Blue Giant review – electrifying animation captures the ecstasy of live music – The Guardian
Is jazz lifeless? Yuzuru Tachikawa’s Blue Large definitely begs to vary. Following three 18-year-old boys who doggedly pursue their musical goals, the movie hits the acquainted beats of the coming-of-age anime, but it additionally deviates from the format in fascinating methods. There are trials and tribulations, quarrels and reconciliation, however what makes Blue Large actually shine is its masterly rendering of the bodily ecstasy that emanates from reside efficiency.
Jass, the band on the movie’s centre, represents three completely different approaches to creating music. Arriving in Tokyo from a small city, Dai Miyamoto has solely picked up the saxophone 4 years earlier but possesses a prodigious, ferocious capability to channel his feelings with each be aware. In distinction, pianist Yukinori Sawabe, who grew up in a household of musicians, is extra restrained: he favours exact approach over improvisations. Percussionist Shunji Tamada, Dai’s childhood good friend, is essentially the most inexperienced of all: a whole novice, his newbie enthusiasm is each endearing and transferring.
Spectacularly animated, the reside music sequences dynamically shapeshift as if in a trance. The imagery is evocative and electrifying: a solo lights the body on fireplace as tongues of flame and electrical currents movement from the devices. It’s a disgrace, nonetheless, that whereas the movie emphasises the characters’ need to topple old-world hierarchies, the jazz world seen right here stays solely a boys’ membership. Maybe it’s right down to the supply manga, however the few feminine characters stay within the background as exterior assist or inspirations. The elegant rating from Hiromi Uehara solely makes such imbalance much more evident; it’s ironic that Blue Large is musically pushed by the work of a feminine composer, but neglects to create space for ladies on display.
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