Review: Keep Your Hands off Eizouken!

 

Review: Keep Your Hands off Eizouken!
Studio: Science Saru
Years aired: January-March 2020

AniB’s thoughts:

A well-received show back in the winter season of 2020, Keep Your Hands off Eizouken! was one series I never had a chance to really cover until now at the renewed urging of a great friend who’s got a lot of anime expertise. I had been aware of the rather popular meme shot of the main cast from the show’s opening, Easy Breezy but didn’t really know what to think of it. Furthermore, the previous offering I’d watched from director Maasaki Yuasa was 2018’s Devilman Crybaby, a show I’d reviewed with some scathing criticism that definitely in part stemmed from a personal distaste on the source material. But this piece is not about that show but rather, Eizouken.

If you were looking for a master class on how to maximize one’s efficiency in the standard 12-13 episode cour of anime, this might be the poster child for it. Not a single frame of animation is wasted, the storytelling is crisp and snappy with a lively pacing, and the plot feels engaging and fun with enough stakes to make every interaction feel like it matters. But more importantly: it’s a love letter to the medium of animation itself while also being completely meta about it. Fundamentally Eizouken is a show about 3 high school girls from decidedly different backgrounds with very different personalities meshing together to begin their own anime production club (the titular Eizouken) and subsequently, the projects that they produce are at the forefront of the show’s 3 tightly packed arcs.

The show also avoids the eminently common trap of not overextending itself with its cast in such a tight number of episodes. While longer-running shows have the luxury of not having to be so reductive in their approach to character development, many a one-season show runs afoul of the trap of “main character has a quest, supporting characters get a focus episode and then fade to the background” and at the end what’s left is pretty generic slop in terms of characterization. Eizouken on the other hand keeps focus tightly on the main trio of characters (Midori Asakusa, Sayaka Kanamori, and Tsubame Mizusaki) allowing their interactions with each other and the world around them (and with animation) take center stage. Subsequently the show’s other supporting characters work when needed without mistaking their role: support. This goes from Parker Domeki, the lone Audio Club member who becomes the Eizouken’s pseudo-4^th member as a sound engineer; Sowande Sawaki, the sharp and watchful secretary on the school’s student council, and the occasional appearance of Mr. Fujimoto as club advisor, whose incredibly laid-back disposition makes him good comedic balance with timing.

If the commendation about the pacing and characters weren’t enough, the animation itself is just wonderful in Eizouken. A show about animators making animation does a lot of showing, not telling- and they actually have distinct styles for each “phase” if you will within the series’ episodes: from the regular style used for the real world characters and people, to the sketchbook style that reflects Asakusa’s inner mind as well as the smooth line and movements conveyed from Mizusaki; and then the distinctly soft edges of the actual productions the group produces in each arc which are indeed works of art in themselves. And behind the stellar animation the very plot takes care to actually touch on all the major aspects of animation production within this show: from backgrounds to movement details, to the hard financial realities of actually making anything while having someone to keep the creative minds on track, a role Kanamori plays to perfection.

It’s hard to believe how one year’s shows start to become older quickly but Eizouken is one that should continue to hold up well into the future, with a certain timeless charm to its story and characters. Hopefully it does not get lost for viewers further in the future in the constant churn of seasonal shuffle, but at least to this reviewer: it did not. A hearty recommendation indeed.

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Animation: Already discussed in my thoughts, the animation of this show both shows a great attention to detail and is actively contributing to the storytelling on the screen. Eizouken understands the medium it’s working in and it’s not just about looking nice: it’s about doing things only animation can do- like taking you to a world beyond your reach. In turn, that plays perfectly into the very plot of the show. 5/5 points.

Characters: A small cast that maximizes the development of its main three members in the time it has, with all of them feeling equally important in the plot and even in any given episode.

Asakusa is the first character we’re introduced to in the series: a short girl with a massive imagination, she’s both the director and storyboarding artist for the Eizouken club. Sporting a distinct camo fishing hat and matching backpack through the series, her bursts of imaginative thinking on the worlds and plots of the anime the group works on are iconic. Coupled with her boundless enthusiasm and upbeat personality, she’s always fun to watch on screen, but she needs a balance. And that balance is…

The glue of the trio, Kanamori is a natural businesswoman with an eye for the pragmatic and the opportunistic. She’s also the most grounded of the group, and is singlehandedly responsible for driving the economic and social media success of the club through her natural savvy. Always speaking with unabashed realism, there are few more intimidating things then when she flashes a smile- because it means she’s cooking on a plan. But in turn, she proves to be a most reliable, loyal comrade, as Asakusa would put it.

Finally there’s Mizasaki. A teenage model who came from wealth (her parents are both renowned actors) she is somewhat naive to the ways of the working class world, but not stuck up or pretentious in the slightest. Her passion burns brightly for movement and detail in animation work, which also tied in with the modeling background she had- and so she’s in charge of the character work for the Eizouken. Mizasuki feels a strong need to prove her passion in making anime to her parents (a plotline that sees some resolution in the show) and often gets caught up in Asakusa’s day-dreaming antics as well, leading to Kanamori often needing to keep the two of them on track to complete projects.

If it wasn’t evident, it’s an excellent little cast. They were able to fully flesh out these characters in 12 episodes and without any of them being relegated or feeling underdeveloped. I imagine with more time some of the supporting cast mentioned in the thoughts section would receive further development, but there was absolutely nothing to complain about here. 5/5 points.

Story: Split into three tightly paced arcs, the show’s overarching plot concerns the formation of the Eizouken and the subsequent execution of the club’s activities (which also feed into each girl’s own desires and ambitions.) Within the arcs themselves though there are fun subplots, different little unique bits of characterization and problems to maneuver through, and typically the solutions feel collaborative- as in one person alone can’t solve the arc’s issues, which is pretty realistic to teamwork in real life careers. There’s something clean and straightforward about the show’s progression as well- this isn’t a tearjerker or a suspense thriller, but what it is it executes to near perfection. That context is important.  5/5 points.

Themes: Fundamentally Eizouken is about the joy of animation and the work one has to put in to realize their dreams and ambitions. It’s a story that can resonate with mostly anyone, especially so to long-time animation fans, and I would not be surprised if this show also was a favorite of people in the industry either. I’m not sure the depth of the themes reaches the highest stratosphere of what a show can do, but this is hardly an indictment on what otherwise proves to be a clean, smooth work in almost every meaningful regard.  4/5 points.

Intangibles: In the entirety of this review from start to finish, the note about “attention to details” is an ever-present identity that cannot be parsed from the success of the overall story and production that was conveyed. This extraordinary detail extends as well to the music and sounds: the audio is also used smartly to advance the storytelling, but it’s like a great chef preparing a virtuoso meal: Much went in but nothing was wasted.  5/5 points.

Total: 24/25 (96%): A rare show deserving all the praise headed its way, it is a technical masterpiece that can be best summed up as “it’s an outstanding show about people making a medium you’re already watching.” Maybe that’s a bit reductive, but there are few things more beautiful than something simple that is elevated in every way by how it was made. Keep Your Hands off Eizouken! qualifies.

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