Keijo (manga)

Keijo (競女), also known as Hip Whip Girl, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Daichi Sorayomi. It was serialized in Shogakukan's manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Sunday from July 2013 to April 2017, with its chapters collected in 18 volumes. It follows a gymnast participating in a fictional women-only contact sport, where players use only their breasts and buttocks to tackle opponents. An anime television series adaptation produced by Xebec aired from October to December 2016.

Plot

In an alternate reality, the women-only competitive sport keijo becomes a fad in Japan. The rules for the game are simple: the match is held in a swimming pool stadium. Participants must stand atop circular platforms floating in a pool, referred to as "lands". They can defeat their opponents by knocking them off their respective platforms and into the water, using only their breasts or buttocks. The sport attracts millions of viewers across the country and boasts a lavish prize pool. This prompts many aspiring athletes from different sports to try to succeed in keijo. After graduating from high school, Nozomi Kaminashi, a gifted gymnast, enters a keijo training academy. She was raised in a poor family and hopes to earn a fortune.

Characters

• Nozomi Kaminashi (神無 のぞみ)
• An athletic, cheerful, and energetic girl wishing to become the richest player. Her fighting type is "Infighter". Her technique, the "Vacuum Butt Cannon", can send anyone or anything far. She is sometimes a troublemaker and occasionally gets stuck in tough situations. Despite her initial loss, she learns all she can about keijo. She has dark blue eyes and wears a white ribbon tied in her long, dark blue hair.
• Sayaka Miyata (宮田 さやか)
• A former judo champion. She is one of the promising recruits and the fastest player. Her fighting type is "Outfighter". Despite her classmates' antics, she is a caring friend to her roommates and solves problems with them. She has dark blue eyes and a blue ribbon tied in her short, white hair. Her father disapproves of her decision to play keijo instead of judo, but accepts it when she wins a match in the East–West War event with a judo-inspired move.
• Kazane Aoba (青葉 風音)
• A shy resident of Hiroshima with a dialect and self-conscious. Her ponytail moves when she is addressed or feeling emotional. Her right hand is sensitive and can copy her opponents' abilities by feeling up their buttocks, an ability she calls "Scanning Hand". In addition, she learns a strategy with special abilities from her friends as the situation demands in the East–West War. Her fighting style is "Counter". She has a brown eyes and a ponytail.
• Non Toyoguchi (豊口 のん)
• A countryside village girl wishing to gain popularity and revitalize her village. She has the softest buttocks and breasts, absorbing attacks and reflecting them back. She is clumsy, absent-minded, and gets into comical situations. She and Kazane have unusual accents, which is why Nozomi misunderstands them at first. She has red eyes and hair tied in pigtails.
• Hanabi Kawai (河合 花火)
• An Elite Class Rank 3. She is a sports prodigy ever since childhood. Because of this, she makes friends upon joining keijo. She has a happy-go-lucky attitude when playing on the Land. Her attack strategy is to immobilize her opponents. Her attack style is "Infighter". She has short light purple hair and eyes.
• Mio Kusakai (日下生 美桜)
• An Elite Class Rank 1 player and a lesbian. She openly flirts with and teases her classmates and opponents, ignoring their discomfort. For her "Breast Hypnosis" technique, she moves her breasts like a pendulum, immobilizing her opponents. The technique was later banned from school. Her fighting style is "Infighter". She has long blonde hair and light blue eyes.
• Rin Rokudō (六堂 鈴)
• An Elite Class Rank 2. She initially claims to be the fastest "Outfighter" in Western Japan, which starts a rivalry between her and Sayaka. She is a former swimmer, with a large lung capacity and quick movement. Her favorite technique is the "Butt Gatling". Her nickname is "Rinrin". She has short blue hair and eyes.
• Yuko Ōshima (大島 優子)
• The main teacher in the West. She instructs the girls in ways related to keijo, such as hip toss with the beach ball and morning exercises. She has amazing speed throughout the series. She has a brown ponytail and eyes.
• Nagisa Ujibe (氏部 凪)
• One of the first keijo players and "prize queens", she was known as the "Alluring Siren" in the past. In the present, she is Nozomi's teacher. She is the first to recognize Nozomi's "Vacuum Butt Cannon" and knows the dangers of the attack, as she once used it herself. She is the owner of the UTMs (advanced swimsuits), before Nozomi joins the elite class in preparation for the East–West War. She has a rivalry with the keijo training school's head teacher in the East. She has orange hair and eyes, and a high weight compared to when she was a teenager.
• Miku Kobayakawa (小早川 未来)
• One of the other teachers in the West. She has long blonde hair and an unknown eye colour.
• Kotone Fujisaki (藤崎 琴音)
• An Elite Class Rank 4. She comes from a family of players and is naturally gifted for sports. Before Nozomi convinced her otherwise, she saw keijo as nothing more than work. She attacks while her back is turned and uses the vibrations on the Land to detect and predict her opponents' movements without looking. Her buttocks release an aura in the form of a dog and appear to hone in on her target. She listens to boys' love stories on a headset and fantasizes about them, sometimes during keijo matches. Her fighting style is "Infighter". She has short blue hair and eyes.

Media

Reception

In November 2016, Crunchyroll revealed Keijo!!!!!!!! as the most viewed anime series in the United States. It was the most popular in nine states, with only Yuri on Ice and Drifters, being most viewed in more states.[49] In 2017, fans in Portugal were in the planning stages for a defictionalized Keijo sport league. The rules of the defictionalized version were modified and protective gear for the breasts, rear, and thighs were added to make the sport "safer and more realistic". A proof of concept video showed a match in action, and the league planned to scout for interested parties and venues for play.[50][51]

Explanatory notes

External links

• Keijo!!!!!!!! official manga website at Web Sunday