During these challenging times of uncertainty, fear and isolation, *Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!*'s been one of the few things to put a genuine smile on my face. I love its charming and playful art style, pleasing voice acting, catchy soundtrack…
But it is so much more than that! It’s a portal into the universe of imagination, where worlds are drawn as they are explored—literally drawn, as this is a series about the making of animation :p
Picture a torrent of ideas arising from seemingly random thoughts and observations. As ideas bounce from person to person, they change shape, get richer or falter. Then kicks off the period of tedious grunt work, with endless revisions and compromises, and all the while someone's got to hustle hard to make sure the end product is seen by as many eyes as possible. Now throw in a pinch of humor and you get this show! (If you ask me, the way it portrays the creative process itself and the nuanced teamwork involved is nothing short of spectacular)
Each character simply radiates passion, but their focuses are different. Whether it’s the big picture view or minute details, form or meaning, what matters is how they come together in a team, complement each other's strengths and compensate for the weaknesses. And their driving force—a never-ending pursuit of excellence (“we have room for improvement!”)—is tremendously inspiring even for me, a humble software engineering student.
Seeing how the series was released just this winter makes me really excited for what the future holds! ⭐