Goodbye, Don Glees! Review: An Anime Coming of Age Adventure

Release Date: September 14, 2021
Running Time: 95 Minutes
Director/Writer: Atsuko Ishizuka 
OLV Cast: Ayumu Murase, Natsuki Hanae, Yuuki Kaji, Kana Hanazawa 
English Dub Cast: Adam McArthur, Nick Wolfhard, Jonathan Leon, Victoria Grace 

Teen misfits Roma, Toto, and Drop call themselves the “Don Glees,” an informal name for their backyard adventures. One day, when the trio gets blamed for a nearby forest fire, they set off into the woods to prove their innocence. As disaster strikes their expedition, tensions flare between the friends as they realize that growing up has taken them on wildly different paths in life. 

Goodbye Don, Glees! has a Stand By Me feel, with a group of friends adventuring off into the woods to both accomplish a task and grow as friends and individuals.  The first thing you will notice is the beautiful animation.  This anime has a clean, but wholly anime style that is impressive to see.  The film is a set in a small town in the woods, and the animation highlights this perfectly.  From deep forests, to beautiful vistas, to just the overall highlights of their journey, this is a movie that will make you stop and take notice.  And it's not just the inherent beauty of the setting that will make you take notice, the film is set in a town that is too small for any of these personalities, and the animation helps to set that stage.  The town looks old and run down, which is a nice contrast to the beauty and wonder of the world around the Don Glees.  

But the film isn't all about the visuals.  The ambient music that accompanies these visuals is equally beautiful.  It really gives you a sense of wonder and excitement as the journey progresses.  And as with many coming of age films, this movie has a ton of heart throughout.  Despite the turmoil, the bond that these friends share is energetic and infectious.  And the ending of the film keeps this trend going, with a fulfilling climax that really brings it all home. 

However, Goodbye, Don Glees! is not without its faults.  For a film that focuses so much on maturing and growing into your own, there are some surprisingly juvenile moments that set a very different tone than the rest of the film.  And the movie does jump around in the timeline, which makes for a confusing overall story.  I liked it eventually, but it left me scratching my head at the start.  Because of this, it is one of those movies that I will probably have to watch again just to fully understand, but it is also one that I am looking forward to experiencing again.

Goodbye, Don Glees! is an anime coming of age with stunning animation, a wonderful soundtrack, and despite some initial immaturity and confusion, grows into a heartfelt and heart wrenching film.  

Watch it.

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Goodbye, Don Glees! is in theaters on September 14, 2022.   

On-Gaku: Our Sound Review: A Quirky Anime With Great Music

Release date: December 11, 2020
Running time: 71 minutes
Starring: Shintarô Sakamoto, Ren Komai, Tomoya Maeno 
Director: Kenji Iwaisawa

When you're a bored teenager looking for thrills, sometimes the only thing you can turn to is rock 'n roll. Having no skill, money, or even a full set of drums, a feared trio of high school delinquents nevertheless decide they are destined for musical glory in a quest to impress their only friend Aya, avoid a rival gang, and - most importantly - jam out. Animated almost entirely by director Kenji Iwaisawa, and featuring a lead performance by Japanese alt-rock legend Shintaro Sakamoto, ON-GAKU: OUR SOUND brings its own sound and vision to the Hiroyuki Ohashi manga from which it was adapted. With pitch-perfect deadpan humor, the film presents a highly original take on the beloved slacker comedy: a lo-fi buddy film with a blaring musical finale that will leave you wanting an immediate encore.

The animation style is the first thing you'll notice about this movie, it has an interesting, quirky design that looks hand drawn and definitely distinctive.  The characters all have additional lines around their eyes, and have a thinning, oval shape that lets you know that this is all one work.  The animation style is distinctive and will be hit or miss.  I didn't love it but I also appreciate how much work director Kenji Iwaisawa must have gone through to make it all.  It mixes some styles to give a unique look and one that is easy to appreciate.  For example, the characters appear hand drawn but the backgrounds often look like water colors.  And the style is not only in the animation.  The film has a look and style all its own, with some silly humor and a quirky main character.  There are odd pauses here and there before he answers things that will make you think your video has stalled.  And the main character has a serious, deadpan delivery that will make you smile and laugh.  

But as the title implies, the music is the main draw of this film.  It has some really good jazz rock guitar music at the start, but it goes through several different styles.  There is the main sound of the delinquents, but there are several other musical styles that are highlighted.  And these can be a lot of fun, especially hearing the character's analyze and riff on the different styles.  It is fitting that a movie about music would have really good music, so make sure to watch with a good sound setup.  But the movie will not be for everyone.  It has a slacker film style that much of the story feel like it had no drive.  I know that this is kind of what they were going for, but it just didn't click with me.  And the characters make snap decisions and pivot very quickly for seemingly no reason.  And some of the characters and situations seem to be quirky for the sake of quirkiness.  I wonder if that is part of the original manga, but I didn't love it.

On-Gaku: Our Sound's unique animation style, quirky characters, and fantastic variety of music make this an anime for the eyes and ears.

Rent it.

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On-Gaku: Our Sound is in select theaters December 11, 2020.

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News: CHILDREN OF THE SEA is Available on Digital, Blu-ray and DVD September 1st

From STUDIO4°C (Tekkonkinkreet, MFKZ, Mind Game) and director Ayumu Watanabe comes Children of the Sea, a beautiful adaptation of the prize-winning manga. Featuring a score from legendary composer and long-time Studio Ghibli collaborator Joe Hisaishi (Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro), this critically-acclaimed film will be available digitally, as a Blu-ray™ and DVD combo pack, and on DVD September 1, 2020 from GKIDS and Shout! Factory.  Additionally, Children of the Sea is scheduled for a nationwide theatrical release in select cinemas via Fathom Events on August 11 and 12--assuming that theaters are open then--in subtitled and English dubbed versions, with more details to be revealed soon.

All editions of the release will include a number of bonus features, including an interview with director Ayumu Watanabe and CGI director Kenichiro Akimoto, an interview with composer Joe Hisaishi, a behind the scenes featurette, animatic sequences, and more! The Blu-ray™ and DVD Combo pack will also include the exclusive "Turep - Looking for Children of the Sea", a feature-length pseudo-documentary from the creators of Children of the Sea that explores the legends that inspired the film and engages with its larger themes. Framed as a search for a lost brother with an affinity for the sea, this journey takes a young woman through old videotapes, conversations with marine and anthropological experts, and eventually, a small island nation far from Japan.

News: GKids Acquires North American Rights To Anime "Lupin the 3rd: The First"

GKIDS, the acclaimed producer and distributor of animation for adult and family audiences, announced that it has acquired the North American distribution rights for the animated feature LUPIN THE 3RD: THE FIRST, a new animated feature  from director/screenwriter Takashi Yamazaki (STAND BY ME DORAEMON, DRAGON QUEST: YOUR STORY). The "LUPIN THE 3RD" franchise, from original creator Monkey Punch, began in 1967 and has spanned a variety of manga, TV, game, theme park ride, and musical adaptations, including The Castle of Cagliostro (1979), the feature film debut from the acclaimed director Hayao Miyazaki. GKIDS will release LUPIN THE 3RD: THE FIRST theatrically in 2020 in both Japanese and an all-new English language dub. 

The iconic "gentleman thief" Lupin III returns in an action-packed, continent-spanning adventure, as Lupin III and his colorful underworld companions race to uncover the secrets of the mysterious Bresson Diary, before it falls into the hands of a dark cabal that will stop at nothing to resurrect the Third Reich. The gang undertakes trap-filled tombs, aerial escapades and daring prison escapes with the trademark wit and visual finesse that have made LUPIN THE 3RD one of the most storied animation franchises in the world, in a thrilling new caper that is sure to delight fans old and new.