Backflip!! The Movie

Alternate Titles

映画 バクテン!!
Eiga Bakuten!!

Synopsis

Ever since coming across the world of boy’s rhythmic gymnastics during the last summer of junior-high, Shotaro Futaba has become fascinated with the sport. So when he enters Soshokuan Private High School, known as Ao High for short, he heads to the boy’s rhythmic gymnastics club, where he meets unique seniors and the ace of the team, Ryoya Misato. The members of the club each have their own passions, but they’ve put it all on the line with a single goal in mind. Now the next stage in their journey has arrived: the inter-high competition!

Background

Backflip!! is an original TV anime series being produced by ZEXCS. It is part of the "Zutto Oen Project 2011 + 10..." project, which commemorates the 10th anniversary of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. It is being directed by Toshimasa Kuroyanagi with Seishiro Nagaya as the series director, Toshizo Nemoto handling series composition, Yuka Shibata handling character designs, and Yuki Hayashi composing the music. The anime’s opening theme song is “Seishun no Enbu” by Centimillimental, and the ending theme song is “Anata ga Iru” by wacci. The anime aired in Japan beginning on April 8, 2021 as part of Fuji TV’s Noitamina programming block.

A feature-length theatrical anime was announced after the conclusion of the TV anime. Similarly to the TV anime, it is being produced by ZEXCS and sees returning staff including Toshimasa Kuroyanagi as director, with Toshizo Nemoto handling the screenplay, Yuka Shibata handling character designs, and Yuki Hayashi composing the music. The film’s theme song is “Bokura no Ippo” by wacci, and its insert song is "Hikari no Naka Kara Tsutaetai Koto" by Centimillimental. The film will premiere in Japan on July 2, 2022.

Characters

Ao High School

Shotaro Futaba (Voiced by: Shimba Tsuchiya)
A new member of the Ao High boys' rhythmic gymnastics team and a first-year high school student. His hometown is Miyagi. In the summer of his third year of junior high school, he happened to see a performance by the Ao High boys' rhythmic gymnastics team and was fascinated by rhythmic gymnastics. He entered Ao High and jumped into the world of rhythmic gymnastics, and despite being an amateur, he has grown rapidly thanks to his honest personality.

Ryoya Misato (Voiced by: Kaito Ishikawa)
A new member of the Ao High boys' rhythmic gymnastics team and a first-year high school student. His hometown is Miyagi. He has a cool personality and a calm demeanor, and is somewhat distant from others. He is the runner-up in the men's rhythmic gymnastics junior competition and is expected to become the young ace of the Ao High rhythmic gymnastics team.

Masamune Shichigahama (Voiced by: Daisuke Ono)
Captain of the Ao High boys' rhythmic gymnastics team. He is in his third year of high school. His hometown is Miyagi. His passion for rhythmic gymnastics and love for the club is second to none. He is a childhood friend of Keisuke and Nagayoshi. His parents own a long-established fish cake shop.

Keisuke Tsukidate (Voiced by: Takashi Kondo)
Vice-captain of the Ao High boys' rhythmic gymnastics team. He is in his third year of high school. His hometown is Miyagi. He is a sensible person who gently follows the members of the rhythmic gymnastics club and is an all-rounder who has few difficulties as an athlete. His hobby is moss bonsai, and his parents live in a shrine.

Nagayoshi Onagawa (Voiced by: Hiro Shimono)
He is a third-year member of the Ao High boys' rhythmic gymnastics team. His hometown is Miyagi. He is a mood-maker with a bubbly personality who brightens up the atmosphere of the club. He loves cute girls and idols. He has a habit of giving strange nicknames on the spur of the moment. His family owns a fish shop.

Kotaro Watari (Voiced by: Hiroshi Kamiya)
He is a second-year member of the Ao High boys' rhythmic gymnastics team. His hometown is Miyagi. He is often feared by strangers because of his sharp eyes and piercings, but he has a pleasant personality and takes good care of his underclassmen. His parents own a ramen shop.

Shusaku Shida (Voiced by: Takahiro Sakurai)
The coach of the Ao High boys' rhythmic gymnastics team. His hometown is Kanagawa. He is a gentle man who always has a smile on his face, and he wants the members of the club to truly enjoy rhythmic gymnastics. He is married, but there are many mysteries about him, such as the fact that no one has ever seen who his wife really is.

Asawo Kurikoma (Voiced by: Ayane Sakura)
A second-year female student and the manager of the Ao High boys' rhythmic gymnastics team. Her hometown is Miyagi. Her expression is always the same, and it's hard to tell what she's thinking. She is highly skilled and uses 3D models to explain performances.

Shiro High School

Mashiro Tsukiyuki (Voiced by: Ayumu Murase)
A first-year high school student and new member of the Shiro High boys' rhythmic gymnastics team. He has moved all over Japan together with his father, who is a video cameraman. After settling down in Miyagi, he attends the same junior high school as Ryoya and starts rhythmic gymnastics. Although he is naive and capricious, he has a natural talent for rhythmic gymnastics and has won a junior competition.

Toru Takase (Voiced by: Katsuyuki Konishi)
A third-year high school student and captain of the Shiro High boys' rhythmic gymnastics team. His hometown is Aomori. Though he is very large and intimidating, has a surprisingly complex personality. He is caught between his father, a tuna fisherman, and his maternal grandfather, a generations-old apple farmer. His rival Masamune calls him a gorilla.

Yojiro Mutsu (Voiced by: Kenichi Suzumura)
A third-year high school student and vice-captain of the Shiro High boys' rhythmic gymnastics team. His hometown is Tokyo. He moved to Aomori, his mother’s hometown, when he was a kid. He has been friends with Toru since then. He is polite to everyone and appears to be kind at first glance, but is actually scary when he gets angry.

Hideo Ominato (Voiced by: Tomokazu Sugita)
A second-year high school student and member of the Shiro High boys' rhythmic gymnastics team. His hometown is Aoyama. His father runs an osteopathic clinic in his hometown, and all the members of Shiro High are under his care. He is a very meticulous person, and always has to be on top of everything.

Kyoichi Ryugamori (Voiced by: Soma Saito)
A second-year high school student and member of the Shiro High boys' rhythmic gymnastics team. His hometown is Nagano. He is the heir to a 300-year-old inn. He has been well trained in flower arrangement, tea ceremony, and calligraphy since he was a child. He was a gymnast until junior high school, and excels at rhythmic gymnastics, using his flexibility to his advantage. He was scouted and enrolled at Shiro High. Surprisingly, he was not a regular member in his first year.

Shunsuke Azuma (Voiced by: Daiki Yamashita)
A first-year high school student and new member of the Shiro High boys' rhythmic gymnastics team. His hometown is Chiba. His family owns a surf store and runs a beach tea shop in the summer. He swam and surfed as a child, but became interested in rhythmic gymnastics in junior high school after admiring the acrobatics of movie and TV heroes.

Shuji Mabuchi (Voiced by: Kenichiro Matsuda)
The coach of the Shiro High boys' rhythmic gymnastics team. His hometown is Aomori. He trains the members of Shiro High with his passionate and strict coaching. He is an old friend of Shusaku, the coach of Ao High.

Other Characters

Ayumi Futaba (Voiced by: Reina Ueda)
Shotaro’s younger sister. Her hometown is Miyagi. She is in her second year of junior high school but is still a spoiled brat, though she gets along well with Shotaro. She likes her mother's dumplings.

Music

Theme Song: “Bokura no Ippo” by wacci
Insert Song: "Hikari no Naka Kara Tsutaetai Koto" by Centimillimental

• Movie Site (Japanese)
• Twitter (Japanese)

• Original Creator: Yotsugi Enpitsu
• Original Character Design: Robico
• Director: Toshimasa Kuroyanagi
• Rhythmic Gymnastics Practice Director: Fumiaki Kouta
• Screenplay: Toshizo Nemoto
• Character Design: Yuka Shibata
• Chief Animation Director: Aya Nakanishi, Yuka Shibata
• Art Director: Hiromasa Ogura, Yuka Hirama
• Art Setting: Mamio Ogawa
• Color Design: Emi Chiba
• Prop Design: Aya Nakanishi
• 3DCG: Buemon
• CGI Director: Shuji Shinoda
• Director of Photography: Ryo Ito, Takahiro Hondai
• Editing: Daisuke Hiraki
• Sound Director: Yukio Nagasaki
• Music: Yuki Hayashi
• Rhythmic Gymnastics Uniform Design: Sasaki Sports
• Supervision: Aomori Yamada High School Boys Rhythmic Gymnastics Team
• Chief Producer: Yukiko Takase
• Producer: Akitoshi Mori, Kiyoshi Shintaku, Noriko Iwasaki
• Animation Production: ZEXCS