One series that seemingly no one in the world is watching and enjoying beside me is the men’s rhythmic gymnastics series, Backflip!! (Bakuten!!). With the final episode airing on Thursday, June 24th, it seemed as though this series was going to just disappear into the ether and be forgotten by the sands of time. Fortunately, the staff disagrees with that assessment. In a tweet sent out on the same morning of the final episode, the staff confirmed the series will get an animated movie in the future. No further details were released but a teaser site has been launched.
An original series animated by Zexcs, this series tells a story about six young men coming together to form the Aoi High School men’s rhythmic gymnastics team and form deep bonds of friendship throughout all their trials and tribulations. Yeah I know, it sounds a little cheesy, but damn if it isn’t a good show.
Directed by Toshimasa Kuroyanagi and written by Toshizo Nemoto, Backflip!!’s main draw is the absolutely incredible sequences with the main team performing their gymnastics routines (though all the other team’s routines are pretty stellar as well). If you’re looking for a great example of CG animation being used to its best, this is the series to point people towards.
While it likely won’t go down as an Anime of the Year contender, Backflip!! is still going to be one of my favorite “unknown” or “missed” titles of 2021. Filled with genuine heart and soul, this is a series that I feel confident people are going to be kicking themselves for missing out on over the next couple of years.
The series is available to stream in its entirety on Crunchyroll right now, so do yourself a favor and check it out before it’s too late!
Source: A.I.R. on Twitter
