Review of Hand Shakers

The battle tournament/ survival game genre is something that always catches my interest due to it's massive potential. It's a quick and sure-fire way to have epic battles, dynamic characters and a thrilling ride of suspense. Even an average writer could make a good survival story. A terrible writer, however, can only produce garbage. Hand shakers could very well be the worst anime to Grace this genre. Let's get straight to the elephant in the room: the art and animation. I don't understand how Gohands( what is it with Japan and weird names?) Could produce something as beautiful as k project then make this dumpster fire.The show tried so hard to be advant garde by combining 2d and 3d animation but the director hadn't the slightest clue what to do. The CG is painfully poorly rendered to the point there are ps2 games with better graphics There's also the poorly handled camera that just spins around without any real meaning. I'm guessing the director was going for a cinematic feel but it felt like the show was made by a child playing with his phone. Viewers are bombarded with oversaturated rainbow vomit colors you can find on a bad Wattpad faction cover. More colors don't mean better art If there's no rhyme or reason put into it. Some people even claimed to have gotten nauseous from these pathetic visuals. I'll admit the actual character designs were good and I liked the outfit worn by the mc. His jacket is chic and looks good enough to be sold in fashion retails.

The soundtrack was completely dull. Not a single song stuck out to me and I forgot every piece of music as soon as it ended. I understand not every anime can get that Iwasaki Taku or Hiroyuki Sawano soundtrack but at least have something noteworthy in the audio-visual department to distract viewers from the clusterf*ck story. I liked the voice acting in the English dub and I would've never watched this boring show with subtitles so that's one positive I guess.

Time to finally get to the real meat of the show. Or maybe it's vegan meat cause it's completely bland boring and a utter waste of time.

( Cue dramatic narration in the voice of Optimus Prime)
Fierce opponents from all across Japan battle to enlist in a legendary tournament to own the right to talk to God. The battles are daunting and survival is not guaranteed. Only one boy and his basic bitch girlfriend may come out supreme.
( End credits)
And that's the entire show in one paragraph. Episodes either have bland mc and basic bitch go on a date or have them battling other fighters. Let's take a quick look at the setup. Why are the weapons here called nimrods? I understand the old definition means mighty Hunter( I researched it so the show indirectly taught me a new meaning) most people would immediately think of an idiot. What's also idiotic is why the area these teens fight in is called a ziggurat. It's another biblical term that refers to a temple. These people are never in a temple so calling an empty space a ziggurat is stupid and pretentious. I just know the writers thought they were being clever with the naming. Anime has this weird fascination with using religious terms simply to look cool without any thought put into it.

There isn't a lot to say about the story since this show is as superficial as it gets. It's utterly cluttered with archetypes and badly animated fights. Let's make a list of the cliches shall we

• Emotionless quiet girl
• quirky scientist
• Laid back parents who don't question the obvious
• sadist and masochist duo
• pop idol
• a loli who's actually an adult
There's more but you get the point. The dynamic between the characters felt drier than the devil's ass. Tazuna wants to protect hiyori cause she looks like his dead sister and hiyori wants......??????? Other contestants include a brocon sister who wants to be by her brother's side forever, a pop idol who wants to remain in fame and a businesswoman who wants to be taken seriously. With motives and personalities so boring, it's hard to care who wins and losses.

What's worse is that the entire tournament was for nothing. Tazuma wins but he never talked to God. Thanks for cementing your complete lack of skill dear writers. we never get to find out anything about this god and the show ends.

I don't recommend watching hand shakers. You might have fun laughing at how bad it is but the atrocious visuals and lackluster cast make it hard to sit through.