Satomi Amano is a model student as well as the daughter of the leading project manager of Hoshima, a company that has revolutionized AI technology. However, due to her standing, Satomi's presence has isolated her from her classmates—an obstacle she knows she may never overcome.
On an otherwise uneventful day, while preparing for school, Satomi uncovers her mother's latest exciting proposition: an AI that will prove whether robots can live alongside humans. Intrigued by how her mother will commence the project, Satomi makes her way to school, but standing in front of the class is none other than the AI herself.
As the subject of research, Shion Ashimori is tasked to fit in like a normal teenage girl without exposing her true identity. However, Shion has another goal in mind—to make Satomi happy instead. With her talent for singing, Shion strives to compose harmonious melodies that not only connect her with her newfound friends but also dispel the dissonance within Satomi's heart.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
Kenji888
This movie is a story of youth set in high school. They spend high school life with human-like robots. The hero can remind the robot of the importance of friends and important memories. The robot always asks the hero like this. "Are you happy now?" In this movie, robots sing like musicals in some places. It's like a Disney movie, but it naturally blends into the story. There is no gorgeous production in this movie, but it gives a moving story such as people's happiness and friends. It's not a big hit at the moment, but it's a very good movie. Zion's voice actor is not a full-time voice actor, but I think heracting and singing in this movie is wonderful.
The_Ruise
It's got everything that makes anime fun and exciting to watch. Zany robots, Disney musical numbers, Shipping, big reveals, emotional reunions, princesses, evil scientists who don't understand the Power of Love, a group of plucky teens and also the main girl's Mom fighting against authority to save their friend. The art isn't the best ever, but they do some really cool big, flashy, eye-catching scenes with Shion using her powers to control all the nearby electronic devices. There are a couple of touching Power of Friendship moments that would have made me cry if I were a weaker woman. I genuinely enjoyed the cheesy musicalnumbers. And everyone gets a Happy ending.
Characters don't get too much depth simply because it's a movie and the runtime is limited, but everyone we're supposed to like is likeable especially easily-flustered Wrestling boy.
Domsa
So... I did not expect this, but I didn't like Sing a Bit of Harmony as much as I've wanted to. Even now, I consider Time of Eve to be a quintessential cosy Sci-Fi and one of the better examples of playing with AI-related ideas (even transhumanist ones to some extent) in the medium. Harmonie and Aquatic Language were also really nice. And I tend to overrate everything slightly musical in nature too. Everything was looking favourable at first. Heck, if I were to compile my 10 favourite movies in a top, more than half would be musicals. But the main difference between those andour culprit is the fact that the formers couldn't be summed up by a reductionist as *drum roll, please*
'Platitudes: The Almost-Musical'
West Side Story was innovative, equally actual from a political POV today as it was back then, thought-provoking even, for it is not a simple LEFT good, RIGHT bad. La La Land's cinematography was on point, the songs were memorable and I still listen to them even now, almost 6 years later. And it had Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling in there. Moulin Rouge? I remember it being the first movie that made me feel really emotional and it's 10 times cheesier, dumber and less natural when it comes to human interactions. But I don't hate it either. It's cute, it's nice, it's an adventure about a singing robot-waifu making friends with your average group of high-schoolers. It's not a bad movie by any means. Actually all of them had great music, besides Sing a Bit of Harmony.
Having given those 3 examples, I feel like I have created some sort of pattern for what makes a good musical in my book. I feel like this movie fails in these aspects. The message, despite being quite morally-heavy, is not that interesting and neither is it thought-provoking, for it doesn't bring anything new regarding the topic. However, I'll be fair: It's a nice message and raising awareness about the corporate-AI relationship won't get old anytime soon. It might also be someone else's first contact with the idea and it might change his life completely. Who knows? So... Let's say this part is serviceable.
Next, the songs. I'm sorry, but this is nowhere near Belle even, which has aired recently. I have watched it twice already and I don't think there has been a single song that managed to escape the 'generic musical' mould you'd see in a middle school recital. I get it, it's supposed to be about high schoolers so it's fitting, but I genuinely don't care. Anthem of the Heart was in exactly the same spot, yet I really liked its songs, I found them memorable - here only the martial arts sequence one was quite close; actually that was one of the best scenes in this movie and it also had a nice transition thrown in there. It has plenty of energy, it is vibrant, it was a great hook for me, even 40 mins into the movie. But everything was sort of thrown away when we switched to the next scene. The voice acting is nice and the sound design is not lacking in any aspects, but if a musical fails to deliver on songs, I'm not gonna be the biggest fan. This is, by far, my biggest issue with this movie. I mean.. I'd even go as far as claiming that I like Annie get your gun more just because it had a really, REALLY good song, in spite of the ideological garbage that that movie is.
How about the cinematography? Don't get me wrong. It looks good overall, the animation is solid and there are some nice catches here and there, but they are few and far between. Dune was good because it was very orange. Zhang Yimou's movies are good because they are very red and so on (obviously kidding). But this movie was neither orange, nor red. Heck, Belle played a lot with the shots, it made great use of stills and close-ups, of long-shots, of everything. They were a part of the story. This one's most memorable cinematographic achievement was the fact that the videocalls were low quality and pixelated. Just like in real life. The future is grim. It doesn't matter if we have AI close to passing the Turing or the Coffee test, we will still have shitty internet connection and FHD-only videocalls. A point could also be made in favour of blue in some sequences, but when the scene switches, the emotion meant to be felt remains the same, yet you have a vividly-coloured, unfiltered shot, I don't think the point stands.
Lastly... emotion. In essence, the first half of the movie is a human drama involving a group of high-schoolers. Great. It's just like Hibike Euphonium and I can't watch Hibike without bawling my eyes out every few eps. The main difference is that this one lacks the solid cast of characters and that affects the world in itself. You'll say 'but this is limited by its run time, you dummy'. Moulin Rouge is equally limited and it is a very simple story. Yet it makes an over-the-top setup presented in a similar way feel more tangible than a simple, every day one most of us have been a part of: high-school. A human drama is at its best when we can believe in the world and characters. It relies on keeping you high-key engaged emotionally or at least mentally. If a movie or a series lacks a hook and you never become truly engaged in the first place, it will be hard to fully appreciate it. Satine has this allure to her, she's very charismatic and you can understand everyone's obsession with her. It's easy to get charmed by a courtesan and that role fits Nicole Kidman like a glove. It all boils down to the fact that I couldn't care about what happened, and probably didn't like the movie that much overall because no matter how nice a world you build, I'd dock a few points if the inhabitants are uninteresting. And it's not all about charisma or the like. You can have a more 'supportive' personality steal the show like Kumiko in Hibike. I couldn't find an anchor - someone to care about. The interactions between said characters have much more depth than your average romcom tou (not to diminish the latter's value) and I appreciate that, but does that really matter if you don't care about the ones interacting? That would work for me in a non-character-driven drama where the story is top-notch or the world is very interesting in itself. I'm sure that I would have liked it so much more if there was at least one character I'd root for.
In spite of my random rambling, I don't hate it. I do, in fact, sort of like it. It is also a movie about a group of friends, one which happens to contain a not-so-sentient AI (more of them?). It's a pretty good human drama at times... and then the police gets involved and THEY'VE GOT A MOPED INSIDE THE BUILDING and the battery's dead. Timeout. A confession, which becomes one of the funniest scenes from the movie for some reason, being a prime example of the limitations Boolean logic suffers from. And then every AI around suddenly understands what's happened to one of their own and they decide to switch sides. It's The Terminator all over again, but with dance and music. And laser beams.
You get the point, it's a fun movie. But it fails as a musical in my book. And it also doesn't have either Ryan Gosling or Emma Stone in it. 6 out of OH YES OH YES OH YES WE BOTH OH YES WE BOTH OH YES WE BOTH REACHED FOR THE GUN THE GUN THE GUN THE GUN OH YES WE BOTH REACHED FOR THE GUN, a pretty good movie, but a pretty bad musical. Of course, if you take it as satire, it's another story. But you need to understand what makes a good musical in order to satirize it. If you don't, all you end up with is a pointless parody that should at least be funny.
Edit: was a 5 because I cannot count anything that goes beyond 1 hand, it gets complicated :V The individual scores given to each aspect reflected something else.
kumajoi
The way of drawing AI that goes into everyday life in Japan is very natural. Looking at the director's create history "Eve no Jikan", I understood. A nice idea movie that lets AI (Shion) sing a musical song. There are some scenes where I'm nervous, but the end is fun. Sci-fi, juvenile, musical, the best combination of movies. Shion has become the most beloved character by combining both voice and drawing. For me and for the characters. And, as is often the case with other movies, if you understand the situation and watch it a second time, it will be able to watch the movie evenmore freshly.
Currently December 2021. It has been more than a month since it was released in Japan, and the number of screening halls has decreased. However, the weekend screen is crowded with fans who have heard high praise. In Tokyo, the movie sound director (Yoshikazu Iwanami) goes to some screens himself to adjust the sound, so that the fans can hear her voice well. This movie is loved by so many fans and staff.
I sincerely hope that this movie will be released in the world.
MesuGaki
This review contains soft spoilers that should not impact your enjoyment of the movie. Going in, I did not necessarily know what to expect, as I have just seen the trailer and decided to watch it on a whim, more so for the cinema experience rather than the movie. Regardless, it was a pleasant surprise. An AI robot joins a regular high school class as a scientific experiment - the goal is to not be found out. The AI gets in a little accident and is revealed to a small group of kids who decide not to ruin the experiment and keep it a secret fromeveryone else. In the end, they develop connections both between one another and the AI girl, obviously not without a fair share of troubles. The direction and art are wonderfully crafted. The world built around the story is also immersing. The characters, on which the show stands tend to be shown from a range of perspectives, very fitting to the tone... But if you are someone who was expecting a serious story then this anime is not for you.
This was the first, and the biggest surprise actually watching to the movie - it is very much like an anime cartoon fairy tale. There is even a good amount of cringy musical-like singing and a Disney Princess connotations in the story. There are clear Western animation influences from things like Disney or Pixar. That being said, it has its serious moments, and also a couple of good jokes, which I shamelessly chuckled at. NOW HERE IS AN IMPORTANT PART: It may be because of the specifics of the Japanese audience, but not only the screening started at around half past 9 PM, it ended almost by midnight. The people in the audience were all older than me, who is in his 20s, up to a bunch of people in their 60s, fairly split between males and females. Was it because they did not know what they signed up for? Unlikely. And that is because that neglecting the funny random singing Vocal Outburst syndom moments, the whole journey was solid. Disney-like, but with a good mix of regular Japanese anime you all know and love, I believe there is something for everyone.
The premise works well, the problem and resolution leave a nice aftertone. A couple of eye candy moments, the music and singing fit well, although I would not say they were exceptionally memorable. There is not much I can nitpick here except for the pacing at some moments. The beginning feels a bit short, I wish there was more time for a setup and getting to know and understand who the characters are and how they interact. It may not be a very serious story, but this does take away from the experience since basically everything is built upon the chemistry within the group, all they do, and what we should take out from it. In addition, I think that the "treating AI like human", and overall hyper-positive view, putting in a lot of feelings into AI and robots was a tad offputting, but once again, it's not the main idea here and the story does not present this point as something that should be taken as in as a serious consideration. It was a bit of a magical journey; a nice change of pace for me personally.
Please, DO NOT pay much attention to the review score, it is my first time giving a review to something in this genre (?), and I also believe that I am not exactly the target audience here. All you should know is that I have enjoyed it thoroughly and if you find the premise interesting - then by all means watch it.
EDIT: I guess the singing made perfect sense, especially since the name of the anime is literally "Let's sing a bit by love".
cassisarobot
This is my all-time favorite animated film. Everything about it makes me happy. For context: I turn 26 in one month. Ten years ago, I had a dream. I was going to become a biomedical engineer and cure as many cancer variants as I could. I dropped out of college and didn't even make it out the gate. It's a common occurrence to give up on your dreams and idealism as you age. I thought I could take on the world and make a major difference in people's lives. Unfortunately, life happened and beat me down. Despite that so-called real world experience, I still haven't givenup on idealism. Some people call it naivete, but I hate that term. I hate it because it's used to dismiss and belittle people like me who have faith in humanity and individual humans being good people worthy of kindness and support. It's extremely misanthropic. It makes us become individualistic, selfish creatures that don't care about and support one another. In Judaism, we have a core belief of fighting for human rights and justice, and I take it a step further by fighting for human happiness. The world is not an irredeemable place, and HaShem has made every single one of us worthy of grace.
Yasuhiro Yoshiura directed my previous all-time favorite anime film, Time of Eve. His approach to humanity's future and potential is something that spoke to me on a deep level. A lot of media portrays artificial intelligence as an existential threat to humanity's very survival. I've seen far too many robot uprising films to count, and I don't appreciate them. AI can let humanity have untold potential and fearing it greatly hinders us as a species.
Yasuhiro sees AI as a benefit for humanity, and this is impeccably beautifully captured in Sing a Bit of Harmony. The sense of wonder and care that Satomi and her friends show to Shion despite knowing that she's an AI is a perspective I love and wish was shown more in media. The fear that people my age and older have of things that are different is so depressing. I relate hard to Saijou, someone far older than me that hasn't given up trying to benefit humanity. People say that a sense of wonder and drive like hers is childlike, but that's just a lie told to us by a capitalist society that wants to suppress truly revolutionary idealism. We can be so much better.
Shion is the character I can understand most in Sing a Bit of Harmony. I'm autistic. I work as a computer hacker for a consulting firm. I usually jack into my laptop when hacking and tune out everyone else. When I interact with clients, or my coworkers, I get an uncanny valley feeling. I also get it going to bars, clubs, concerts, poker rooms, or wherever else I go to. The feeling is like, everyone around me looks like me, but I don't look like them. I don't act like them. My brain is wired differently. I frequently don't feel human in their sense, and that's why Shion is my favorite character. Even if she looks human but isn't, she wants to make people happy. She loves people in her own way, even though she doesn't understand the emotions of people, especially those closest to her. It could be argued that she only does this because she's programmed to, but I see her as an entity that represents the best of humanity. At the end of the day, we both love humanity and want them to be happy, even if people would get frustrated with us and call us naive.
I only got a chance to watch the English dub, but I loved Shion's songs and VA. The music to me was a lot more impactful and meaningful than an anime that recently got released in the US, Mamoru Hosoda's Belle. The visuals were pretty and I found myself very awestruck at some of the scenes. I know that people argue that it's cliche, and while that is somewhat true, it doesn't diminish the impact the film had on me. I love a story where I can remember what it was like to be super idealistic and double my efforts to better all of humanity.
Thank you, Yasuhiro Yoshiura, for this underrated masterpiece.
ggultra2764
Sing a Bit of Harmony was a film that got sandwiched in with Vivy -Fluorite Eye's Song- and Belle in 2021 with its focus on AI and technology within a near-future setting. The name Yatsuhiro Yoshiura may ring a bell to some folks as he was the director behind the highly acclaimed 2008 ONA, Time of Eve, with its mundane focus on androids and exploring how life would seem from their perspective as they secretly have gained sentience. Sing a Bit of Harmony dabbles into somewhat similar elements of exploring a near-future setting with technology as a company is testing out a new AI-programmed robotnamed Shion to attempt having her blend in with students at a high school as loner student Satomi, who attends the school, is the daughter of Shion's lead programmer and finds her life getting hectic with Shion attempting to give her "happiness."
This film has a number of the familiar drama beats you may see from other coming-of-age films that include a lonely teenager being an outcast and another character coming along to help liven up their lives and improve their interactions with others, this chemistry focused on with Satomi and Shion. The AI focus comes into play with exploring the bond between humans and technology with Shion's attempts to bond with Satomi and several of her classmates, as her infectious energy and antics clash with the otherwise mundane environment from her human companions who believably react to her outrageous behavior. This does make things feel a bit different from most sci-fi titles that depict AI as being logical and to the point in their interactions with others, as Shion's lively personality and inability to blend in with students due to unintentionally showing off her inhuman abilities does add some additional dimension to her character with her efforts to make others happy. Elements of Shion's character hint to a more closer connection she has to Satomi than expected that the film does explore as things progress with it.
Outside of the focus on the main duo, there is focus on some of the issues affecting several of Satomi's classmates that Shion gets herself involved in as well, notably Satomi's childhood friend and talented engineer Toma. The film has enough time to flesh out and provide some sort of resolution to these issues, though it does get a bit clumsy with handling moments of teenage angst affecting the characters.
Overall in spite of having some typical elements of a coming-of-age drama, Yoshiura's touch on the genre with Sing a Bit of Harmony makes Shion's lively character quite different from typical depictions of AI in media and offers some solid exploration on the idea of humans and technology having positive relationships with one another, even if feeling a little romanticized compared to his earlier work on Time of Eve. I'd at least give it a watch, even if it doesn't completely break any new ground as far as its coming-of-age drama elements go.
PY3
To summarize this movie without any spoilers: You we're excited when you found out a new steak house opened nearby you You went and was served a really good looking medium rare steak, which was also plated beautifully. First bites tasted good, you were enjoying your time, the restaurant's atmosphere is amazing, the friendly staff's and beautiful music playing in the background. Two more pieces of the steak remains and after eating... You spat it out, because of how extremely salty it was.Confused, as to why there was a random salty part, you looked at the last piece and hoped it wouldn't be as salty as the previous piece
It was salty.
For a few mins you just sat there disappointed that you didn't get to enjoy the the very last piece.
That's how It felt watching this movie.
Beautiful animation, okay characters, great soundtrack,but cmon!!! that climax made no sense! And that ending was unsatisfying either! Meh
Marie_chan_2001
Ai no Utagoe wo Kikasete is a beautiful and heartwarming movie that strongly reminded me of Kimi no na wa, my personal favorite movie. This movie tells a beautiful story about love, friendship and emotions while also showing us the most realistic near-future world I have ever seen in media. Story 9/10 The story was never predictable and surprised me many times. Watching this movie was an emotional rollercoaster due to it's well written stories (and characters, which I'll talk about as well soon). The story was creative and quite unique despite starting with a relatively simple premise, the worlbuilding and portrayal of this near-future worldwas also outstanding
Art 10/10
Everything in this movie is among the most beautiful things I have ever seen, the artsyle, the design of the characters that I loved from the very beginning and the animation were so beautiful and stunning that I would even dare to say it's in the same league as Kimi no na wa
Sound 8/10
Shion's songs made me smile as well as shed tears in the emotional moments but other than that the background music was just fine that's why only an 8 for this category although Shion's songs were amazing
Character 10/10
They didn't feel like characters at all, they felt like real people. All characters got their time to shine and you get to know each of them within a short period of time. This movie featured among the best characters I've ever seen
Enjoyment 9/10
I have really enjoyed this movie a lot, it made me smile and cry, it was, as I said, an emotional rollercoaster and I loved it, the ending was good although not perfect hence why I don't give a 10
Overall a high 9/10, and highly recommended!
AsakaraYoruto
I often despise Disney Movie when the songs aren't fun. Frozen "Build A Snowman" and "Let It Go", also Despicable Me "Minion Song" turned out so good. I am sure that "song" wasn't needed in this anime. Every character supposed to be emotional, but somehow I can't immerse. This is supposed to depict youth and human relation, but I didn't find anything outstanding. What I found is just a gloomy story, and somehow forced to become happy. Story about "AI is Human" has been done so much better before with better characters. Like in Plastic Memories. J.C. Staff, the studio that adapted many youth anime set in high school. Theirquality of adapting that kind of anime dropped since Sakurasou(even though they changed the scenario from the LN, it turned out so well).
If you are asking me to watch this when I already had a heartbroke watching a youth series that aired 9-10 years ago from them, this is just a disappointment.
Justykanna
I went in completely blind for this film - I didn't even look up a synopsis. I just knew it was a school-slice of life type movie. Now with the English dub out, I finally decided to check it out. Story: Sing a Bit of Harmony takes place in the future, where AIs take care of mundane tasks such as driving school buses and farming the fields for crops. Satomi Amano goes to school where she doesn't exactly fit in, as she had an incident before the events of this film that put her in poor graces with some of her other classmates.Her mother is finally given the reins to lead a project in her company, Hoshima, who specialize in AI technology. This project's goal? To show the world that AIs can live amongst humans without knowledge of anyone else. This is where Shion Ashimori comes into play. She is the AI that takes a human form and right at the start of the film, she introduces herself to Shion. Confused, Shion later notices that this AI is one of her mother's creations, and decides to go along with whatever goal that her mother has in mind.
In case the title of the film didn't already make it blatantly obvious, the central theme revolves around the music that Shion decides to sing, in order to make those around her happy. Think of it almost as Vivy from Vivy - Flourete Eye's Song, but on a much smaller scale and much less drastic. There is a reason for all of this, though most of it isn't revealed until the final third of the film. Until then, you're mostly left to wonder about why Shion is the way she is, outside of the fact that she's an AI.
During the course of the film, we mostly experience what it's like for our main cast - Satomi, Touma, Thunder, Aya and Gocchan - to experience going about their school lives with an human-like AI amongst them. This makes a ton of sense, as that is the goal of Satomi's mother to begin with. The backstory of her mother's journey to where she is now within the company was brief, but really does make you root for her. You do see some ups and downs in the movie, and I really like that they gave her that backstory to make this movie that much more believable.
The school settings themselves doesn't "really" make this a school-style anime, as the school going-ons aren't focused on, outside of a few clubs that our cast are involved with. It's another one of those "it takes place here, but it's simply used as a place where our characters conveniently gather". Outside of that school, we do get to see a bunch of what goes on within the Hoshima company and even though we get to see what it's like for Satomi's mother, we really don't get to see much else. Digging deeper into how the company specifically got it's big name would have helped a lot because I felt unsure whether the technological advanced were because of them, or because this film aims to be futuristic in general.
The back end of the film is where everything is put together to answer basically every other question you may have and it fits together quite nicely. You do feel like the way the series flows tries to mimic a Disney film, and trying to separate itself from that type of feel is something I felt this film struggled to do at times. Music is obviously one of the central themes, especially with how it links between Shion and Satomi, but it didn't always feel like it completely fit. When we get to the ending, it's mostly satisfying, though I hate it when series attempts to explain what happened like our ending did, and just play it off as if it was nothing. It feels somewhat lazy, and I felt like there could have been more there. Still, our characters end on a solid note, and really does bring them together more as a group. (7/10)
Characters: As already touched upon, Satomi cares deeply for her mother's well being and professional career. She's basically the exceptional example of what you want your daughter to be like when being a single mother. Because of the situation she's in, you can tell she'll mature quite nicely as she grows up. You can tell she regrets her past actions because of the way she's treated by some of her peers, and it's actually a nice mirror to how her mother's situation is at work. I wish they linked it a little more between our characters, but it's not always easy when both characters are in uncomfortable situations. Shion herself is an AI with a pretty minimal personality, as is to be expected. Her growth is mostly linked to spoilers, and that's what the movie wants to nail home as the highlights pop up. It's not always a winner, but she still has some excellent points in the movie.
Aya and Gocchan are dating as of the start of this film, and it's kind of hard to tell if they mean what they do at certain points during the film. Aya seems to go halfway on what she says and it does result in some conflict with Gocchan, who appears to be the big popular guy in their class. I didn't think spectacularly of either of them because they do feel like they're just there to add onto whatever our crew is doing. Thunder also fits into this category and his inclusion here also feels a little misplaced at times. Admittedly, I actually liked his character a little more because of his goal to do so much to improve himself in the Judo club. He constantly seeks to do better against an AI that seems to be designed by Touma, and even if he gets annoying at times, he's a fun character. Touma has a bit of a past with Satomi that links to his involvement with the electronics club. He's a complete nerd, and it naturally is a fit when he always wants to help Satomi out with her various problems, even if he lacks the confidence to do so. His involvement into this story's a no-brainer, and he fits quite nicely into basically every plot point the movie has to offer.
Saijou and his team are basically the antagonists that seek to oppose Mrs. Amano, and while I don't have a problem with him as a jealous co-worker per say, I feel like there should have been more there, especially because the story tries to explain that he's not the only one opposed to her. He feels like another person with a big mouth at times, and his accomplishments that got him to where he is are never really highlighted. He could just be another worker, and we'd never know. (6/10)
Art: JC Staff haven't put out a ton of movies, but the animation here is gorgeous. Obviously you can only do so much with a school setting, but the film constantly uses the night time to show off amazing lighting effects. Animation is very consistently throughout them entire film and is definitely a highpoint here. This is very encouraging because I haven't watched a ton of JC Staff works that I'd say highlight really strong animation. (9/10)
Sound: The film's entire premise is about Shion and how it links back to Satomi. The OST keeps this light, happy feel to it, and even if it starts to sound a little too much like something out of a Disney film, it's still sounds amazing. Not only that, but the songs are in Japanese, and in the dub, are completely reworked to be sung in English, in thanks to the amazing work that Brina Palencia, the ADR music director, puts in. Not only that, Megan Shipman (Shion) actually sings all of the songs in the film. This is absolutely amazing, and this sort of this rarely occurs with this level of success. VO works are equally strong here, which should come as no surprise, as Caitlin Glass tends be a very strong ADR director. Jordan Dash Cruz (Touma) in particular was exceptional here. (10/10)
Overall: Sing a Bit of Harmony has a bit of an unconventional plot for a school-setting anime film, but is mostly successful on the back of amazing work with the sound. Sure, the story can leave you wanting more as it feels like there should have been more there, but you get the general gist of it all when the film wraps up. (8/10)
maplesyrup47
Did not know what to expect before I watched the movie but damn, it was a very entertaining and enjoyable watch. Great movie overall and I absolutely love it. In short, the movie is about an AI trying to bring happiness to the MC and her friends in a unique and bizarre way. Well, she is an AI, after all. Story: 8/10 There are two points about the story which intrigue me. First of all, the concept of the movie by adding a musical aspect into it which is very rare in an anime and worked incredibly well. If it went wrong, it could be weirdbut it blended well with the theme of the movie. Secondly, I found out that the setting of the story which takes place in a modern society filled with AI robots is very interesting. For me, both played an important role in delivering the enjoyment of the movie. However, I believe that the plot is more suitable for a series format rather than a movie because that way, it could give us more explanation about a lot of things such as the AI and how the AI network works which is quite important. Also, not to mention that the buildup for the great ending of the movie will be many times better if there is more time to develop the characters and the plot.
Characters: 7/10
The characters are alright, especially Shion (the AI) who really showed a nice development at the end. Nevertheless, As I mentioned before, the movie type format means that they need to explain a lot of things and develop characters in just 2 hours which is fairly difficult. Shion needs to bring happiness to others than the MC as well. While I think in the end the characters and their development are fine, it would be so much better with a series format since they could go deeper for each character, and Shion delivering happiness to every one of them. Moreover, the great ending of the movie will have more impact if there is more depth of characters between the two MCs Satomi and Touma. One more thing to appreciate the seiyuu did a good job voicing the characters, especially Tsuchiya Tao who voiced Shion. Voicing an AI who is close to a Human but not really a human can be quite tricky, but she nailed it.
Animation: 9/10
A rare occasion where JC staff did a great job for the animation. Not just the animation quality but also the directing, effects, camera angle, etc. Combined with the music as well, it becomes even more beautiful. A Disney-esque type of movie, in a positive way.
Music: 9/10
Since I first heard the songs from the trailer in the cinema, I cannot forget them and they keep playing in my head. It is quite rare for an anime to implement a musical aspect to it and as I said before, it worked out perfectly and naturally. I would like them to use more songs but it would be difficult since it is a movie and the runtime is limited.
Overall, it was still a great and very enjoyable watch. I think more people should watch this movie and hopefully, this review can make you feel interested to watch the movie.
Gsarthotegga
The director and creator of Sing a Bit of Harmony and Time of Eve is proficient at what he does, but his past forays into AI/android-based sci-fi had more depth and inventiveness, even when I wasn't sold on his vision of the future. This new film is more along the lines of the typical blockbuster, meaning there is a little bit of everything in the family friendly sphere of fiction: coming of age, sci-fi concept and theme, romance, action, comedy, social commentary (gag), etc. I might as well not even write about android-raising simulators, as I've said just about all there is to say acrossa wide-range of notes, for they can only be about two things if you're making a humanoid android: 1) labor and household chores. 2) sex. Well... there's also 3) pretending to be human, which would have applications for espionage, surveillance, or a goofy comedy premise, as we have here, though it turns to tedious drama before long. This world has sexless, creepy androids everywhere, and while the most degenerate fetishist might derive some pleasure from such things (hello, man who was arrested for having sex with a helicopter), those are functional and meant for completing rote tasks. But, let's face it, there's only one reason to make them cute. The director presumably found the sexual tension too high in Time of Eve, so he made the main a busybody FMC with a bad haircut and a Disney Moon Princess obsession, though there are a few curious males sniffing around as well.
The FMC's single mother girlboss is competing in a, as her daughter states, "patriarchal company," where you can tell the director is trying hard to get you to sympathize with mommy and tying together technological progress and political issues, with mommy being removed from her position indicating a "regression in AI research." I simply couldn't care less about this plot point and already felt like I was being spoonfed a Netflix film. The daughter is adamant about making whatever excuse necessary to deflect any possible inkling of incompetence on the part of mommy in relation to the AI project; although it's because mommy is family, there's the subtextual element of female integration and dominance in the work place. Mommy's boss is introduced with bad guy music, mannerisms to match the hammed-up portrayal, and a conspiracy soon develops to put mommy in her place. There's even a scene noting that mommy is neglecting her child in favor of her career. Get back in the kitchen, and you should be ashamed that your daughter grew fat on toxic baby formula instead of your teat. The five-year-old Touma, goofing off on a Tamagotchi, was more important to the plot than you'll ever be. Hilariously, it can be argued that the parents probably caused much of the FMC's dysfunction, but all is well in the end because of the healing power of the AI that mommy had a hand in developing. Thanks, mommy! What really annoys me about this is that if Satomi's father were the AI scientist here, then they wouldn't be able to use the "sexism" plot point, and we'd instead have to focus on a philosophical difference between the "noble scientist" and the corporate side of the industry and their stooges, which is far more meaningful and pertinent to the subject of AI. The writer could have just as easily written it with this focus for the mother and made an attempt to present her sacrifice as being of such great importance that it was worth neglecting her daughter over (it's really hard to make this part palatable), without making excuses for her. However, the only way this would work is if you had more pronounced philosophical distinctions. It's not that this needs to be an overwhelming part of the story that overshadows Satomi, her friends, and the AI, but it should at least be in the backdrop more than it is. I keep thinking this story would be a lot more meaningful if it had a touch of the debate found in something like Crichton's Jurassic Park novel about science but revised and updated for AI.
The characters are archetypal and cliche, and the dynamics are forced, with all the right (or wrong) moments padded with chintzy music. The cast is stale and not written in a way to even partially transcend their stock roots: the computer nerd, generic FMC, athlete, popular girl, handsome guy, etc. I can't remember most of their names, and they're forgettable as characters. About the only thing this ironically dated coming of age offers is moe and technical polish, for the android is a cute, unpredictable bundle of energy, with highly expressive animation and the perfect touch of wacky uncanny valley for fetish fuel.
Similar to ToE, this is another techno-optimist sci-fi film meant to present what could easily be rendered as a dystopia but slaps on a soft-focus sheen: robots that look like crash test dummies everywhere, performing the tasks most would rather avoid; AI is integrated into virtually everything, making everything convenient and easy; everything is surveilled to make sure you're nice instead of naughty. Admittedly, Japan would have an easier time presenting a clean, hopeful setup like this, whereas the U.S. would quickly become more of a dystopic hellscape than it already is. Nevertheless, Yoshiura is only interested in looking at the positives of this tech, which leaves his film feeling like nothing but a quirky comedy about an uptight girl who wants to make friends, and gosh darn it, mommy's sexy female android will make it happen, one awkward scene after another!
One must ask who thought this android was ready to blend in as a human at school and fool anyone. She's off the charts on autism, physically stronger than humans, stands out in every way, and bursts into song and dance at random to bluntly state the concerns and emotions of the characters, emphasizing the power of tech for fostering and maintaining connections, even if it's the opposite that has typically happened, whether we're looking at Japan or elsewhere; this quirk is sort of hilarious at first, but quickly becomes absolutely nauseating, especially during the solar panel/wind farm light show, where the entire cast act like they're at a Disney karaoke club, producing maximalist barf fuel. The AI doesn't even wear the proper school uniform, opting instead for a super-kawaii shirt with buttons! Somehow her handlers don't realize this mischief, as she works in tandem with other AIs and humans in zany hijinks. The funny thing is that the AI has the awareness to figure out how to cover her tracks at school expertly (when it comes to her handlers, anyway), but she's oblivious to it being a bad idea to hack the entire power grid for a laser light show and inspirational idol pop dance session.
For the second half, the pacing slows down, and the script enters the pensive piano drama realm, becoming whiny, boring, and entirely predictable, as idealistic high schoolers and mommy rise up against adults in three-piece suits at the AI corporation. The director returns to his thematic roots a bit, as the company was acting against regulations, the FMC declares that the AI "is not an object," there's a question of AIs being infected, consciousness, etc. The director implies that because AI can appear to approximate human behavior, then it is nearly inseparable or should at least be given similar freedom and rights and should not be thought of as a tool, in spite of why AI or androids would be created in the first place.
The way the film integrates the backstory of the AI in the second half adds a stronger emotional impact, but, for everything done well during this segment, there always seems to be something done poorly, so the experience never rises above mediocrity; one of the best (worst?) examples is how there is always a crappy Disney princess CGI video playing in a corner window for any scenes from the AI's perspective, which is one of the tackiest things I've ever seen, trying to generate emotion and falling back on ready-made corpo-crap. It reminded me of 86 in tone, when the machine goes through its vast data stores and relives the memories of the cast and those who had long since died, only the intent is different and pertains more to machine learning and sentimental persistence, as the roots of what turns out to be a rogue and well-meaning AI are crafted from the "pure intentions" of a child before there could be any chance of the little tyke being "corrupted" by society or some such pablum, so the film is naively Rousseaun in that sense. The worst is when they start insisting Shion was perhaps "more human" than they thought, her desire to make people happy couldn't have been an order, and must have "come from her heart." Please stop this syrupy nonsense.
It's probably the most positive portrayal out there of what could easily be a dystopia, for the loving, most pure of AIs is following Satomi around as if it were her guardian angel, and the staff do a fantastic job of selling this with the abstract depiction of a network, the AI zipping from one camera to the next, thinking only of how it could fulfill its role to make Satomi happy; sure, you might get swept up in the emotion, but, in the back of my mind, I think of who controls these apparatuses and an inversion of the sweet Shion. AI can be used for good or bad intentions, but the film confronts this reality in a childish manner, despite semi-realism. We're treated to an optimism so thick that deus ex machinas are popping up all over the place toward the end, like singing to restore wiped data or the other outdated AIs having "evolved" to assist everyone and being "good."
Yes, Yoshiura, we get it. The dull-as-cardboard character "Thunder," who is the rock-for-brains judo practitioner, is clearly a stand-in for you, because he asks out the AI with a blush and a stammer. All of your work is about sexy female androids and AI. In ToE, the whole setup was basically there for sexual tension to develop between humans and androids, with his dream scenario of being a high schooler who has a sexy female android fetching him tea but finding himself in the awkward situation of his parents and sister being around so he must abstain from having sex with it. You were so embarrassed by this insight into your life that you instead used an FMC to uproot the sexual tension (tbh, I'd probably give this anime 6/10 if there were a male protagonist, as it's indecent to star an FMC in a sexy female android film and make me power through the female empowerment plot point sludge), but I know you have a fetish for this. You don't want anyone to get in the way of your sexy female android incel revolution, except you want to liberalize it, making your AI girlfriend free to leave you and take the house and all twelve cats. Just admit it already.
KiwiWasTaken
This move has a lot of unique and thoughtful ideas, but overall the execution was poor and jumbled. I think it really is just a mouthful of sugar. The singing is good, but very overplayed and mistimed. Most of the characters read more as background actors or poorly written stereotypes. Alot of improbable nonsense that takes you out of the story and leaves you unsatisfied. I'd say the best part is the two lead human characters and The art, it's animated beautifully, shoutout to J.C. Staff.In summary, personally, I think this movie completely misses the mark for me and leaves me feeling like I wasted my time.
William278
Sing a Bit of Harmony's concept seems pretty run of the mill - AI gone rogue is hardly new and has been done a million times. That, combined with the expectations of a heavy fistful of typical anime tropes meant I didn't really expect much going into this - it's an original film from J.C. Staff (a fairly alright studio) and a director I haven't really heard of before. After watching it, though, I'm really, really glad I saw it. This is one of the most delightful films I've seen in a long time and I had a big ass smile on my face watching thisin the theater. It's funny, crazy but ultimately grounded in what it's trying to do. It takes the usual boring beats of the rogue AI story thread you've heard before and puts a fresh, heartwarming spin on them. Don't get me wrong, it's still extremely anime - if you can't tolerate corny moments you're probably not gonna love this one. In particular, the final third of the film maybe falls just a tad too much into the usual trappings of this story thread.
Personally, I didn't really care, though. The film had me under its spell after five minutes and the charm offensive doesn't let up until the credits roll. A huge part of that is the music - the songs are all lovely and a treat for the ears that fit the film perfectly. I'd be remiss without mentioning that J.C. Staff really give this their all - both in the excellent character design work and fluid animation (particularly impressive during scenes in which characters rotate). It brings the work to life and the result is, once again, delightful. Speaking of the characters, they're all just so like-able. Satomi and Shion, our two main leads, just have outstanding chemistry between them, backed by a great supporting cast. The film also does a pretty nice job at its romance, which is quite sweet, even if it does get a little heavy handed at times. The jokes are all really quite good, too - there's a mix of a bit of slapstick with some really quite funny timing and lines that made me and the audience in the cinema laugh out loud, which I really wasn't expecting.
I watched this in cinema, but hopefully Funimation will put this on their service to stream soon, it's just such a fun watch and I'd like to have the opportunity of watching it in English, as I only saw it subtitled and the dub I hear is extremely solid and they also re-recorded the music in English, which is really interesting.
Sing a Bit of Harmony gets my recommendation, though, it's just such a likable, fun watch that I think has sadly slipped through the cracks as a quiet January release. Not every film has to rise to have the same dramatic or romantic emotional weight as something like Your Name to be fantastic to watch. This is a film that won't work for everyone, but it really did for me.
meridiasbeacon
The moment I heard of this movie and saw that Ichirou Ookouchi was on the script I knew I would be watching. Slice of life anime is my bread and butter so I had plenty of reasons to be excited. Despite that, Code geass still remains one of my all time favorite animes, it was actually the very first anime I ever watched. This movie blew me away, everything about it was beautiful. The story kept me interested from beginning to end, the animation and artstyle was AMAZING. The music and acting were superb. The characters were all colorful and unique. I loved it all,start to finish. I used a bunch of adjectives because if I start talking I might not stop and just lay out the whole movie. Just watch it, its beautiful. Xx
Doomy15
"Are you happy, Satomi ?" The story set on futuristic Japan where everything worked by some AI. I really like the background for this film, even though they make it so futuristic but they keep manage the Japanese culture. They didn't make it over the top futuristic background. Since this anime has the genre "music", so everything consist of some singing from the protagonist of the film. There are some moment that the singing make it so cringe, even for me as the watcher get the second hand embarrassment. But overall the story is pretty cute. With a bit of rom-com spice in it. Animationis pretty clean, even for the 3D. Please don't compare with the Oscar nominated anime. Overall, the animation is not sore for the eyes.
Character, they manage to draw the character as a real teenager without oversized part of the body.
Overall, I enjoy the film. Pretty wholesome even though some of the scene make me want to hide my face and I watch it alone. Some scenes can make you feel the second hand embarrassment.
Score : 8/10
AngelinaTabrizi
the best anime I've watched... I'm crying because I'm happy.. sometimes I think what would happen if there were such robots in our world.. sometimes it's scary for some reason.. but sometimes I think that everything would be very good..they would were our friends..Sometimes I think that robots can bring the end of our world. I think so. Maybe there will be no people left in the world, people will perish. Robots will take over the world... Maybe I've watched too many movies..😂.. In other words, what I want to say is that we will not live our own life, but the life they wantfrom us. We well be robots instead of them..Well, in short. wonderful anime. I advise everyone to see. you will not regret. WITH LOVE!
likepanda
What is this? Skynet disney princess? The setting, and story about future AI is overdone at this point. Nothing new in the story / the message, conflict & resolution also a bit cliche like fairy tale. But despite all of that this movie still fun to watch, it's strong aspect is how it deliver the movie, smaller detail of presentation. This maybe the most western anime i've ever watch, the musical aspect feel a bit forced & awkward, but the animation & song quality made up for it. If you familiar with musical show it won't be that weird, although this integration is not the bestas it feels a bit out of nowhere.
The characters is nice, the robot especially is very funny & cute, very likeable, even though the characters in this movie not well flesh out (feel shallow) they are still great characters, it manage to make me care for them & understand their action / thinking. Nothing extraordinary tho.
Oh i want to add, i love the way they present 'tech guy' in this movie, it's stereotypical but done very realistically. Also how people interact & work with tech is make sense unlike most other shows.
