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.
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.
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.
