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!
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.
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.
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 ...
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.
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.
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 ...