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全員この場で野々村の宣戦布告を受け取る。
We all accept Nonomura's declaration of war.
たとえ遊びでも手は抜かない。
Even if it's just for fun, we will go all out.
How would these lines have read differently if it said たとえ遊びでも手を抜かない. I understand that when は is used to replace を it is essentially はを but how does using は instead of を change the meaning of this sentence?
は can be used instead of を to emphasize the preceding word. In this context, they may or may not skimp on other things, but they won't get lazy about their 手 (literally means hand, but here it means way to achieve, work or approach).
If they are skimping on something, that would be 気. The expression "気を抜く" means to lose focus and get relaxed. This is a little wordplay, though.
