review 6

Yahoo! News docu movie review - https://news.yahoo.co.jp/byline/higuchinaofumi/20200823-00144940/

Please note that without context, some quotations taken from the movie written here may be mistranslated

(Talks about how Keyaki members, who each have their own personality and sensibilities, fiercely commit themselves to the "concept". The writer compares it to how a movie is made by having all the staff and members converge in one "individual", which is the director. In this movie too, you can see AkiP telling the members "I want everyone to break out of the norm as they see fit, without being bound to the standard form of idol")*

Watching this 137 minute long documentary movie, it's clear that all (above * part) is thanks to the Center, Hirate Yurina's pulling power. You might say that such a thing is obvious if you've seen their live performances, but it was truly surprising to see it come this far. Through quiet and sincere interviews with the members around him, director Takahashi Eiki reveals their hidden reality.
Everyone praised Hirate's qualities as being far beyond their imaginations, even as close as worshiping her, but I was blown away when one of them said, "I think it's okay if we act as Hirate's backup dancers".

In the usual sense, idols are ego-driven above all else. That's because most fans are more interested in the image of the idol than in the work itself. Hirate Yurina, however, is so thoroughly focused on her work that she often can't even be seen at her outside of MV, appearing in live performances with her hair upside down and in a disheveled position. With Hirate in a position like a conductor, it's not uncommon for the members to end up not knowing who is singing a song because they're all buried in the work instead of ego-driven.

Of course, some of the many girls interviewed don't put it into words explicitly, but some of them wonder about the situation where everyone is dispirited by Hirate's absence (which is a normal rivalry, or a very natural reaction to their own disappointment and frustration).

However, the camera honestly captures how the members are demoralized when Hirate withdrew from the show due to her health condition or when withdrew from the show due to a difference of opinion about the work, and it seems that it is not easy to change this structure. On the other hand, Hirate herself is depicted as a person who keeps her distance from everyone else and immerses herself in her role, not only after a brutal performance, but also constantly on the edge of her mind and body, being carried around by the staff, living in a shamanic isolation that no one else can emulate.

In this way, Keyakizaka46 eliminates the ego of each member and climbs to the height of the rare "writer-like" idol unit as a group that reflects the strong "individual" of Hirate, but after losing the existence of Hirate, it becomes difficult to maintain its uniqueness by itself. Once they realized this, they decided to put an end to their 5 years of activity and take down the signboard of Keyakizaka46, that is another thing that could only happen with this unit.

This documentary film is not a mere fan service that shows the happenings backstage, but a very interesting work that delves into the essence, possibilities and limitations of the groundbreaking Keyakizaka46 group's appeal from every aspect.