With how popular anime as a whole has become, it’s no surprise that certain anime production studios have developed reputations for themselves. Many are well-known for some of the classics they’ve produced, with new projects associated with the studios immediately garnering interest. The opposite is also true, with studios notorious for anime disasters garnering a reputation for flops all around.
One production studio with this unfortunate notoriety is GoHands, which has been behind failure after failure. Though one series from GoHands was well-received, a continual series of poorly-handled (and poorly-animated) anime has made it out to be something of a second-rate studio. An upcoming romantic comedy is set to potentially make the company’s greatest problem into a strength, but it may not be enough to make anime fans give the studio a chance.
GoHands Is One of the Most Controversial Anime Studios
GoHands was founded in 2008, with its first major production being the 2009 anime Princess Lover!. The first major success from the studio was 2012’s K, an original series that was very well-received. Most notable was the fantastic animation, which made the already pretty good anime stand out in audiences’ eyes. From there, GoHands attempted to replicate this success with sequels such as K: Return of Kings and especially Hand Shakers, with the latter being the point at which the studio’s reputation drastically plummeted. Making even the worst CG anime look acceptable, the show continues to be something of a laughingstock today.
This original series was criticized for its poor script and lack of tension. Worst of all, however, is the animation, especially the way in which framing is handled. Frames jump in and out during battles, making the entire affair look like a video game fight where the player is constantly fiddling with the camera. It’s not only jarring but also amateurish, making the otherwise interesting and glossy art style look like cardboard cutouts. Then there are the proven allegations of plagiarism surrounding the studio’s attempted adaptation of Tokyo Babylon, which caused the anime to be canceled outright. None of the anime made by the studio since have helped to repair GoHands’ bad reputation, and an upcoming series is unlikely to change that.
A Straightforward Romantic Comedy Is the Last Thing That Will Possibly Save GoHands
The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses is a fairly basic romantic comedy manga, with its premise involving a student named Kaede Komura who has a massive crush on classmate Ai Mie. Her tendency to lose her glasses sees him becoming something of a close and helpful confidante, with the two eventually discovering that they’re each other’s one true love. It’s a fairly generic plot in an anime industry that’s absolutely flooded with “odd couple” romantic comedies and slice-of-life shows. As GoHands is the studio behind its production, many fans have likely already shrugged The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses off as a lost cause.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a GoHands anime without bizarre camera angles that make even the most mundane scenes look both dramatic and extremely off-putting. Something as simple as the characters walking through the hallway at school becomes an exercise in viewing every inch of them from increasingly confused angles, none of which fit the tone or scope of the story. While such techniques could arguably work better in action scenes for high-flying battle anime, GoHands has shown that it’s incapable of pulling this off. The art itself once again looks shiny, but it can’t be appreciated due to the strangely shaky camerawork.
Coupled with the fact that such a basic anime as The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses should be impossible to fumble, it’s proof that the studio behind it might very much deserve its notoriety. Anime fans likely won’t be changing their tune — or rather, sporadically shifting their perspective — on GoHands anytime soon, especially when such an easy assignment looks to have been so blatantly misunderstood.
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