2019 ‘音楽’ Directed by 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.
On-gaku, Ongaku, 摇滚吧！中二乐团, 音乐, 온 가쿠, On Gaku : Notre Rock, 음악, Онгаку: Наш звук, 音樂
USA
Ottawa International Animation Festival
UK
London International Animation Festival
France
Annecy International Animation Film Festival
South Korea
Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival
USA
Japan Cuts
UK12
Japan
USA
France
France
France
France
Japan
South Korea
UK
USA
Even just watching a few seconds of On Gaku: Our Sound, it is apparent that the budget is quite low. Kenji Iwaisawa crowdfunded $40,000 to make this project, utilizing rotoscope animation and an inherently simple art style, as he and his team worked tirelessly to make it over 7 years. However, Iwaisawa was able to do more with his meager budget than most other studio movies are able to do with tens of millions. On Gaku perfectly encapsulates the feeling that music can inspire in youth, while at the same time being a testament to the days of apathetic adolescence where nothing really mattered. The film’s presentation may not have the budget to back up its ambition, but the simple…
Handmade, crowdfunded, heartwarming story about a group of juvenile delinquents who find their own voice through music. In a nutshell: Punk as fuck.
Based on Hiroyuki Ohashi's self-published Manga, and directed by Kenji Iwaisawa, Our Sound is a pioneering anime which was shaped and created outside of the studio system on a partially crowdfunded budget across the span of seven years. The resulting independent animation is a tremendous humanistic recognition on the potency of music, and in the spirit of Rob Reiner's Spinal Tap dials the collection of sounds up to eleven.
The undemanding storyline modestly follows a trio of wayward teenagers concluding that musical acclaim lay in their destinies. So having no musical background yet clasping punk rock aesthetics, they gather together some instruments and embark on presenting their distinct version of the proverbial three chords and the truth. It's animated almost…
Japanese thugs who are the definition of ‘the strong, silent type’ start a band with limited skills.
Quirky animation that can be quite mesmerizing in its low-fi aesthetic.
Humorous in that dead-pan ‘Wes Anderson’ way.
Won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but at 66 minutes long pre-credits, it’s not a big investment if you don’t get it.
This is brilliant. A film that understands the power of music and the impact it can have in everyone's lives. It gets to the core of creating, no matter who, how, or why, just the mere act of it is amazing.
Focusing on three Japanese hoodlums in the classic high school gang mode who are used to just fighting another group of kids at a different school, they're clearly not the type that knows how to communicate well. One day, the leader of the trio just declares that they're going to start a band, despite none of them knowing how to play an instrument. They end up with two bass guitars and a drum kit that consists of a snare…
Aimless youths finding their voices and learning how to express themselves through the power of music and friendship. It's low-key hilarious and high-key heartwarming. Oh, and it also fucking rips.
A new favorite that scratches similar itches for me as Fish Story, Electric Dragon 80.000 V, Blue Spring, The Rocking Horsemen, and My God, My God, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?
Make of that what you will. I plan to revisit this endlessly.
Bored teenagers trying to get through their aimless lives by picking up silly fights and playing video games all day suddenly decide to form a band. Playing music helps them escape monotony, feel high and finally express.
On-Gaku is a fun watch with deadpan humour and good music. I loved it's homage to classic rock bands through multiple references.
Good rock music often takes me to strangest places and I love visiting them in my head. This movie does a fabulous job visualizing that fantasy land. The final (instrumental) performance by the two bands was hypnotic and blew me away.
Looking forward to more from Kenji Iwaisawa 🙌🏼
im definitely pmsing but i was teary eyed thru so much of this movie. this is seriously one of the best things ive ever seen in my fucking life.
If you watched this at the Ottawa International Animation Festival and applauded throughout the screening, fuck you.
It’s hard not to credit this the score it rightly deserves seeing how much this resonated with me:
✓ Representing music-making as a naive, clueless, yet beautiful process
✓ Seamlessly employing (what I think is) the most humanly funniest code of humour ever
✓ A movie that is under 90 minutes (and doesn’t feel too short!)
I’d pay $13 to watch this again in a heartbeat.
