God damn, was Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken always this good? Or is Yuasa just on point this week? Because this was the best episode of anime so far in 2020 for me. I know, 26 days in is a bit earlier, but the heart wants what the heart wants. And right now the heart wants to dive in to some Eizouken!
Starting off, why exactly do I love this episode of Eizouken so much? Simply put, because it’s a reality check for everyone involved, viewers and characters, without losing the passion. Diving into the difficulties of making an anime, the compromises and tricks used to make something so difficult happen. There is actually a quote from Asakusa this episode that sums it up perfectly. “Less about finishing the project and more the outcome of passion crashing against compromise and resignation”. It’s like Yuasa and the team are pouring their heart out here about the truth of making anime. How you can have the best of intentions, the greatest passions, yet reality and time can limit you. Whether that be wanting to make every scene beautifully animated or colors or effects, etc. It’s a much more mature take than I was expecting based on Eizouken’s presentation.
To go into specifics, I enjoyed how Eizouken opened on our team being so far behind. Really showing just how ambitious their project was for their timeframe and their skill levels. Meanwhile also showing how they had over committed to specific aspects. Such as how Mizusaki had created 36 cuts worth of animation for just 4, only drawing what she is passionate about. To me, its a very clear line on how professional work goes vs hobby work. As a hobby, you only have to draw what you want to. But on a professional job, sometimes you have to draw things you aren’t passionate about. Sometimes, you have to put out a finished product even if its not perfect in every exacting detail. Eizouken does a good job of showing that reality to the viewer and its leaders here.
Meanwhile Eizouken also doesn’t play this down as some sort of hopeless, soulless trade off either. Instead it goes in on specific aspects, things that can be done case by case for a specific project. For instance here, Kanamori lays out the purpose of the project: To get funding. They don’t need a finished product, just the flashy bits to show off. So she scraps the narrative, because they don’t have time to lay that out anyways. At the same time we see Asakusa pulling a bunch of tricks to build time. Such as reusing the same cell using panning shots, or zooms. And the best part of that was seeing them used in the same scene they were talked about. Such as Kanamori talking, but the camera is behind her head to hide her mouth, while she is talking about similar effects. It’s brilliant directing on a meta level.
Moving on, we have the presentation itself, which I had a lot of fun with. There was just the right amount of jank throughout while still being an impressive work of animation. Managing to ride that line between “The characters made this” and a set piece for Eizouken the anime. I loved how Eizouken presented it with the audience as well, transfering effects through them and making it like a 4D presentation. Putting the effects in the actual piece would oversell our leads abilities. But throwing them into the crowd, as if they are experiencing it like that, draws that line so to speak. Upping its value as a set-piece for the show while keeping the distinction. Not to mention it was just a joy to look at, shells flying through the crowd and a tank breaking out of the screen. Good times.
At the same time we have our lead crew critiquing their own work. We know they weren’t happy with it, they had to make a lot of compromises on it. Yet when you listen to their criticisms, you can actually go back through that same production and find them. They are real, in the work made for the very show itself! All of this in a setting that is, effectively, a production company sales pitch. What I mean is, this felt like a “Look at our product we want to make” sort of thing. A pitch meeting effectively, and all the horror and prep that goes in to such a thing. Long story short, this entire show is an allegory for starting up a studio, pitching and creating your first anime. Done through the lens of a highschool club. And I love it.
So all in all, how was Eizouken this week? Well to answer that question, let me reiterate the question that opened this post: Why is Eizouken so damn good? Seriously, I really like it, so much so that I may have to redo my upper level scoring system. Because at the moment the way that it works is my top 10 of all time are 100-91. And I have always enjoyed that, a sort of exclusive club at the top. Yet it would feel wrong to give Eizouken a simple 90, even if it doesn’t crack my top 10. Still, who knows. At this rate it might do just that, because it’s pretty damn phenomenal. OST to SFX to characters to animation, its a treat and I can’t wait until next week for more.
Maybe I’m just in weird place right now, but this episode actually had me so happy and proud of the characters (crazy, right??) that I was tearing up during their film. The whole thing just captures the making of art so well, the overlooked details as well as the grand picture. And in such a loving manner. I watched it twice.
This anime belongs next to The Great Passage for me. It has me thinking about the same themes of dedication to ones craft and how talented individuals must necessarily be constrained by the real world.
And it certainly belongs up there with the greats. It’s a real work of art.