Anthem of the Heart

Another coming of age story, this movie centres around Naruse, a shy withdrawn schoolgirl who became mute ever since she witnessed her father with his secret mistress. She subsequently blames herself for her parents separating and divorcing.

Fast forward a few years and the music teacher in class decides to form a committee of students who will organise and arrange the school musical. The four he has chosen include Naruse and three others who start off as a very motley bunch who don't really get along. As you can easily guess, they all bond closely while trying to get the musical performance to work and through the project discover more about themselves and resolve a number of personal issues.

I think this film is superb. The animation and voice acting is perfect and the music is spot on. It's not overly sentimental or slushy and it even has a few comedy moments. What I like about it most is the character building - each of the four central characters is given time to develop and you end up loving all four of them. I did worry at times with Naruse and her unshakable belief that a cursed egg cast a spell on her. The way it is portrayed does indicate quite serious mental health concerns. That being said, through much of her own resolve and with the support of her new friends, she overcomes her problems in an uplifting finale to the film.

My own daughter found this film boring. I'm surprised as it happily sits among the same titles as Silent Voice, Your Lie in April and I Want To Eat Your Pancreas all of which she loved.


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