When Kurt Cobain said that all movies about making music sucked (except Spinal Tap), he was right. Although I have a soft spot for movies like Almost Famous and School of Rock, I would never say that they accurately portray the realities of being an artist. Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! is the best thing about making a thing ever made, succeeding even Adaptation. and Inside Llewyn Davis. The reason so many movies/shows/books/etc... about the artistic process fall short is because they're not like Eizouken!, and even the most successful portrayals are not nearly as fun. I've watched this whole show twice already and will continue to revisit it for the rest of my life.
Throughout both my viewings, I consistently found myself having to take screencaps of the most resonant dialogue about artistry I've ever heard. What exactly about its portrayal makes it so effective? Eizouken! expresses the realities of creating art under capitalism without ever endorsing that mode of production. Not only does it show the conflicts, deadlines and inhibitions on creativity that result from the profit-motive being the determining factor of all art, it shows us that the labor of art is valuable.
This conflict is embodied boldly in the character of Kanamori. I haven't had an anime crush in many years, but goddamn, let me admit that I am now hopelessly in love with Kanamori-san. Although she might ostensibly seem to be the show's representation of the cold-blooded capitalist producer, she's actually sort of a leftist. In the first episode we hear her say: "Why, Asakusa, did you expect to get my labor without compensation?" Later on she says, "Pay exists to ensure a quality standard for labor." Although she shows no hesitation when it comes to conniving or scheming to advance the prospects of the Film Club, she does so from a belief that their labor has value and that they are entitled to create free from exploitation. On the one hand, Kanamori's perspective is bleak when she suggests that "given the situation we were in" there is no "alternative" to capitalist realism. On the other, she is an incredibly inspirational tough-loving hand that tells us artists are entitled to a life of dignity and to create the best life for yourself you can given the hopeless "boot stamping on a human face forever" of capitalism's persistence.
The show doesn't offer the prospect of a revolution, but who's to say its wrong for that? Early on we see The Boiled Tofu Club call for the Carbohydrate Revolution in the face of the fascist tendencies of the Security Club. Their appeal is quickly shut down by the bureaucratic authority of the Student Council. Later on, Mizusaki poses the question, "wouldn't not having to worry about money and just making anime be the best?" To which Kanamori answers, "Absolutely not!" Eizouken! pulls no punches in showing how far from liberation the artistic process is under a capitalist system, but it also tells us not to wait around for the rev. Given the failed history of left revolutions across the globe, I'm inclined to agree with the show's perspective here when I'm at my most blackpilled (i.e. right now). To quote Lindsay Ellis, "existing in a system is not the same as endorsing it."
Anime comedy doesn't really work for me. Although there are many series with comedic elements that I love, I often find the humor to be distracting, tonally inconsistent and just not funny. Nearly every damn episode of Eizouken! has at least a few moments where I was genuinely in hysterics. The comedy just feels natural with this one, like jokes the characters would actually make, not the writers. The over-stylized deadpan face, a staple of anime humor, is not overused and only appears at the most precisely timed moments, to where it's genuinely funny anytime we see the characters's faces like this...
Similarly, I think most anime openings kinda suck. I find that they often have atrociously over-produced music that doesn't fit the tone of the show and are better off skipped. Although it just wrapped, I feel confident in saying Eizouken! undoubtedly has one of the best OPs of all-time. "Easy Breezy" is just so damn irresistible and the animation is so much fun. A screenshot of Kanamori getting down with the groove is currently my phone background.
Despite the weightiness of the themes, Eizouken! is always tremendously light-hearted and fun. Many of my favorite shows, like Cowboy Bebop, are my favorites because they instantaneously transport me to the world and make me feeling like I'm hanging out with the characters. I feel like I'm on the Bebop, chilling with Spike, Jet and Faye, just trying to scrape by with the next bounty. Eizouken! gives me the same feelling. I'm right in there creating anime with my best buds (or lover) Kanamori, Asakusa and Mizusaki. I can't really think of any criticisms to direct at this show and it will continue to live on in my heart and on my screen until the end of my days.
