Television series
Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!
- Comedy
- Light-hearted
Three high school girls form an anime club to make their own series. It's a love letter to the messy, collaborative act of creation—animation, writing, design, the whole chaotic dance. Wildly imaginative, visually inventive, genuinely funny. For anyone who's ever wanted to make something, or wondered how the cartoons actually get made.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you love watching people obsess over how a thing actually gets made, and find joy in the nerdy, sketchbook-level planning that turns a wild idea into a moving picture.
Skip it if you want a story with a steady plot engine; this one runs on enthusiasm and sidetracks, so the sense of direction arrives in bursts rather than a straight line.
What it asks of you: Six episodes of roughly twenty-five minutes each, so it is a quick commitment, and it moves briskly, with bright, chatty scenes that expect you to keep up with the jokes.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Shirobako2014
Follows anime studio workers across all departments—directors, animators, producers—as they rush to finish series under deadline. Same passionate energy about the labour of making anime, with more seasoned cynicism and workplace politics.
But Longer and denser; fifty-plus episodes mean it's a serious commitment. The workplace drama can feel slower than Eizouken's high-school comedy bounce.
Sora yori mo Tooi Basho A Story that leads to the Antarctica2018
Four girls pursue an impossible dream with the same infectious energy and mutual belief. Character-driven, funny, with real emotional stakes. Shares Eizouken's sense that friendship makes the impossible feel achievable.
But It's sincere in a way that might feel saccharine if you're resistant to earnestness. The drama ramps up past where Eizouken stays grounded.
Hataraku Maou-sama!2013
High-concept comedy about characters figuring out how to live in the real world. Charming ensemble cast, consistently inventive humor. Similar tone—absurd premise played straight, character chemistry doing half the work.
But Second season took fifteen years to arrive. The first season's ending feels incomplete, which is annoying if you want closure.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Baccano!2007
Both are about creators and collaborators working out how to assemble something difficult and beautiful from competing ideas and constraints. The making is the plot.
Non-linear narrative told across multiple timelines with overlapping casts, each episode a puzzle piece. Impossibly inventive storytelling that mirrors Eizouken's creative problem-solving. Shares the sense that making something complex from chaos is thrilling, not exhausting.
But The non-linear structure demands attention; you can't look away. If you want to passively watch TV, this asks more work than most people want to give. Some find the complexity showy rather than purposeful.
More like this (6)
Carole & Tuesday2019
Two girls on Mars with dreams of making music together. Gorgeous animation, genuine warmth, about artistic partnership and what you'll sacrifice for your art. Shares Eizouken's optimism about making something meaningful.
But Loses steam in the back half. Some plot threads feel unearned. The animation can't quite sustain the emotional weight it's trying to carry.
Kill la Kill2013
Animation that announces itself on every frame—wild character designs, bold colour, visual storytelling that prioritizes fun and invention over restraint. Studio Trigger at full throttle. Same DNA as Eizouken's visual confidence.
But Pulp premise with fanservice that some find uncomfortable. The plot is deliberately ridiculous. If you want subtlety, you're in the wrong show.
Nichijou2011
Pure comedy animation—absurdist humor, visual gags that only work as animation, impossible-to-categorize energy. Made by people who understand how to be funny using the medium itself, not just good writing.
But Aggressively random. No story arc or character growth. It's seventeen minutes of gags, and if that's not your speed, even one episode will feel exhausting.
SSSS.Gridman2018
Meta, visually playful, about characters in a world that might not be what it seems. Design-forward animation. Has moments of genuine invention alongside the mystery-box setup. Shares Eizouken's visual language.
But The mystery is more compelling than the resolution. If plot payoff matters more to you than atmosphere, you'll feel let down by the final act.
The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya2010
Both are meditations on why we create and what we'll sacrifice for the work. Different registers—one is a comedy about making, the other is a philosophical question wrapped in mystery—but the same core asking.
A three-hour film about boredom and the question of whether you'd give up everything for even one moment of real magic. Slow, deliberately paced, genuinely strange. Made by someone who loves cinema as a medium the way Eizouken loves animation.
But Three hours of people talking in a school. No action, no real story momentum. If you want narrative propulsion, this will feel willfully boring. Anime fans debate whether it's genius or self-indulgent.
Mahoutsukai no Yome2017
Both center on a young person discovering they're capable of genuine artistry, and both understand that the relationship between the learner and the person teaching them matters as much as the work itself.
A girl apprenticed to learn a craft from a master who doesn't initially understand her. Gorgeous, patient, about the long slow work of learning a skill and building trust. Animation that's genuinely beautiful without being showy. Character-driven magic.
But Slow-burn fantasy; the plot moves deliberately and some episodes feel like character studies rather than story progression. If you want plot momentum over atmosphere, it will feel slack. Dark moments land harder than the comedy does.
People
Cast
Recommended by
Beastars, Land of the Lustrous, Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun, Eyeshield 21, Sakamichi no Apollon, Soul Eater, Carole & Tuesday, New Game!, Night Is Short, Walk On Girl, Princess Jellyfish, Interior Therapy with Jeff Lewis, Kubo Won't Let Me Be Invisible, Shirobako, Bamboo Blade, The Eccentric Family, Hanayamata, Arakawa Under the Bridge, Baby Steps, BARTENDER Glass of God, Paradise Kiss, SK∞, Hozuki's Coolheadedness, Sakura Trick, Yama no Susume, There Is Also a Hole in the Student Organization!, Tsuritama, Wise Man's Grandchild, D-Frag!, Kiniro Mosaic, Sound! Euphonium the Movie - Our Promise: A Brand New Day, Star☆Twinkle PreCure the Movie: Wish Upon a Song of Stars, Pretty Cure All Stars: Spring Carnival, Sing "Yesterday" for Me, Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu, Naruto Shippuden the Movie: The Will of Fire, Bee and PuppyCat