakusa, Kanamori, and Mizusaki set off to make that anime themselves. There was a tiny bit of conflict to claim the role of making the anime, but, safe to say, they won that title. The roles: Asakusa makes the story, Kanamori is the producer, and Mizusaki actually animates things. !~ Characters: __Yes! And they're great.__ (warning: spoilers here) ~! Let me start off by reviewing the main characters and providing background information: Asakusa, Kanamori, and Mizusaki. Asakusa: Loves anime, and art. Kanamori: Loves to boss people around and manage things. Also wins most of the arguments. (Honestly my favorite out of the 3.) Mizusaki: Famous fashion model. Wanted to join the anime club but her parents didn't exactly want her to. She got her way anyways later on. Doumeki was introduced later on and took on the role of audio advisor for the club. She moved the base of operations for the sound club (she was the only member) to the eizouken's building as part of a deal (originally the club was based out of a room she had no right to be in). The rest of the characters either: - Part of the student council, which they have run-ins with a few times throughout, or - Only show up a couple of times. !~ Animation: __You bet!__ This is the only part that has no spoilers throughout this review, which is pretty funny, but whatever. Animation here looks great, which is a given considering the thing this anime is about. But it definitely shows an example for other anime to follow. Love it! ___ This has been my first review in nearly half a year, I believe my writing skills have improved at least a little bit, compared to my other review of *Laid-Back Camp* (which might be due for a rewrite soon ;). # __Conclusion__: Great anime, you should watch it. You might not regret it :)
__~~~A short Eizouken review~~~__ I haven’t seen many shows that have enthralled me so much as “Keep your hands off Eizouken”. It’s a show about what it is to make anything of value, and how the pursuit of perfection can and will sabotage you. Knowing what to spend your time on, and how to prioritize is just as important if not more, than just the search for excellence. The story follows 3 girls in their journey to make anime. It takes a lot of small detours in the story in order to showcase how the artistic process works, some basic animation principles and history, and some of the realities of producing even a short film. The thing that originally impressed me a lot was, that every time they talked about some minute detail in anime, they directly showed it with what was happening on screen, and then in the finished product, or an animated sequence of the girl’s imaginations. It had a wonderful sense of continuity and growth. The girls all had a different focus in terms of what goes into making an anime. Asakusa, the director, is all about world building, whether that’s story, coherence, cause and effect, etc. She wants everything to have a plausible explanation, and be internally consistent. Her main strength is her imagination, she frequently tries to look at the world in a more fantastical lens, and anime for her is an outlet to make her internal world an external one. Mikazuki is the main animator, she wants the smallest movements to look real. She has a fascination with how humans move, and imitates them to add realism, she is all about how animation can be a replacement for acting. Kanamori is a long girl. In all seriousness, Kanamori is the best goddamn thing about the show, she is the producer, If not for her, the other two would never make something in time and in budget, she grounds them to reality, gives them deadlines and makes sure they are done. She procures materials, makes deals with people in order to acquire the funds for the next project, and does everything in her power to make sure the project has everything it needs to be done. She doesn’t really care about the minute details the other 2 nerds gush about, she wants things to look good to her, and to extension the audience, she knows full well, how important marketing is, how valuable people’s time and efforts are, and how money is blood. The money thing is important, because it’s not shown to be an empty thing, but rather the glue that binds everything together, money is needed for materials, transportation, maintenance, paying off authorities, blackmail, illegal drugs(milk mostly) and everything else. She doesn’t care too much about the ways she does things, only that things get done, and that there is progress to make the next project bigger and better. Also she is a long girl. Eizouken mostly focuses on the joy of creation, and it’s sacrifices, all 3 of the girls in Eizouken start off being very talented in their positions, they mostly needed practical experience in how and what to prioritize. There were a lot of times where the Girls were hampered by the authorities, money issues, time constraints, laws and regulations, morals, etc. And it was up to Kanamori to bend things the way it worked best for them. It was somewhat realistic in its depiction that no matter how talented you are, you still need to pull on a lot of strings to get the recognition you deserve. Honestly if I keep going I’ll probably start going back to topics I already covered, overall amazing show, can’t recommend more. One of the best goddamn things I’ve ever watched. I can write 10 more pages on Kanamori alone.
I remember reading Robinson Crusoe as a little kid, i don't even know what made me pick up that book and frankly i found it to be a bit boring. But it was the only source of entertainment that i had during a family vacation every time we went back to where we were staying. I could either sleep or read, and i read. Despite feeling like a boring book, there was something about it that resonated with me. That feeling of adventure, of going to unkown lands, of having to be creative and use whatever one can find to survive. And ultimately it made me love stories about journeys and how creative one can become when placed in a situation that tests our limits. That's exactly what i loved about doing these silly school plays in which we had to act when i was a kid, we had this pretty strict teacher that wanted us to truly feel like we were doing any kind of acting and just interpret and have fun being someone else for as long as we were standing up on that stage. That opened my mind, made me realize how important improvisation is, and what creativity can do, what it can show us. From that point on i was always interested in many forms of art, whether it would be acting, drawing, writing or even something like editing later on. I wouldn't say that im great at any of these disciplines, but that isn't the point. What matters is to understand that i have a kind of "creative background", ive done a lot of stuff either by myself or in groups. And i always look forward to the impression on people's faces, to what they will say or think about what i made, i live for that expression, whether it is sweet or sour doesn't really matter as long as it's a genuine one. And that's exactly what made me fall in love with Eizouken, it's brimming with passion and so genuine in its depictions. It's a story about 3 silly girls wanting to not only make their own animation club, but one in which they will be doing everything from the sketches, to the concept art, to the animations, the color, the sound, the music, etc. And how they go from working on black and white animation first to finally get to productions that are full of sound, music and color. It begins as a simple 3 friend club that makes animations, and with each new work they will add new members to the team that add a new layer of complexity to the task. We have a rather small cast of characters which is great since this is a 12 episode anime, and in turn that makes all of the important ones that do appear have some kind of development and importance. It's a series that knows exactly when to be fast and colorful and when to slow down, turn the music off and show what is going on. And that allows us to have a deeper look at each of the protagonists and properly understand where they come from, who they are, and what they seek. From Asakusa, a short, shy and timid but creative and excessively passionate girl that conveys passion and love for each and every project that they work on. And with a pretty analytical and critical mind, she wants to take her ideas and make them reality with a proper treatment. She worries about the little details too much but knows when to stop and keep going thanks to Kanamori. Kanamori is pretty much the brain, she takes care of the logistics and makes sure to organize everything and of the talking and bussiness side of things. Tall, fierce, an imposing figure that knows how to get what she wants. But ultimately a charming and caring person that would do anything for her friends, this is the character i like the most and one that feels the most developed of them all maybe. Everything from her is just top notch and perfectly balances the team, as Asakusa and __Mizusaki __(the last girl of the 3) can sometimes be too passionate about their ideas and lose themselves in their imagination, often thinking more about what they would like to do than actually doing. Mizusaki is pretty much the trump card, she's a hard working individual that seeks to replicate realistic motions in her animations. She's the most calm of the 3, working part time as a model which is important as this will allow them to make all of the publicity that their works need through her image. Every single one of them has their own vision and motivations, for Asakusa it's all about bringing ideas to fruition, for Kanamori it's all about the bussiness and money, and Mizusaki just seeks a break from the promising future that her parents wanted her to have. To seek her own path through the joy of animation, motivated by her obsession with motion ever since she was a kid. Note that im not only able to talk about how and who these characters are, but also what they seek and what their role is. The fact that i can make these distinctions, to me, exemplifies how great this anime was at conveying what each of these individuals is supposed to be like. Ultimately making the three of them well established characters. Something that i also feel like it's worth pointing out, is how these girls actually look, sound, appear and act as a normal person would. There have been and still are so many shows in which girls are depicted as an object devoid of any kind of personality, objects that exist for the sole purpose of appealing to a male audience through sexualization. Im tired of this, and this show doesn't have any of that. There isn't any kind of "fan service" or moments in which the girls are anything more than just girls. They are characters that feel like real people, and thats sadly something that can't be said about the majority of anime and media but something that will hopefully get better as time goes on. After all, it has gotten better, at a slow pace but it's better than anything i guess. Most of the time the series focuses on the present, but there are some unique situations in which it decides to show us a bit of each characters past, and every single time it does it's wonderful and emotional. This is ultimately an emotional series, seeing how they go from work to work, how they work hard on every single project until their last breath, often having to improvise and adapt to the difficulties that each task represents and the problems that outside people bring is just so fun and it can be quite easy to relate to. And that's exactly where the fun begins, this series takes us on an emotional journey. I remember 4 particular episodes in which i cried and truly felt emotional, and it's all on me. The series itself doesn't want you to cry, doesn't ask you to, it isn't like the majority of anime and narratives that bring up sensitive topics to make you feel, no. This one just let's you __feel. __ Anyone that has done any kind of creative work in their lifetime should take the time to watch this show and be amazed at how great it is at conveying what goes on in our heads while we work and do stuff. There's this particular scene that i love in which after showing their first short film in front of a gigantic audience everyone is absolutely blown up by how awesome and immersive it was. And yet Asakusa just stands in the stage and starts talking to Mizusaki and Kanamori about how they could have done a particular shot better, and basically goes on a rant of her own project in front of a shocked audience that can do nothing more than stand there processing what they just saw. And that spoke to me on such a personal level that i broke down in tears. Seeing them presenting that project that they worked so hard on, to at the end of the day, no matter how great it was, start going on a rant about how they could have done it better and start taking ideas for future projects. I feel like everyone who has done anything creative can relate to this, it was so genuinely beautiful. And that's exactly what made me fall in love for this series and love it from beginning to end, it's such a genuine ride. This series shows us how sometimes things don't go as we would like them to, but we need to adapt, improvise and keep trying in order to get better. Most of the time the greatest ideas come from limitations and trying to work around problems that show up during our creative process. There's even illustrations at the end of each episode drawn by various artists that depict the main trio in different styles and situations, and every single one of those make for great wallpapers. I love them and im a huge fan of little details like showing illustrations at the end of each episode, it's a silly and simple thing but one that i find extremely heartwarming and cute. And what can i even say about the animation and directing, it's just perfect. It's Masaaki Yuasa, the man that brough us so much stuff and will hopefully continue to do so for many years to come. I feel like one could do an analysis of both Devilman Crybaby and Eizouken as they feel like polar opposites in so many ways, but both are excellent in what they try to do. What im trying to say is: if devilman crybaby left you feeling hollow, this will fill you up and make you feel warm. Ultimately, this show is a love letter to creative minds and people who seek to get better at any kind of artistic discipline. Hope you will love it as much as i did or at least have fun with it.
The craft of art has been a topic of discussion in the film medium you could say ever since the film camera was invented, ‘Shirobako’ (2014) being one of the most prevalent examples in the anime community, as well as ‘Adaptation’ (2002) for a more post-modern take on the process. But out of the cases that I have witnessed, I think the most passionate series in this genre would be ‘Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken’. Airing, if you would believe me, around the beginning of last year 2020, based on Sumito Oowara's manga with a Masaaki Yuasa direction, the series follows a cast of high school girls with a wide set of personalities and genres in the film production club, whose united passion is to make animations. Working as a partial anti-authority story, we see the girls take on different projects that expose their qualities as well as novicities. And if it has not been talked to death already, the most striking element of the series as you are first trying to process everything is no doubt its design. There is an almost unprecedented amount of character to the series, from the character-design to the environment that somehow manages to feel more fantastical than most fantasy series. With Mamoru Kanbe and Nobutake Itou working on some of the storyboards, the amount of personality expressed through the performances of the characters, as well as the framing and other design choices was incredibly fascinating, yet the series has a moderation that keeps a sense of professionality to the project that I appreciated immensely. As the characters get lost in their own fantasy, the production becomes much more barebones, the inking resembling Asakusa’s sketches with a quick watercolor over, which could’ve easily stood out as an excuse to put more time into high priority scenes, but fit with the character of the show so well and add a visual variety that you can’t even blame them for. The character-design is one of the best since the beginning of the decade, with Kanamori being one of the most memorable characters partially because of how well her design fits with her apathetic yet aggressive personality. And doing so under the restriction of them all wearing the same clothing for 90% of the series is even more impressive (shoutout to Little Witch Academia) And although this element continued to impress further along into the series, I also feel that it gets increasingly narratively compelling as well, which I was not expecting. The chemistry between the cast is charming and their dialogue has a fair amount of notably good moments, especially Kanamori, who if it wasn’t clear enough, is my favorite character in the series, which doesn’t seem to be an unpopular sentiment. This along with some fun antagonistic forces and an effort to round out the series by putting a focus on voice acting as well as the sound design makes for a fun series on its own, with enough character to spare, but what I find most compelling is how well the lead’s adolescence is expressed. If there’s anything to be skeptical about it is the quality of animation two high schoolers with no prior experience are able to produce in a month, yet I think the process of this overshadows the comparably adult impression you get from their shorts. Despite working as a director, Asakusa is terrible at directing other artists and would rather do all of the work herself, and Mizusaki barely has a sense of time and priority and would rather spend a week on every shot than actually finishing the project. Aside from Kanamori, who ends up having to pull the others by their leach, the group is notably unprofessional. Asakusa and Mizusaki have both never made a project with a tight time schedule and it shows. This element of their characters could be a point of contention to some, but from my perspective, I think this grounds the characters a lot and gives a sense that they don’t know what they’re doing, but that they may not necessarily have to. While a great sense of accomplishment is expressed at the end of every project, it’s always clear that this story isn’t final and that there is room to grow, and that’s kind of sick. To conclude, Eizouken is a story on adolescent passion with an impressive and unprecedented presentation that oozes character and nostalgia **8/10**
>__If there is something certain in the world of anime, it is that, no matter what position you have in it, you are in because you like it. As simple as this. And this applies to everyone: fans, bloggers, artists, Youtubers, each and every one of us watches anime because it is something we like, that we are passionate about. And in the same way, I am sure that several of us have asked ourselves, even slightly, what does it mean to make an anime? What is behind what we see? Well, these are the same questions that the leading trio in today's entry asks: Asakusa, Tsubame and Kanamori. 3 girls who want to create anime within their school but who do not have enough money or quality tools, and who, nevertheless, have the most powerful tool of all: their imagination. __ And with this as a banner, they will form the Eizouken school club to be able to unleash their creativity and thus, be able to create their own anime. How will they do it? Well, all you have to do is follow the great designer Asakusa, the popular entertainer Mizusaku and the fearsome business queen Kanamori on their great adventure within their club in ... Eizouken ni wa Te wo Dasu na! ~~~ img(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tQYXTHpCxzI/X3iBTDoQk_I/AAAAAAAACN0/bDoLp1kFH2wjWPrW1b_zDK7NROlDRYfYgCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/tenor%2B%25281%2529.gif) ~~~ The story is simple: Midori Asakusa is a student who has 2 characteristics: the first and most obvious is her height, she is quite "short" and that makes her look cute, as if she is not able to raise her voice. The second of its characteristics, and the most important, is that it LOVES anime, or rather, it loves what is behind it, its process, the work of animating it , and that is something that is clear to us from the first minute. And then this becomes the most important thing, and we realize that being short is irrelevant, because she is a whirlwind, all the time coming up with things, creating worlds in her mind ... Worlds animated by her. That's why Asakusa has a dream: __She wants to create his own anime.__ And when she tells her partner Sayaka Kanamori, a reckless and calculating girl with a super talent for finances, her first thought is: Let's do it, I'll handle the money. And then there are already 2 and then they become 3 when she meets Tsubame Misuzaki, a schoolmate who is also popular for being a model, but who secretly also has a dream: She wants to be a cheerleader. So joining their visions and their dreams, they take the step forward and not being able to do it in other clubs of the school, they go and create their own: The Eizouken audiovisual club or what is the same, the place where to unleash his creativity, giving us endless adventures on his way to create his anime. ~~~__Movement, Spectacularity ... And Money__~~~ This is how Eizouken moves under the premise of showing us the creative process of an anime, and perhaps this is better achieved in other works such as Shirobako , or as Bakuman if we are talking about manga, but in neither case, of a form as visually overwhelming as here. Because Eizouken enters through sight and stays there thanks to its music and its characters, which by the way (and giving another example) are all women, demonstrating once again (hopefully it was no longer necessary in these times) that it important is not who but what, and that a dream is only worth as much as you work for it. ~~~img(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lGJY0kxO0NY/X3iLsthvQXI/AAAAAAAACPc/btoFAlnoExY-GqFmXngrrHMJtjqwu4F_gCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h352/eb5ebeab1969fcd0c86cd5e4c5af4d69.gif)~~~ Because it must be said: Eizouken would be nothing without his leading trio; without the creative Midori and her crazy ideas and fantastic settings or without the great Tsubame and her search for fluidity in the movements. Or without searching for an answer to the "conflict" between them 2: Surprising effects or Movement? And surely you or I, dear reader, we will never know the answer, and perhaps we do not need it either, because at the end of the day, these 2 elements manage to amaze us when used together and that, that is what is truly important. And if Midori and Tsubame are the soul and heart of Eizouke, Kanamori is the mind, the element that gives cohesion to the other 2 and the one that allows their creations and ideas to be carried out. And he does it being a monster of business, totally alien to animation and despite this, giving us some of the funniest moments of the entire series (Mini Kanamori is the best!), In short, all spectacularity, pure movement and yes , also money ... ~~~__Yuasa and his love letter to anime__~~~ And if there is someone who represents this ideal better than anyone else, that is the great trick that this series is what it is: __Masaaki Yuasa.__ That director who at the beginning of his career many called uncomfortable, crazy and rare in the best of cases and who now, after years of experience and a suitcase full of successes, is recognized as the one who will always innovate in his works, as the benchmark in terms of creativity and animation. And that is exactly what Yuasa shows in the series, all the knowledge acquired over time, translated into a series full of animation, movement and fantastic worlds, almost as if he himself were inside, along with his 3 protagonists. ~~~img(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rXRcWMKWO-A/X3jfPuKDEPI/AAAAAAAACQQ/p5nDPHhnX_04yh8HXewiwOE5pdphSPeQwCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h152/3%25281%2529.png)~~~ Because Eizouken stands out for his technical work and charisma yes, but also for his simple but valuable background: Feeling passion for what you do, daring to follow what you love and work hard to achieve it and there is no better representation of this than seeing to Midori excited in front of the television, or to Tsubame bandaging her fingers to continue drawing, or to Kanamori, who despite not being so devout believes in her companions and does everything possible to give them the necessary resources ... Or to Yuasa, struggling to demonstrate that animation is art by itself ...And despite everything, Eizouken is never melodramatic or falls into the ridiculous when telling this beautiful message, on the contrary, the work does so through what it does best: animating. And he also does it without reproach to the (many times) frivolous anime industry, because that does not matter and because there are many more good things than bad in this medium, because the dreams of those who love to animate, or compose music are worth more, or to write the scripts for the series that come to us, and for them, this series is also dedicated, to them ... Yuasa and company dedicate this love letter to them. However, nothing is perfect and Eizouken is no exception, because being a series with shades of Slice of Life, some (I hope the least) may say that in reality nothing happens in the series. And it's true, beyond the trio's follies, nothing happens at all, but still believe me when I tell you that after its 12 episodes, you'll be left wanting more. And we come to the key point of everything, the one who is at the center of the message that the series tries to give: Animation. And being Yuasa we could correct and say that we are facing a Lady Animation that we can be sure will not be conventional. Because in Eizouken Yuasa bets on his characteristic fine and unaesthetic line in order to give more importance than ever to the main element of his style:__ Movement.__ Because as I already mentioned in my article dedicated to the director (who I consider my No.1 idol) Yuasa is that, it is pure movement. This is how Eizouken presents us with characters full of movement and expressions of all kinds, courtesy of Naoyuki Asano , who also gives us 3 protagonists full of power and who complement each other wonderfully from their appearance: on the one hand, the expressive Midori, on the one hand. another the smiling Tsubame and finally, the one with the terrifying forehead, with the crooked smile and with some converse as a backpack: the lanky Kanamori. ~~~img(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-KO3-J4H8jDY/X3iIq3ZuydI/AAAAAAAACOQ/TyyHz5Jf5-g354OFxVX_WDEtx2gjcs-3ACLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h458/image.png)~~~ But this fluidity of movement is not limited to people and in the series, the animations that the Eizouken club creates are also full of action and fight sequences full of movement and energy, because as Tsubame says, this is the most important thing. Or at least as long as Midori allows it, because Eizouken is also full of wonderful settings. From the warehouse where the club is, the audiovisual room, the city, everything, absolutely everything, is a potential shot that the series exploits and full of incredible details and fantasies, giving us objects and things like a pond in a very well achieved way and with a palette full of vivid colors. And this does not stop there and now Yuasa adds another register to its versatility: the detailing of machinery. The sound aspect is another of the virtues of the series, counting on Oorutaichi for this, we have pieces full of adventurous feeling , which without being strident or spectacular manage to highlight the importance of the work: animation, giving us moments full of madness to the rhythm of its notes that, in addition, also have a certain amount of nostalgia, as if it were the song we heard when we first drew. Regarding their vocal pieces, Eizouken presents the craziest (and parodied) OP we've seen in recent times, the hilarious "Easy Brezzy" from the female rap duo __Chelmico__ , who pull off a song as catchy as it is energetic, that makes you simply wanting to dance like crazy while you listen to it. The ED for its part is "Namae no Nai Ao" from the even more mysterious masked musical group Kamisama, Boku wa Kizuite shimatta , who achieve a piece full of rhythm and that perfectly closes each episode. Without a doubt, this OST could be anything but boring. ------------------------------------ _Eizouken (and here I speak 100% without objectivity) is a series for the heart, a gift for all those who enjoy this called Anime, that with a simple proposal but full of passion comes and does nothing but dazzle us even more, doing (at less in who writes this) that the puppet in front of the television gets excited like the first time and is grateful, even a little, that these types of stories exist and that there are many people who work to bring them to us. With an animation full of wonders, an OP that leaves no one indifferent with his madness, a director who is as crazy as the series and 3 protagonists with enormous charisma, Eizouken ni wa Te wo Dasu na! it is a strong candidate for series of the year, but more importantly, is a love letter to the medium ..._ > __ More content on my blog: https://13fotogramas.blogspot.com/__
Comme indiqué dans le titre , Cet anime est une pépite et fut un grande surprise pour moi (un gros bandeur de shonen) , durant l'année 2020 rempli de shonen basiques (JJK par pur HASARD) , voir un anime de ce calibre me surpris et surtout UNIQUE comme celui-ci Il s'agit d'un Slice of life , qui ne comporte aucune romance , avec une pincé d'humour et je vous explique tout ça , juste en dessous : img220(https://www.fuwafuwanosora.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Eizouken-ni-wa-Te-wo-Dasu-na-fun.jpg) L'anime suit l'histoire de trois amies lycéennes qui veulent crée un anime , on suit leurs péripéties a travers 12 épisodes et la création de leur club d'animé et leur anime tout court Leurs aventures sont facilement regardables en une journée même si c'est beaucoup plus appréciables sous plusieurs jours (je l'ai personnellement vu en 1 semaine et demi) Le cast est très attachant , la prota (Asakusa) est atteint du trouble du déficit de l'attention avec ou sans hyperactivité (ou ADHD) ce qui lui donne un côté plus unique et attachant comparé aux autres prota , la deutragoniste (Kanamori , qui est également mon perso pref) est une folle d'argent mais qui utilise tout a son arsenal pour se faire de l'argent , et l'autre deutragoniste (Mizusaki) mène une double vie a l'insu de ses parents (De gauche a droite : Kanamori , Asakura et Mizusaki) img220(https://cdn.myanimelist.net/s/common/uploaded_files/1572060872-a7d9980cec5c6b69042c9ab2c88d666d.jpeg) Maintenant parlons de la direction artistique de l'anime qui est juste MAGNIFIQUE , réalisé par Masaaki Yuasa qui s'est fait découvrir en 2014 avec Space Dandy ou plus récemment avec Devilman Crybaby en 2018 , l'anime alternes avec passages de la vie réele qui ressemble a un anime lambda tout basique , mais alterne de temps en temps avec l'imagination de la prota Asakusa avec un style plus différent et surtout plus beau a voir (Exemple juste en dessous) img220(https://formeinfullbloom.files.wordpress.com/2020/01/eizouken4.png) Les ost MON DIEU , j'en ai une en particulier (Saikyo no Sekai )youtube(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKtg_0XY3T8) qui peut faire voyager n'importe qui avec juste quelques notes et l'opening est très emportant (l'ending un peu moins je l'avoue) En tout , cet anime est definitivement un must watch et fut une grande surprise pour moi qui pourtant aime quand y'a gros muscles + explosion de partout + cris tout ça tout ça Pour résumer : une grande surprise mais on accepte tout ici et surtout on apprécie et on fait la propagande >Nous devons avoir un impact important avec le moins d'effort possible. -Kanamori Sayaka Toujours pas d'édition du manga disponible en France :( c'est bien dommage youtube(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-91y7BJ8QA)
__Part One: An Introduction__ If there’s anyone that still doubts Masaaki Yuasa’s skill and competency as a creator of anime, they’re either tasteless or a contrarian. Not all of Yuasa’s shows are everyone’s cup of tea, however. I find Tatami Galaxy frustrating to watch, and I’ve met others who feel the same way about Kaiba, which I myself found a little slow at times. Despite that, I respect both those works, and still love Kaiba regardless. His other works range from very fun to incredible, with Devilman Crybaby standing out to me as nearly perfect, and his sheer output of content is impressive. But the one which to me stands above the rest is Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken. I’ve seen it twice now, and I enjoy every frame, every motion, and every sound. I’m not going to say that disagreeing with me makes you wrong, despite my temptation to treat my own taste as objective, even despite the presence of many tasteless people on this site, although not you, dear reader. Never you. But, I’m a fan of arguments, and I’m going to present the case that it is, and that you should believe it to be too. And so we begin. __Part Two: A love letter to...__ These are the words that first came into my mind when I conceptualized writing an Eizouken review. I discarded them immediately as trite and generic. I don’t know if there’s a more overused set of words for describing a certain category of art. Indeed, many reviews of this show on this very site seem to include “a love letter to anime” in their summary or body. Because I fear being generic, I feel the need to lampshade these words, as I am here. However, I can’t deny these word’s truth. Eizouken is a love letter to Anime. This is a factual statement. It’s made by someone who loves the medium to be consumed by people who love the medium. If you don’t love anime, go watch some more shows, then come back and love this once you do, and I think you’ll understand it more. But Eizouken being a love letter to anime is secondary to its true purpose: as a love letter to *creating* anime. Or, to perhaps interject a bit of my own interpretation, the act of creating any sort of art at all. It highlights a philosophy, a mindset, and a spirit which should be embodied in all creation, presented in idealized form to remind us why we create, and what we should be striving for. For some of you, those who see the show as I do, this is probably self-evident. For others, it may take some convincing. But first, I’m going to take a few detours to discuss the groundwork the show lays to create this environment. __Part Three: The world of Eizouken__ It’s easy to miss the fact that Eizouken takes place in the future: the 2050s to be exact. This is not immediately evident because the technology level of the world is largely the same as our own, even lower tech at times. It could simply be an alternate world, or a stylized and aestheticized version. But we see dates in background objects confirming the time period, and this gives us the tools to understand Eizouken’s world. Eizouken highlights an outcome of economic decline. Japan’s falling birthrate has failed to allow them to grow the economy year after year, and this has changed the economic and social systems that dominate their country. For one, it seems immegration policies have been loosened, based on the presence of spanish text on signs and the racial diversity present in the show. Shibahama, the city the show takes place in, is made of old buildings and full of disused and mysterious areas. Concrete crumbles, wood decays, and metal rusts. Despite this decay, Shibahama is distinctly more human than any of today’s cities. It’s distinctly new urbanist, with excellent ability to travel on foot. If you pay attention, a plurality, maybe even a majority of exterior shots show the ability to traverse the city on foot on multiple levels, with walkways connecting buildings and crossing streets. It also contains based and basedpilled water features, which make me happy. I think this serves to highlight that current capitalist values of growth are not sustainable or compatible with human living, and we need to cut back on focusing purely on efficiency and profit. That’s not to say the show is anti-capitalist, as highlighted by Kanamori’s character, but we’ll return to that later. I digress. I think the purpose of this world is twofold. The first is to lure us in, and create a sense of comfort. It wants to make this world, one of creativity, friendship, work ethic, and inspiration, one which we want to inhabit more than our own. Secondly, it’s a tonesetter for a tone the show takes often. A calm and relaxation to contrast the moments of excitement. If this show took place just in a normal japanese high school, with identical layout and look (as exist in real life, if you take a saunter through the schools of Tokyo on google earth), I think it would already be significantly worse. If it wasn’t rendered in beautiful form by the talent at Science SARU, it would already be significantly worse. The world is an important foundation upon which the show is built. But it’s not just the worldbuilding that builds this foundation, but also the artistic styles which are used to present it. So let’s talk about __Part Four: The Art of Eizouken__ There are four primary styles to talk about here. The first is the character style, which is pretty quintessentially yuasa. Simple, low detail forms combined with minimal shading make it easy to animate in dynamic motion, and a willingness to stray off model fills them with expression and personality. This anime wants us to notice motion the way an animator does, and so takes time to focus on making that motion wonderful in every scene. You could easily arrange every Yuasa show on a spectrum between cartonyness and non-cartoonyness, with perhaps Kaiba on one end and Ping-Pong on the other, but this manages to embrace both spectacularly. If you take a quick gander at the eizouken gifs on discord, you can see this evidently. The second to discuss is the background style, which is one of the stars of the show. These backgrounds are wonderfully conceived.. The city exteriors are imaginative, and the interior shots contain the type of detailed clutter you normally only get to see in Ghibli films. The outlines are at times sketchy, but at the same time the amount of detail present in the painting, especially when depicting the wear and decay on buildings and materials, combined with the previously mentioned clutter make the world feel deep and believable at a glance. These backgrounds put nearly every other show in anime to shame. Third is the world of imagination, into which we often dive during Asakasa-san’s collaborative ideation sessions. Here, the girls remain mostly the same as their real-life forms, but the backgrounds and objects are seen as loose and sketchy, with wobbling lines and color straying from outlines. Anyone who’s ever been a bad artist knows that making “bad” or “sketchy” art that looks this good is as much a challenge as any other kind of good art. Using this loose style lets them quickly switch between a variety of complex settings without much effort, allowing them to take a few shortcuts in these sequences in ways which feel exceedingly natural. This style is an excellent tonesetter for these sequences, and a wonderful part of the show. Fourth and finally is the in-universe animation style. Cleverly, this style lacks outlines on characters, objects, and backgrounds, instead working with solid chunks of color. Our reality lacks them, their “reality” does, and their animation lacks it once again, making for a neat even-odd pattern. The style is even simpler than our own anime style, but I don’t think it makes it any less. In another world, this would be what anime looks like, and it would be no lesser for it. I want to see an entire show willing to take this bold departure from the present style. Most shows don’t have this many distinct styles going on, and most shows can’t match even one of them. Science SARU and Yuasa are masters of their craft, and this might be their finest showing yet. But it’s only in combination with the music that the aesthetic begins to achieve perfection. __Part Five: The Music__ Fuck, the music is good. The intro, Easy Breezy, serves to ease us into the funky attitude (I can’t believe I just said funky attitude) of Eizouken, and does a great job. The outro, Namae no nai Ao, translating to based title “a blue with no name” is a little more traditional for anime, is what is referred to in the music industry as “a hard slap” or “boppin”, and is incredibly wistful, and a good wind down from the more intense aspects of the show. Both are on my main playlist, which is a good compliment. The background music is great too. Saikyo no Sekai, or as I know it, “the one with the weird synth” (or at least I think it’s a synth, I have no idea how music works), is a particularly goated tonesetter. I’m not knowledgeable enough about this craft to say more, but suffice to say, it’s really fucking good. It’s the glue that holds the aesthetics together, and does its job perfectly. __Part Six: Creation and Characters__ Each of the three main girls in the show highlight different parts of the creative process. The first is Midori Asakusa, who is what you might call the main character. She’s a pretty quintessential creative youth, with ideas she wants to tell, but lacking in the confidence and cohorts to tell them. The difference is that unlike me she’s incredibly talented, but I’ll ignore that for a minute. If there’s an ultimate theme of this show, it’s that you should go and make something. Gather your friends, and create something good. It’s not necessarily an immediate masterpiece, but you should just fucking do it. Asakusa-san is the bearer of that torch in this show, and while we don’t spend much time with the pre-creating-something version of her, she still serves to highlight that theme. But if Asakasa-san (who I will call by no other name, fuck I love alliteration) represents the need to overcome resistance from within the self, Tsubame Mizusaki represents the need to overcome resistance from others, namely her parents. Mizusaki has for her a set path, established by her parents who are both successful actors. She is to be an actor or model too, and, like many children of successful people, is essentially groomed for the role, taking classes from a young age, and already modeling for ads by the time of the show. But her passion is animation. During dance lessons as a child she becomes obsessed with the motion of others, and draws to understand it. She does the same in her daily life, as shown with her grandmother’s tea flick thing. Being an animator is much less lucrative than a model, and not what her parents expect of her, but she wants to chase it anyway. As many of us are held back from chasing our dreams by others, especially parents and their expectations, as by ourselves. The strangest member of the main cast is Sayaka Kanamori. Kanemoney-chan is an unapologetic capitalist with a love for cold hard cash, who I wish I could pay to step on my face. She serves the role of the producer. In most media, the producer is typically portrayed as evil, as the enemy of art, and often as cruel or sadistic people who destroy art for the sake of money. But Kanamori fits into my neat little lens too. Where Asakasa-san represents the need to overcome resistance from the self, and Mizusaki resistance and expectations from others, Kanamori is the warrior who fights resistance from the world. Even the less aggressively capitalistic world of Eizouken is still not one naturally built to support art. Like our own world, it resists art which cannot be profitable. Eizouken depicts the role of the producer as necessary. Someone willing to force the creative types to face the facts and aggressively scope. One who demands they only take on projects they can afford, that will generate the income they need to continue, and that they can finish with their limited staff and time. Anime is ridiculously hard to make. It is among the hardest artforms, due to the sheer number of frames required. For two high schools students to make one themselves is frankly absurd, especially of the quality that is made in this show. But it is only through Kanamori’s efforts that it can be done. Because while the show espouses creation as a virtue above all others, it’s not afraid to show nuance in that theme. They face constant roadblocks and setbacks, ranging from a school unwilling to support them, their own inability to restrain themselves, or having to redo work at the last minute because of a miscommunication with a musician. Eizouken is telling you to go create something, not because it will be easy, but to create something even though it can be hard. It tells you that if you want to create something, you need to be willing to give that thing your all, despite adversity, despite people who won’t believe in you, and despite your own doubt in yourself. When I watch this show, I become enveloped totally in this message, enthralled by its beautiful world. The way Asakasa-san sees *totally-not-castle-in-the-sky/nausicaa* and begins to want to make anime, I see this show and begin to want to make *anything*. __Part Seven: Sticking the landing__ As I said before, a few missed things and this show wouldn’t be nearly as good, but it consistently delivers time after time. The way a music anime lives or dies on its musical numbers, if the anime they made was Not Good, I don’t think the show would work at all. They serve the same purpose a fight scene does in an action show, or a song does in music anime, or a kiss does in a romance show. They draw your attention, and reward you for watching. They build and release tension, they serve as the fulfillment to implicit promises. And fuck do these three shorts land. My single complaint is that I don’t enjoy cutaways to audience reaction, even when they’re cool, because I want to be able to enjoy them as works in isolation. But I digress. These are probably better than high school students could reasonably achieve, but I don’t really care. I love all three of these. The first is simply a very cool action scene, the second a more sponsored, but fun mech anime, and the third an imaginative conflict with a bit of moral/tragic character. One of the highlights of them is the way they illustrate points made to us earlier in the show. We see concepts they discussed earlier, or shots they showed in progress, finished and executed. It’s easy to forget when they talk about how to portray the spinning blades of a windmill realistically in animation, that the “real” windmill itself isn’t real, but once you force yourself out of the intense immersion Eizouken’s world demands, you can observe the lessons they’re teaching you about animation and anime production in both the level of their “real world” and their “anime”. __Part Eight: Conclusion__ I’m going to be brief here. I meant for this to be a shorter review, but it got out of hand quickly. I guess brevity isn’t in my nature. I don’t think I’m a talented enough writer to convince someone to change their mind about a show, and it’s not in human nature to change one’s mind at all. So really, all I'm doing here is preaching to the choir. I know that those who like the show will upvote me, and those who don’t (mostly skeptics and contrarians, in my view), will slam the downvote, the way I did to that one guy who doesn’t like Mob Psycho. But you know, I’m content with that. I’m not really writing this for you, I’m writing it for me. I want to shout into the world about how great every individual aspect of this show is, and I've run out of friends to do it to. So thank you, friends, for listening. If the final score isn’t clear, I’ll state it once more here. One hundred anime points out of one hundred. The greatest show, about the greatest world. See you all next time.
As time's gone on, I've increasingly realised just how much interest I find in art that explores the creative process and experience in one form or another, and in this sense, I'd argue that Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken ends up being one of the strongest examples of how such a story can be told right. What truly sets it apart for me is the way in which it delves into the whole concept of naive optimism clashing with harsher elements of reality without ever feeling as if the stakes of the situation are raised to any particularly high levels. This not only allows the series to maintain a very chill, comfy atmosphere, but it ends up being utilised as a tool to strengthen the personal motivations of each character instead, reinforcing the whole idea that the protagonists are doing this for the sake of their own artistic expression as opposed to needing to do it based on an outside force pushing them towards it all, focusing instead on the intrinsic rewards many experience from being able to express themselves in one way or another. What truly makes me appreciate what's done from here however, is the way in which this moral argument is used to further refine and add nuance to what is being conveyed, which is where Kanamori's character comes in as essentially a way of forcing the naturally optimistic characters of Asakusa and Mizusaki to further consider their approach to situations. Having a character so entirely uninsterested in the process beyond how it can lead to monetary gain is interestingly handled with how she's framed against the rest of the cast. Typically I would find such character traits in a series like this to be framed entirely antagonistically, a sort of foil that attempts to stifle creativity or force an artist to commit to something they're unhappy with, but by making her instead be yet another friend who helps them along, it paints the idea of needing to be realistic, compromise and curbing one's own ambitions as a positive and natural element of the workflow. Rather than trying to paint an endless amount of unstoppable creativity and drive to craft something around all of your interesting thoughts as an absolute virtue, it's framed as an important thing to keep in check if you want to actually get anything done, and I feel that this theme is something that can be carried through to the dynamics between Kanamori in general, she's stern and completely disinterested in the art side of things, and yet she's nonetheless integral with the way she brings reality into the overblown dreams of those who surround her. Even putting aside the fact that I love how all this is handled, I'd be remiss if I mentioned a Masaaki Yuasa project and didn't touch upon the fantastic art. The character designs in general are so wonderfully unconventional, with the artstyle definitely contributing towards this, with the characters all looking a bit strange and angular, along with the animation often tapping far more into cartoonish aspects that aren't afraid to be constatnly going entirely off model to further sell the sense of expression that comes across. Just watching this completely removed from any of the narrative is a joy in its own right, with the idiosyncratically construcated setting promoting the idea of finding beauty and wonder in even the most innocuous things, and doing this consistently throughout basicallly the entire 12 episode run. The sense of beauty is further displayed through the sections which represent a sketchbook, everything becoming far more messily composed while retaining the key details required to get the point across, and overall leads to so many moments of amazing spectacle in a show that's for the most part as chill and down to earth as it is, with even the more ridiculous elements being played completely straight as if it's nothing to really need to pay attention to at all. Overall this is a fantastic watch that I highly recommend, especially for those who appreciate a good story about artistic passion and all that goes along with it.
Animation has always been, and always will be, a versatile medium. From its initial inception in the late 19th century to now, animation all across the world tackled all sorts of stories and subject matter, and is capable of feats that live-action media can't replicate. Unfortunately, a good majority of people wrongly dismiss animation as just babysitting fodder for children, refusing to believe that it can be used to tell all kinds of stories. While that mindset is slowly going away, it's still around, and considering all the sad news about certain companies not only outright cancelling a crap ton of cartoons, but refusing to compensate animators for all their hard work and pretty much throwing them under the bus, it's probably not going to go away any time soon. Looking at you, David Zaslav and Warner Brothers. Luckily, Japan got the message pretty early on, and from the seventies onward, it treated animation as a medium just as capable of creative storytelling as anything else. That's not to say other countries don't do the same, but that's beyond the scope of this review. Plus, even as some people still treat animation as little more than children's fare or _Family Guy_ knock-offs, there are still plenty of stuff made by people who love and revere animation as an art form, with the subject of today's review, _Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken_, being very much a love letter to animation as a whole. When Midori Asakusa was young, she became fascinated not just with animation, but how its made. When she enters high school alongside her cynical, money-grubbing friend Sayaka Kanamori, she dreams of creating an anime set in the weirdly constructed campus of her high school. But she's not exactly good at talking to people and is rather shy by nature, so she hasn't been able to take that first step. While attending a screening at their school's anime club, they encounter Tsubame Mizusaki, a rich and famous model who also happens to be a classmate of theirs. Upon learning that Mizusaki also wants to become an animator, the three of them become fast friends, with Mizusaki and Asakusa finding common ground in their shared interest, though Kanamori mainly sees encouraging their interest as a way to make some cash. Together, this eclectic trio intend on creating an animation club so they can bring their creations into reality. I initially passed over Eizouken when it first came out, because at the time, I was still deep into my anime burnout, and didn't claw myself out of it until COVID hit. It's only now, three years after it first aired, that I finally decided to sit down and watch it, especially now that Sentai Filmworks FINALLY has a release date set for their blu-ray set for the series this year. For the sake of brevity, I'm just gonna keep referring to the series as just Eizouken. For an anime that's entirely about the medium of animation, whoever decided to have Masaaki Yuasa and his company Science Saru produce the anime for Eizouken deserves a medal, because it's made clear from the very first frame that Yuasa and Science Saru understood the assignment they were given. The character designs are all unique, looking nothing like your typical anime character designs, but are expressive and lively, with Yuasa's team bringing them to life with his signature style of movement exaggeration. The backgrounds are given just as much attention, with the show taking place in a bizarre cityscape that actually has a pretty rich history and feels like a character in and of itself, from the sci-fi-esque architecture to the little nooks and crannies Asakusa and friends find whenever they're out and about. One thing to note about Eizouken as a series is that there are segments that take place in Asakusa and Mizusaki's imaginations, showing how immersed they are when they start thinking about how to animate things, contemplating story ideas, or explaining sci-fi concepts. These fantasy segments are animated with watercolor backgrounds, rough linework, and intentionally messy renders, reminiscent of storyboards and indicative of the creative process, which I think was a stroke of genius on the animation team's part. The usage of all these different animation styles, even the outline-less pastels in the short films the club creates, really highlight the medium's overall versatility, which makes sense since Eizouken is about showing off how great the medium can be. The soundtrack I'm admittedly a bit more mixed on. It's not bad or anything, and the techno sounds that are present throughout the OST are used pretty effectively. The songs are well sung, too. I'm just not really a fan of heavy usage of techno in general, and there were some noises in Eizouken's OST that really hurt my ears, like the weird dial-up-esque beeping noise that appears whenever the girls get lost in their imaginations. I guess it's more a matter of personal taste for me. It's definitely not a bad soundtrack though, don't get me wrong. I will say that the sound design is very unique, not just in the regular things, like the usual sound effects. Did you know that some of the sound effects, particularly the ones that appear when Asakusa and Mizusaki get lost in their imaginations, were done by the voice actors themselves? To quote another reviewer, from the pat pat pat of propeller blades to the ch ch ch of a train on the tracks, even the whoosh of wind rushing through the air, is done by the leads VA’s. It’s incredibly charming, fits the scenes perfectly, and lends itself well to Eizouken’s “homemade” aesthetic. The characters themselves are also a huge highlight for Eizouken as a whole. The main trio in particular all have the right balance of personality, quirks, strengths, and flaws that actually make them feel like three-dimensional people rather than just generic cutesy anime stereotypes. Everything from the way they carry themselves to even the quirks in their speech really bring them to life in the best way possible. I could really relate to Asakusa in particular, being shy around people and passionate about her interests. While they don't always change over the course of the story (With Kanamori being the biggest example of this), the way the anime gradually shows us what they're like and what drives them to do what they do manage to do an amazing job at changing the viewer's perspective on them. I love all these dumb kids. I kinda wish some of the side characters like Doumeki and Sowande could have gotten more screentime, though. That being said, my only other complaint about Eizouken is the character of Kanamori. Don't get me wrong, she's a perfectly fine character who bounces off Asakusa and Mizusaki amazingly, and her interactions with the rest of the characters are fun to watch. My problem with Kanamori isn't her penny-pinching ways or the fact that she sometimes goes too far in her criticism of Asakusa and Mizusaki sometimes. My issue with her is that she's somehow able to pull off all sorts of amazing feats and get connections with powerful people that no middle schooler should be able to, and the fact that she manages to pull it all off to solve whatever problem is in front of the club kind of makes her feel less like a character and more like a walking talking get-out-of-jail-free plot device or a force of nature that pulls solutions out of her butt whenever its convenient. Seriously, what kid her age is able to somehow garner a crap ton of media coverage around a short cartoon film and get said media coverage to turn out positive? In terms of story, I've heard people compare Eizouken to _Ed, Edd n Eddy_, and I can absolutely see the similarities, as both are shows about three kids hanging around town and getting into adventures. But Eizouken is more structured, has an actual plot, and isn't anywhere near as mean-spirited as the later seasons of _Ed, Edd n Eddy_ got. Eizouken's story in general isn't very complex, as it focuses solely on our main trio trying to make an anime and showing the work they put in to make it happen, exploring the realities of running a studio and making compromises in order to make your vision come into shape. But the strength of the characters and their colorful personalities give more meat to what would be a fairly rote story, and its unabashed celebration of the medium shines through in every frame, elevating Eizouken into something special. Bottom line, _Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken_ is a fun, energetic series that absolutely oozes with love for not only its source material, but for the medium of animation as a whole, and you absolutely should not miss out on it. Now if only certain people would acknowledge that animation is just as valid a medium as live-action movies and TV and not screw over the people who work on it. AGAIN, LOOKING AT YOU DAVID ZASLAV!!
~~~img220(https://i.imgur.com/zieM584.png) Working on a project that you just can’t seem to get off the ground? Maybe you’re struggling with a bout of writer’s block. Or maybe you feel as if you’ve lost your creative edge. Fear not, because this recommendation is coming piping hot with imagination, straight off the stove. It’s the be all and end all cure for creative stagnation. Each time I watch this series I feel like I’ve been slapped in the face and told to get off my ass and get started on making my dreams a reality. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the review where I answer the question, is Keep Your hands off Eizouken the most motivating anime of all time? It most definitely is. And you tell me if the plot sounds familiar. Midori is a socially awkward otaku who’s so captivated by anime that she internalizes the art form and spends her time illustrating landscapes and gadgets that spill from her imagination onto a piece of paper. Upon showing her friend Kanamori, who’s more interested in monetary gain than animation, the anime club. Not long after, Kanamori suggests that Midori make her own anime. But Midori tells her that producing a high quality anime requires a team. Low and behold we’re introduced to Mizusaki. A young model who’s forbidden to participate in the anime club since her parents know that her passion for animation will take precedence over her acting career. After saving Mizusaki from a scuffle with her family’s bodyguard, the three team up and decide to start their own anime production. I’m sure most of the people watching this, myself included, felt represented through Midori’s intense fascination with anime. But you don’t have to be a connoisseur of Japanese animation to relate to Midori’s passion for a medium. And coming to that realization that, sometimes, even if I hate working in teams, it can be the most sensible and rewarding option to combine your efforts with others towards a shared goal with different skills you each bring to the table. This show accurately represents the mind-blowing revelation that’s felt when you realize that a human-being made a piece of art that left a life altering impact in your life. img220(https://i.imgur.com/z5DOotr.gif) But the show’s relatability isn’t all it has going for it. The bond between Midori, Kanamori, and Mizusaki are the heart and soul of this anime. Their relationship feels deep, nuanced, and that they all genuinely enjoy each other’s company. They can be playful, but they also manage to push each other’s buttons without realizing it. Kanamori is usually the one to keep the others from having their heads stuck in the clouds. While the other two try their best to keep Kanamori from only thinking about the dollar. But it’s not that cut and dry because the writing of these characters, and the dialogue between them, is engrossing to see play out. Their banter is witty, clever, and charming. Midori, being the most socially inept, is almost always running on high energy and panics very easily. Her spastic behavior is nicely juxtaposed by the equally weird, more financially apt, but slightly less aloof, Mizusaki. Who’s always just stoked to have the opportunity to be able to work on her passion without her parent’s leash. And the clever ways in which Kanamori both helps and at times uses the other two for both their and her own benefit is amusing and hilarious to watch. Her infatuation with money doesn’t come off as greedy or selfish. The show manages to portray her monetary focused nature in a light that’s mutualistic and good natured. Had the characters all been similar in personality to just one of the trio’s members, then I couldn’t imagine this show being nearly as enjoyable as it is. The character’s personality and quirks compliment each other so well that their friendship feels true to life. It’s a joy to watch their friendship and scope of their club bloom over the course of the series. Seeing the crew go through leaps and bounds just for the sake of producing their own anime fills me with a resolute desire to create. It’s not only the troubles and tribulations the club pushes through that evokes such feelings within me, but also the show’s immaculate visuals. The show is oozing with so much creativity and blissful wonder that I am mesmerized by the sheer beauty and magnitude of the show. The show has two main visual settings for the most part, their real world and their fantasy world. You’d imagine that their real world would be by the numbers. But it’s quite possibly the most beautiful feature of this anime aside from Kanamori. The scenery of their town is otherworldly. Looking like an island straight out of The Legend of Zelda: The WindWaker. The buildings in the main town and school are enchanting and modern, yet decrepit and baron with mismatched spacious architecture. The vibe of the town, when it’s not raining or night time, is coastal, bright, and filled with beaming light aquatic colors. And even when it’s raining, extremely windy, night time, or in an underground shopping district it’s able to perfectly shift the mood from energetic and adventurous to cozy, laid back, and cold. And the beauty of the visuals don’t end there with its detailed stills, backgrounds and variety of other visual styles when in their fantasy world. But also in its capability to educate the audience on the actual process of producing an anime. Which I not only commemorate for being able to construct these worlds that are vast and intricate, but to simultaneously strip them down in a way that the audience can easily grasp while managing to preserve the magical whimsy of an anime. I came out of watching these fantasy segments with a tighter grasp on the process of animation. If I wasn’t gawking at the show’s unique style, raw beauty, or being educated about animation, I was laughing at the show’s sense of humor that’s well demonstrated in the banter and the way the character’s faces are animated. img220(https://i.imgur.com/rD712fO.jpg) The faces they make can be equal parts simple, as it is hilarious and detailed. I am a sucker for highly animated and emotive facial expressions. The humor is equal parts endearing and dry. On par with the enjoyment I had from the comedic, was its soundtrack. It’s full of many upbeat tracks filled with beach and coastal vibes with a sense of mysticism. Perfectly capturing the vibe of going on adventures with your friends. I was surprised at how many songs were heavily composed of mathy guitars and were high tempo, given the show’s chill atmosphere. This is actually personified in one of the show’s most visually impressive scenes when the waves/vibrations of the sounds physically manifest themselves in a scene involving audio archivist and most underrated girl of the series, Doumeki. Demonstrating that this show has what it takes to add a new character late into the game without feeling like it’s jumping the shark. Which is a great example of this show being able to pull off a task that many other anime struggle with accomplishing, and it’s this show’s ability to do such that I find inspirational. Everytime I watch Eizouken I get motivated, more so than watching a video about David Goggins. Is Keep Your hands off Eizouken the most creatively inspiring anime of all time? It is, because while it’s undeniably a love letter to Japanimation, it’s not waxing poetic about the creative process as a whole and the show isn’t afraid to remind you of the hardships that come with undertaking creative endeavors. But that’s part of it’s allure to me, despite showing that aspect, seeing the characters persevere for the sake of accomplishing a personal goal they set for themselves speaks volumes to me on a personal level. And if Eizouken doesn’t get you motivated, then I’m not sure what will. img220(https://i.imgur.com/Tx9hFHO.jpg)~~~