This news actually broke two months ago, flying well under the radar. For ecchi fans though, it’s one of the better news stories of the year given this series’ massive potential.
So what is “Keijo?” It is a contest where two girls stand upon on a loosely balanced platform over a pool, then attempt to knock the other one off using only their butt or their breasts. Occasionally you’ll see examples of this “sport” in other ecchi manga and anime. For example the first season of Koihime Musou had an episode dedicated to such a competition.
The manga Keijo!!!!!!!! takes place in an alternate universe where this all female ‘sport’ is a huge national pastime that pays participants handsomely. Like all major multi-billion dollar sports enterprises, there’s even a high degree of sports-science. In this case it is mostly focused on the butt, as the hips provide far more power than the chest. These ‘butt studies’ go into surprising scientific detail. One such detail: the evolutionary reason why Japanese women’s butts are built differently than the way that western women’s butts are built. Seriously.
The manga goes on long ‘battle’ arcs where the girls compete in various Keijo-related competitions, as well as several training sessions, with most of the training built around, yup, da butt.
Then of course, there’s the million dollar question:
Yes, the manga has a good amount of pointless nudity.
Overall, a decent comparison for this series might be Sekatsuyo in that it’s an over-the-top girls sports ecchi series with some nudity on the side. The Sekatsuyo manga is actually non-nude last I checked, but the anime by ARMS was sure to add shower scenes and raunchy disc extras. No worries here, as such content is already built into the Keijo!!!!!!!! manga.
Production details have yet to emerge. I’m just speculating, but this manga seems like a great fit for either ARMS or JC Staff. ARMS tends to be drawn towards shameless material, and JC Staff likes their ecchi to be novel.
It’s also worth noting that neither ARMS nor TNK have been linked to an ecchi series yet this year. Both companies have produced at least one nude ecchi series every year going back to the oughts.
Given that the project was announced in early February, it’s most likely to be completed by the Fall 2016 season or Winter 2017 season.
