Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!, Volume 2: 04/21/22

Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!, Volume 2 by Sumito Oowara continues on with the story of three high school girls collaborating on anime projects. This time they are collaborating with the Robot Club to make a giant robot anime.

The world of this manga (and the anime) is one of the most complex and fascinating ones I've seen in one that isn't explicitly science fiction or fantasy. For all intents and purposes, Eizouken! is a contemporary slice of life. But it's set along a river with tunnels, bridges, twisty corridors and old industrial tech that informs the creative process of the three main characters but is otherwise left unexplained.

In this volume the trio learns how to compromise to get what they need and to provide what their patrons (the Robot Club) want. Each character in this series is given a unique, recognizable, but grounded personality. The various club members are all passionate about what they do, but why they are isn't uniform. That makes the interactions between them all the more interesting and entertaining.

Volume 2 ends on a cliffhanger around the actress turned animator's parents. Their current project has been postponed, meaning they will be coming to the school's festival. If they do, they'll learn that their daughter is making anime against their will!

Five stars

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