Nogizaka46: "Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken" film review part two

 

 Release date: September 25, 2020.... due to the virus it was pushed back from May.

Length: 112 minutes Director: Tsutomu Hanabusa, subs were done by Beam Subs

Main  Cast: The Nogi members got 95% of the screen time but it is a large cast, will just list a few of the others as most roles weren't that large. The action takes place at the Shibahama high school, the Nogi gals are in their twenties but played sixteen year old freshman.

Asuka Saito as Midori Asakusa.... Quite an introverted girl who does have explosive moments at times. Midori is an avid anime and manga fan who is a superb artist but didn't pursue that passion until entering high school. She's been best friends with Sayaka for many years and the two are so unlike which is why they may get along so well. In the Eizouken club Midori is the main artist and writer but her daffiness keeps their projects at a standstill too often.

 Minami Umezawa as Sayaka Kanamori.... As mentioned Midori's best friend but unlike her Sayaka could care less about animes and mangas. Her passion is money and she'll do anything to become rich. Sayaka is quite savvy when it comes to finances so even though she doesn't help with drawing or writing is the manager, producer, protector and accountant of the Eizouken club.

 Mizuki Yamashita as Tsubame Mizusaki.... Her parents are well known actors and Tsubame herself was a popular model before she enrolled at the high school. She loves animes and has to keep it hidden from her parents along with her joining the Eizouken club. While she's not as talented as Midori when it comes to drawing Tsubame is a whiz with a computer and can take those drawings to create animes, all three have their own unique talent for the club.

 Some of the other cast who had somewhat important or large roles.

Sakurako Konishi as Toru Dotonburi.... The president of Shibahama's student council, she can be quite mean but then again does have a bit of a soft spot in her heart on occasion.

Grace Ema as Sakaki Sowanda.... VP of the student council.

Riko Fukumoto as Hisashi Ashima.... Another student council VP.

Hiyori Sakurada as Domeki.... Was president of the Sound club which had to be disbanded, she then helped out the Eizouken girls for their anime project.

Eiji Akaso as Kobayashi..... President of the Robot club who worked with the Eizouken club for a while and they're using an image of their Talos robot in the anime.

Mizuki Itagaki.... Also in the Robot club and couldn't stand the Eizouken girls.

Keita Arai as Nishijima.... Head of the school's student security team.

Minami Hamabe as Haruko.... On the Weather club and had too small of a role.

Links to previous posts

 Watched the entire drama which had six episodes but only recapped the first two episodes. That's because there was such a long gap until the subs were completed so it didn't make much sense in doing the final four shows. So have five links if you care to view any which are worth a view, first three are a primer post for the drama and the two recaps. Fourth one down is for this movie that has premiere pics and such while the last link is for the film's trailer.

Drama primer post

Episode one recap

Episode two recap

Film premiere pics and more .... Movie trailer

 

 No need to rehash where we stand in this film, the Eizouken and Robot clubs have merged to create an anime for the Comet-A convention. However Eizouken will be doing all of the work, they're just using the Robot club's Talos robot as the main hero in the anime. Bad news was just right around the corner which you can see right above, Sayaka was ordered to a special meeting held by the Student Council and their teacher advisors. There Sayaka was told to forget about the convention, enter it and Eizouken would never again allowed to be a club. So with no choice she had to forget her brilliant idea and instead the anime will have to be screened at the Shibahama school's cultural festival, that'll be taking place in ten days. But there's another problem for Sayaka who is also Eizouken's accountant, the club is running out of money and there isn't enough to make the anime film.

 To earn money Midori and Tsubame tried to get jobs with the Student Council who needed help disbanding clubs. The pair did get a job but couldn't go through with it, that was to disband the Sound club. Once Midori saw the tiny club room she was in seventh heaven as it had every kind of sound she would need for their anime. The leader and only member was Domeki who was so much like Midori as she was so quiet and meek. So instead of disbanding the Sound club she merged it with Eizouken and moved all of the equipment into their 'barn' located far from school. Sayaka was quite miffed at what her teammates did as money was the essential thing needed. But as Midori explained in an anime with no dialogue sound affects are so important and actually Domeki may be a life saver. Tsubame comes from a wealthy family so wonder why she never offered to pitch in during this crisis?

 Sayaka then made a pair of key decisions and nobody likes to oppose her. One was telling the Robot club to shove off, they don't need them and their only contribution was the Talos robot but she'll still tell the Student Council they're merged clubs. The second was that shortly after Sayaka had a mini breakdown, she fled the Eizouken barn seemingly never to return. However Sayaka is not a quitter and while not an anime fan is the most important person in Eizouken. The following day she reappeared at a small restaurant Midori and Tsubame were dining at, leave it to Sayaka to save the day. She herself made enough money to keep the anime going by personally disbanding two clubs(!), she also was able to get a free laptop from the Computer club as her mates looked at Sayaka in awe.

 A fave of mine we didn't see much of in the film which saddened me was Minami who is right above. She played the role of Haruko who was in the Weather club and she was able to create her own typhoon(!) which played a role at the end, seems like more could have been done with her character. Back to the girls from Eizouken and the Shibahama's cultural festival is fast approaching. Now with supplies and a laptop it's up to Midori and Tsubame to get moving which they did but the event was now only three days away. That soon became two days and though much work was done on the 'Talos vs. Crabtle' anime the pair had to start from scratch, looks like some all nighters will be happening.

 Like Sayaka Midori too had fled the club but was soon found in the barn's basement where she had been working on the anime in secret with Domeki. Lots of work was accomplished but there was still much more to be done, as mentioned an all nighter would have to take place. Not so fast as this happens every year for the cultural festival and it's against school rules to work all night at the school. Above is the Student Council president Toru who has set up a massive command center(!) to track down any club working on their festival project. She had finally thought the Eizouken girls were nabbed but they had thought ahead and had a trio from the Imitation club pose as them! That infuriated Toru who has never liked Eizouken and had she been a bit more observant she may have seen them.

 That's because sitting right in front of her were the above trio, there were so many security officers in this command room they went unnoticed for the entire night. Which is what Midori and Tsubame needed as the pair against all odds were able to finish the 'Talos vs. Crabtle' anime film, all that was needed after was for Domeki to add the sound affects which she did. And there wasn't a moment to spare as the film would be screened in about an hour, nothing could now go wrong or could it? Of course something had to arise which is that they were locked out of the school's screening room, their teacher Fujimoto had accidentally taken the key for it when he left for vacation. One other potential problem is that the typhoon Haruko created meant that Tsubame's parents couldn't take their flight from the airport, the pair were headed to the school to view the film!

 Final segment and will wrap up things quickly as it was a lot of reading. Sowanda was a VP on the student council and during this film she started gaining much respect for Eizouken as they never gave up and she appeared to open the door for a massive audience. Kind of a trying moment for the very introverted Midori who gave a short intro to the anime movie, Tsubame was supposed to but with her parents there hid away. No need for her to have done that as they were so impressed with the work their daughter did along with the audience who gave the film a standing ovation. It was kind of a quick ending as after the film was shown Tsubame's parents came up to congratulate her, Midori and Sayaka. With that these pair of reviews has come to it's end and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. That's because my laptop keyboard is on it's final legs, figured it would take two days but only two hours was needed.

 Have never seen the Eizouken anime but most viewers thought it was much better than the drama and film. That's because the anime drama had twelve episodes and wish the live action version was longer than six shows. So won't give this a high recommendation, but of course if you're a Nogi fan it's a must watch. Will give it a rating of 8.2/10, worth viewing but watch the drama first. Beam Subs did this film and they always do a superb job, you can get the movie at their site. Plenty of screenshots to end off with and they all go in chronological order.