There is a lot of discourse online about the portrayal of high schoolers in media. The debate mainly centers around the forced maturity of content supposedly following the lives of teenagers. A lot of these shows and films are grounded in sadness and seriousness. What a joy it is, then, that On-Gaku: Our Sound is the complete opposite. It is a light and refreshing portrayal of youth and what it means to be a kid falling in love with music.
Director Kenji Iwaisawa spent years hand-drawing and animating the film, adapted from the manga by Hiroyuki Ohashi. It follows Kenji (Shintaro Sakamoto), Ota (Tomoya Maeno), and Asakura (Tateto Serizawa). The three high schoolers are known and feared around the town as delinquents, although they spend much of their time playing different games in shared silence. In one of the many ways Iwaisawa captures the silliness of high school, it seems that the boys’ reputation as delinquents only really holds because of the head start they had in puberty. Kenji, the “leader”, sports a thin, awkward mustache and a shockingly deep voice. His withdrawn nature allows rumors to spread about his supposed prowess in combat.
Despite their status, the boys live their lives with unspoken boredom and unhappiness. They loiter after school until the janitors have to lock up, and Kenji wanders through his small town, unblinkingly staring at his surroundings as if waiting for something to happen. That changes when he comes to own a bass guitar, and directs Ota and Asakura to pick up another guitar and drum to start a band. The boys have absolutely no musical training, only knowing the basics of how to plug an amp in and strum. Here, the animation becomes the star of the film. Iwaisawa plays with lines and camera angles and textures to convey the new emotions revealed to the boys as they play their first notes. Their skin prickles, their eyes light up, and they suddenly have a passion for something. Their music is grungy and monotonous, yet ultimately extremely cathartic.
The film explores music as an outlet for otherwise unspeakable states of being. Kenji, Ota, and Asakura meet fellow high school musicians, led by the encouraging Morita (Kami Hiraiwa). Morita’s band is on the softer spectrum of rock, more delicate acoustic guitar strumming and pretty lyricism. Rather than sneering at each other, the teens share in their love of music and their desire to play at a local festival. They motivate each other and help broaden their perspectives on the music they play.
On-Gaku: Our Sound is a remarkable display of the versatility of hand-drawn animation. The styles can shift from bare-bones simplicity to rotoscoped etchings with layers of color from one moment to the next. Iwaisawa pays homage to the story’s origins as a manga with very static backgrounds, an almost cloudy and watercolor aesthetic to the town. It paints a very sleepy picture that is beautifully disrupted by the journey the teens go on as they play their music. When they pick up their instruments, the animation explodes as it captures every note in almost synesthetic detail. Morita is flung into a Ddadaist mosaic as he takes in Kenji, Ota, and Asakura’s crunching guitars and pounding rhythms. The three, in turn, are transported to a breezy seaside town as Morita’s delicate strumming and painterly lyrics wash over them.
The film is short, coming in at just over an hour, but it feels much longer. Usually, that criticism is relegated to poorly paced or boring films, but On-Gaku: Our Sound is anything but. The film is a sensory marvel, beckoning the viewer to relish in the magical realism of its animation and the feelings it stirs up. The dialogue can be sparse, yet the characters feel thoroughly alive. Music unlocks many things for each of them, be it passion or focus or simple enjoyment. Being a teenager can be confusing and lonely, even if you’re surrounded by friends. Iwaisawa manages to put to film the enlightenment that comes from discovering a new part of yourself through creativity. Kenji, Ota, Asakura, and Morita are each on a journey, one that feels earth-shattering in their young lives. Maybe every viewer does not have that same connection to playing music specifically, but the fascination that comes from unearthing self-expression as a teenager is one of the most universal feelings in the world.
On-Gaku: Our Sound is warm. With all of its idiosyncrasies, the way it captures the precise awkwardness and naivety of high school, it is an invigorating film. Kenji may start the band on a whim but the effects of creating something are deeply moving for him and his friends alike. It bursts out of the whole band in a powerful display at the end of the film. It is hypnotic and deeply moving. The kids are all very clearly amateurs. Their techniques are unrefined and their voices are creaky and unstable as they sing. Yet, the film never frames this as undesirable or disrespectful to the art of rock music. It celebrates their creativity and learning, and portrays their music as a hallmark of feeling rather than displaying sophisticated techniques. It is a film about teenagers and how joyous that it is. It celebrates the precious connection between art and life.
On-Gaku: Our Sound is now available on digital and on Blu-Ray/DVD.
