This is review number one hundred and thirty four. Its part of the Fall 2012 lineup and it’s a short one. The only 12 episode anime I haven’t seen in this lineup is Tonari Kaibutsu, which I’m saving for last because I know it’s good. I’m gearing myself up for the last two anime of the Summer 2012 lineup to finish it for good.

In the meantime, I’m reviewing Teekyu. It’s a twelve episode anime about four girls in a tennis club. Nothing complicated about it, right? Well, you’re wrong. Let’s read on.

Story

The anime is about four girls in the tennis club spending their normal days together. Every episode is just about the everyday lives of the girls which involves tennis, some idiotic conversations and some random moments for good measure.

Taking the Pants Off

Teekyu is a two minute anime about four girls in the tennis club. Let that sink in for a moment. The anime runs for only two minutes per episode. Two minutes. Oh, that includes an OP so it’s pretty mind blowing what this anime just did. Ever watched an anime so fast that the only thing you can process is the OP sequence? The creator of the anime claims that this will be the fastest anime ever adapted and I think they succeeded on that promise. Teekyu is possibly the fastest anime you’d ever see.

It’s the main appeal of the anime. In the span of two minutes, we get the OP song then some jokes, a scenario and a funny conclusion. It’s like on a sugar rush with the way it’s presented. The dialogue between the characters is so fast that I was stunned when I first so it. There’s not a lot of time to let anything sink in and you’d just be staring at the anime until you understand its rhythm.

It’s about four girls in the tennis club. The show revolves around their time together in the club or just hanging out in school or at different places. The dialogue of the anime is very intimidating at first because it’s like on fast forward. Despite the fast pacing, the setup is pretty smart. It draws strength from the characters and it thrives on the random. Much like Joshiraku where the conversation of ten goes out of track and into oblivion, Teekyu starts out with some conversations and it just goes random part way through until it ends with a random sequence. At first, it feels daunting but as the randomness keeps on coming, I find myself enjoying the anime. In the span of two minutes, there’s enough comedy to satisfy the viewers.

The characters are the main draw of the anime. The anime was able to nicely establish the characters despite its fast nature. Nothing deep or extravagant, just an introduction and then the foursome commences. Each character has a unique personality which blends pretty nicely together. There is the level headed one, the rich girl, the loud one and the pervert. Some scenes of the anime extract some jokes from their personality while at other times, the characters just go wild. The nice characters also mix well with the random set up of the anime.

The fast pacing of the anime does hurt it a lot though. I’m sure not everyone is as open minded as me when it comes to an anime like this. Watching the subtitle does get vexing as you keep watching it. The jokes in the anime are also a hit or miss at times. The Comedy genre is a fickle genre. The thing you find hilarious may not be as funny to another person and the randomness of the anime does take a while to be appreciate. I’m also not sure why the hell the wanted the anime to be fast. It’s as good as Joshiraku if it was presented in a regular anime format. It is unique though, so I guess that’s a plus.

Sight and Sound

The character design is pretty nice. It’s a bit moe but it also has room for some fan service. I love the big eyes and the colorful hair. I’m still not sure if this anime was flash animated or just lazily animated because the bright colors in the anime isn’t the typical color you see in flash animation (see Thermae Romae or Double J). It’s very bright and the background is like your typical anime. It screams typical anime but the movement is limited and there are blatant short cuts in the animation. I’m guessing it was painted regularly then passed through the flash program, which is pretty smart because the anime feels like a typical anime as oppose to a flash animated anime.

According to MAL, only one guy made this anime and that is pretty incredible. The still poses are really nicely made because the details in it are superb. The anime take short cuts in movement by turning the characters chibi or altering their face. Most times, the anime just take still poses and give them a solid transition. This was smartly made and I appreciate that.

There is some fan service in the anime. Just the typical panty shots though but they’re really detailed panty shots. It doesn’t have time to sink in though because of the anime’s fast pacing but there’s room for some Ecchi in the anime.

The anime has no ED. Its OP song is “Botsuraku Kizoku no Tame no Teekyu” by Yui Watanabe. It’s a funny and random song which nicely represents the anime. I love Yui’s voice because it does stand out and it’s normally paced as opposed to the caffeine injected energy of the anime. The OP sequence features the characters and some random scenes. If you decide to watch this anime, the OP sequence might be the only thing you’ll remember. Haha.

Overall Score

3/10 “The fastest anime ever created may not be for everyone.”

The animation was nice despite the limited movement and the characters do stand out beautifully. The pace hurts the anime tremendously though and it’s too gimmicky for its own good. I’m sure the anime would’ve worked great if it has three more minutes to work with per episode. The overall experience is forgettable but just for fun, check it out. I recommend it.