Keijo!!!!!!!!

Episode 6

With the battles for the Room 309 occupants to earn their way into the elite class now out of the way, the series shifts gears to show the girls going into more serious training in their specialties, as another big stepping stone to eventually entering the pro ranks. As you might expect from a series that so thoroughly models itself after shonen action and outlandish sports series, our heroine learns there is a weakness she must overcome in order to take the next step forward. Of course, she must figure out what that weakness actually is first.

This episode only introduces that this blind spot exists at its very end, when Nozomi receives analysis in the wake of an evaluation bout with the pro player who has signed on to train her and the other infighters (Hanabi, Kusaki, and the masculine-looking girl with the really short hair whose name escapes me). Up to that point, the episode is mostly a light-hearted journey for the elite class to Kyoto, which results in some initial downtime. There's comical antics galore, including a scene that establishes quite firmly that Hanabi is definitely not a lesbian, but on a somewhat more serious note, we also get some background on Sayaka, indicating that her earlier focus on judo tended to isolate her in the past, so she eagerly yearns for activities with friends now. We also get the strong implication that her father is none too thrilled about this alternate direction she has taken, although her mother seems supportive. While the presence of these scenes is nothing remarkable, they're handled with laudable efficiency. The writing gets the point across quickly and effectively before moving on, recognizing that this character development, while important, is hardly a big enough plot point to be worthy of more than a couple minutes of attention. Many other anime series could stand to learn that lesson.

With Sayaka being built up as such a prominent supporting character, it will be interesting to see how much training we see on her side (although the preview implies that she will be prominently featured next episode). Nozomi's group is up first, which means the formal introduction of pro Kyoko Shirayuki, who was the winner of the Keijo match that Nozomi and Sayaka watched in the series' opening scene. She's apparently going to be a regular for at least a few episodes, and she gets two suitably amusing techniques: the Surface-to-Surface Butt Missile and the Anal Probe Missile (an attack that hits squarely between the butt cheeks). She also gets her requisite quirk: she's apparently very OCD. She's definitely not hard on the eyes, although in keeping with the series' tone, her bikini-clad body is portrayed more matter-of-factly than luridly. In any case, she's way out of Nozomi's league as an opponent for the moment.

This brings us back to Nozomi's supposed weakness. This is going to be one of these “you'll advance when you've figured it out on your own” kind of situations, but how long will the series dwell on this? Based on how Kyoko acted during the examination, my guess is that Nozomi telegraphs her moves too much, which is something that a pro would be much more likely to pick up on than a fellow student, helping to explain how Nagisa was able to dodge her a few episodes back. We'll have to wait and see, but overall, this was another solid and fun episode.

Rating: B+

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