Eizouken ni wa Te wo Dasu na!

Eizouken. This was a pretty good show.

Eizouken is about a group of girls who wanted to do animation movies/videos as a club in their school—Kanamori, Asazuka, and Mizusaki aka the famous girl.

Oh boy, do I have a lot to say?

First off, the first thing I notice is the opening. Holy crap is the opening good. Seriously good opening. The music in general in Eizouken is super good! I am not going to notice it haha. Second of all, the animation is amazing. The animation is super smooth, and it is amazing how they bridge the gap between reality and imagination. Midori's imagination is always ... overflowing with so many things so it is great that this anime can visualize it so clearly. I love it!

The actual story. Look, I love creation animes. For example, Bakuman is one of my favorite animes! Like seriously gives me hope determination and grit. The comparison between Bakuman and Eizouken is uncanny. While Eizouken is an anime and Bakuman is creating a manga, they both struggle a ton and in the end get amazing results. See, the main problem I have with Eizouken is Kanamori. Most people in the Eizouken fandom love Kanamori, but in my opinion, I do not. Kanamori is the embodiment of a strict and not nice manager that you have. If I were Midori or Mizusaki, I would not have had as much fun with Kanamori. Sure, it is good to have someone keeping you in line, but even Kanamori's motives are so wrong. She does not consider anyone to be friends, influences Midori to think friendship does not exist, and joins the anime club due to the monetization she sees. She does not join because of her passion for animation and art, as opposed to Asazuka, Mizusaki, or the 2 leads in Bakuman: Takagi and Mashiro. The thing is, a lot of moments Kanamori sure does shine out and helps the group. Most of the time, however, she is bossy, dismissive, and mean in general. Even the times she helps the group out is entirely selfish and gets her way all the time even if it means bending the rules/being mean to a ton of people. I do not support Kanamori whatsoever.

Other than that I somewhat enjoyed the show. It had okayish humour.

If they rewrote this anime to not have as much Kanamori influence it would be an 8/10

Score: 6/'10
Thanks!
-CyanCheetah

So, that was fun... Kinda.

Not a big fan the of slice-of-life genre, but I was hooked after viewing the first trailer. I felt that it was going to deliver a fun story that wasn't going to simply be about the tedious details of animation production, but rather the imagination that goes into producing anime. And, that's exactly what this show delivers. It's basically about two girls letting their imagination run wild to create anime while resolving production issues alongside their third partner who acts as their manager. And most of the time this is done really well. The animation is beautiful. The characters are ... fun and likeable. There really isn't a lot to dislike except...

... It can get VERY VERY BORING. The show has one trick up its sleeve:

01. Asakusa and Misuzsaki begin brainstorming a new anime. They barely get any work done.
02. Kanamori berates them for not getting enough work done because they're brainstorming too much.
03. The girls cut it close in terms of meeting their deadline. They have still barely done anything.
04. Kanamori starts getting louder. Physically abuses Asakusa. Slapstick humor. Misuzsaki gets hysterical because she wants things done her way. She never wants to compromise.
05. There's usually a big issue that appears right before the project is due. They manage to resolve it and get the project done. It's a success.

REPEAT.

Again, and again, and again.

They worked on three projects this season. This scenario basically happens that way three times. The first time it was cute. I was sorta okay when it happened the second time although I found that scenes showing the creative process for that project to kind of annoying. And for all of Misuzsaki's talk of her parents disapproving of her passion for creating anime, it is like they barely cared when they finally learn of what she's been doing in her free time. That was a massive letdown. By the time the third project rolled around the show began feeling really repetitive. There's barely any conflict in their lives other than timing issues and the smallest of arguments with the student council. No big obstacles or hardships that they have to overcome. Little to no character growth. Asakusa has social anxiety at the start of the season. She still has social anxiety by the end of the season. Kanamori is a hard ass to her friend at the start of the season. She doesn't soften by end of the season. It just all feels the same.

It feels like I watched the same four episode story linethree times in a span of 12 episodes. I originally had this rated as a 10 because I was really loving it early on, but after a while it became a slog to get through.

It's really good but flawed. If they do another season I hope there's more substance to this show.

First of all, I'm sorry if my English is not very correct sometimes, it's not my native language.

Imaginative and exciting are the words that define my feelings towards Eizouken, the recent anime from the much-loved director Masaaki Yuasa.
This series is a love letter to animation, illustrated as a hard work of imagination, teamwork, and improving again and again.
The story itself is pretty simple, 3 girls form a club to make anime, they will encounter the difficulties and realize how much effort is actually needed. I think that the story progresses very fluidly and shows many aspects of what making an anime imply and the different ... steps for making one (pre production, story board,etc...).
The passion for what you do is the most important factor when working, as our protagonists shows throughout the episodes. The moments I really loved in the show is when it transports you in its imagination and creativity in those scenes where they're like transported into their mind, in a world with an outstanding sense of detail and creativity, presented with so much excitement that it's difficult not to feel their love for what they do.

Our trio of protagonists works really well, as a workers trio and also a comic one, there is a nice chemistry between the characters and the dialogues feels very natural and funny. We have the very shy and creative Asakusa, the expressive and talented Mizusaki, they both share a passion for the anime medium.
And there is our top tier waifu Kanamori, which is a calculated person who's more interested in making profit, she's the manager of the club and her job is so important. She always stops them from dreaming too much and tell them that they have to make sacrifices, so they can follow the imposed deadlines (I didn't know that this was that difficult and complex to produce anime). there is a strong opposition between her character and Asakusa, and this makes some really hilarious scenes, I think there is a cool dynamic here.
But the show also reminds us that sometimes, taking a break from what you were doing is essential too.

The art style and animation are really freaking good in this show, it's very expressive, especially with the characters faces, and it feels like the show is always moving.

The music is also cool and fit pretty well the different scenes, it just works really nicely.

In the end, what I love about this anime is that it feels very complete and filled with interested stuff happening in just 12 episodes, while being so entertaining and fresh. I discovered a lot of things, like how anime can be made and how difficult it is to produce, but also how communication is a crucial factor for success.
So don't sleep on Eizouken if you want to learn new things and discover the fascinating world of the anime industry, while also having a very fun time.

Thanks for reading my little review, this is my first time making one so feel free to tell me your thoughts about it and things I could improve.

Story

From the story itself's quite simple, just a girl who loves anime and inspire to make her own anime

Art

The Character design is simple, yet interesting, recognizeable and unique
as for background is really well drawn, setting in the weird designed town and school, the background's overlay'd with some texture, and animated rough sketch, the artist who draw BG is really pay attention to the details all just like in the manga, if you really care. The environment details is also amazing, they put lot of things that can be a material on the scene which mean everything has its own meaning to be placed there.

Character
...
The character is amazing, 3 of them make a good combination
Sayaka, She's the one who manage the financial but
not only supporting in financial, She also taking care of these two airhead in the line, and digging their true potential
So basically, Sayaka is a Producer
Midori And Tsubame: Make a good pair, both are artist but has their own speciality, Midori is focused on Background, Art Concept or World Building
And Tsubame is focused on Character Animation, Pose to Pose, perspective character, etc

Overall:
I really have to say, it's just the start of 2020 but I think this really has the potential to be Anime of the Year.

It captures everything we love about anime: Imagination, creativity, wonder and friendship. Without going into too much detail, it's about a girl who loves adventure and wants to make her own anime who meets someone just like her.
This anime has TONS of Value that you can learn from it,
as someone who works on Animation industries, i can guarantee it.

Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken was a unique little gem of the Winter 2020 anime season focusing on a trio of oddball high school girls who team up to form their own anime club, while maneuvering around students and school faculty to realize visions for their works. The fun of the series comes from the chemistry between our three female leads within Eizouken. Kanamori typically serves as "straight man" to be realistic in the club's efforts and usually snaps Asakusa and Mizusaki back to reality when they get too immersed into envisioning their ideas. The imaginative spots with Asakusa also serve as the creative highlight ... of the series as they offer a fun and immersive experience for getting into her head with sorting out elements of any animated work she wants to put together.

Outside of this, the series also does a believable job with depicting the challenges that the trio get into with creating their works that helps add a bit more dimension to Eizouken. Elements of the creative and collaborative process with putting together an anime short film are believably depicted with Asakusa and Mizusaki starting off rough with developing their works in a believable time frame for upcoming events. Collaboration with other clubs leads to additional complications as Asakusa has to learn to collaborate with others she's not comfortable being around and there is usually miscommunication between the Eizouken Club and other clubs involving elements of animated projects they are putting together.

A particular element to the series that may be divisive for some anime fans is Eizouken's animation style. Normal scenes with the characters are depicted to be pretty simple in detail and animation being nothing too out of the ordinary. However during Asakusa's daydreaming, the series gets quite experimental with its animation as it depicts different animation styles that are deceptively more elaborate and fluid with their details and movements compared to the mundane scenes within the series. Also, the characters are drawn with a variety of looks and facial expressions that make them look more diverse and not simply having the same type of facial design with different colors for eye and hair color. For example, compare Mizusaki looking more conventionally beautiful in appearance compared to the plain appearances of Asakusa and Kanamori to catch my drift.

If you're a fan of anime creation and have interest in titles that dabble into such realms, Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken is a fun comedy anime to get in to thanks to the chemistry with its three lead characters, Asakusa's imaginative daydreams, and the believable developments the series gets into with the trio trying to create animated projects. I'd at least implore fans of this realm to check out the series at least once.

"Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."

'Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!' is nothing short of a great cluster of creativity. In fact, the switching art style between the monotone draft version and colorful final product makes the animation much more realistic and impactful. This type of art style is simply ingenious for the theme that it was going for, intertwining fantasy and reality.

It brings out the fun of creating a new world, the enjoyment in recreating movements in characters and planning the whole production process. Though it's not as detailed as Shirobako, it does has its own merits in its anime production and managed ... to encapsulate the fun and struggles to forming a harmonic teamwork.

The perspectives of the animator duo seeing the world is more to abstract side, while Kanamoney mostly stays on the realistic side. This is an interesting contrast that separates them, yet connects them as comrades. It shows that all dreams come with a price. It could be a bowl of ramen, a bottle of milk or pulling several all-nighters. Whatever it is, know that this trip is up to the challenge. And they will stop at nothing, to achieve their goal.

Overall, Eizouken managed to climb to the top because of its interchanging art style and unique storytelling mode that transcends different dimensions. The setting is more to adventure and exploration than stuffing you with a bunch of how-to-make-anime knowledge. It shows that anything, with enough interest invested in it, can be fun. Of course, you could join them too. But, remember one thing.

Keep you hands off Eizouken!

Do you love anime? Are you passionate about it? Eizouken is a show about passion and love for anime. Eizouken also shows us the intricacies of making an anime, from the storyboard, sound design, animation, etc. It shows us that it does not only takes skill and hard work when making an anime, but It also takes dedication and passion for the medium to truly make an anime.

Story: 10/9 The story is simple enough for everyone to understand. Its a story about 3 girls who really love anime. Because of this, they wanted to join the anime club, but Mizusaki's parents don't want her to ... join one, instead, they tried to make a new animation club disguised as a motion pictures club. Thus the 3 started making anime to their heart's content.

Art: 10/10 The art was amazing and unique. Masaaki Yuasa did an amazing job capturing the girl's imagination. The way things are animated is just so unique and good. We jump from the shows normal art style and the 3 girl's imagination. The art has to be the strongest aspect of Eizouken.

Sound: 10/9 The Voice acting was pretty good, The SFX was amazing, and the OST was amazing too. I really liked it when the show used the VAs voices for the SFX. The voice acting was refreshing because of the realistic voices of the characters. The OP is the best!!!!! I love the op. The BGM is also solid, they did a good job on capturing the right mood for the scenes.

Character: 10/9 The characters are so likable, especially Kanamori, She's my favorite character in the show because of her personality and character design. All the characters interactions are great they don't feel off. The characters developments are decent and overall it's pretty great

Enjoyment and Overall 10/9 I enjoyed every episode of Eizouken. It never drags it's always enjoyable and seeing the girls put love and passion in their anime is just so good to watch. Watch this if you like anime and making anime.

In a general view it is good but not perfect I will explain it below.

The direction is slightly lost in the middle of the first half, making it less funny and more boring to watch, failing to have a very good timing, but after the second half the anime does not sin at all and just improves.

The character design of the characters is sublime but simple, but perfectly reflects their personalities and is one of the strengths of the anime. What elevates this anime is the animation, comedy, soundtrack and development of the characters together with the development of friendship which generates ... feelings for the group and for the individual personality of each one, the construction of the characters is very well placed.

Animation: With this anime he can show me that animation and fluidity are not the same, animation is practically everything that moves on the screen and fluidity says which fluid it is even kind of obvious.

Soundtrack: Starting with opening and ending simply one of the best I've seen in my life. The soundtrack theme is good and fits well throughout the anime but what draws attention is that several of the soundtracks are made by mouth, when they are creating the anime, which makes it very funny and thus favoring the comedy . I can not fail to mention in which some moments of the anime, the sound effect and the dubbing come together eg: when a character is talking to kanamori and he is holding a paper in his hand and when he speaks and puts the paper over his mouth the voice is muffled which gives realism to the work and is very good and also the honorable message for the voice actress of Asakusa, who was really excellent.

Art is simple in all characters, but it considerably favors the anime's mood, and that in ALL episodes makes you laugh, it all means talking about creativity, which is something incredible and also very well detailed and something we don't normally see. this in other animes, at least not in the way that is applied in Eizouken, the script is within the expected is considered by me ok

The best moments in Eizouken are when the girls brainstorm for a project and allow their imaginations to run wild. The setting changes to a dream like state where anything seems possible. They have discussions about the practicality of designs, if structures should be added, what scenarios should change, all the while the viewer is able to share their artistic vision as their ideas are brought to life in vivid detail. Then suddenly its sunset and you realize they’ve been brainstorming for eight hours straight with no breaks. That’s passion. And Eizouken is all about passion.

But passion is nothing without a source to draw ... inspiration from, and Eizouken stresses that animation is not invented purely from the mind of the artist. Everything the girls create is a product of their own interactions with their surrounding environment. Animation is in fact directly inspired by real life interactions, even though we tend to think of it as fantasy. This explains why animation styles and themes in works are so different across cultures. Same with film, literature, anything of the sort. This is a detail that detractors of animation will miss as they denounce the field as a "waste of time" or a product of childhood immaturity, as opposed to a compliment to the world we live in today.

Passion is also nothing without a proper support system, whether that be financial or peer companionship. Kanamori, Asakusa and Mizusaki fit together like puzzle pieces and as a trio work towards achieving a common goal. Kanamori is perhaps the oddest figure of the bunch in her complete lack of artistic talent, but her blunt rationality is no less valuable than the ability to draw. She is the defacto producer of the group who leads the decision making process and maneuvers her team around conflict so that they can focus on their strengths without arbitrary interruption. I can see people who have aspirations about working in the animation industry but have no actual artistic talent being inspired by her ability to contribute to a successful team. I certainly am.

There are no major conflicts in Eizouken, in the sense of some catastrophic danger or an evil antagonist who threatens to thwart the heroes plans. The story moves forward at a brisk pace without annoying interruptions causing things to screech to an halt. But there are many micro-hurdles that are nonetheless threatening to the completion of their projects. For example, one of the early issues is hand drawn versus computer generated animation. Even though Ayakasa and Mizusaki want to hand draw everything to ensure best quality, this may not be practical because of time constraints and they are forced to consider using the method available to them that's most efficient. "Nothing matters if we don't finish it" - wise sage Kanamori. This serves as commentary on anime that fall short of their visual potential because of financial and staff limitations that force studios to cut corners. It's not really an indictment on the people working on the show - these are some of the best artists on the planet - as much as the stress placed upon them to crank out episodes on a strict deadline and having limited resources available to them. There's a good deal of commentary on the dilemmas faced by animators who are not always able to control the quality of their work, and not always free to take liberties in their artwork away from the structure of a a project due to concerns about audience interests.

Unlike many other anime of this ilk that are concerned with convincing an audience of why an industry is great, Eizoken does not preach to us through repetitive monologues. Eizouken chooses to express the values of animation through...get this...animation. Even if you don’t get all of what the characters are saying - it's fairly easy for the viewer to lose track in the midst of the many impassioned rambles - you can understand it through the visual spectacle and character enthusiasm. This is something Yuasa excels in with all of his shows, never feels like he has an agenda that he’s expressing through his characters, even though he usually does.

The lone flaw I see in Eizouken is that it there is so much more potential beyond final episode. The ending is not an abrupt one. There are no cliffhangers. But it was so much fun to watch the club work towards the completion of projects that you wish there was another cour to continue watching their journey into the future. This isn't enough of an issue to drop the score below a 10, however, as the 12 episodes we get are awesome as is.

I try not to make premature AOTY proclamations in March...but if anything tops theis experience I'd consider us lucky as fans of animation. This is the type of anime that'll make you appreciate the industry even more than you do now, even if you think that isn't possible.

The rawness of creativity is one of those things that you can't just tell people about...you have to show it.  It's a bug that when it bites, drives the person's mind to do extraordinary things before they inevitably have to return back to earth.  And what a way to celebrate those euphoric moments.

Story:

Our story takes place in the weird, random, and bizarre town of Shibahama where whole buildings to entire districts of this eccentric watery labyrinth of a city look like multiple people took their own ideas and mashed them together into one thing.  Here we meet the 'frog child' Asakusa Midori, an artist whose ... dream it is to show people the wonderful and weird world that exists in her mind through the medium of animation.  Alongside her comrade Kanamori Sayaka, the two get in a tussle with a budding model named Mizusaki Tsubame, who shares in Asakusa's sentiment of wanting to create animation and show the world the things that she makes and the things she sees.  Together, the three start the motion pictures club and use it as their nurture grounds for what's to come.

Eizouken is a love letter to production and the means to get a creative work out there.  The show is split into three arcs which each deal with their own separate project, progressively getting bigger and bigger in scale with more bells and whistles to keep track of as the scope of each project gets larger.  Within each episode, the show splits itself into being about the 'real world' where the characters are progressing the plot of the story or event, and the 'creative world' where the characters are physically interacting with their creation and putting all of the pieces into place.  The divide is roughly a 50/50 split between the two showing the 'real world' first and then the 'creative world' in the second half.  This structure gives the show's otherwise erratic story some structure as to make it easier for the audience to watch the show without getting lost in all of the random tangents the frog child wishes to take us on.

Within these arcs are also character moments and background details to help build up the series.  In particular, the girls and their relationships with each other.  Backstories and changes in attitude towards the people around them are the brunt of these stints of character development, and the overall story feels better because of it due to the characters feeling like they are overcoming some of their personal challenges while also being folded into the overall narrative with the climactic showing of what the girls have spent their time on making.

One issue I have though is how samey the show feels all the way through.  The show is so hellbent on trying to show the audience how wild and untamed creativity can become, that it even makes the 'real world' where the girls live in feel like one of their fantasies.  The school being an amalgamation of random buildings to the point it looks like a shopping mall or a maze, the random sections of construction scattered all around the city in addition to rivers going over everything from canals to abandoned roadways made me want to invest time into where they were living in instead of just what they were making.  I kind of wanted the 'real world' to feel a little less exciting than it was in order to elevate the projects they were making to even greater heights.  Going from a ten to an eleven is barely a hop whereas going from eight or nine to eleven has more of an impact.  It would also serve to make their creativity much more interesting to watch since it would really take their imagination from almost copy/pasting the place they're inspired by and adding their bells and whistles, to recreating the location in their own image and making something completely new from the basis.

Pacing is also another issue I have with the series, as all three arcs have the exact same episode amount from one another, but the scope and time gap of the projects are so much bigger.  There's a lot of missing time between episode to episode in the later half, and I wish there was somehow more time to give us more of those juicy details because the nitty gritty stuff is what the show prides itself on, what with Asakusa going on so many tangents throughout the show, so only skipping over some of that in-between stuff makes it feel like the show is losing a bit of its own content.

All in all, the story of Eizouken is centered mostly around its tone and the few character moments it manages to squeeze out to give the show just that much more eccentricity to make it feel exciting.  It is by no means the main focus of the show, but it definitely helps carry some of that weight despite some of my minor criticisms towards the show and its setting concept.

Characters:

The show is pretty much just about the three members of the Eizouken.  These girls take up so much of the show's run time that every most other characters just don't have the same kind of impact and have to make do with whatever they manage to squeeze for themselves.

First is Asakusa Midori, the show's main protagonist and the frog child who has a desire to show the world the 'Power of the Setting', specializing mostly on background work and is the main idea maker of the group.  She's a character that's so engrossed in her passions that it bleeds into the story in the form of the 'creative world' where the three girls (with occasional guests) visually brainstorm what it is they're doing with Asakusa usually taking up the reigns to making the necessary adjustments as needed.  My one gripe with her though is just how much she lacks focus and constantly pulls both the cast and the audience around with her random tangents, using that as part of the episode's second half in order to inject both content and conflict.  It's so common that one of her comrades is often forced to acknowledge it in order to get her to shut up and get her to focus on what she's supposed to be doing.  Due to the show's aesthetics however, it doesn't seem to intrude that much, but it does start to feel like the show is running out of conflicts to make since it seems to always use Asakusa's sporadic personality as a fallback reason for whenever they're behind schedule.

Then there's Kanamori, the Eizouken club's producer and the only one of the three who grounds herself in the real world and reels in the other two whenever things get out of hand.  Her character is based around the concepts of money and productivity, as the very nature of business and compromises are things that the other two girls don't seem to have a very good grasp of.  She essentially serves as the trio's anchor and grounds the other two with hard facts on where they are in the project since 'quality' cannot be achieved if there's no one to show it to.  Which happens very often and at least once per arc.  Which is something I personally love because everyone needs a whack from the good ol' reality hammer once in a while even if it gets a little samey after a while.

Finally is Mizusaki Tsubame, a wealthy girl born from two actors with a pension for character design and a passion for movement and detail.  She comes off as a more reserved version of Asakusa while also being incredibly stubborn on wanting to do as many little animation details as she can, claiming that she'll 'do them herself' even though she's only one girl with two hands and only so much time.  I personally find her character arc to be the most fulfilling since it includes both her character background and a slightly changed attitude coming out the other end.  She definitely doesn't stand out as much as the other two do, but she definitely still has her role, acting most of the time as Asakusa's partner in crime when it comes to visualizing and forming the 'creative world'.

Side characters also get their own brand of eccentricity since nowhere else do they get any details beyond the few scenes that they participate with.  A literal anime-style student council who have powers well beyond what they should have in a school environment, their sound mixer Doumeki, a club advisor who sits in weird places playing video games, and a whole assortment of random clubs that delve into topics so niche that I'm genuinely surprised they found enough members to constitute a club, are among the kinds of people that exist within the side cast.  Most of them don't do much beyond an established arc or episode they're introduced in, so to compensate, they mostly do what they can to make a splash and add their mark on the show.  Which is...interesting.  If not on-brand.

Aesthetics:

Now here's where I think the lion's share of the show's claim to fame comes from.  Produced by Science SARU, the studio behind both 'Ping Pong the Animation' and 'Devilman Crybaby', the aesthetics of the show both in art and animation are something special to behold.

For one thing, the show uses a generally simple style for its characters.  Just looking at them, the characters are not very detailed, and mostly go away from the more complicated or extravagant designs that make up a lot of the characters in the medium today.  However just from the three girls themselves, we can see so much detail crammed into so little.  Each of the three girls have different heights and extremely different eye shapes from one another, such as Asakusa's larger eyes as to represent her childlike wonder, and Kanamori's dullard half moons to indicate a more serious personality.  Not to mention the unique distinguishers they have like Kanamori's glasses, Mizusaki's maroon hair, and Asakusa's camo hat.  All of these things do so much legwork that just by looking at them at a glance, you can tell how they're going to act and contribute so much to giving the animators freedom on how to move them.

Then there're the backgrounds.  Compared to the characters, the backgrounds in the 'real world' feel like painted landscapes that literally illustrate the city of Shibahama and the kind of weird, mysterious, and wondrous discoveries the girls make whenever they go out for inspiration.  Which leads into the background of the 'creative world' where most of the show's magic comes from.  The art for these sections are drawn in what's essentially concept art.  Since the characters are brainstorming and visualizing the concepts that they're going to make.  This combined with Asakusa's fast paced explanations make for a truly unique viewing experience, as the series is literally showing us the thought process of its protagonist through what's essentially her own drawings given form.

And all of that comes together in the animation.  With the show bringing the viewer's attention to sound, movement, particle effects, and setting, the animation of this show feels alive, detailed, and stunning.  The characters having a simpler style makes this all the more lively as that allowed more time to be put into animating them rather than just drawing them on the screen.  It's a little hard to put it into words, but the animation ultimately feels like a celebration of the production process and really brings a new light to the viewer on what it takes to make something like this and all of the factors that have to be considered so that the audience doesn't notice them.

As for tracks, we have chelmico's "Easy Breezy" for the show's OP and "Namae no Nai Ao" by Kamisama, Boku wa Kizuite for the ED.  Of the two, Easy Breezy is easily the catchier of the two as its upbeat tone as well as the girls doing various poses in the song really hammer that song into turning that song into something that can get stuck in your head for weeks.  "Namae no Nai Ao" by comparison is a soft rock song that's good, but nowhere near as memorable as its OP sister.

The best songs however belong to the ones in the OST, particularly the main theme that happens whenever Asakusa starts rattling on about the things that she's created/theorized for the project.  It's a song that just screams 'inspiration' as its lifting tone and melodic yells feel like they scream head clarity for the creative process to begin.  It's an amazing song that really stands out in the show as it's definitely the third most played song right behind the OP and ED since visits to the 'creative world' happen every episode.

Final Thoughts:

As a creative and someone who loves and appreciates the production of animation, so much of this show ended up feeling like an inspiring tale of raw, creative outbursts while also beating that over the head a few dozen times to remind myself that no matter how much I think about it, if I don't do anything with those ideas, they're worth literally nothing.

I honestly think watching this show is a fascinating trip since most people don't really know what the production stages of something look like, and just how much detail and effort is considered before the final product can be shipped.  "If you don't notice anything off, then that means the team did something right."  Just seeing the 'creative world' was honestly enough for me.  Seeing everything drawn in concept art gave me a weird giddy feeling because it was something that I've never seen before in the medium, and just gave the show a style that was all to its own.

My biggest complaints however would still have to be Asakusa, as her character a number of times over the course of the story did more harm than good.  She kind of felt like a detriment given how erratic she was with coming up with new ideas without considering the state of the current project, and more than enough times were devoted to reminding her that she needed to put the pedal to the metal.  I also think the 'real world' was a bit too interesting to watch, as the very nature of this weird-ass town made me want to learn more about said town instead of just watching the characters use it as a basis for their inspiration.  Would it make that much of a difference in the end?  Not much, but a clearer divide instead of muddying both together in an altogether similar aesthetic would've made the things they made that much more interesting and conceptually dynamic.

Ultimately, my recommendation would be to watch it if you want to watch something that feels almost truly unique.  It shares a lot of similarities with the few other production based shows out there, but so much of the art direction and how much legwork the aesthetics do for the show is unique only to Eizouken.  The art and animation are both sights to behold, and disregarding everything else I've said, that alone is worth the price of admission.

This series is a love letter to the art of animation.

When I first began watching, I thought that it would provide some harmless fun, but it was so much more.

Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! brought up emotions that only animation really can. As well as developing some of the most interesting and unique characters I've seen in a long time, it's a testament to how one can truly fall in love with what they want to do. The final episode left me beyond spellbound, but the journey there was equally beautiful.

This anime is visually stunning, has a fantastic and diverse cast, and a ... story that will pull at your heartstrings, especially if you have anything in your life that you too, are passionate about.

Two wacky schoolgirls and one teen model decide to start a ersatz video club as a face for making anime. As they rise to prominence within their school, their projects get more and more ambitious.

I really liked this one. It was quirky and very interesting in explaining how the process of animation is handled. The three main characters bounce of each other really well and getting to see them create anime is wondrous and imaginative. Each character's personality is exaggerated enough to fit this interestingly designed and rather crazy world.

Would definitely recommend to anyone who has a passing interest in animation or the process of ... creating it.

So this is my first review I ever wrote so bare with me this might be all over the place.

Eizouken is great, one of the best series of the season if you ask me and for great reason. One, this season was a bit dry, and that is kinda sad because this was the first anime season that I kept up with, and two this series is actually pretty good. I will review this in segments like everyone does so lets get started.

Story:

The story was interesting. There isn't an overarching ... plot, but instead the story is just a series of stories to progress to the goal which is making the anime that they are trying to come up with at the time, obviously each anime serves a purpose like trying to make a name for themselves or trying to make money, but for the most part they just are trying to have fun when making anime.

So, I think that the story was fun, but that was about it, each character arc served its purpose and the backstories really just served it's purpose, but the story really wasn't what it was going for.

6/10

Art:

The art of this series is probably its biggest strength, the backgrounds of this show is some of the best I have ever scene, the city and how artistic it is and all the bright colors are crack to the eyes, the cartoony tones is a great way to make this show about animation really come to life, I seriously couldn't just move my head away from the screen when the animation segments came on screen, the art is seriously the best I have ever seen.

10/10

Sound:

I don't really pay too much attention with sound in anime, like I can tell if something is bad and if something is fine but I can't tell if it is "amazing" or whatever but this series does indeed have good sound because this series sorta has too, there is a character that specializes in sound design.

You can't talk about sound design without mentioning the the intro, which is great, it became a meme which made it even better and it bops bro. The intro is catchy and every time I hear it, it just sits in your head for quite awhile.

8/10

Characters:

The characters of Eizouken are great, the main characters at least, but the side characters don't get much screen time at all, I can't think of any side characters' names right now at all, not even prevalent ones.

But, the main characters: Kanamori, Asakusa, and, Mizusaki, they are all great and I don't think I heard anyone really talk bad about any of them. They all serve a purpose and Kanamori is my favorite character.

Each character got a good amount of development and screen time which I think is pretty difficult to do when making a story about making anime and I think they did a very good job with the dynamic between each character.

8/10

Enjoyment:

I think that this series was pretty enjoyable overall but the beginning and ending of the series was a little bit boring. The beginning 3 or episodes was kinda meh, and episodes 10 and 11 episodes was pretty slow and kinda boring. But, the ending was good and the mid section section of the show was pretty fun. The pacing was solid and I think that it was pretty good.

7/10

Overall:

I overall really think that series is a must watch, the director is one of the most impressive of the generation and most of the stuff he makes is a must watch so I'd say if you watched any of his other works, which is I believe is Ping Pong and Devilman: Crybaby, then I can't help but recommend it.

I think this series was good and I think that it could be boring at times but it is mostly pretty entertaining and if you are as interested in anime as I am than I think you would be interested in how it is made. I would give this show a solid 8/10 and I would say that I would definitely recommend it to anyone that is invested in anime and watched at least 50 shows.

Please give me as much criticism as possible because I would like to get better at making reviews.

Keep Your Hands off Eizouken! is a show that reminded me “oh yeah, this is why I watch anime.”

I’ll try to keep this semi-brief, as I don’t want to gush too much; Eizouken and its characters stole my heart early on and never really let it go. The set-up is fairly straight-forward: three girls start an animation club at their school. However, the characters are unlike what you might find in most anime set in high school. It’s a nearly all-female cast, but if you’re expecting a CGDCT or fan-service-driven series, you will surely be disappointed.

The first thing you might notice is their appearances. ... They’re not your typical “we’ve done a bunch of focus groups and this is what guys want all anime girls to look like” anime girls. Instead they have distinctive character designs that you won’t soon be mixing up with the next batch of anime girls the industry has pumped out.

Led by the main trio of Asakusa, Kanamori, and Mizusaki, they’re just three sort of nerdy girls that are doing what they love doing: making cool anime, and for one of them, making a little yen as well. Asakusa and Mizusaki are the creative types in the club, while Kanamori takes care of...well, just about everything else. While Asakusa and Mizusaki’s imaginations run amok (especially Asakusa), Kanamori is the one that needs to rein them in. I guess you could say she is a bit more of a realist, while the other two are maybe a bit more idealistic. Needless to say, the characters and their interactions are an absolute delight, and maybe more than anything, a breath of fresh air.

So what makes an anime with such a simple premise so fantastic? If I had to use one word, I’d settle on “passion”. The characters, sure. But this is one of those series where I could feel the passion from everyone involved jump off the screen during each scene. The wacky animation, the upbeat music, incredible VA performances, the way they let you see the world through the eyes of the character; it’s all fantastic. More than most anime, I really got the sense this wasn’t just another project to be churned out as efficiently as possible; it was something they really cared about, even beyond whether it was profitable or not.

But this was not only a love letter to anime, but the creative process itself. I’ve never really been an artistic person, but I think those that are will likely find aspects of this show relatable: the things that initially stoke your creativity, trying to turn something in your mind into something tangible others can experience, and the challenges you’ll face if you’re serious about your passion. It does get a little into the nitty-gritty, describing some of the tricks of the trade in detail, and yet it still manages to hold my attention the entire way.

Now to briefly touch on a couple other things, starting with the animation. I’ve already alluded to how much I love the character designs, but it’s more than that. Their facial expressions, their mannerisms, and everything about the way they’re animated brings them to life on the screen. I’ve also mentioned their gigantic imaginations, but what I didn’t mention were the scenes where they are literally going into these worlds they’re trying to create; early concept art type of animation, homemade sound effects, and all. They’re really cool scenes that I haven’t seen replicated anywhere else.

Onto the sound. The VA performances are spectacular. In particular, Asakusa’s manic creative energy and Kanamori’s dry yet cheeky personality are captured so well by Sairi Itou and Mutsumi Tamura, respectively. The OST gives the series just the right sense of energy; upbeat, yet just a bit offbeat as well. And if the OP’s psychedelic visuals don’t grab your attention, its song surely will. Try not to get it stuck in your head.

The story? It’s not the star of the show, but I view Eizouken as more of a slice-of-life series, and for that, it’s more than adequate. I absolutely found myself hoping they’d succeed, and that’s more than enough for me for this type of anime.

If you couldn’t already tell, I adore Keep Your Hands off Eizouken! It was an absolute pleasure to watch from beginning to end, and maybe the single most charming show I’ve ever seen. Will we get a season 2? As of now, I don’t know. But I’m glad I was a part of season 1, even as a viewer.

But is it good enough to get the rare 10/10 from me? Easy breezy.

Theres so much amazing parts appear which is somehow shocking my mind. Really, i dont really get along with the work of anime world of production. But, when i see this little show with a weird art and animation, now i understand a little. Yeah, so much thing happen, i dont get it that at one glance. I trying hard, and the end, all becomes clear with the intension. I smiled, this is amazing. I never seen a masterpiece like these before with a solid story and simple like how Asakusa implemented her world of weirdest thing.

Yet, sometime it feel absurd. I dont even like ... the character design over the trio. Really, this is my initial judgement relating how weird and dumb their arts quality since starting the first 3 episodes. However, until every crucial parts got reveal, even Asakusa gender (seriously, i even think Asakusa as boy, lol, really! And dont ask about Kanamori, her tall appearance maybe abit confusion. But, it still clear to me to analyse her gender, as a girl, with weird design character, ofc. Not with Asakusa, that issued really give me a nice mental therapy over there). Progression really needed to answer every questions, and how their premises gone to accomplished.

In the beginning, i maybe a little wrong deciding their intentions over this show. I may think this show as adventure toward new world or something, or even get made some kind of nice building, since i know a little about Asakusa as an architect? But, all of them really wrong, even in the first attempt. I may be dump, really, so i need to close my little in long pause until i decide to continue writing this review. Lol!

Okay, as i referred in first paragraph, this show somehow trying to tell me how the animation, or anime in Japan can work out. They really need so much hard-working comparing how a little duration anime (3 mins, 30 mins duration) can be that huge of problem. Those premises and main idea really intrigueing. I really happy for seeing this as my other nice moment attach at my life. A beautiful show like this really deserved a nice place. Unfortunately, all good parts end in 12 episodes, only 3 arcs get showed, with less development characterization to the trio. Abit dissapointment there, i might get this chance as a reason to minus one point for the overall, since i dont get enough weakness to exploit this show. Nothing, except that, and, their art.

Yeah, surprising i actually commenting this part. This is fully not my strength point to get judgement. I eventually always had a nice art and animation, and take 10 points for some show. But, at my respect, this show, get a low rank for that aspect. I shall considered that think for my upcoming review toward any anime show in the future. But, as a newcomer with nice start and amazing end. As my new concept of the show i ever seen. As a creative way to create story-world-building to get blown up in the thin air in such a nice approach. Eizouken really get my highly respect over that nice attempt, i never get these mood before, and i apreciate it. Reaching all over my feeling to get to the story so deep. How Asakusa and her team get along to complete their project with so much fun. Adventuring some nice random scenario in the run, and how their final moment really touched. To all of them mix at one huge amazing show, I can't say other word except one thing: A Masterpiece.

Despite every lack minus for the art and rough animations (maybe it just their unique side which is can describe as their strength point), and how little the story progressed (because only 3 arcs added to the 1 cour? I really hope for the second season already), this is truly get my 10 points at once. But, i decide to fix my judgement for the mean rate for this show. This intentions for the only reason to me: continuations. Then, i wanna describe any other sections for these masterpiece :
Story? Ofc 10
Sounds and music? This is intrigueing, and i kinda had a big trouble deciding. But, at the end, my point on 8 point shall be my final.
Art? Too bad, i give this thing a 7. No more.
Character? Its 10. I love the interaction over the trio for the whole arcs session.
Enjoyment? Ofc 10 with no comparison word describing my enjoyment.
And for the final, overall, shall be fixed for the 9 solid points from me.

Thats all, and i really hope for the great second season in the future.

Boy this is a really a good anime. It's original, the art is awesome and unusual and the story is actually incredibly educational. You might just come away knowing quite a lot more about animation and anime production after watching this.

The story is about three friends who start a club to make anime. The show's strong point is the characterization of the main protagonists, Midori Asakusa, Sayaka Kanamori and Tsubame Mizusaki, who come across as real people with real interests. You quite literally enter their brainstorming and see how their ideas develop and evolve and how they problem solve and invent as they go ... along.

The art of the anime is entirely its own. This is no moeblob. The character design reminds me of Jamie Hewlett (of Gorillaz fame) and the environment designs remind me of Teikoku Shounen (aka Imperial Boy). For some reason, I couldn't help think of Tekkonkinkreet while watching the show. There's a bit of Solarpunk about the whole thing, but it has nothing to do with the story itself, which could just as well take place at a generic highschool in a Tokyo suburb. The fact that it doesn't makes it all much more interesting to watch.

Sadly the last episode felt rushed and incomplete. And the final product they had been working on wasn't particularly convincing. It kinda sucked.

Oh well, this show is still very much recommended if you're looking for something new and fresh!

As someone who's worked with animation, I just couldn't thoroughly enjoy this one without feeling weird seeing these high schoolers make feature-quality animation in such a short amount of time. They handwave how tired these girls are and it makes me feel sad that the real life animation industry, ESPECIALLY the Anime industry, preys on people with this passion to work long hours on pretty pieces for very little pay.

It's like this anime has taken the Rose-tinted Glasses approach. There are very little stakes in this show; these girls bust through every obstacle with no tension at all. Disapproving parents, bossy student councils, money ... issues, these things were nothing but minor speed bumps in this show, so it got kinda boring to tune in every week knowing that nothing bad or at least realistic is going to happen during the mayhem that is production.

The characters were charming though. I liked how they went with a non-standard design for these girls. They're not super cute, but not totally ugly and FINALLY, we have skirts that actually cover things.

The music got annoying. They played the same songs for the same scenes over and over again and if I hear that yodeling song again when a character gets an idea, I'm gonna scream.

If you just want to kick back and watch a love letter to animation, you'll have a good time with Eizouken. But if you even have an inkling of how this stuff really works, you'll probably still enjoy it for the sketches and animation facts, but your suspension of disbelief will be tested. Do these girls not have other classes to attend?

Eizouken ni wa Te wo Dasu na!: Anime and its process



Continuing with another series of the winter season 2020 and continuing with the quarantine, we have one of the most artistic series so far this year and seeing what the future holds for us, it will probably have an important place among my favorite series that premiered. Being the most recent work of Masaaki Yuasa with the direction of series after having worked on the tape Ride Your Wave (2019) and the highly spoken adaptation Devilman Crybaby (2018). The series to which I dedicate this review comes to demonstrate its talents as a visual narrator ... in an idealistic story about creative passion, teamwork and the reasons why people love to create something.


Midori Asakusa is a high school student who loves anime. Although she spends her days drawing all the ideas she has, she has not yet taken the first step to create one of her beloved anime, and she knows that it is an impossible goal if she is alone. The first to discover Asakusa's talent is Sayaka Kanamori, a girl who, although she doesn't have much artistic interest, shows a keen sense of business with which she aspires to be a producer. It doesn't take long for them to discover that a classmate, the charismatic model Tsubame Mizusaki, actually has the soul of an animator, so together they create an animation club with which to achieve their dreams of creating something.


The story we find in Eizouken is a simple tale of passion and imagination in pursuit of creating something. With a group of characters of different personalities united in the common goal of creating, this is a simple work that tells us about the creative passion and production problems that can be found along the way, all in a rather idealized environment shaped by the power of imagination. In a sense it can be compared to other series such as Shirobako, in which it makes a comment on how anime productions work, although in this case on a much smaller and not so technical scale, further idealizing its proposal in the world of imagination. The honest simplicity of its proposal is inspiring at moments showing a lot of love for the industry with references and details, but it can become somewhat repetitive in its formula to the point of boring some people. However for those who are interested in animation or connect with the series, it is still a pleasant experience.


In regards to the technical section and especially how the series looks, is where the really interesting is. Mixing Yuasa's particular artistic visions by adapting Sumito Ōwara's curious art, we are facing a series that, even though it is a school slice of life, looks unique among all the other series of the winter season. From the typical character designs to the chaotic stage architecture, everything shows personality. However the best and most interesting technical detail is how they represent the work process and the imagination of the protagonists with the animation changes, going from rough drafts to more stylized scenes as they take confidence and technique in what they do, in all a demonstration of visual creativity.

In regards to the soundtrack and how the series is heard in general, I can only say that it is fine. The work of the voices for the characters is perfect and accompanies them at all times. For its part, music works when it comes to building the right atmosphere for each scene. For its part, the opening is "Easy Breezy" by the female rap duo chelmico, which is an energetic and catchy theme that, combined with its visuals, has become a favorite to be among the best openings of the year. For its part, the ending is "Namae no Nai Ao" from the mysterious masked musical group Kamisama, Boku wa Kizuite shimatta which with its rhythm and performance stands out.


At the end of the day, Eizouken is a curious work that has caught people's attention and I hope it will pass the test of time ... or at least deliver a second season of its adventures. However, for better or for worse, it is a slice of life and as such shares its advantages and disadvantages. Being possible to interpret it as a love letter to the inspiring power of animation, or simply as an empty series where nothing happens, however I recommend that you give it a chance if you have not already done so, which may be that you are missing one of the most imaginative series of the year.

Art - 5/10

Animation in the history of director Masaaki and his team was never a priority, always the priority in visual terms was conceptual art. In some works, the style interacting with the proposal, even when it is not beautiful, works well because it conveys something, but I don't see much of it this time. Being a weak animation, which at times seems sloppy, a low-budget underproduction, and not quite right.

The designer characters are outdated, simple, and ugly. The “real” scenarios of the characters, on the other hand, are visually inconsistent, because in some moments the scenarios are full of details, stylish, however there is ... no graphic perfection, they are little worked, and with basic textures.

For the sequences of imagination and the presentations of the animations, I understand that a more simplistic art was chosen to connote the proposal that are not real. But they were designed in an amateur way, and when you think that about a third of the anime are dreams of art that looks like a storyboard, it is indefensible.

Sound - 7/10

There is nothing to complain about sound effects, especially in the scenes where Doumeki appears, which are a true audio show. But, the soundtrack is composed of only three songs, and in particular the anime music presented at the end is horrible. Give yourself a discount that this final song could be bad.

History - 8/10

It is an anime with a story made to honor the animation sector, with clearly bibliographic dialogues. So it's an authorial anime with a very specific audience. They would even say that by the target audience, which is an anime to win juries of the Oscar of animation.

In terms of content, which is the most important in a work and therefore justifies this note for the story, this anime is quite satisfactory. There is a whole teaching on how to produce animes, the difficulties they face, and the productive artistic depth. In addition to that there are several other contents treated in the personalities of the characters, such as avarice, fame, loneliness, and shown by an unusual side of these things.

The chain of actions performed (plot), has no apparent holes, is developed with everything very well connected, and at a good pace, but giving about 1/3 of the anime to dreams, which are not exciting, was a completely choice wrong. For, the less imaginative difficulties, the palpable ones presented in the narrative, are the most exciting parts, and they give narrative meaning, however they are always solved in simple ways. The dream part has a value, but there are many dreams, they are long, they are ugly, and they are tedious.

Characters - 9/10

Usually there are very negative criticisms of one-dimensional characters, but not this time. There was work to justify the trio's personality, mainly for Kanamori, and soon afterwards for Mizusaki. Another positive point is that although they were one-dimensional they were not generic, so they did not follow stereotypes.

There are distinct physical and personality characteristics for each of the three main characters, which involves a lot of care, a lot of work, and perfectly combined for the chemistry and proposal of the anime. One is high, the other normal, and the other low, one ugly, another beautiful, another normal, one is more dreamy, another a middle ground, the other is more realistic, etc ...

Finally, the funny faces and some funny faces of the characters were really cool. Maybe just not the twisted necks, which had the appearance of passing arrogance at a certain moment, but they remembered the Monogatari style more and that is why it was as if he wanted to be cult copiously.

Enjoyment - 8/10

There were many moments that the anime puts a smile on whoever is watching, makes them point and say yeah ... I really liked what I'm seeing. But, there were also some parts that looked like a documentary / tutorial of making an anime, and that was not an example of a model in itself. Soon this was not exciting, it was tedious, especially in dreams.

One of the main functions of an anime is to entertain, and this is achieved by giving pleasure, knowing how to stimulate the audience, getting excited to the point of wanting to see the next episode as soon as possible. The characters' narrative motivation could have been stronger to convey greater interest to the viewer, not to mention that the formula was repeated three times.

Opening / Ending

This topic is not a separate assessment, however, as there is much praise for the opening, it deserves to be highlighted. Even though there was a little not so good part of the opening, I had to recognize the fact that it was excellent, and possibly the best so far this year. Waxing is forgettable, and highly skippable.

Overall 8/10

Someone who adds the notes and divides may find it strange that an average 7.4 is rounded up, however the weights are not the same for each item, and it is worth the indication for this anime due to the content it has.

I finished this show on 3/24/2020 at 2:32 pm

This show is somewhat original with the premise of animation production; other anime's that relate to this is Genshiken and A Sisters All You Need. I feel like this show is more original in what it presents and that the characters leave more of a lasting impression due to the cast being down to 3 (not including Doumeki) and how they are represented.

At first, the animation I didn't really enjoy, but I really warmed up to the idea of not having a visual masterpiece this time around due to the originality and imagination ... that were drawn to life by Midori throughout the entire show. I enjoyed the character designs themselves alot, having a tall girl Sayaka is something unseen in most shows.

Moving on, I'd like to talk about the main cast. All the girls are quirky, they mesh really well each other and are perfect at all. The balance between the (3) is probably my favorite aspect of the entire show after all. Midori is a small, anit-social girl who really is someone who wants to get along with everybody else, but just can't seem to do it. She's amazingly imaginative while she enjoys what she does and that becomes infectious onto others wanting to be in the world she lives. Sayaka is probably my favorite character; she has so much depth to her that is shown by her actions. A small scene with her that told me alot about her is when she saved Midori from the flooded street with no hesitation. I love how much she secretly cares about others, even if she has other intentions it still counts. Tsubame is the final character, I thought I wouldn't find her super interesting outside of her appearance, but she is super interesting. Her love for animation, more so with movement started from youth, and is implemented into every piece she draws. An important aspect of her is that she's not to big for her own good; In my eyes, she's amazing for being as set for life as she already is and still working on something she truly loves, such as Midori.

Moving on, the Intro and Outro are amazing, they are some of the best of the season. The music inside the anime though are super impact in some parts, but the music isn't the most important aspect of this show.

To me, this show is very good for it's somewhat originality in it's story, it's amazing characters and animations sequences and the superb intro and outro. I would recommend this show for just about everyone but shounen only watchers. It's not a must watch, but it's something I'd love to see get recognized as one of the best shows of this season.