by The movie version of the anime “Backflip !!”, which depicts the youth of the high school boys’ rhythmic gymnastics club set in Iwanuma City, Miyagi Prefecture, was released on the 2nd. The TV anime broadcast from April to June 2021 was also very popular. Why was the work done in Iwanuma? We will also introduce the local excitement.
A gymnasium surrounded by silence. A player from a private Soshukan High School (Ao High School) wearing a glittering costume shows an undisturbed performance. Shotaro Futaba, the main character who was a junior high school student, is glued to the power.
This is the beginning of the first episode of the TV anime “Backflip !!”. Futaba enrolled in Ao High School. He grows up with unique members in the rhythmic gymnastics club. The movie version describes the struggle of the team that played in the National High School Championships (Inter-High) and after that.
Many local familiar places appear at work, such as the city gymnasium and a butcher shop where croquettes are delicious. The names of characters are named after the places of Miyagi, such as “Misato,” “Watari,” and “Tsukidate.” The ending of each story incorporates a scene where the character introduces the place where his name came from, and many fans “pilgrimage” each place.
The city will also focus on PR. Life-sized panels of characters are installed at 6 locations, such as JR Iwanuma Station and Takekoma Shrine. In addition to issuing a pilgrimage map of the sacred place in collaboration with the Tourism and Products Association, a PR video overlaps the city’s images, and the anime characters’ movements are released. Enliven the town as a whole. The city official said, “There are some core fans who come to places that only appear in movies” and already feel the effect of the movie version release.
Why was Iwanuma City on the stage in the first place? Producer Fuji TV’s Akitoshi Mori (37) recalls, “The Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016 was the trigger.”
A corner was set up at the closing ceremony to appeal to the 20th Tokyo Games. Among them, “a group of interesting movements that are neither dance nor gymnastics” caught the eye of Mr. Mori. They were the male members of the rhythmic gymnastics club of Aomori University (Aomori City).
While being drawn to the dynamics and proceeding with the interview, he arrived at Natori High School (Iwanuma City), a high school powerhouse. I was fascinated by the appearance of the players, who had improved their expressiveness in the absence of sufficient equipment, so I chose it as a model for my work.
Mr. Mori himself is from Miyagi prefecture. She spent her time in Sendai until high school. “I’m glad to receive a work set in my hometown. I hope it will help the people of Miyagi and Tohoku to live energetically by depicting high school students looking forward and living in the present.” Speaks.
