“If you want to be in the gig, choose one: First, you get beaten up by me or you destroy the bass…” threatens Marutake High’s Oba, the mohawked antagonist who has been gunning for a fight with Kenji, Ota, and Asakura since the very beginning. With one swift unforeseeable action, this deadpan slice of animated mumblecore tears up its already useless rulebook, pours gasoline over it, then sets it on fire. But these flames aren’t what you’d come to expect from a typical fire: this is something altogether more vibrant, more primal; something so freeing it makes the avant-garde look as predictable as the next hit Avex single. Based on Hiroyuki Ohashi’s manga of the same name, “On-Gaku: Our Sound” taps into the unpredictability of Japan’s psych rock heritage, runs freakish with it, and has far too much fun doing so.
“On-Gaku: Our Sound“ is...
“On-Gaku: Our Sound“ is...
- 2/7/2022
- by James Cansdale-Cook
- AsianMoviePulse
Japanese humor is rather unique, occasionally moving towards intelligent, quirky and deadpan paths, occasionally towards absurd, slapstick or even appalling and “blasphemous” ones. “Zokki”, the collective effort of Naoto Takenaka, Takayuki Yamada and Takumi Saitoh, thankfully lingers mostly towards the first two categories, in five intermingling episodes written by Yutaka Kuramochi, based on short stories by manga artist Hiroyuki Ohashi.
“Zokki” is screening at New York Asian Film Festival
The omnibus begins with a story of a kidnapping that ends up with a grandfather talking about secrets with his granddaughter, who eventually throws out of her mouth the milk she was drinking, which sets up the tone, to a point at least, for the rest of the movie. Another story focuses on Fujimura, a loner who decides to go for a road trip with his bike, eventually arriving at a seaside town, where he is taken in by a friendly...
“Zokki” is screening at New York Asian Film Festival
The omnibus begins with a story of a kidnapping that ends up with a grandfather talking about secrets with his granddaughter, who eventually throws out of her mouth the milk she was drinking, which sets up the tone, to a point at least, for the rest of the movie. Another story focuses on Fujimura, a loner who decides to go for a road trip with his bike, eventually arriving at a seaside town, where he is taken in by a friendly...
- 8/25/2021
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
"We're now crazy about music." GKids has released an official US trailer for a funky Japanese anime film titled On-Gaku: Our Sound, opening in US theaters in December. It first premiered at a few animation festivals last year, and already opened in Japan in January of this year. The film is about a trio of delinquent schoolkids who form a band. Animated almost entirely by director Kenji Iwaisawa, and featuring a lead performance by Japanese alt-rock legend Shintaro Sakamoto, On-Gaku: Our Sound brings its own sound and vision to the Hiroyuki Ohashi manga from which it was adapted. With pitch-perfect deadpan humor, the animated film presents a highly original take on the beloved slacker comedy: a lo-fi buddy film with a blaring musical finale that will leave you wanting an immediate encore. I dig how unconventional & unique this looks, not your typical anime in style or substance, with a dose of "adult" language & themes.
- 12/3/2020
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
“On-Gaku: Our Sound,” an oddball music comedy directed by Kenji Iwaisawa, upends all that is typical of Japanese animation. glutted with mind-bending sci-fi conundrums or elaborate time-slip-body-switching fantasies. But what fuels its easy breakout to western audiences are its bona fide rock references and characters as deadpan as any Aki Kaurismaki cast.
Signs of “On-Gaku” being the year’s biggest dark horse in anime fandom came in September 2019, when it beat “I Lost My Body” and “Children of the Sea” to win the Grand Prix at the Ottawa Animation Festival. It has since been picked up stateside by Gkids and should enjoy wide fest play following its presentation in the Contrechamps Competition section at the Annecy Animation Festival, which just awarded the film a prize for its music.
“On-Gaku,” which simply means “music” in Japanese, was adapted from a revised draft of the cult manga “Ongaku and Manga,” first self-published...
Signs of “On-Gaku” being the year’s biggest dark horse in anime fandom came in September 2019, when it beat “I Lost My Body” and “Children of the Sea” to win the Grand Prix at the Ottawa Animation Festival. It has since been picked up stateside by Gkids and should enjoy wide fest play following its presentation in the Contrechamps Competition section at the Annecy Animation Festival, which just awarded the film a prize for its music.
“On-Gaku,” which simply means “music” in Japanese, was adapted from a revised draft of the cult manga “Ongaku and Manga,” first self-published...
- 6/26/2020
- by Maggie Lee
- Variety Film + TV
Gkids, the U.S.-based producer and specialty distributor, has acquired North American rights to Japanese animated film “On-Gaku: Our Sound.” The film, which plays in the Contrechamp competition section of the Annecy International Animation Festival, is being lined up for a release later in 2020.
Directed by Kenji Iwaisawa, and adapted from a manga by Hiroyuki Ohashi, “Our Sound” is the tale of a high school kid who tries to start a band in order to impress a girl. When he teams up with his pals, they discover that none of them can play an instrument. Discouragement lurks around every corner.
The film is composed of over 40,000 hand drawn frames, using the rotoscoping animation technique. It features a lead performance by Japanese alt-rock legend Shintaro Sakamoto.
Rodney Uhler, Gkids’ director of special projects, and Emico Kawai of sales agent Nikkatsu Corporation negotiated the deal for North American rights. The film...
Directed by Kenji Iwaisawa, and adapted from a manga by Hiroyuki Ohashi, “Our Sound” is the tale of a high school kid who tries to start a band in order to impress a girl. When he teams up with his pals, they discover that none of them can play an instrument. Discouragement lurks around every corner.
The film is composed of over 40,000 hand drawn frames, using the rotoscoping animation technique. It features a lead performance by Japanese alt-rock legend Shintaro Sakamoto.
Rodney Uhler, Gkids’ director of special projects, and Emico Kawai of sales agent Nikkatsu Corporation negotiated the deal for North American rights. The film...
- 6/17/2020
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
“If you want to be in the gig, choose one: First, you get beaten up by me or you destroy the bass…” threatens Marutake High’s Oba, the mohawked antagonist who has been gunning for a fight with Kenji, Ota, and Asakura since the very beginning. With one swift unforeseeable action, this deadpan slice of animated mumblecore tears up its already useless rulebook, pours gasoline over it, then sets it on fire. But these flames aren’t what you’d come to expect from a typical fire: this is something altogether more vibrant, more primal; something so freeing it makes the avant-garde look as predictable as the next hit Avex single. Based on Hiroyuki Ohashi’s manga of the same name, “On-Gaku: Our Sound” taps into the unpredictability of Japan’s psych rock heritage, runs freakish with it, and has far too much fun doing so.
On-Gaku: Our Sound is...
On-Gaku: Our Sound is...
- 3/15/2020
- by James Cansdale-Cook
- AsianMoviePulse
Japanese animated feature “Our Sound” (aka “On-Gaku”) is finding favor with buyers at the European Film Market.
Directed by Kenji Iwaisawa, and adapted from a manga by Hiroyuki Ohashi, it is the tale of a high school kid who tries to start a band in order to impress a girl. When he teams up with his pals, they discover that none of them can play an instrument. Discouragement lurks around every corner.
With international rights handled by Nikkatsu, the film has been licensed to China’s streaming giant Bilibili; and to conventional distributors Anime Limited, for the U.K. and Ireland; Eurozoom for French-speaking territories; and to Media Castle for Korea. A North American deal is pending.
The film premiered last year at the Ottawa Int’l Animation Festival, where it won the top prize and earned plaudits. It added to its haul at the London Animation Festival and moved...
Directed by Kenji Iwaisawa, and adapted from a manga by Hiroyuki Ohashi, it is the tale of a high school kid who tries to start a band in order to impress a girl. When he teams up with his pals, they discover that none of them can play an instrument. Discouragement lurks around every corner.
With international rights handled by Nikkatsu, the film has been licensed to China’s streaming giant Bilibili; and to conventional distributors Anime Limited, for the U.K. and Ireland; Eurozoom for French-speaking territories; and to Media Castle for Korea. A North American deal is pending.
The film premiered last year at the Ottawa Int’l Animation Festival, where it won the top prize and earned plaudits. It added to its haul at the London Animation Festival and moved...
- 2/23/2020
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
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