Keijo!!!!!!!!

Episode 4

So how can you not watch an episode titled “The Battle for the Fastest Butt”?

Keijo!!!!!!!! has now advanced to the Qualifying Match stage so common in shonen action series, the part of the story where the protagonist and her associates must do battle to earn a higher rank. This is a prime opportunity for Keijo!!!!!!!! heroes and villains alike to show off their special skills, even if that means getting hurt in the process. However, I seriously doubt that there's a sports series out there that does the formula quite like this series.

Gone is the more traditional fanservice that prevailed last episode in place of a return to the show's initial selling point: insanely goofy fanservice situations played so seriously that it's easy to get caught up in the action and forget you're even watching fanservice at all. The show's thoroughly wonderful perverseness is a masterstroke in execution. We're talking about a series with attack forms like Butt Gatling, Ass of Vajra, and Steel Lance Ass Attack, not to mention power-ups like W-Acceleration Activate, where Miyata gives herself a wedgie to free her butt up to attack even faster, since the swimsuit is now providing less resistance. Later on, we have an elite competitor who literally hypnotizes her opponents by swaying her ample breasts. It's all corny as hell, but also sold so incredibly well that I was much more inclined to laugh than wince.

That's not to underestimate the action component either, another place the series' hidden brilliance shines. These are actually tense, pretty well-animated battle sequences that give a good sense of movement and intensity. The convincing sound effects of each butt attack's impact contribute to this, and the musical score promotes a thrill factor on par with the better action anime out there. The sideline commentary traditional for such affairs is managed about as smoothly as you could hope, and further nice touches can be seen in the way things like proper breathing or balancing on a shifting platform factor into maneuvers. Showing how Miyata has to seriously uncramp after such a tough battle was also a nice touch.

Of course, one episode is not enough to cover all four of Room 309's girls, so Nozomi's match must wait for next episode. So far though, the series is handling this aspect of its story impressively well.

Rating: A-

Keijo!!!!!!!! is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.