Blue Giant
Directed by Yuzuru TachikawaDai Miyamoto’s leven staat op zijn kop op de dag dat hij jazz ontdekt. Dai, een voormalig basketbalspeler op de middelbare school, pakt een saxofoon en begint dag en nacht te oefenen, vastbesloten om een van de besten aller tijden te worden. Hij verlaat zijn saaie geboortedorp om naar de bruisende nachtclubs van Tokio te gaan, maar ontdekt al snel dat het leven van een professionele muzikant niet voor bangeriken is weggelegd. Zijn passie wint het uiteindelijk van de verwaande maar getalenteerde pianist Yukinori, en nadat Dai zijn vriend Shunji heeft overgehaald om drums te leren spelen, starten ze een nieuw jazztrio waarvan het ruige geluid een rauwe energie bevat die al snel de aandacht trekt van het lokale publiek. Maar wat is er nodig om echt groots te zijn?
Blue Giant Ratings & Reviews
- rg94001 november 2024Blue Giant is often gorgeous, with stunning animation that makes incredible use of lighting and shading. The neon red and blue colors burst out of the screen, and the instruments glint and sparkle. During some music sequences, it jumps into more experimental and stylish animation as well. However, when the band is playing on the stage, it will randomly shift to CGI which looks completely off-putting compared to the rest of the animation, the movements looking stiff and robotic, almost as if the band are animatronics at Chuck E. Cheese. I mention this because it happens pretty much every time they are on stage (which is a lot), and the animation is clearly able to make the musicians and instruments look gorgeous if they want, so this was a definite blemish on the animation. In terms of the rest of the movie, I thought it felt like untapped potential. A decent chunk of the runtime is dedicated to them playing jazz, and while the music sounds decent, this didn't particularly do much for me as someone who isn't particularly keen on jazz to begin with. I think Dai, the main character, is the most underdeveloped, often feeling like a blank wall outside of us knowing he is ambitious and hardworking. His two bandmates are more interesting, but even then, Tamada is only given a fuzzy outline of an arc. Yukinori has the most depth, and I did think his arc was the most engaging. Everything else, including the interpersonal drama within the band or their struggles to get noticed, often feels surface-level. This is a movie that is more about the music and the visuals, and I think if you are looking for interesting character dynamics or themes, then there are more interesting movies/shows/anime within the music genre (e.g. Whiplash). For me, the former isn't enough to overlook the lack of the latter which is why my rating is slightly lower.
- Varun19 oktober 2024This is hands down one of the best anime movies I’ve ever seen. The animation is drop dead gorgeous and the music is soul-stirring. Though the story was simple, Dai’s passion and earnestness is a delight to watch and Tamada’s drive to keep up as a beginner drummer was really inspiring. Yukinori’s arc was great too, being forced to challenge his over reliance on established techniques and precedence. Every single aspect of this movie is polished, focused and felt classy. The psychedelic animation during the performances were truly a masterclass in visual storytelling, it manages to capture the mystical flow of the improvisation phases, it conveys the emotions and desires of each performer, the profound impact being felt by the audience and completely drowns you in the magic of jazz music. It reminded me of my own experiences on LSD as I have similar imaginations while listening to non-lyrical tracks. Music is considered the most powerful universal language but this film proves that animation is just as powerful of a medium in inducing a trance-like state. Even if you’re not an anime or jazz enthusiast, I’d highly recommend everyone to watch this film and also to make sure you turn the volume all the way up and surrender yourself to this beautiful masterpiece!
Blue Giant Trivia
Blue Giant was released on 17 februari 2023.
Blue Giant was directed by Yuzuru Tachikawa.
Blue Giant has a runtime of 1 u, 59 m.
Blue Giant was produced by Eri Isobe, Mikito Bizenjima.
Dai Miyamoto’s leven staat op zijn kop op de dag dat hij jazz ontdekt. Dai, een voormalig basketbalspeler op de middelbare school, pakt een saxofoon en begint dag en nacht te oefenen, vastbesloten om een van de besten aller tijden te worden. Hij verlaat zijn saaie geboortedorp om naar de bruisende nachtclubs van Tokio te gaan, maar ontdekt al snel dat het leven van een professionele muzikant niet voor bangeriken is weggelegd. Zijn passie wint het uiteindelijk van de verwaande maar getalenteerde pianist Yukinori, en nadat Dai zijn vriend Shunji heeft overgehaald om drums te leren spelen, starten ze een nieuw jazztrio waarvan het ruige geluid een rauwe energie bevat die al snel de aandacht trekt van het lokale publiek. Maar wat is er nodig om echt groots te zijn?
The key characters in Blue Giant are Dai Miyamoto (voice) (Yuki Yamada), Yukinori Sawabe (voice) (Shotaro Mamiya), Shunji Tamada (voice) (Amane Okayama).
Blue Giant is rated 6.
Blue Giant is a Drama, Muziek, Anime film.
Blue Giant has an audience rating of 9.7 out of 10.
Blue Giant has made US$ 6,9 mln. at the box office.