Review of Hand Shakers
Hand Shakers, the perfect "Mediocre" anime. For starters, the "Story" receives a five for simple reasons. It's pretty damn basic. There's a story, but it's not a good one. There is development in the story, but they're not interesting. There are twists, but they come abruptly and awkwardly. I can truly describe this anime's plot in such a heartbeat, it's almost sad. "Wattpad Middle-schooler fan-fic." Doesn't ring a bell? Good for you. Essentially, I'm suggesting that the setting of the story, the plot elements, the key details, the premise of the show, etc. are all near immature, and bland, lacking in originality and creativity. The most"unique" aspect of the story is the fact that Hand Shakers ... must hold hands.
Art and Sound. Both receive five for similar reasons. The one thing that both aspects have in common would be the fact that, for at the minimum, half the show is arguably a 1-3 rating. There's a lot of clunky animation, awkward sound effects, weird art choices, elevator music, etc. Yet that isn't the worst of it. One of the more popular complaints I've heard of is the overwhelming cluster of sound effects and special effects. The first episode is guaranteed to give you a headache, and while the sound effects seem alright at first, they tend to be constant and overwhelming at times.
So why the five? Well, I personally believe there a few, while minimal, there are few scenes and soundtrack choices that deserve a higher rating. There are rather nice-looking backgrounds, not every song sounds like royalty-free music, sometimes the sound effects help the immersion unlike the special effects, and occasionally the animation is rather impressive. It's these sparks of effort that make a lower score feel criminal.
The character rating being a five is a little tough to settle on. I want to like the characters, but there's not even a chance as any potential in these characters is absolutely ruined by the poor dialogue. Scenes that are supposed to be comedic sometimes feel forced or "cringe" and half the time, the dialogue just feels so robotic and off-setting. One of my personal complaints has to do with a specific character that I will not name for spoiler protection, becoming rather talkative, which is fine, but this influenced and changed how I viewed them as a character, how they interacted with the other characters, and overall just made the character different. I didn't like the change. There are some decent side characters, usually coming in as duos since y'know, Hand Shakers are paired. I specifically enjoyed the business-related characters (you'll understand if you watch) but I do understand the common complaint that all the characters are boring, cliched, and lack creativity, a common trend in all aspects of this show.
Lastly, I've said enough to explain why I rated "Enjoyment" as five. In all due respect, I didn't hate it, I just didn't find it to be good. I watched it, said "yeah that works I guess" and moved on with my day. There is a sequel, perhaps I'll get to it, but for now, I don't feel like wasting the effort on a show I know isn't worth it.
Recommendation:
Not worth the headache, nor the disappointment. If you like trash anime, by all means, take Hand Shakers for a spin but, if you expect an anime similar to Assassin's Pride (absolutely awful but I loved it) you will not receive it.