26 December 2016: Keijo!!!!!!!! is better than Shakunetsu no Takkyuu Musume
Walk it off.
Keijo!!!!!!!! is not just a better sports anime than Shakunetsu no Takkyu Musume (Scorching Ping Pong Girls), it's a better show overall. This is probably contrary to conventional expectations from prior to the start of the autumn 2016 season, but I think most viewers now accept that Keijo!!!!!!!! turned out to be much better than anyone reasonably hoped before the season began.
Also, the captain's off-the-shoulder fan service is out of control.
I don't know how they can broadcast this. She's underage!
This is not to say that Shakunetsu no Takkyuu Musume is bad necessarily, but it comes up lacking in many of the areas where Keijo!!!!!!!! thrives. Takkyuu Musume does not have Keijo!!!!!!!!'s verve and the characters are not as engaging, even though they are mostly all nutjobs. Frankly, the show sort of drags, at least if you try to watch it all over the course of a day or two.
Ueda Reina's character is barely in this show.
I wasn't actually planning on watching Scorching Ping Pong Girls, but I saw a picture on the Twitter of Tanaka Minami mugging next to a promotional display and realized there was probably an 81 Produce cross-section in the cast. Sure enough, its seiyuu include a bunch of Wake Up, Girls! and one Ueda Reina. Since a bunch of the shows I'm watching had recently ended, I figured it was a good a time as any to marathon the entire thing. Unfortunately, Ueshama's character does not appear until episode 11 (of 12), which basically wasn't worth it.
I like her already.
Incidentally, a Kawasumi Ayako character appears late in Keijo!!!!!!!! and totally adds value there, so consider the Ayako Doctrine invoked as well on top of all of the other assets making Keijo!!!!!!!! worth your time. Keijo!!!!!!!! didn't need any help, but I welcomed the late-season bonus.
Even her school uniform is off-the-shoulder!
It feels a bit unfair to measure Shakunetsu no Takkyuu Musume against Keijo!!!!!!!! as sports anime, since Keijo!!!!!!!!!'s strength derives from its full commitment to the genre, whereas Takkyuu Musume might be more properly described as a "cute girls doing cute things" show with some sports anime tropes thrown in. In that sense, perhaps a viewer more interested in those conventions than in high-energy athleticism and girls wrecking each other might like Ping Pong Girls better.
