Nothing shows appreciation for your homeland more than helping the place you call home, especially after it has been hit by a natural disaster. This is exactly what the upcoming original anime film A Few Moments of Cheers (Sūfunkan no Yell o) has decided to do: the crew announced on February 20 that a portion of the film's earnings will donated to reconstruction efforts in Ishikawa Prefecture, after a 7.6 magnitude earthquake on New Year's Day hit the Noto Peninsula this year. Ishikawa Prefecture, which funded the film, is the setting for the anime film and is also the hometown of the film's director, POPREQ.
A few days after the announcement, the film's staff began posting concept art illustrations, depicting the beauty of various locations in Ishikawa Prefecture.
Katamachi at sunset Image via X/Twitter account for the movie A Few Happy Moments
© 「数分間のエールを」製作委員会
Early morning in front of Kanazawa station Image via X/Twitter account for the movie A Few Moments of Cheers
© 「数分間のエールを」製作委員会
Chirihama Image via X/Twitter account for the movie A Few Moments of Cheers
© 「数分間のエールを」製作委員会
Image provided by Bandai Namco Filmworks
© 「数分間のエールを」製作委員会
A Few Moments of Cheers opens in Japan on June 14.
The film stars Natsuki Hanae as Asaya Kanata, Mariya Ise as Yu Orie, Yūma Uchida as Daisuke Tonosaki and Fūka Izumi as Emi Nakagawa. Singer-songwriter Kei SUGAwara is the voice of the character Yu Orie.
The film's story begins when a high school student making music videos meets a teacher who has given up music. Amateur music video creator Asaya Kanata saw teacher and musician Yu Orie busking on the streets and decided to make a music video about her music.
Jukki Hanada is writing the script and story for the film. Hanada is a veteran anime screenwriter who has written many anime about musicians, including Sound! by Kyoto Animation! Euphonium, Love Live! series, as well as Love Live! Sunlight!! and Love Live! Superstar!!, as well as the ongoing Girls Band Cry.
A trio of music video creators Hooray! is collaborating with 100Studio to produce anime. Cheering! is perhaps best known for creating music videos for the band Yorushika. The team's POPREQ will direct the film, with Ohajiki as assistant director and Magotsuki as art designer. Vocaloid music producer Vivi is composing the songs that will appear in the film.
Bandai Namco Filmworks is distributing the film.
A magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck the west coast of Japan, specifically the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture, on New Year's Day at 4:10 p.m. (2:00 a.m. EST). Buildings shook as far away as Tokyo and Osaka on the opposite coast of Japan. NHK World reported on April 2 that 244 people were confirmed dead in Ishikawa Prefecture and three more people remain unaccounted for.
Source: website of the animated film A Few Moments of Cheers and X/Twitter accountComic Natalie
Disclosure: Bandai Namco Filmworks Inc. (Sunrise) is a minority, non-controlling shareholder in Anime News Network Inc.