Reviews

Keijo, at first sight, appears to be little more than a fanservice show and to be honest, it is just that, fanservice. There is no hidden depth, no secret meaning or anything, just fanservice. However, Keijo is absolutely brilliant at it. Keijo, roughly summarised is about girls (and only girls) who participate in a martial-art like sport called "Keijo" where participants have to knock each other off floating platforms in a pool called a “land” using only their breasts and backsides. And I must say, they make the most of the premise. In all conceivable ways. Everything from the characters to the action is great. Now, I know I said there was no depth or complexity to this anime however it is a surprisingly good action show. It has the feel of an shounen tournament arc or a "sport" anime like Girls und Panzer. In fact, Girls und Panzer is a fairly decent comparison in that both shows have a team of plucky underdogs who go up against stronger opponents in a series of tournaments and use ingenious tactics to do so. And like Girls und Panzer, there are no hard feelings on either side. The antagonists are antagonists without being villains, which, to be honest I find refreshing. In fact the series has little to no "evil" or hateful characters. Its just a fun fanservice show with great (combat) action.

This brings me on to my next point, the fights. The fights themselves are genuinely entertaining as fights. The show creates a surprisingly diverse and interesting array of combat techniques and tactics that create some very enjoyable fights. The fights themselves are never the same and the same can be said for the antagonists. Keijo, despite being a fanservice show, has a diverse range of character body types from the types you'd expect, namely, voluptuous busty ladies to small cuter girls and even muscular and plump girls. And this adds to the diverse and imaginative nature of the fights- characters in Keijo use their body types to their advantage. In all, the fights are great and feel surprisingly well thought out for a fanservice show and the "sport" of Keijo feels quite intelligently designed for fanservice show.

The characters themselves are enjoyable to watch, each with their own unique quirk. Protagonist Nozomi Kaminashi, Kazana Aoba, Sayaka Miyata and Mio Kusakai were particular favourites however the things I liked about them were their relatable goals- Nozomi for example not only enjoys Keijo but wants to become rich. In fact, she has a brief argument with Miyata over wealth. Miyata wanted to buy her parents a golden massage chair, then Nozomi copied the idea. These goals such as "I want to become rich" make its characters far more relatable in comparison to the more power of friendship and morality types we usually get. The protagonists of Keijo feel comparatively down to earth in comparison to others show's protagonists. Finally this show has some great references to other shows such as "Gates of Bootylon" (Fate/Stay Night References) and Buttack on Titan (Attack on Titan). Also, the shows fanservice premise is put to full use with both genuinely hilarious attack names, situations, dialogue and fights. Overall, Keijo is a great fanservice anime that is hilarious and has surprisingly good action. The fanservice itself is actually great and the show is enjoyable. That being said, if you don't like fanservice you won't like this show.