by Author Ryoko Shikimura’s novel Ganbatte Imashoi, also made into a live-action movie starring Rena Tanaka, will be a theatrical animation released nationwide from October 25th. Sora Amemiya and others will also star. Comments from the five prominent cast members, teaser visuals, and unique information videos have been released.
“Ganbatete Imashoi” is set in Matsuyama City, Ehime Prefecture. It is rich and vividly depicts the growth of high school girls who devoted their youth to the rowing club and the life-sized fluctuations of their hearts. It is a beautifully written youth novel. The live-action film version released in 1998 became a long-running hit, and in 2005, it was made into a drama (produced by Kansai Television) starring An Suzuki and Ryo Nishikido.
Amemiya voices the main character, Etsuko Murakami, a second-year high school student who realizes she is not unique and has given up on trying her best at anything. Together with Etsuko, she revives the discontinued rowing club, and Miku Ito, Rie Takahashi, Akari Kito, and Ikumi Hasegawa play the members who dedicate their youth to rowing.
In announcing the anime adaptation, Amemiya said, “It’s an attractive work that depicts the sparkling youth of the rowing club and the human drama of the dirty life-sized high school students, which are depicted in wonderful drawings.” While remembering myself from that age, Amemiya said, I aimed for acting,” he said.
The director is Yuhei Sakuragi, who served as the CG director for Hayao Miyazaki’s short film “The Caterpillar’s Boro” at the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka and also directed the animated feature “Even if the World Ends Tomorrow” (2019). Keiichiro Daichi, who wrote The Quintessential Quintuplets, participated in the script. Asako Nishida of “Love Live!” will be responsible for character design.
The original author, Shikimura, was delighted with the anime adaptation, saying, My dream has become a reality in the ideal form.” He expressed his gratitude to everyone involved, saying,I am deeply grateful to all the production staff who have visited the original stage many times and visualized it in the best possible way. Thank you for your hard work.”
The full text of the character settings, voice actors, and other comments is below. (Editorial Department/Koichi Irikura)
Etsuko Murakami/Common name: Etsunee (CV Sora Amamiya)
A second-year student at Mitsu Higashi High School spends her days feeling cold and feeling that there is no point in trying hard. When she was a child, she was called “Etsunee” because she had the skin of an older sister. She tends to give up, thinking there is no point in trying hard, but when her transfer student Riina gets involved, she has no choice but to join the rowing club along with Hime. Boat Position: A Stroke that Contains Passion This fascinating work depicts the rowing club’s sparkling youth and the life-size human drama of the dirty-minded high school students, shown in beautiful pictures.
When playing the role of Etsuko, I tried to play the role naturally while remembering myself at that age, when I would get irritated for reasons I didn’t know for sure or get stubborn for no reason. It’s a work you can enjoy with an immersive feeling as if it were your own, so please look forward to its release!
