On-Gaku: Our Sound - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

On-Gaku: Our Sound



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras: :
Final Score:


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Movie
There’s very few times that I’ll actually sit down and watch a film multiple viewings before giving my opinion on a movie in review form, but On-Gaku: Our Sound is one of those films. After sitting down and viewing it a total of 2.5 times (3rd time was shifting to several scenes to re absorb them) I have to say that On-Gaku is one of the most surprising films of the last year for me. Not that it’s so utterly beyond perfection that I can’t give it criticism, but that it was a film that I completely thought was going to be a looney bin quirk fest, and it turned out to be one of the most natural and empathetic stories about music affecting someone’s life that I had seen. It manages to be different than other animated films coming out of Japan in both art styles and story, but manages to not be so oddball that it’s off putting. Some of the most fun and exciting anime movies coming out of Japan tend to be rather over the top in terms of being SUPER quirky, but On-Gaku is very impressively tight and managed in it’s tale.

On-Gaku was a labor of love for Kenji Iwaisawa, as the film not only took 7 years to complete (it was a massive undertaking and one that wasn’t always met with positive responses by studio heads in Japan) and was completely animated by hand. The characters were all rotoscoped and then transferred by hand drawn animation to the screen, and the end result is a film that is a loving creation of labor, sweat and tears as it tells a slice of life story about adolescent burgeoning into adulthood.

Kenji (Shintaro Sakamoto) is a tough guy at his high school, being the silent but deadly type who has a reputation for putting the beat down on other schools. He and his two friends Ota (Tomoya Maena) and Asakura (Tateto Serizawa) hang out and play video games in their off time, as well as keep the uppity snobs at Marutake high down with a few good beatings. All the while shrugging off a fight from a local gang member who wants to take Kenji down. A street robbery accidentally puts a stolen bass guitar in Kenji’s hands, peaking the curiosity in the young man about what he could do with it. Instructing Ota and Asakura to steal another guitar and a drum set, the trio mess around and try to form a band between the three of them.

The three boys have NOOOOOOOOO musical ability whatsoever, but the primitive banging on musical instruments awakens a longing in the three teenagers. A sense of desire to create something rather than destroy, and as their sound changes and flows from them it catches the ear of local folk singer Morita (Kami Hiraiwa) who challenges them to better themselves and sign up for a local rock show, putting Kenji completely on edge, and completely out of his normal element.

The story is not a major swinging 3 act story arc, but it is never meant to be either. It’s slow, but steady (and short, as the film is only an hour and 11 minutes long) journey that just allows the audience to view the transformation and outpouring of creativity from three VERY unlikely suspects. The film isn’t overly humorous, but it pulls some very dry humor from t he most oddball of situations. It’s not overly dramatic either, but instead just allows us to watch as a side bar the evolution of Kenji (and his friends to a certain degree) as the power of music stirs something within them. Kenji is one of those guys who has is reputation to protect. He’s a skinhead type character with a peach fuzz mustache and a reputation of someone who is NOT to be messed with. However the bass guitar that gets LITERALLY thrust into his hands allows for a form of internalized artistic expression to come forth, and forever changes him, as well as his reputation.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video:

The 1.78:1 framed Blu-ray image is crystal clear, with a bit of a minimalist look to the animation style. The hand drawn and rotoscoped animation never gives too much detail away, and aims directly for a simple look. Still everything drawn is done so well, and the detail levels on the Blu-ray replicate it perfectly. Colors are a bit pale and on the pastel side, but give plenty of warmth and saturation in the picture. I could only notice a few seconds of banding in the flick, but luckily the 71 minute run time makes it so that the film doesn’t suffer from obvious compression artifacting. Excellent image all the way around.






Audio:

The 5.1 Japanese track in DTS-HD MA is just as fantastic as the video, and just as minimalist in nature. The track has good dialog, but this is not a massively overt action track, nor is it designed to give a massive sense of immersion with the surrounds. HOWEVER, that’s not to say the track is not immersive. It’s the music that is the heart and soul of this picture, and the 5.1 mix is flawless in it’s replication. The deep throbbing, primal, bass chords dominate at first, but soon the sound stage opens up as the band evolves and changes, giving way to a more balanced sound. Background noises do come through with some nice directional shifts, but really, the music is the core of this track and it’s done so flawlessly.






Extras:

• The Making of On-Gaku: Our Sound*
• Our Movie: Behind the Scenes
• Live Musical Performance
• On-Gaku (Demo)
• Rock Festival Pencil Test
• Short Films by Kenji Iwaisawa
-- Mountain
-- Mourning Ice Pop
-- Nicky
-- Taro Wanted to be Water
• Storyboards Gallery
• Trailers

Final Score: ​

On-Gaku comes in short vignettes, each one allowing us a window into the life and experiences of the three boys. It’s never so dramatic that you’re crying or angry, but the story allows enough of Kenji’s journey to put a warm smile on your face and a sense of actual accomplishment for him as his primitive outpouring of “music” changes him from the inside out. One of the most fascinating films of the year, On-Gaku simply surprised me as I wasn’t expecting much, and ended up with a LOT to enjoy. The Blu-ray from Shout Factory is incredible, with great video, audio and a TOOOOON of extras to dig through. Very highly recommended.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Shintaro Sakamoto, Ren Komia, Tomoya Maeno, Tateto Serizawa, Kami Hiraiwa
Directed by: Kenji Iwaisawa
Written by: Kenji Iwaisawa (Screenplay), Hiroyuki Ohashi (Comics)
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 AVC
Audio: Japanese: DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles: English, Spanish
Studio: Lionsgate
Rated: NR
Runtime: 71 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: March 9th 2021

Recommendation: Great Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. Never heard of this but after reading the review, will check it out.

 

[Travis Ballstadt]

This is an entire genre that I admittedly didn’t pay much attention to until I started reading your reviews, and I’ve really enjoyed pretty much everything I’ve watched. Will check this one out too.

 

[Michael Scott]

hope you enjoy it! that's the fun of this job. Finding stuff I wouldn't normally look at