Liz to Aoi Tori

Liz to Aoi Tori’s as good a sequel to Hibike Euphonium as I can hope to expect, and clearly they weren’t slacking off, much like the rest of the series, it’s got a rather simple story, but makes up for it with some outstanding animation, character, and direction, also this time around the main character is Mizore, the oboe player you forgot existed. I should probably talk about Mizore a bit since she’s the main character now and all, and to describe her briefly, she’s socially retarded – doesn’t talk much, too attached to her one friend, Nozomi, can’t really make decisions, and everyone else thinks this is because she doesn’t like them. Ultimately, she is socially retarded, not for the purpose of comedy or moe (as is the case with Tomoko, Hitori Bocchi, Mikuru, or basically any other anime character), but because it is an integral part of her as a person. It is certainly more believable than the listed examples, and she is a compelling character for this reason, since the story is primarily about having to make a difficult decision, and the manner in which this person who has to decide for herself for once rather than just going with what Nozomi wants since that’s no longer a viable option, maybe I’m biased towards her since she’s almost an exact replica of how I behaved in high school, but biased as my reasoning may be, she is a splendidly written character. Considering that Kumiko does share a fair number of her aforementioned traits, I have to say that Mizore is the one I much preferred, maybe because making a ‘gweh’ every time you’re uncomfortable prevents them from displaying serious emotion from the character in the same way, and perhaps more importantly, proxemics. I’ll try and keep the comparisons to a minimum, but it is certainly something to consider, Reina seems to really enjoy violating Kumiko’s personal space, very much of the time, for very little reason, whereas Mizore is more or less entirely physically distant from everyone else, her and Nozomi are only seen close to each other during intimate moments, which by extension, gives them more weight. I mentioned direction earlier, which proxemics is a part of, so I should expand on that, the animation’s as good as the standard that Hibike already set, even if a little different, I wouldn’t say it looks any better or worse than the previous titles, nor do I particularly see much of a thematic or symbolic change either, perhaps it was just to make it unique for its own sake, which there’s nothing wrong with, only other thing to add is Reina looks remarkably like Mio Akiyama now, and also there is one scene in which she confronts Mizore, but apologises after going too far, which I considered to be out of character, but maybe that’s the reason why the art’s different, it’s from Mizore’s perspective, sort of like that one scene in Pulp Fiction where when it’s from Jules’ perspective the dialogue’s slightly different. More generally, the usage of visuals and cinematography is top notch, lots of close ups, long takes and POVs which creates a very personal feel, and one thing I really appreciated is how there was still action going on when they decided to show action during the intertitle, minor as it may be, never really liked how most the time they have to stop everything to show you a blank screen for the intertitle, it’s called a movie, I’m here to watch shit moving. Furthermore, the soundtrack was quality as well, in particular, how a lot of the time it wasn’t there, which may seem like a backwards thing to be praising for a series that is about music, but I can appreciate a director who understands that there are some scenes where the addition of music would only harm the overall experience, and given the nature of most of Mizore’s interactions, there are quite a lot of them, that isn’t to say there’s no music at all, they still end up performing, and it’s as good as ever, albeit if your interest is music first, characters second, then you would be better off with another Hibike title. Ultimately, Liz to Aoi Tori is a refinement of the Hibike formula, it detracts from the musical side of things, replaces its main characters who were already well written and produces even better ones, beyond the fact that I think the story of Liz and the Blue Bird (a fairytale that is a metaphor for the main characters) gets a little more screentime than is really necessary, and there were one or two instances of symbolism that I felt were a bit lacking in depth, apart from that, I don’t think I can really say anything negative about this film, every detail, every facet, every line of dialogue, everything is performed optimally, the artistry that went into the creation of the film is unparalleled.

This is loved to death by so many, yet I found it to be so undyingly slow. It just went on and on and on. Maybe it's because of the expectations I had going in and that was a letdown in the end (well, by half-way through, honestly.) Their relationship is entirely unhealthy for both of them and I know that it isn't a total secret to either one of them, really, especially Mizore when she states that she just can't let the bluebird go away. There is merit to the story, but I don't find it to be all that engaging. That being said, there is such a lack of anything moving, nothing that provokes emotion, nothing to truly make you feel anything as the story goes by. Everything is just stale. The visuals are undeniably drab and do nothing to initiate any increase or decrease in the story, emphasizing key plot points or changes in the story, good or bad. There was just a constant pale light that cast itself over everyhing, leaving a disappointing water color appearance in every aspect. Trees and flowers are accented when the should be, but they shouldn have had something more besides that. It would have been nice if they had even added some flare to pronounce the groups of instruments when they were together, just to show some sort of passion or desire. Music is meant to make you feel and move and do and just be something special. Find more! The total lack of all of this together made for one very long, 90-minute watch.

As of writing this, I've rewatched this movie around 5 times. But rewatching anime films is nothing out of the ordinary. Nor is picking up on new details and artistic touches each time; I've spent a similar amount of time picking apart the meaning behind Naoko Yamada's other masterpieces, Koe no Katachi and K-On. Unlike those two, however, Liz and the Blue Bird manages to stay fresh every time. Firstly, to get this out of the way: Liz is, in my opinion, a functionally standalone film. Some knowledge on how Nozomi and Mizore's conflict played out in Hibike! Euphonium Season 2 may help, but it's not necessary. Considering the almost laughably minute scope of Liz's plot - one setting, one ephemeral friendship, one tiny time frame - the idea of it being able to produce continuous novelty and excitement seems far-fetched. Liz's workaround, cliched as it may sound, is to dive into the micro, rather than the macro. Nowhere is this more prominent than in Liz's opening sequence. Koe no Katachi starts with bombastic youthful exuberance, a slideshow of Shoya and his friends living the time of their life backed up by a charming 1960s hit. K-On's movie chooses a similarly intriguing way to begin, subverting our expectations of the band before revealing it all to be part of a prank. But Liz hits a far different chord, with only one short exchange occurring in 6 minutes of otherwise narrative silence, supported by Kensuke Ushio's "wind,glass,bluebird". For a movie about music, these wordless 6 minutes were as much an introduction to the main cast as a display of cinematographic and directorial flair. Nozomi drops her indoor shoes carelessly onto the ground, while Mizore elects to softly lay them down. Nozomi spins on the spot before entering the music room, but Mizore stands still, watching her friend walk further and further away into a gradually whitening screen. And that's JUST the first SIX minutes. At this point, Liz has already shown its hand. There are no major plot twists, no world-shaking drama, no big objective the characters must struggle to, but inevitably achieve. Life is rarely so outspoken and clear-cut, after all. Rather, Liz stakes its hopes on touching its audience with a humble, realistic depiction of youth. No one has the answers to everything, not unless you're an edgy 14-year old with the ability to hack a VR game from within. No one is ever confined to a stereotype, and no one ever really knows the true consequences of what they are doing. By placing such great emphasis on each action and reaction, we are able to grasp how the actions that one party regards as typical can be perceived by the other as monumental. Characters lie to the camera just as much as they lie to each other, appearing to respond in one way, but showing minute cracks in their facade which point towards another. Truly, nothing can really be condensed down to concepts as simplistic as "tsundere", or "happily ever after". We must learn to respect the different perspectives and emotions that everyone around us faces, lest we hurt our friends in ways we may not even be aware of. That attention to detail isn't just limited to our main duo either; Yuuko, Natsuki, and Ririka could've been lazily written solely to advance the plot, but through the difference between their interactions with Nozomi and Mizore, we see how differently the two are perceived by their closest friends, and the delicate ground everyone must tread. It goes without saying too that Liz would not be nearly as outstanding without its music. The composition of the titular piece, "Liz and the Blue Bird", is beautifully sad in its own right, but by scattering snippets of it throughout the film, its emotional payoff is that much more significant. Kensuke Ushio does just as good of a job in Liz as in Koe no Katachi, with individual tracks like "reflexion,allegretto,you" heightening the emotions evoked by their accompanying scenes, while changes in musical tone indicate shifts in emotional states and perspectives. For lovers of Liz's parent series, Hibike! Euphonium, this attention to musical detail would come as no surprise. Liz respects its characters. Liz respects the modest scope it starts with. Liz respects the uncertainty that clouds everyday existence and interaction. It would've been so easy to invoke "the power of friendship", creating rifts in Nozomi's and Mizore's relationship while introducing a larger challenge they had to overcome together so they would necessarily advance towards a happy ending. If one looks at the general plot outline of Liz, that may very well be the conclusion drawn. What does a "happy" ending mean, though? There's no clear goal achieved at the end of the show. No one's life has been significantly altered, and Nozomi's and Mizore's relationship barely changes from the movie's beginning. What's been achieved, however, is infinitely more important than some tangible victory. It is mutual understanding and acceptance, and in our day and age, it's something we all need.

Liz to Aoi Tori is a masterpiece of filmwork with an immense amount of effort dedicated to its creation and refinery. The story is much deeper than what it appears as on the surface. I'm not one for "whoa dude this is soooo deep" sorts of media, but it doesn't feel anything like the creators of Liz to Aoi Tori were stretching themselves beyond their realistic capabilities as writers to seem "deep". I think watching this halfheartedly out of mere boredom lends oneself to really not appreciating what Liz to Aoi Tori has to offer in its entirety. The storyline is not captivating or entertaining in a traditional sense, instead, it is very human and emotional. Due to this, I really don't think a solid storyline is possible to attribute to this film. The focus for the entire film is the relationship between two friends that feels as fragile and unpredictable as a feather in a hurricane. Liz to Aoi Tori is an unrelenting torrent of many grittily realistic emotions that easily ensnares its viewers into feeling. The writers saw an untapped reserve of potential between two supporting characters in the Hibike! Euphonium series, and they squeezed every last drop out of that potential. The story of Liz to Aoi Tori and the overall relationship of Mizore and Nozomi transcends traditional storytelling to flourish as an admirable masterpiece of anime and film. Of course, such a beautiful story could not go unsupported by equally beautiful art and sound design. Artistically, there's so much to be said about Liz to Aoi Tori that I'm simply just not qualified to talk about. Symbolism and artstyle were focused on to a pinpoint by the absolute masters working at Kyoto Animation. Certain aspects were modified from Hibike! Euphonium such as the linework to fit in line with the more mature and emotionally weighted themes of Liz to Aoi Tori. After recently viewing some very poorly animated anime, I truly appreciate the effort put into seemingly simple scenes on paper such as walking animations and the immense amount of effort and soul poured into animating realistic and emotional facial expressions, especially when the majority of the film relies solely on emotional expression. The setting for the film is split only between the Kitauji high school and the world within a watercolor storybook. The contrast in artstyle and setting between these two worlds is very deliberate and impactful to the mood of the film. One would think that such a limited setting for media of this length would be boring to a viewer, but the overall design, mood, and constant movement throughout the film always kept the scenery from appearing stale. Beyond these few topics I've covered, there is much more symbolism and impressive feats of artwork to be appreciated by those with more understanding of artwork and how much effort goes into the production of such a film. Sound design is equally as lovingly crafted as the story itself and the impressive artwork that made the wonderful writing of Liz to Aoi Tori a reality. One thing that particularly stood out to me, and is present in both Liz to Aoi Tori and Hibike! Euphonium, is that most every sound and line of dialogue does not feel like it was recorded in a soundproof recording studio centimeters away from a ridiculously expensive ASMR microphone. If someone is talking on the opposite end of a large room, their voice echoes in such a manner that you would expect in real life from a similar room. The reason this is so, is because the absolutely dedicated individuals at Kyoto Animation often use 1:1 replicas of actual buildings in their work. This was the case with K-On!, as it is with Hibike! Euphonium. Many sounds ranging from footsteps, to dialogue, to orchestral music is all recorded in the actual real counterpart to the building in the animation. It adds so much depth and life to an otherwise unrealistic genre of media, and this amount of dedication to the product is truly impressive. Beyond that, all of the music is recorded with a live orchestra, resulting in every breath, every mechanical sound of a room full of instruments, and every minute flaw coming through into the final production. On top of the extremely detailed closeup animations of musical instruments being played, this amount of attention to detail truly makes the sound design of Liz to Aoi Tori and the Hibike! Euphonium series in general a masterpiece to be remembered. I highly recommend viewing some of the "making of" videos for Liz to Aoi Tori and Hibike! Euphonium. Seeing the painstakingly detailed recording and the unique production of original background music is very interesting and made me appreciate the effort so much more. Character building is rather restricted when a film is only focusing on two characters and their relationship between one another, but Kyoto Animation uses this restriction to really focus themselves on making very emotionally interesting characters that constantly keeps viewers captivated for the entire duration of the film. The character development in Liz to Aoi Tori is quite satisfying, and significant progression is made by the end of the film for two characters that were otherwise lacking characters in the main series of Hibike! Euphonium that constantly felt like they could be so much more. This satisfying and plentiful character progression makes Liz to Aoi Tori a refreshing take on side stories, something that is so easily spoiled that many studios will just never attempt to make anything of the sort, outside of hollow, unsubstantial, and easy-to-make OVAs for their anime. Liz to Aoi Tori, while not being the absolute most enjoying film or anime I've ever watched, has so much effort poured into its production that I would consider it an insult to the creators to NOT to call this film a masterpiece. The writing is certainly not half-assed, and yet so much precision and creativity was put into its creation, Liz to Aoi Tori still very much feels human and manages to closely touch our emotions.

Liz to Aoi Tori or Liz and the bluebird is an animated film by the same director of A Silent Voice, and in my opinion is the best animated film of 2018. Liz and the bluebird tells the story of two girls in a music club, as they sort through love, friendship, and future goals. This film is beautiful, from its art its music, and its amazing directing that takes it to another level. Story and Characters: Just a warning, this is a slow-paced film, if you don’t want a slow-paced film, you should probably not watch this film. In my opinion this pace is perfect and creates a very melancholic feel. The story itself isn’t all that much and is fairly simple in concept, but where this movie shines is in its execution. Every single dialogue hits and the director uses silence perfectly. The story switches between characters from a book to characters in the music club and parallels their stories. This is done so creatively and two quarters through the film, it creates a form of plot twist in its subversion of expectation as to how the two stories parallel each other. The paralleling stories help the audience understand the characters and their motives better despite it not being explicitly said, and while Mizore’s feeling are obvious, it helps give more depth to Nozomi’s feelings. Many may not like the way that the movie end, and may feel that the story is not finished. I, however, feel as if everything that needed to be stated was stated and everything beyond that is open to interpretation. The two characters perfectly complement each other, from Nozomi’s lighthearted nature, to Mizore’s more reclusive nature. This contrast leads to the main conflict between each other, but also creates a great character dynamic between each other. Each character has little fidgets or expressions (I don’t know if those are the right words) that really add to the character and make them super realistically and even develop how the character feels. One example of this is how Mizore plays with her hair whenever she thinks about Nozomi. These little expressions in the animation of the character add so much to tone and feel of the show and give so much more depth to the characters. Art and Animation: The art and animation is just beautiful. I especially admired the coloring book style for the side story from the book that they play reference. The animation does have some flaws in its composition, especially when it comes to when they are playing the instruments and the instruments don’t line up exactly with the characters. I wouldn’t say this takes away from the film at all. The show uses a lot of scenery shots that for several seconds move away from the characters and maybe show a window or the fish tank. This slows down the pace and adds a large amount of silence to scenes to help create the tone they need, and rather than taking away from the beauty of the scenes really enhances them. Sound: This is where the movie shines. The sound and sound directing are amazing. From the music, to where the movie decides to add silence. There is a scene where they are just playing the piece for several minutes and it absolutely breathtaking. The ost throughout even when they are not playing the instruments is amazing. I can’t really say much more than that. Overall Liz to Aoi Tori is an Amazing and beautiful film. If you want a slow paced melancholic movie with amazing dialogues, beautiful scene compositions, and breathtaking music, this is the movie for you.

Liz and the Blue Bird is a side story to Sound! Euphonium. This anime also works well as a standalone film so you will still enjoy this anime film even if you haven't watched Sound! Euphonium. The collaboration of Naoko Yamada as a director and Reiko Yoshida as the screenwriter is a match made in heaven. They also worked together on A Silent Voice, another fantastic anime film so it is to no surprise that Liz and the Blue Bird is a great anime film. Yoshida is a fantastic screenwriter and knows how to blend in metaphors and bring the story and animation together to make a cohesive and beautiful anime film. It was nice to see the characters and the setting in Sound! Euphonium brought back into Liz and the Blue Bird. Liz and the Blue Bird is impressively well-written and is also guided with grace with Yamada's direction. It's a familiar yet refreshing take on Sound! Euphonium. Liz and the Blue Bird gives you the illusion of peacefulness while slowly giving you hints of a sad and heartbreaking ending that is inevitable. The film slowly becomes intentionally predictable but slowly makes its way to the ending to torture the audience and to give the audience a taste of the emotions felt by the two main characters. Sound! Euphonium. More like yuri bait! Liz and the Blue Bird does not shy away from the yuri bait and I am easily swayed by the slightest yuri bait. I love it! The animation by Kyoto Animation is great as always. Everything from the character designs to the musical instruments looks dazzling. Kyoto Animation is one of the best anime studios out there in terms of animation style and quality. Anime produced by Kyoto Animation just look so gorgeous. I liked how this film has a different animation style when the story swaps over to the actual story of "Liz and the Blue Bird". It is intentionally different to make it obvious to the audience that that part of the film is just a separate story yet it links to the main story in a metaphorical and slight physical way. The use of animation in this film is very creative. The sound design and score in this film are absolutely phenomenal! I love the soothing sound of the score. The ending theme is great too! There is a contrast between Liz and the Blue Bird and Sound! Euphonium. The two main characters in Sound! Euphonium are Kumiko Oumae and Reina Kousaka who play the euphonium and trumpet respectively. They are brass instruments which are loud and bright in tone colour giving that obvious happy and energetic tone to the score in Sound! Euphonium. The main characters in Liz and the Blue Bird are Mizore Yoroizuka and Nozomi Kasaki who play the oboe and flute respectively. They are both woodwind instruments which are soft and airy in tone colour giving that peaceful and relaxing tone to the score in Liz and the Blue Bird. Sound! Euphonium focuses more on the euphonium and Oumae’s character. Oumae is an extrovert while Kousaka is an introvert. Liz and the Blue Bird focuses more on the oboe and Yoroizuka’s character. Yoroizuka is an introvert while Kasaki is an extrovert. The contrast between the instruments in the two anime and the differences that the instruments represent with the characters is one of many details in this film which I picked up on and thought it was a nice touch to this music anime film being a side story to Sound! Euphonium. Liz and the Blue Bird has a more laid back feeling compared to Sound! Euphonium and this is represented by the character development, the types of instruments being focussed on, and the score. The voice acting in this anime film is great as expected. Liz and the Blue Bird has great character development. Since it is a side story to Sound! Euphonium, Liz and the Blue Bird already has character development backed up from the anime series and just needed to focus on side characters who were not already focussed on in the anime series. I like the contrast between this anime film and the parent anime series. There are similarities between the characters in both anime as well. The “true” main character in these two anime have different personalities but they both have friendships, or more than that, with another girl with a completely opposite personality. These two anime show relationships between two opposing personalities but contrasts with the focused main character. It’s different, yet so similar and familiar. This film has new characters that aren’t in the anime series, that being Liz and the blue bird. Their characters are symbolic of everything from the music to the relationships in this film. I like the intrinsic link between the storytelling and the events that happen in the film. I wish that the film gave more screen time to Ririka Kenzaki as she was another girl in the band that played a reed instrument and that the film would be longer as a result. This film is not very long, with a run time of 90 minutes. I wish this film was longer, but regardless, the screenplay in this film is great. Overall, Liz and the Blue Bird is a well-written anime film that has great direction, great animation, great voice acting, a great score, and great character development. It was enjoyable to watch and it’s nice to see Yamada and Yoshida collaborating together on another anime film. Kyoto Animation has been pumping out great anime. It was nice to see the universe in Sound! Euphonium once again in a reimagined story with a different feel. Check this one out, especially if you have watched Sound! Euphonium.

Liz is my favourite piece of media from any medium. This is an extremely rambly, personal review and contains spoilers throughout. I made a video version of it which I'm really proud of. Here's a link to it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRR4oOKB4uk It consists 100% of that gooey intimate shit I found so potent in the TV series with even more perceptiveness and sensation. This movie is layer upon layer of subtle gestures and mannerisms that inform the overt yet undying sense of connection between two people. Hugs, glances and touches become the most important things in the universe. I don’t think Liz has the grandest story ever. It doesn’t revolutionise anime or film in a major way. It’s not even that “deep.” The End of Evangelion (1997) is chock full of guerilla filmmaking techniques, mindsearing imagery, masterful tonal variance and difficult yet heartfelt messages that tap into the most universal struggles faced by humanity: it’s hard for Liz to hold a candle to that. Likewise, once you get into live action cinema beyond your filmbro movies you start getting exposed to crazy shit that dramatically raises your standards. Dog Star Man (1961-1964) by Stan Brakhage is a silent epileptic seizure that cuts between random things for an hour and thirty mins. My last essay was on Taiwanese director Tsai Ming Liang, whose mission statement is to depict sex addicts fucking inanimate objects. I’m getting more and more desensitized to simply “good” media. You have to be niche, you have to be brave, a creator needs to tap into my fetishes and my personal life to grab my attention. Polish is important, but perfection doesn’t interest me. Roman Muradov, a comic artist I admire, sums up the appeal of stories beyond just how “good” they are (replace his use of the word “comics” with “story”): “It's not about the quality of the writing, or the art, and not even about the originality of the characters and the plot—it's about that cohesion that the best comics have and the not-best comics lack, regardless of the excellence of their individual qualities.” A show like Sound! Euphonium has got the writing and directing chops but it would be nothing without its flourishes of human emotion and connection. Liz provides me with that cohesion, that clarity, that appeal to fetish. It feels like a warm hug that I’ve been starving for, both within my media desensitisation and my barren loser-lead real life. It’s experimental yet always precise with its intent while also managing to just be really fucking cute. Liz makes me feel like Björk on the song Headphones: “They start off cells that haven't been touched before/These cells are virgins.” I’ve watched it twice now and both times were spent predominantly with tears in my eyes. It’s been scraping my mind’s insides with feelings of both warm tenderness and searing grief ever since I watched it. I had a hard cope and bought a US import of the bluray alongside a region free bluray player just so I can marvel at it on my TV. I’ve skipped class to write this essay. I’ve logged into google drive on my workplace’s computer to write this essay. It’s helped me process something embarrassingly and hilariously awful that I’ve done recently, which I’ll cue you in on at the end of the review. Part of the movie’s intrigue is where it places its priorities. There’s a seemingly inherent lack of stakes, with the band’s main goal of reaching the national competition only serving to guide the discourse of Mizore and Nozomi’s smaller narrative. I think the fact that we have to return to the pain of these characters even after it seems like the TV show wrapped up their problems with a bow speaks to the gruelling time and effort that real-life change actually requires. It’s crueller than failing an audition or losing a competition. Yamada never takes the spotlight off of who or what’s actually relevant to the story. She doesn’t exploit the audience’s familiarity with Euphonium’s characters with intrusive cameos. Kumiko, our previous main character of the franchise, has speaking lines in two scenes and she’s not even the main focus in either of them. Reina, the secondary mc, has more screen time, only to be a cunty bully to Mizore. Anyway, the consideration Yamada has put into exploring Mizore and Nozomi’s microcosm within a larger, more enthralling story is an admirable act of empathy. KyoAni’s all about this shit, creating the most lifelike, unpretentious, subversive, progressive and love-infused anime in the entire industry. Yamada never trivialises the emotions of her characters. She stops to smell the roses, appreciating beauty where most people aren’t looking. “The unique worries that people face during adolescence, about how they want to end up, what they want to be, those kinds of wishes people have, these feelings are something that I think are very beautiful.” There’s bravery in asserting that these things matter, what most would call pedantic hormonal teenage bullshit. What is life but our mundane struggles, our intangible inadequacies and the chaos of our emotions? It’s as I’ve said in my Lily Chou-Chou (2001) and Bokurano reviews. Our adult lives are informed so much about when we’re young. I find there’s so many things which initially didn’t seem to matter much to me being the ultimate deciders of who I’ve become. I’ve shared single hugs with certain people which have both affirmed me or scarred me to this very day. People who I’ve had only a few conversations with have changed my life. I’m as much of a sensitive, brittle snowflake as Mizore is. It sucks. It’s turned me into a loser. Milling about everything is often painful and unproductive. But I seek to be truthful, to be honest and perceptive in the same way KyoAni is with their work. What a cunt I am. Yamada immediately asserts her ambition with Liz by scrapping the original show’s design completely. She drains away the saturation, the flushed faces and the autumny hues for something stark and anemic. We’re being drawn into Mizore's dazed and isolated headspace and we need a new look to reflect that. The tonal work and lighting is more solitary and flat to accommodate the minimalistic look. The girls are wearing their summer uniforms, but the pastelly washed out blue hues make the climate seem perpetually cold and dewey. Yamada said she wanted the movie to look like it was being displayed inside the world of a tinted glass bottle. She achieves this hollow effect through the use of digital processing to create an illusion of an actual camera filming the animated scenes. It gives a stronger impression of a 3-dimensional space in which the director can emphasise certain focal points in the foreground and background. Yamada uses this technique to plop you right in the scene, to feel the characters’ quaking motion and discomfort. Futoshi Nishiya was brought on board to revamp the character designs, mirroring the style he utilised in A Silent Voice to make the characters more proportionally-balanced and scant in detail. It’s entertaining to see the characters we are familiar with translated into a completely new context. Despite KyoAni applying their usual soft and realistic touch to the characters in Sound! Euphonium, they’re still essentially stubby anime babies with voluminous hair, huge glistening insect eyes and rosy red cheeks that look like swollen pimples. Yamada and Nishiya change them all from the ground up. Kumiko’s angular, gravity-defying octopus hair from the TV series has been nerfed to a poofy little pompom! The thread-thin linework is impeccable, reflecting the fragility of the feelings of the characters. I love the elongated arms, legs and necks. They give the characters this added sense of maturity and femininity. I find the smaller eyes and less pronounced facial features of the characters much more cute and approachable. The vacantness that they conform to, the lack of silly anime expressions, creates a volcanic rise out of every minute gesture and detai…

I feel like this movie is kinda of underrated... I would've never watched it myself if I didn't know it was a part of Sound Euphonium. I mean apart from it, it's stand alone as a great movie, but without without the first part, I won't have watched this. Since I'm not a guy who really cares for music in real life and with anime it's still pretty much the same thing. Since most of the time, I care more about the dialogue and the plot and what I'm seeing then what I'm hearing. But the music, not as in background music, but the piece of Liz and The Blue Bird speaks on so many different volume... it is both moving and sad at the same time... it's a beautiful piece of art The visual is beautiful, it is so unique compared to most other anime and I loved it. It was simple but yet because of it, it convey so much emotion in their characters, the way the eye flickers, to the way the hair moves, or the way they move their legs or body, there is so much unspoken words being spoken through body language. Just from the first early scene how we see the two walking, how they way they move, it speaks to how their characters are. How they handle themselves and their personality, the more outgoing and the more shy quiet girl. One of my favorite friendship anime, yes you can say this is "yuri bait" or this is "yuri" but whatever, I'm not here to debate that. Just taking it at face value, this is a beautiful friendship that we see between two girls. To truly love someone, we must learn to let them go, so that they can truly be free and grow. I can sit here and try to breakdown this whole anime and there's a lot you can say about it, but I'll just say this is a beautiful work of art and one of my favorite movie of all time. The plot is so simple but it's so relatable. I think as you get older, this becomes more relatable, but as someone who's younger, I guess it won't relate to them as well. For me, just thinking about all those friends I love, who I have to part way with, just because we walk different path now doesn't mean we aren't no longer friends or stopped caring for one another. The whole thing is, we're still on the same road, just it's split up now, but we can always trace back and be glad we had a friend who once walked the path with us so we weren't alone. Even if we feel alone now... the only way to truly feel alone is have truly felt loved. This is a masterpiece, one of the few films I will truly say is 10/10. Even though I would give other things 10/10 but more of my pure enjoyment and my personal bias opinion and not as a critic. But this one as both a fan and critic, I would say deserves to be called that.

Personally, this movie is a 9/10 for me, but I can see a lot of problems that would make it 1/10 unwatchable for most viewers, so I rate it 6/10 to split the difference. One big issue is that even though the movie has multiple layers of story, it lacks a literal layer. On the surface, it's just two girls having a rough spot in their friendship and worrying about their career surveys. That's a big deal-breaker for most watchers. Even if the deeper layers of interpretation in the story are expertly crafted, it is extremely difficult to get invested enough to watch that closely if the action of the plot is basically nonexistent. A lot of people will feel biased and say that the lack of plot doesn't matter, or even that it's a good thing because of minimalism or some crap, but let's be real, it's boring as shit if nothing really happens. Once you actually get invested, the movie is surprisingly emotional. The director did a fantastic job of making these characters feel *real*. There are a lot of subtle nuances that really convincingly tell a story of depression, anxiety, isolation, etc. Basically it hurts . . . in a good way. The real strength of the film is in the allegorical layer. The director frequently juxtaposes scenes to lead you into a particular line of interpretation only to blow your mind in the last 30 minutes by flipping everything you thought the movie was going to be on its head. Unfortunately, all of that will just fall flat if you aren't invested in the first place, so if you watch the first half and don't feel anything, even a single iota of pain, then you might want to give up on the movie and try to watch it again later. Final verdict: Watch it at 2x speed if you can, or else the movie will drag and it's hard to get invested. If you can get emotionally invested, then this is the movie for you.

Ever heard of the phrase "less is more"? Yeah, Liz and the Blue Bird is basically this in a nutshell. Now, I admit, I only have a passing knowledge of the series it's based on, Sound! Euphonium, and I haven't seen both seasons of the anime, so when I heard about this movie, I originally hadn't planned on watching it. But when I read a review of it on Anime News Network and found that you apparently don't need to have seen the TV series to enjoy it, my interest was piqued. Why not? So, I decided to watch it after all. The review I read was praising the movie up the wazoo, exalting it as one of the best anime movies ever. Having now seen the movie itself, while I personally don't consider it to be an all-out masterpiece, I did find myself enjoying it way more than I thought I would, and it's definitely one of my new favorite anime movies in recent years. The film focuses on two young girls, Mizore Yoroizuka, a shy and quiet oboist, and Nozomi Kasaki, a cheery, energetic girl who plays the flute. They're both in their school's orchestra, and have been friends for quite a while. It's their final year of high school, and having endured quite a bit of drama and crazy events a year ago, Mizore's not sure if she's ready to graduate high school and potentially part ways with her first friend. Not helping matters is that they have a solo performance for a show coming up, but they can't seem to get the piece down. But in life, just like the piece they're performing, "Liz and the Blue Bird," you need to set that caged bird free some time. For fans of the series, many members of the main cast appear, but either have very few lines or a few short cameo appearances, so chances are you won't see them play a huge part in the story, as it focuses entirely on Mizore and Nozomi, along with a few others. On one hand, this helps the movie stand on its own, focusing on its own stories and events rather than simply using the TV series as a trampoline to propel itself into the sky. As someone who hasn't seen both seasons of the TV series, I watched the whole movie all the way through, and not once did I ever feel lost or thrown off by what was happening, as the movie gently fills the audience in on what happened, in a subtle, overt manner, in an "Oh, by the way" kind of tone, not shoving it in your face or spoon-feeding it to you, which is definitely great. A movie that trusts its audience to put the pieces together while still managing to subtly show them what's going on is always a good thing. It's a delicate balance, and I feel Liz and the Blue Bird pulled it off spectacularly. On the other hand, since it focuses on two side characters and not the main cast that featured prominently in the series, it might disappoint those hoping for a more direct follow-up, especially since the main cast of the series only make a few appearances as background characters who don't say or do much. Considering who did the animation for this movie, it's no surprise that Kyoto Animation's work on the movie is absolutely gorgeous, especially in differentiating Mizore's school and the imaginary fairy tale segments. The Liz segments are bright and eye catching, popping to life with beautiful watercolor backgrounds and light, pastel colors that give it a warm, fairy tale-like feel, and the characters move in a life-like fashion. There's nary a still frame in the movie. The segments focusing on the girls and their life in school are more subdued in color, but the animation doesn't cut any corners here. The movie puts a huge emphasis on showing over telling with animation: Facial expressions, hand gestures, feet movement, the way people walk, little details like that are brought to life and convey much more in subtle motion than words could ever do. The first ten minutes of the movie are nothing but silence, letting the audience soak up the atmosphere and showing two girls walking to class together in quiet tranquility. Mizore is a shy girl who doesn't say much, and gestures such as clenching a fist and tugging her hair speak to her anxiety and fear of change, whereas Nozomi literally bounces across the screen, with her ponytail flailing in the air and her arms and hands moving in all different directions as she talks. Naoko Yamada, the director, has always had an affinity for letting the animators show character and feelings through facial expressions, gestures, and body movements, and it's a good approach to take here, letting the animation speak for itself. I kinda wish more movies would take this approach. With the movie's heavy emphasis on music, there's no way the producers would let the movie have a bad soundtrack. No surprise, the whole soundtrack, from soft piano tunes to a whole bellowing orchestra that explodes with vitality, the soundtrack absolutely sells the movie here, with each piece of music fitting their assigned scenes, setting the mood and bringing out the atmosphere and pure emotion. From what I've heard, the producers worked with a live orchestra while working on the film, and this choice was an excellent one. Plus, the music also links the characters even more, with the focus being on how Nozomi and Mizore can sync their flute and oboe solos during a performance. The flute and oboe are used prominently in the soundtrack, further emphasizing that this is their story. I admit I'm not a music expert (I hated it as a subject in school), so I apologize if I'm gushing too much about it and not being more objective. A good soundtrack can make or break a movie or show, and it works very well here. Since the main cast of the TV series don't appear much, how do the focus characters fare? Honestly, I think the characters are great. They're nothing groundbreaking, but the movie's execution manages to make them feel real and relatable. Mizore's the shy girl who does want to come out of her shell, but fears change and losing her first real friend, and relies on her a lot, something she realizes is unhealthy. Nozomi is a cheerful, friendly girl who's friends with everyone, but knows when to shut up and listen when someone needs to vent, and even she has her own insecurities that she needs to deal with. They're down to earth, good-natured kids getting ready to step on the road to adulthood, but still have a lot to deal with. The few side characters that get focus are also pretty fun and full of personality. One thing I'd definitely like to talk about in regards to the characters is this: I am so, so, SO happy that Liz and the Blue Bird DOESN'T have its teenager characters constantly yelling or screaming at each other in a melodramatic fashion or constantly scheming against each other or generally acting like complete pricks. So many movies that focus on teenagers seem to think having teenagers act bombastic and catty and constantly arguing and having them make mountains out of molehills is establishing character development, which is absolutely not true. The kids in Liz and the Blue Bird are perfectly down to earth, just talking, sharing stories, consulting each other on their problems, and they all act civil, mature, and never acting stupid or like caricatures of teenagers. I really wish more movies with a teenage cast would focus more on subtlety like Liz does here. I'd much rather watch this than...say, The Breakfast Club or every Disney channel kid sitcom. Personally, I really liked this one and had no problem with it, but this type of movie probably won't appeal to a lot of people, for a variety of reasons. One thing I can say is that Liz and the Blue Bird is painfully predictable. The movie doesn't try to do anything new with this type of storyline, where girls get ready for the end of high school and have to resolve their issues. This type of premise has been done to death by many other movies, books, games, and shows since the beginning, and Liz doesn't make an effort to stand out in terms of its story. You know where it's going to go and what's going to happen, so expecting …

*I don't even think this movie had something that could be called a spoiler* First of all, you dont need to watch Hibike Euphonium to watch this movie. It is a totally independent story. Directed and made by the same studio behind, "A Silent Voice", Kyoto Animation and Yamada did a pretty good job with this one aswell. I am a sucker for Orchestral Music so I might end up being a little biased. A story about two girls, who are the best in their music class, were chosen to play at a national level competition. Mizore(obue player) and Nozomi(Flute player) decide to play a piece called "Liz and blue bird". Its a piece dedicated to the story of Liz, a lovely yet lonely girl who fell in love with a blue bird and wanted it to stay with her forever. The story actually tells us about the relationship of these two girls and what choices they have to make in order to move forward. They have to let go the things they love in order to do whats right and sometimes it is the right choice to let go what you love. Mizore thought of herself as Liz and Nozomi as the blue bird. Mizore had to make the hardest choice to let her blue bird go in order to move on. There wasn't much room for character development because I think the show focuses on that part. Other than that the story was pretty good. Though the start was really slow but the buildup till the end cuts it out for me. Animation and Artstyle were amazing, just what you would expect from KyoAni. From the character designs to the instruments. What I absolutely loved about it that the actual story of Liz was told to us aswell and not just that but the whole animation and artstyle used to change the moment Liz's story started which made a really great impact on the movie itself. Sound tracks and the background music were phenomenal. It is a movie about music so ofcourse there will be focus on the music. The last scene where they actually perfected the ending of the piece and the whole Orchestra played in sync, to be honest, I watched that scene atleast 3 times. It was beautiful, from start to finish, from the animation to the music. I really liked this movie. One of the best movies that came out this year and I would definitely recommend it to you guys. I am seeing alot of posts about Maquia and Pancreas but haven't seen one post about this which is quite suprising. Story: 8.5/10 Music: 10/10 Animation/Artstyle: 10/10 Overall score: 8.5/10

I've seen the videos gushing about this movie on YouTube, and I'm a huge Naoko Yamada fan so when I heard this was coming to my local theater I had to go, and I was not disappointed! Look this movie isn't a blow them up, shoot-em-up, action oriented Anime fan looking to see some cool effects is going to want to see. This is a story about friendship and how you deal with changing circumstances and moving forward. Liz and the Blue Bird under the direction of Naoko Yamada takes a fairly simple story and puts it into a beautiful setting and with great visuals and score and music to soothe the senses.... This movie isn't for everyone, to a point its a bit experimental but after its slow start and introductions of the characters you really do get enveloped in the story... And can I say if you are Hibike! Euphonium fan I think you will absolutely love it....Especially if you were really into the 1st 5 episodes of S2. If you are doubting whether you should watch this don't! Go see it! As for where this ranks in the pantheon of Yamada films: Its 2nd to me, behind a Silent Voice, and ahead of the K-On! Movie and Tamako Love Story, and I loved every single one of these films....so its they're in good company.

"To love is to set free". Now this is a quote I have heard a couple of times before, but when does this sentence is well used in the correct moments and situations? Liz to Aoi Tori is one of the best examples of such use, in a sensible and clever way. Picture a watercolor painting of two characters, Kasaki Nozomi and Yoroizuka Mizore. Two highschool girls that attend Kitauji High, and have been friends for a good time. However, such friendship never was equal, as shown in the second framed segment of this movie. We see a shy and quiet Mizore, with no friends along with her; we see the brightness and melody find her location right when Nozomi shows up wishing her a good morning. Right after, both find their way upstairs to their music classroom: Kasaki in first view and Yoroizuka right after, depicting to the viewer the very way their relationship is. With the codependance unknown to Kasaki in that moment. Both are taking part in Kitauji's school orchestra, in order to play "Liz to Aoi Tori", a work that focus on Liz - a quiet girl that attends a job at a bakery - and the Blue Bird, a being that can transform itself into a bright girl. One day, Liz finds the Bird transformed fallen outside her house. As time passes, both develop a friendship. Such bond little by little made the little Bird astray of her true purpose: flight to higher heights, leaving her good life with Liz. The flow and transition between those two worlds is well done and natural, to the point of making both realities seem the same. Here, it serves as a parallel between Liz (Mizore playing the oboe) and the Blue Bird (Nozomi playing the transverse flute). Both stories are about setting free; one as a metaphor and the other as a lesson and a reminder that friends won't always be close to us. We see the dependence Mizore has, to the point of choosing the same college Nozomi chose to take part in. In the end, we find out that Mizore was actually the Bird, and Nozomi was Liz. Even though Mizore held her fault at being so dependant, Nozomi never really set her free. She tries to do so ignoring her, but Mizore notices. We see that the dependant part was the one with most potential, to such a level that the supposedly independent part chose the college just to reach her level. A moment that shows us how some talented people don't see their own potential, and instead decide to be taken by the life flow. Both walk side by side in the end, coming to terms and looking themselves though different lens. The animation quality is great, with light colors such as blue and green; serving well to the movie concept. The fantasy and reality are easy to differ here, due to the difference of color palette. The sound is amazing as the usual of a "Hibike! Euphonium" universe work, especially when the third fill is played. This is my favourite Naoko Yamada movie, with Tamako Love Story right after. She is a director that has a talent I rarely find in the industry. Liz to Aoi Tori should be rewatched anytime possible, and it is a great movie. Thank you for reading.

I was a bit apprehensive about how I would perceive this film. It’s been almost two years since Sound Euphonium Season 2 ended and since then I’ve found myself losing all tolerance of the Cute Girls Only fad that remains endemic in anime. To make matters worse I knew this film would be a side story about the one pair of characters who were, in my opinion, responsible for the weakest arc in Season 2. But I was glad to find that the story had so much depth in its storytelling that I was able to look past that. And generally speaking I find that Cute Girls Only stories feel a lot more genuine when they’re actually written by women and it shows here too. The film itself puts me in mind of shows like "After the Rain" and "SSSS.Gridman" where the story itself is actually pretty simple but it really excels in providing so much subtext into everything so much that such a simple message can resonate so strongly. There was a particularly strong focus on body language by the animators in order to illustrate characters emotions (show don't tell) but I also liked the way the story uses its background music to provide subtext in creative ways. For example, the beginning features a noticeably broken, half done piece when it shows only Mizore but once Nozomi enters the scene the track becomes complete and “whole”. On a side note I also liked that “Military fife”-esque music that always played when that endearing underclassman(girl?) put a brave front to befriend Mizore. And of course the whole storyline itself was basically about subtext specifically with the story of Liz & The Blue Bird and how it applied to the relationship between Mizore and Nozomi. I don’t want to get into spoilers but I will mention that there is a twist to this that I appreciate although it is not one that caught me by surprise. If I have a complaint it’s that I don’t think it gave enough focus to Nozomi. There’s not really much indication to suggest Nozomi was that enamoured with Mizore and The Liz & The Blue Bird analogy loses its edge when you remember how easily Nozomi left her the first time as shown in Season 2. I also don’t know what to make of the fact that Mizore’s infatuation with Nozomi pretty much looks like romantic love but that’s an issue I’ve always had with this franchise and the way it portrays friendships. I’ve been told that this phenomenon (where the line between romantic love and friendships is blurred) does exist among certain Japanese schoolgirl environments and that there’s even a specific term for it (though I can’t remember the name) but I’ll never know for sure if these are accurate portrayals or just “Hollywood-ised” portrayals overdramatising what actually happens in real life. If I also have another nitpick, it’s that the world around Mizore is far too forgiving towards her self-inflicted acts of social exclusion. People don’t jump through hoops to include you: If you exclude yourself, you’re pretty much done for. That's a downward spiral that I'm all too familiar with. Not that I think Mizore would deserve it but that is what normally happens. I think a similar film "When Marnie Was There" gets that better. I did like how colourful and relevant the side characters were and not just that underclassman that tried her best to befriend Mizore. Leave it to Kousaka to use that long established no nonsense attitude and cut through the bullshit. I'm also pretty confident that Library Girl's gonna flip a lid at someone someday. It's gonna be a massacre I tell you. I wasn’t blown away by this story and it’s always going to be an uphill battle getting me to empathise with highschool girl problems (myself being a 27 year old male who only sees teenagers as try hard brats), but I do appreciate the absolute truckload of creative and varied subtext throughout the film from a storytelling perspective. It’s really impressive from a technical point of view.

I hate to rate a move that was clearly made with such care and love so low, but alas I must. This movie was beautiful. Beautiful to watch and listen to and to absorb. But wow, the plot did not feel substantial at all. Liz and the Blue Bird is a coming-of-age film that explores friendship, dependency, and growth. I think it manages to get its message across, but while I, again, think it is a beautiful watch, I cannot overstate how boring it is. I hate calling art boring. I think even "boring" art has its place in the art world, and I don't think it's necessarily bad to be boring. Sousou no Frieren is wildly successful despite being quite slow compared to other shounen shows, I thoroughly enjoyed Super Cub even though nothing really happens, and reading Ponkotsu Ponko was just a joy - I enjoy slow, boring slice-of-life dramas a lot. Liz and the Blue Bird is just straight-up boring. I watched this on a road trip to keep myself from being bored, and by the time I was done I wished I had just kept looking out the window, or perhaps napping. This story just felt so unnecessarily long for no reason, when I could easily sum up the entire plot, literally every major event, in maybe 2 paragraphs. It felt like we were building up to something the whole time, and right when the climax was supposed to hit, it just sort of fizzled. There was no release to all this build up, and then the movie finished, and then I left completely dissatisfied. I will say, I really liked the message. I thought the two main characters had an interesting (if slightly obvious) character arc. The subtle, almost invisible tension between the two was masterfully done. This movie truly could've been great. It felt like the micro-execution was really well done: all the art was beautiful, the characters felt natural(ish), and the drama was great, but the macro-execution was bad: too much build up, not enough release, unsatisfying ending.

This was odd for me personally because over the years my opinion on things has changed drastically. And one of those things was anime. I sorta have a lot of explaining to do but really I'm not bothered, so for now i'll just list off my personal thoughts on the film to give an idea of what I mean. This is my third time seeing this and on each viewing was a totally different experience. First time I was instantly in love with it and giving the soothing melancholic nature to it really connected with me, it was something I hadn't felt before at the time and that kind of blew me away. Second time I didn't get too much out of it but I remember picking up on a few little details I missed and mostly just appreciating the animation/production put into this (take note this was long after first viewing). And finally on third viewing I was... well... as you'd expect probably, left a little disappointed. So, much of my problems sorta come from a stylistic approach the film takes, and I would like to point some of them out at least. I wasn't very keen on the soundtrack taking up a large chunk of the scenes. I would've preferred more silence or instead having the ost being played in the universe of the film as the scenes were taking place, kinda like the way Michael Haneke (sorry for abstract reference) does it. To me it would have felt not only more appropriate but less jarring too, making the film feel less repetitive than it actually is. I'm also not a fan of the whole fairy tale aspect. Its not a bad idea but I feel like there were better ways of exploring these themes & these messages without that aspect and putting such a huge emphasis on it - that element felt quite on the nose to me. And sadly I just could not connect with the characters. I'm not so opposed to the idea of a character we know nothing about just as long as there's a purpose or its a decision made in service of the film's purpose. Unfortunately these rules don't make themselves very clear in Liz and the Blue Bird. I didn't really care what was going on between the characters, I didn't care about their relationship. I was mostly just waiting for something integral to happen but for the most part it was just meandering from beginning to end. But whenever there was drama it felt wasted, nothing came from them that felt like it would have any sort of a genuine impact on a story like this. And this is a problem I've had with anime for a while now. There is definitely a lot to be desired here. I was ultimately dissatisfied with the conclusion of this film but it had me wondering, what could really fix this? There is a masterpiece in here somewhere, perhaps there already is and I'm just not seeing it right. But sadly I must confess. Anime has never really been a genre I connected with deeply, but I for some reason still ended up seeing a large chunk of them, most usually for guilty pleasure purposes. So, I would like to hear other peoples thoughts on this film. Maybe I'm just viewing it with the wrong perspective and if so, give me yours cause I'm interest to see what you got out of it.

I think the only thing that has bothered me most about the Sound! Euphonium series is how often discussion of it tends to descend into questions of whether or not it's queer bait. In my eyes Sound! Euphonium is a series about queerness through the eyes of those who cannot be honest about their sexuality. Words and phrases like "love" and "romance" are tossed around by characters in an ambiguous manner because they themselves cannot understand their own feelings, or do not even recognize these feelings as a valid form of expression. Nowhere else in the series is this more obvious than the film Liz and the Blue Bird. Liz and The Blue bird swaps out the bombast and catharsis of the original series for something much more nuanced and intimate, it's a film that lingers, favoring imagery and subtext over overt statements. Characters don't scream and cry about their character arcs and the music rarely builds to an overpowering and overly emotional crescendo. For a film about characters that play music it is often very quiet, it's filled with simple scenes of characters simply walking or even looking into a fish tank. Liz gives it's characters time to breathe, to think about themselves and what they want and eventually to grow. It is quite possibly one of the most beautiful examples of queer cinema in anime and even in live action film. It's positively beautiful and gay as hell

This movie is simply art. "Liz and the blue bird" tells the story of two girls Mizore Yoroizuka and Nozomi Kasaki, which truth be told is a simple story but done in such a beautiful and elegant way which in general is one of the reasons why I love this medium in the first place. The Art-style that the movie uses is simply the best choice for the story that it told. Although initially, I was completely put off by it as it looked way different from the second season but once the movie started telling it's story I started to fall in love with it. The story of this movie is perfect. While I can't properly explain what makes the story great without delving into spoiler territory, all I can say is that the brilliant art-style combined with the amazing soundtrack helped this story reach new heights which frankly blew me away. This is one of those stories in which though nothing majorly sad (like a character death) happened but, it still managed to make me emotional at times. Overall, yeah! this is a very special movie. Anime movies like these are rare to find. I love KyoAni. This is my first review, Thanks for reading

I typically don't like slow-paced anime or movies, but this movie is good enough that I have re-watched it several times. First of all: it is a requirement to watch the 2nd season of Hibike! Euphonium at least to get some background of the two main characters. Without this, the movie will seem strangely empty because the viewer will not understand much of what is going on inside Mizore Yoroizuka or Nozomi Kasaki. Second, there is a ton of inner dialogue going on inside Mizore that simply can't be conveyed out loud. For every one utterance Mizore says out loud, she might have thought ten full sentences inside her. We have to infer from the minute gestures, the close-ups on her eyes and facial expressions and limbs, even the camera focus, what unspoken emotions are roiling around inside her. Even the different postures and gaits of the two girls gives us insight into their personalities. Pacing of the movie will seem dreadfully slow without taking the time to delve into the above, and many of the professional movie critics that claimed this movie is slow seem to have missed the first requirement above or have little patience for a coming-of-age psychological drama. The pacing IS slow overall, but worth it if you can absorb what's going on under the surface.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH MYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD This is one of the greatest things I've ever seen in my whole entire life. Its a visual and audible masterpiece, with a beautiful story and starring characters I barely even remember from the show that they originate from! I'm legit devastated that these two don't lead the main show and am now wondering if I'll be able to cope without them, going forward. This was just so unbelievably beautiful and encapsulated every single solitary thing I love about Kyoto Animation and about the anime medium as a whole. I REALLY don't wanna start rewatching shows right now since I have so many new ones I still need to get to, but MAN. I REALLY wonder if I'll think of this show differently, now. I wonder if I was just in a REALLY bad place at the time and that was what ruined my first impressions of this series. Well, I'm so happy to have my mind changed and to have witnessed this flawless piece of art. The way it moved me, spoke to me, reflected the events of my own life that I went through, ironically of the time times in which I was first attempting to watch this show and couldn't do it at the time.... The difference time and experience can make.... That's what I think makes a piece of art a favorite to an individual. Not just a matter of discussing or debating whether or not it has definitively the best visuals (which this film does) or the best sound design (which this film does) or the best storytelling (which this film does) but whether or not at the end of the day did it speak to YOU. On a PERSONAL level. Did it speak to a younger or past version of yourself? Did it inspire or make you dream about a future version of yourself? Did it help you? Did it hurt you? Did it heal you? Did it speak to you? Sing to you? Enlighten you? Resonate with you? Did it do something so intrinsically unique it could only be described or expressed by you and your unique and beautiful individual experience on this earth and in this life? Because THAT'S what art is all about! THAT'S what creating and expressing and experiencing and feeling and dreaming is MEANT TO BE. And it's wonderful. And beautiful. And awkward. And confusing. And crystal clear. And way beyond what words alone can accomplish. I hope everyone has a piece of art like this in their lives. And I hope they're encouraged and supported in expressing just what exactly it meant to them and them alone. Because something so precious should always be protected and cherished and respected. All of that just to say.... I liked it. 10/10