Keijo Ep. 5 Thoughts

After a 2-1 loss, it is now up to our heroine Nozomi entering her first major battle against a girl named Fujisaki with the reward of moving to the elite class up for grabs. At this point very early on, Keijo transitions into a serious Shonen anime, with all the usual tropes. From commentary on the participants abilities, to the monologues of the fighters involved, to the introduction and use of their special moves.

There are still the occasional fan-service thrown in. But to be honest, I completely lost interest in them and is just more focused on how the fight turns out. Fujisaki's Cerberus is really pulling the hurt on Nozomi and she has to figure out how to win it. Just seeing the bruises on Nozomi reminds you that as fun as Keijo is, it does get serious and the particpants take it very, VERY seriously.

And that is actually a good thing, as Keijo becomes less of a "fan-service anime for guys" and becomes more of an "action-sports anime". And even with all that, the show also provides moments of girl power.

No, I don't mean the feminazi crap that's been around in like forever. I'm talking about the bonds the girls have with each other. As I mentioned in my First Impressions review, it has elements of Equestria Girls with the theme of frienship being heavily pushed. I don't feel a sense of cringe at all going for this and I am rooting for the girls to stick together.

I guess that would explain the lack of doujin content Keijo has, unlike other similar anime like Queen's Blade and Ikkitousen. Then again, it's only 5 episodes in and there's still the rest to go. But given the rising popularity of Keijo, I would be surprised if by the end of the season, doujins remain totally absent. I also read some parts of the manga and I am curious as to how certain scenes would be adapted.

This is becoming an anime that I'm more and more interested at and looking forward to the next episode.