Here's the four episode recap and thoughts on Keijo. It's supposed to be three, but I had to run into a family emergency that made me drop my work entirely until that was taken care of. Now I'm fine for the time being. But this isn't a personal blog, so let's get to it.
Just a fair warning, this blog will feature quite an overuse of the word 'butt'. Honestly, I keep seeing how ridiculous this article is with so many use of that word. But because this is Keijo and Butt Attacks are quite the norm,.....
We begin with Episode 7 where Nozomi continues her training under "Missile Lady" Kyoko Shirayuki and we get a look at some of the training regimen designed to strengthen the athlete's assets. Around halfway through, in order for Nozomi to have a more effective use of her "Vacuum Butt Cannon", she needs to learn the "Butt Flash" first. To have her butt ready to learn the technique, she must be able to pull up turnips using only her butt (though to be honest, it's more to do with her waist doing the work than her actual butt). As with your typical Shonen anime, Nozomi does figure out how to pull the turnips successfully.
Despite Keijo being a popular sport, only two major schools exists in Japan - The Seitouji School in the West portion (where Nozomi and the gang represent), and the Suruga School in the East. The Elite's training is part of the preparation for the upcoming "East-West War" event, as well as the lead up to the next major arc of the story. The episode ends with Mio Kusakai's groupie, Usagi Tsukishita, challenging Nozomi in a mock battle.
Before I go to Episode 8, I want to say, as much as I really would like to enjoy Episode 7, because it has quite a good writing there for a training episode, I was totally turned off by the numerous design errors. It's not as bad as the animation errors from Dragon Ball Super, but they are quite noticeable in this one and it simply ruins the whole experience. I would think Studio Xebec chose to let these happen to save the Sakuga (Quality) animation in the major episodes ahead. That being said, Mio and the other minor characters are getting enough spotlight to make them just as likable as the Main 4.
There's another thing about this series overall that really annoys me, and that the Keijo matches are called 'races'. Japanese language tends to borrow words both foreign and domestic to describe something that is totally different than its intended meaning. For example, 'Jusu' based on the English word 'Juice', refers specifically in Japanese to fountain drinks like Coca-Cola and not your typical fruit juice. Even the Japanese phrase "sumimasen" which means "I'm sorry", or "Excuse me", can also be used to reply to someone's invitation saying you accept. So in Keijo 'race' refers to the Keijo match and not exactly meaning you're racing someone like a runner's race.
The next episode pits Nozomi against Mio's groupie, Usagi (or rather, her stalker as she is so ultra-obsessed with Mio). Usagi turns out to be quite nimble and jumpy as her namesake, which means 'Rabbit' in Japanese. Also, I could not help but notice Usagi's pupils are heart-shaped. Unless I'm mistaken, a character with heart-shaped pupils often indicate they want to do monkey business, if you know what I mean.
Nevertheless, we got to see Nozomi's new technique, the "Butt Flash", which as the name suggests, are quick attacks using her butt, almost comparable to a quick jab from a Jeet Kune Do practitioner. And then another move called the "Meteor Hip", which is one big sitdown that knocks out your opponent. Nozomi's win carries the unintended consequence of Usagi now turning her obsession towards our main heroine, though she refuses to admit it.
We get to learn a bit about the so-called "East-West War" in that the East has been winning since it began a decade ago. Now the East is calling for the West to be absorbed by the former to create a unified school. This of course, forms the tension between the two teams, not to mention the East being unforgiving and cruel (stereotypical since they are supposed to be the antagonists). The East-West War is a 4-on-4 team battle, and our Main 4 is divided into 3 teams
The first battle begins in Episode 9 with Sayaka among the members. And like other Shonen anime such as Naruto, we get a flashback on a character's motives. In this one, we get to learn more about Sayaka leaving the Miyata Judo Dojo for Keijo, which results in the estranged relationship with her father.
I could not help but have a smile on my face and even laugh a lot because of the numerous butt attacks this episode has made, as well as the gratuitous amount of fan service. The episode also has a clever way of exposing certain parts of the female anatomy while bypassing the censors. Our British-Japanese lesbian Mio Kusakai takes the cake here as she takes pleasure to the next level with her "Queen's Bounty" and "Butt Vibrations of Love" attacks. Seriously, why has this series never gotten any doujinshi yet?!
But this is Sayaka's episode and we get to see her own version of Dragon Ball Z's Kaioh-ken with her W-Acceleration: Full Purge, and later a variation of a Judo throw using her nipples. This gives her the seal of approval by her parents, which pretty much resolves her personal conflict.
With Sayaka's team winning the first match, the 2nd one, which covers Episode 10, is very much predictable in which the 2nd West team, wherein Non and Kazane are members, would lose, leaving the third and final match where Nozomi takes part and covering the final episodes. I love the scene where the West girls offer their butts to Kazane for her Scanning Hand technique, and the way they do is a pure fantasy for the male viewer. This episode also shows Kazane being more than a strategist and can fight really well. But like I said earlier, this is a predictable match in which the East would win, though only by a hair. I'd like to enjoy this one, but it too suffers from animation and character design errors that just ruins the episode.
The final episodes of the season will pit our main heroine Nozomi in the final match. I'm expecting Studio Xebec to really pull the Sakuga on these episodes this time because this series is just too good to be bogged down by some subpar animation quality.
I hear that Keijo has become the third viewed anime on Crunchyroll, behind Yuri!!! on Ice and Drifters. I honestly agree because Keijo is more than just a fan-service anime series, it's actually a really good one.
