Japan Cuts 2020: #21

You can really feel the amount of effort that went into this one. According to the Japan Cuts website, this film "was completed over the course of seven years with over 40,000 hand-drawn frames handled almost entirely by director Kenji Iwaisawa himself." Now, I'm no snob when it comes to computer-animated films. I've been amazed by the visual artistry of quite a few of them. But just in comparing this film to another recent animated property from Japan, the Ghost in the Shell series whose animation just feels so off-putting and sterile, ON-GAKU: Our Sound is a real breath of fresh air.

Loved the deadpan humor and appreciated the message about how art can act as an impetus for positive change in our lives. Hopefully GKIDS will release it on digital and home video soon so that the film will continue to gain more exposure.