Keijo!!!!!!!! – Female Empowerment and Modern Feminism’s Biggest Problem

I hate a lot of things. That includes a lot of women, all feminists, all social justice warriors, and the entirety of the regressive left (though I suppose that’s basically a synonym for those last two things) – so it’s a little weird bringing up such a clearly “feminist” subject as empowering women but I felt it was worth the time. Keijo is a show that you expect anything BUT(t?) that from, it’s essentially a very fanservice filled butt-and-boob battle sports shounen about a main cast of college girls trying their best to become stars in a fictional professional sport pulled right out of the Dead or Alive spin-off Xtreme games. Loads of juicy ass, big voluptuous titties, and a sport that focuses on these things smashing and bouncing and flying all over. How’s that “empowering” and not demeaning, disgusting, gross, and the pure objectification of women as a sexual object?

Well, within just the ~2 minute intro of the very first episode the answer should be apparent. The reason I’m writing this post at all is because that fact will go missing to most people, and that’s just not fair to the show. Beyond that, it provides a good example of what’s wrong with feminism today and how backwards their thinking is when something like this – something that without a doubt empowers young girls and women and also teaches them to be proud of their bodies no matter what it looks like and to follow their passions no matter what they are – is surely somehow horrible tasteless trash that’s one step away from being literal rape and clearly the evil patriarchy brainwashing these girls into partaking in this game.

This is a show that has a lead female who is very proud, very passionate, is not an idiot, is not clumsy, idealized, or fetishized, and is very interested in this sport – she’s a strong independent realistic girl who is pursuing what she loves who is fighting her way to the top against many like her. Everyone in the show has believable and meaningful ambitions and reasons for wanting to become pros as well, for example one of the roommates of the lead (another member of the main cast) is trying her best to become famous in this sport to save her small rural village from dying out because the baby boomers from WWII are dying off, not many kids are being born there, and nobody is moving in because it’s a hobunk little place. She hopes making a name for herself will attract people to her town to revitalize it and help it grow. A noble ambition that you can and do find in real life with many professional athletes. Plenty of others want to do it for other reasons, such as the lead who simply feels that strong passion but also loves the high-pay she’ll get and looks forward to seeing the world through all the places playing would take her.

This “sport” – Keijo – is also simply seen as just that; a sport, not a pseudo-porn shoot. Look at something like volleyball – does anyone scream about it sexualizing women and being a male fantasy so they can grip their dicks to it? No, yet if anything it’s more sexual than most things feminists scream about given it VERY UNNECESSARILY has girls even in their young teens wearing incredibly beyond-tight “shorts” that fit like panties 3 sizes too small pulled out and somehow stuck to their asses as a new layer of skin. That’s acceptable to modern society in real life, so why shouldn’t a fictional martial art pro-sport that is MUCH LESS pointlessly sexualized be okay?

Here they wear swimsuits because it takes place in a pool (swimsuits, not bikinis even, so not even revealing outfits really), it takes place in a pool because the entire sport is based around keeping balance while both attacking and defending, and the way to win is being the last-woman-standing. Which, oh yeah, this is of course a woman-only sport – another straight-out-of-the-feminist-handbook specialty, something men are entirely blocked out of participating in because that’s “equality” to them, yet somehow it’s surely something these people would scream about regardless.

Aside that, as mentioned, the show really does portray all sorts of girls in terms of looks, breast size, ass size, fat or skinny bodies, sexy, nerdy, neutral, tall, short; any type of girl’s personality, upbringing, home town AND looks are on display here all on EQUAL TERMS. Nobody is treated better or worse or blocked from participating in Keijo because of how they look or how they act – aside from if they have a penis of course because this sport just doesn’t work without the boobs and butts really. It doesn’t really rag on anybody for their body either, in the first episode there was only one single insult and it was from a cunt who lost right after anyway and all she did was call the secondary lead “flat”. Nor does it treat it like any of them are “ugly” or anything, even just to the viewer.

This sport, and the show, are both INCREDIBLY inclusive to every type of girl out there and pushes the idea that no matter what your body type, no matter how you look, no matter what your personality is like or where you are from, you can succeed if you really put in the effort and are no better OR WORSE than your peers due to anything aside that effort. True equality for everyone involved. What you put in you get out, and everyone can find advantages and disadvantages in equal value from one person to another, it’s all about exploiting those attributes and putting the odds in your favor against a very diverse set of opponents.

Another important point is that feeling I mentioned earlier of the sport in-universe not being seen as anything but a real professional sport, not some mockery of sports to jerk off to and ogle women. In fact even as just a viewer of the anime the show takes it seriously and treats it as a genuine sports anime, I wasn’t sitting here with my dick out or even thinking about the bodies of the girls but rather intrigued and excited by the really unique very well directed action taking place and the hotbloodedness of the cast as well as the more fun less action-packed moments and enjoyable characters. This is a true sports series, not some cheap pretend one that just uses it as an excuse for fanservice and even the battles themselves are really cool and have you rooting for the main girls – and something that feminists should be showcasing as a great example of portraying strong and diverse women without coming off as creepy or derisive even while being almost literally about butts and boobs. Instead it’ll be ridiculed and treated as another example of a sexual fantasy of men because “well there are girls in it so what else could it be” which is essentially their belief now. Sexuality doesn’t mean sexism.