A Few Moments of Cheers (数分間のエールを) actually started screening in Japan way back in June. I was slightly interested in it, but in the end, didn't really find time to catch it. However, a few days ago, one of my favorite anime reviewers on YouTube gave it a strong recommendation, mentioning that it is back in cinemas (Dolby Cinemas and those with Dolby Atmos sound) now for a limited period of time. So I did my best to adjust my schedule (including working a lot more on weekends and at night) to squeeze out time to catch the movie today at the local Dolby Cinema.
The story is about a high school boy who recently got into making music videos using 3D animation (the movie actually had a scene showing him using Blender). He saw someone singing with a guitar at a bus-stop (or taxi stand?) one day and was so impressed by her voice that he decided he would make a music video of her song. This is a story that will resonate with anyone who dabbles in some form of art, who strives to create something in hope of being recognised by others. I was moved to tears several times during the movie (I stopped counting after two), which says a lot since this is a short movie at 68 minutes.
This movie is produced by Hurray!, the team that creates music videos
for Yorushika, so the music videos in this movie can really be actual
music videos by themselves. In the end, to those of us who pursue an art, this movie is kind of like asking us: Why are you doing this? What do you seek? I really really recommend this movie to anyone pursuing any form of art, who creates anything for others to appreciate.
Spoilers after the photo
The protagonist is Asaya Kanata, and the person he saw singing with the guitar turns out to be his new English teacher in school, Orie Yu. Orie was actually singing her 100th song, the song that she wrote as a final work for her singing journey, after having tried to create a career as a singer but not making any headway. Meanwhile, Asaya only started making music videos when he entered high school, so he is still very passionate about wanting to create something that would move the hearts of others.
I think all of us who pursue art in some form would understand this initial passion, to want to create something that move others, that others appreciate and praise. We all seek that recognition, even though recognition may not be the sole or major reason for our pursuit of art. But along the way, with time, some of us may realise that we will never get that recognition. Those who seek to make a career out of their love for their art may realise that such a day may never come. Such setbacks over time may eventually lead us to drop our pursuit and seek something else. Such was the case for Orie, who decided to stop pursuing a singing career, and took up a job as a teacher.
Meanwhile, Asaya was just embarking on this pursuit. He sees things positively. Even when Orie's 100th song was one about giving up, Asaya interpreted it in a more positive way, and made a music video with a positive story for that song. Yet that was not what the song was about, which led Orie to reject his first music video. But through talking to Orie, and seeing his good friend Tonosaki give up going to art school, he remembered his own feeling of giving up once. Back in junior high, he used to draw, but when his friend Tonosaki won the prefectural governor's award, Asaya gave up drawing, and eventually found a new passion in creating music videos. Able to better understand Orie's 100th song, he gave his second attempt at creating a music video for her, and this time, he was able to create a more fitting music video, and his passion even influenced Orie to give singing a second try.
Official website of 数分間のエールを (in Japanese)
No comments:
Post a Comment