by The official website for the live-action film of Sumito Ōwara’s Eizōken ni wa Te o Dasu na! (Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!) manga revealed the film’s May 15 opening on Tuesday and also revealed that the live-action project is spawning a six-episode television mini-series. The mini-series will premiere on April 5 on MBS, and on April 7 on TBS. The film and series have the same staff and cast.
Nogizaka46 idol group members Minami Umezawa, Asuka Saitō, and Mizuki Yamashita (left to right in the image above) star in the live-action project as the characters Sayaka Kanamori, Midori Asakusa, and Tsubame Mizusaki. The live-action project also stars Sakurako Konishi as student council president Tōru Dōtonbori, Ema Grace as student council secretary Sowande Sakaki, Riko Fukumoto as attack squad leader Hisashi Ashima (character name romanizations not official), Ryō Matsuzaki as student council treasurer Shunya Ō, Suzunosuke as Kuroda, Masayuki Deai as Asakasa, and Masahiro Takashima as Fujimoto-sensei. Tsutomu Hanabusa (live-action 3D Kanojo Real Girl, Kakegurui, Asahinagu) is directing the film and series.
The manga follows Midori, Tsubame, and Sayaka, an energetic trio of first-year high school girls who come together in the Eizouken (Video Research Club) to turn their anime dreams into a reality. Midori is nervous to create an anime alone. She meets Tsubame who appears to be a well-to-do girl but she really has artistic dreams of being an animator. Midori’s best friend Sayaka has the financial sense to bring the project to fruition and joins the pair on their quest. Ōwara launched the manga in Shogakukan’s Gekkan! Spirits magazine in 2016. The series was nominated for the 11th Manga Taisho awards in 2018, and it won the top Bros. Comic Award in 2017. The manga is inspiring a television anime by Masaaki Yuasa and Science SARU that premiered on NHK General on January 5, and will have 12 episodes. Crunchyroll is streaming the series in North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, Oceania, and the Middle East.
