Fair warning, this is my first [WT!] thread so it's probably a little all over the place :PWatch This: Anthem of the Heart/Kokoro ga SakebitagetterundaType: Movie (1 hr. 59 min.)Release date: Sep 19, 2015MAL - Rating: 8.38Official posterEnglish subbed official PV2, PV3, PV4Premise:As a child, Jun Naruse dreamed of one day attending a ball at the beautiful castle on the hill overlooking her town. One day, she sees her father driving out of that castle - rushing home to tell her mother, she unknowingly reveals her father's adultery, causing her family to fracture and her father to explicitly state that that their family falling apart is the result of her not being able to keep her mouth shut.Jun falls into despair, until a strange egg explains that the only way to save herself from further heartbreak, and from hurting other people with her words, is to seal them away forever.Why you should watch it:Anthem of the Heart is one of the few romance drama anime which actually manage to touch on the themes of depression and self-guilt while managing not to be depressing for the viewer. It balances its heavy moments with plenty of lighter moments and manages to maintain a fairytail-like feel throughout its run time. Additionally, unlike many romance anime, it manages not to fall too hard into the usual tropes and plotlines (but I won't go further into that :P).Many anime show a class working together to put on a performance, whether that's a dance number, or a play, a musical, or something else, but generally that performance is only surface level deep. They'll give you 'a musical' but you won't really get to see it, or know much about it and the real effort that went into preparing it.In Anthem of the Heart, you really get a musical - and it's glorious. Sung by the members of the cast and containing numerous classical songs with repurposed lyrics that tie directly in with the rest of the story.The staff:Here is where the secret to Anthem of the Heart's success becomes wholly apparent. The majority of the team is the same as the team behind Anohana, with numerous other big hitters bringing their skills to the movie.Director Tatsuyuki Nagai,Anohana, Toradora and RailgunScript writer Mari OkadaHanasaku Iroha, Aria, Gosick, Kiznaiver and Toradora.Sound director Jin AketagawaAldnoah.Zero, Code Geass, Honey and Clover, Hanasaku Iroha, No Game, No Life, Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo, Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso, Toradora, Uchouten Kazoku and plenty more.And that's just 3 of the staff members, many of the others have feats just as impressive in their respective fields, including the man responsible for the sound effects of Girls und Panzer and assorted staff who worked on Natsume Yuujinchou, Sora no Woto, Birdy the Mighty, Love Live and The Girl who Leapt through Time.The cast:The four mains are voiced by:Inori Minase - Rem [Re:Zero], Chino [Gochuumon]Uchiyama Kouki - Raku [Nisekoi], Soul [Soul Eater], Tsukishima [Haikyuu!!]Sora Amamiya - Aqua [KonoSuba], Akame [Akame ga Kill] Elizabeth [Nanatsu no Taizai], Kaoru [Isshuukan Friends]Hosoya Yoshimasa - Daryun [Arslan Senki], Shougo [Isshuukan Friends], Oota [Tanaka-kun]The soundtrack:The soundtrack, from beginning to end is phenomenal, both in terms of background music, and songs sung. The songs used in the musical vary in tone dramatically, with one of the songs in particular managing to send a massive chill down my spine while watching - something which not many anime soundtracks can do.The art and animation:When I was writing up this WT! originally I had it titled "The KyoAni film by A-1", and that was for a good reason. KyoAni shows exude the love that the animators and staff put into them, and Anthem of the Heart has that very same feel to it.The backgrounds look brilliant, the characters fantastic, the animation? true 24fps.Here's a couple of gifs as examples:1 (slowed to 50%) - 2 - 3(also has a severe case of KyoAni thigh syndrome, but that might be just me~)As one final note, something that I really appreciated was the attention to detail put into character clothing. Each time you see a character outside of uniform, they're wearing a different arrangement of clothes from the last time - and each time it'll still be something that fits the personality of the character and the weather they're experiencing.TL;DR:Anthem of the Heart is a romantic drama which manages not to be depressing while telling an extremely heartfelt and human story.It has a vibrant cast played by great voice actors, a phenomenal soundtrack, beautiful art, and smooth, detailed animation - all backed by a god-tier team with members responsible for some of the best shows of all time. Highly recommend it.Naruseissuchacutie.If Koe no Kotachi is anything like this, I'm going to be a very, very happy man. http://ift.tt/2ablatH
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