In Blue Giant, there’s a moment that feels utterly out of tune for every instance of sublime beauty where the music and animation blend together in a beautiful concert. The film, which is directed by Yuzuru Tachikawa (well known for the fantastic anime series Mob Psycho 100), follows three teenage musicians as they play in the latter days of Tokyo’s jazz scene. The most notable of them is Dai Miyamoto, a saxophonist (Yuki Yamada), who just relocated to Tokyo to follow his goal. He then forms a band with jazz pianist Yukinori Sawabe (Shôtarô Mamiya), who bemoans the genre’s increasing obscurity. Together, they attempt to break through to the big time.
They are a delightful group, and even in their most embarrassing appearances, you can see the brilliant ideas hidden within each performance. The major musical pieces that result from their relationship are brilliantly performed. The character development is always interesting, especially when it comes to the story of rookie drummer Shinji (Amane Okayama), who is trying to keep up with his talented colleagues while also enjoying his newfound passion of drumming.
The utilization of 3D by Blue Giant seems constrained.
Unfortunately, the animation’s flaws are so obvious that they are distracting. Blue Giant’s usage of 3D feels like a limitation rather than an extension of the film’s visual language, in contrast to Belle (where 3D animation is used to separate the actual world from the virtual) and The First Slam Dunk (which used 2D and 3D to distinguish everyday life from basketball life) from the previous year.
However, there are also exquisitely lovely and sensual instances of hand-drawn expression when the picture dissolves into sensation alone. The moment Yukinori touches a key and it compresses like jelly, the rest of the instrument warps and stretches out into an infinite distance is one astounding example. At the middle of the movie, a jazz festival performance perfectly captures the exhilarating highs and depressing lows of Blue Giant. It combines highly uncomfortable 3D with stunning, sensual 2D animation, transforming the band’s performance into waves of psychedelic color.
It seems believable that twentysomethings could play jazz so great that it could turn the entire screen into a black hole at certain moments, in large part because of the upbeat score by jazz pianist Hiromi Uehara. Unfortunately, the movie has some bad points as well, yet despite these flaws, Blue Giant’s daring musical moments are still really great.