Alright, so I’m going to put this as simple as I can for you all.
In answer to if you should watch this show it all comes down to one thing: How serious
do you like your anime?
If you are looking for reasonably explainable world physics, cohesive plots, and characters
who you can always take seriously in any context, this is not the anime for you.
It is not trying to be that, and by all accounts it seems to be trying its best to be anything
but.
Speaking of Butts: Keijo is an anime about a fictional sport that pits well-endowed women
against each other in a sumo like fashion on water-based platforms.
The catch?
They can only hit each other with their chest and ass.
Yes, this is prime scholarly entertainment to be sure.
So not only does this rather absurd sport exist, but it’s even got a pro scene, so
much so that there is even a school dedicated to teaching and training young women in the
art of Keijo.
This is one of those weird things that I think only exist in anime, having a sport or some
other skills based activity with a school dedicated to it for the purposes of fulfilling
a setting, and this is not particularly anything new.
Which I suppose makes it easier to except.
Because of course there would be a school dedicated to women whacking their asses together,
and a full scientific field dedicated to studying such a thing.
It’s just so wonderfully absurd.
And that absurdity is what drives the plot, more so then the characters.
The main 4 in the cast are a bunch of apparent slackers or rather just underdogs, relegated
to the room in the school famous for having the most dropouts, very charming, but through
their sheer ten-ass-ity they over the course of the first few episodes have been showing
the world that they have their own unique way of playing Keijo.
Most of these involve superpowers that are explained with a hand wave.
Yes, she can teleport by pulling up her swimsuit, yes she can shear the swimsuits of her opponents
with a harsh turn of her buttocks, she has… my god is that a Gilgamesh reference?
Regardless, there are two minds to look at this show.
If you try to take it seriously you are either going to get frustrated and give up easily,
or just stew on how shitty you are finding this ass-inine show.
Or if you just sit back and enjoy the absurdity of it all, it could be one of the more enjoyable
shows of the season for you.
Your choice.
Know I know what some of you may be thinking.
“BUT ARK!” you cry, “THIS MAKES NO SENSE!”, you continue, “I THOUGHT YOU HATED FANSERVICE
IN ANIME?!?!” you p-ass-ionately conclude.
You would be correct!
But what I actually hate, is unnecessary fanservice, fanservice that shows the creators have no
confidence in the rest of their product that they think they need to add a little T&A to
keep the audience interested, because the rest of the show wont.
That’s the kind of fanservice I hate.
Kaijo is not that, it is pure unapologetically a fanservice show to be sure, but its fan
service for fanservice.
It’s understood from the get go that the ass shots, the breast bouncing, the focus
on the female form is integral to the enjoyment and heart of the series, not some tacked on
addon.
But, that also means that it is very easy to tell if you are going to like it.
Don’t like fanservice at all?
Don’t watch, there’s surprisingly a lot of other good shows this season.
From Drifters to Yuri on Ice, you don’t need to watch this if it’s not your thing.
But for me Keijo is my guilty pleasure for this season, probably for the year actually.
I enjoy it for the absurdity of it all, and I think that many others will enjoy it for
similar reasons, even if just to laugh at it.
So that’s my recommendation.
Is it worth watching?
Yes, maybe not all the way through, it might get tiring later on and the novelty might
wear off, but for now, I’m enjoying it and you might as well.
At the time of this video, this series has been licensed by Funimation Entertainment
and is available for streaming from then as part of their broadcast dub lineup including
being in their dubbletalk lineup, in addition it’s also available on Crunchyroll in sub.
Link in the description as usual for a crunchyroll free trial should you require it.
So what did you guys think of Keijo?
I think I know the answer but just in case, let me know down in the whatchamajig, and
for those of you who are further along in the show or have read the manga, no spoilers
please.
Thank you for joining me on this First Reaction.
If you like this sort of thing, hit the like button to let me know and if you have a suggestion
for what you think I should talk about next, let me know down in the comments, though chances
are I’m doing it anyway.
And until next time, ladies, gentlemen, and others, Stay Frosty.