okeebler - 2017-07-12 13:08:42

Words hurt people. The heart speaks words that we can’t hear.

Blending fantasy and reality, this movie hit home when it comes to life issues. Watching it makes me feel interested in all the characters’ individual conflicts. One has a problem of hurting others with words, another has a problem of unrequited love, and another has a problem of a dysfunctional teammate. It makes you feel interested in each character, like they are a part of you.

Words hurt? Yes. Look at the scene where the injured belittles the protagonist, it’s like a total disgrace to the character but in the end, forgiveness is still the answer. And the music? Well, it will make you listen to it after viewing it on the big screen. It just hits you right on your eyes and ears, and the heart. The “egg” was right; when we speak to hurt people, especially family, it can lead to total destruction.

During a part where the “prince” hits the protagonist with words of truth, it’s like having my mind and heart race. When words can’t speak for us, the heart takes over. It hurts.

(Review made when it was shown at EigaSai 2017, at the Philippines)

stamm.haylie - 2017-01-10 16:31:50

Kokoro ga Sakebitagatterunda or Anthem of the Heart

I cannot express how this show is able to get into the heart of being young and at the same time take the normal day to day living and make it have such depth.

The main protagonist in this show Jun Narase, who has the kind of childhood that makes me want to take her father out and beat him into the ground.

The start she is a chatter box of a little girl. Everything she thinks about she talks about. In her home town at the top of a hill sits a Castle (small child view). The prince must live there after all it’s a castle. The truth is much harsher. The castle on the hill is a Love Hotel and when she sees her father leaving the “Castle” She cannot wait to tell her mother that her father got to see the prince. Mom of course knows the real purpose of the Castle and soon after she has divorced her husband. This is the place that the story takes off and gave me a reason to want to hurt her father.

As he is leaving with his possessions he turns to look at her and said. “This is all your fault you talk too much.” Blaming a child for his indiscretion and then walking away. Jun takes that blame she is just a child and the father she loves told her so it must be true. Running into the hills she is crying and not understanding the pain she feels and along comes an Egg Fairy. He explains that her talking is the source of her pain and to help her out so to speak he takes her ability to speak and that starts the rest of the story.

The art work in this series is top notch. The ability to have a main character with NO VOICE is mind blowing. The ability of the artist to give her so many expressions and transmit her very deep feelings into every movement of her being is exceptional. The costars of this show are a fun mix of typical high school live. The Perfect girl Natsuki, cheerleader, respected, top of her class and of course very pretty and totally insecure with respect to who she is and what she wants. Daiki the Ace Pitcher of the school baseball team that blew out his arm now at a loss as to what to do with his life. And our final member Takumi the loaner who loves music, games with a few friends and solitude to chase after the song he wants to write.

Each of the four has a personal wall that they must overcome. Each has a hidden desire and is afraid to speak it out. Each is human and fears failure and loss. When you overcome your failings you grow and this is a story of growth, heartbreak and surprises.

Add this to your to watch list and enjoy the ride that this show will take you on. The music, art and dialog will take you back to a place you have forgotten and perhaps find something you lost. In truth it reminded me of time spent many years ago in school and knowing that the same conflicts exist today as from so many years ago is somewhat comforting. What you will find watching this show I do not know. Perhaps you will see yourself reflected in the cast. At the end of the day I believe you will gain from watching this show.

cartwright.faye - 2016-12-27 15:31:39

The show must go on! This famous phrase in show business in which it talks about no matter what happen will always begin no matter if someone is left behind.. A story about redemption of a girl who leaves her fears and emotions behind herself while in search for a way making a voice for herself. So sit back, relax, and enjoy my reading my latest review of Anthem of the Heart.

==================================================================

~Story 8/10~
The story of AotH is one about how a girl grows to get out of her shell of being alone and secluded. This girl slowly grows from becoming the one person in the class who rarely ever talks, to singing front and center on stage. In the movie a high school class is tasked to come up with an idea for something to do for the school’s festival thing… and the thing that they come up with is a musical. However, lucky for them they decided to take the hard way out by deciding to write their own show. This includes the writing the following all from scratch: script, music, costumes, set design, choreography, etc.

Wait…you say that I am forgetting something major? Oh yeah! In the film the girl I talked about above has one little secret. The said “secret” is that the girl is cursed by an egg… let me repeat this… she is cursed by an EGG. The said curse is that whenever the girl talks she randomly ends up getting stomach pain soon after. So to avoid having stomach pain the girl just decided to give up talking entirely and just text everything she is thinking instead. Honestly I think that this idea is just so outlandish, but I do feel that it makes for a very unique and well written character in the long run.

~Characters 7/10~
Jun Naruse is the female main character in AotH. Naruse is silent all of the time and this is due to the fact in how she is afraid of speaking due to the curse that I explained up above. Personally I believe that the egg and the curse is all in her head and is just a way to compensate for her major role in the divorce of her parents, which occurs in the first ten minutes of the movie. However the thing that makes this character memorable is how you slowly notice the character grow overtime and eventually break out of her shell no pun intended. Over all, I absolutely fell in love with this character.

Takumi Sakagami is an male lead character in AotH. He is an talented musician with a heart of playing the piano. He is the songwriter for his class’s musical, meanwhile trying his hardest to make sure that Naruse is able to have her voice be heard. Takumi is always by Naruse’s side no matter what happens and is also a child of divorced parents just like how Naruse is as well. Takumi is also the kind of guy who is willing to say anything in order to calm down another character, even if he knows that he is lying… he just does not want to talk about his true feelings to others. I believe he was a good character but would enjoyed to see more of him.

Daiki Tasaki is an male lead character in AotH. He is a sports jock that specializes in Baseball, and is infact one of the leading members of in his team. Even tho he is a sports guy, he still has a kind heart and is willing to step up and be a leader in his class when it comes to the time of setting up for the musical. He isn’t afraid to ask a girl out, and even if he is rejected he turns around and understands as to why the answer is no. Daiki was a decent character in my opinion, but I feel as if the script writer could have done more with him.

Natsuki Nitou is an female lead character in AotH. She is the main leader of the group that wants to start up the play in the first place. In the past Nitou was at one point Takumi’s girlfriend. Over time we are shown how this relationship did not work and the two decided to part ways, but at this point in time they are friends. She is willing to step in for the absence of another character being missing right before the musical performance, and this is quite the brave thing to do last second since it was so unexpected. Other than that, I don’t know much about this character to whom of which I believe is the most underused character in the entire movie.

~Music 8/10~
What can I say about it other than it is slow and relaxing and was cleverly written to not only convey the emotion in the scene but also amplify it towards the audience. And as for the musical pieces, they were very basic. Just re-writing the lyrics to famous songs that I’m sure that most of you know, for example “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” which is mentioned quite a lot in this movie. But this is to be expected for the musical pieces since it is a completely original performance written by a bunch of highschoolers with not much time at all, so it is actually very realistic for this to be the case.

Overall, I really enjoyed this soundtrack and believe it fit well with the themes of the movie. My favorite song from this soundtrack is one that goes by the name of “Harmonia”.

~Art/Animation 8/10~
The art and animation is beautiful for the most part but there are a few derp faces sprinkled in here and there but it isn’t obvious unless if you look for them. However the background art for this movie were beautiful and highly detailed, and I would like to applaud A-1 for making such a gorgeous looking film.

~Final Thoughts~
Over all I thought it was an excellent movie that had a few problems here and there but I enjoyed it. However I feel like this movie could have been a better story if it was turned into an twelve or eleven episode tv series instead. I can tell that some people will criticize this movie for being too “melodramatic”, but personally I am completely fine with it and it isn’t too overbearing either unlike a little series called Plastic Memories. I was surprised how this movie revolved around a class musical, in which I can deeply relate too because I am a theater kid and is partially why I enjoyed this movie. I feel like the characters could be fleshed out better with the exception of the main character, in which I feel was handled perfectly. Man did I love the scene in which minor spoilers Naruse has finally cracked and just lets loose of all the anger that has resided within her for years minor spoilers ends. Also I believe the egg was just a figment of Naruse’s imagination and was just used as an excuse for her to not talk in fear of messing up another relationship with a friend or family member, again.

I have to be honest with all of you, if this review seemed a bit off or sloppier than most, the reasoning behind that is due to the fact in which I had writer’s block and had barely any desire to finish this review. So I decided to just stick with it and push out the review while also trying my hardest to make the best quality product I could.

After careful consideration I have decided to give this movie an 7/10, and a recommendation to watch it on your own time. Not exactly a high priority movie to watch, but it was definitely worth watching. And I must say, I was hit by the feels train quite a few times while watching this movie.

I also wanted to apologize for my absence on the reviews a bit, I got sidetracked by schoolwork and college visits for the last few weeks. But be sure to check out my First Impressions post of what my thoughts are on all of the first episodes that I’ve seen from the Spring 2016 anime season, in which the post will be released sometime later this week.

~Similar Anime Recommendations~
Anohana, Kokoro Connect, & Your Lie in April

esmitham - 2016-06-22 04:37:51

PLOT     Anthem of the Heart is made by the same staff that did Anohana, a show that I have yet to see and if this movie is any indication of how good Anohana will be, man dose this set my expectations high. 

    Anthem of the Heart starts out with Jun Naruse, a little girl, going around talking to the whole world and going outside running around like the hyper little kid she is, wishing to live in a castle like a princess and finding her white prince like every other little girl does. Going to a castle atop of a hill, she daydreams of what it would be like to live in her very own. Then she sees her father coming out in his van with another women she has never seen. She then goes tell her mom about it wondering if they might move in the castle soon. Only to come and find out that the castle is actually a love hotel, her dad is in affair, and now her parents are getting a divorce because as her father puts "You are chatterbox and this all your fault."     
    What a dick. 
    She then cries about when a mysterious magical egg appears and says that her words hurt people, cursing her. Now every time she talks, she feels pain. However, we,as well as she, learns that writing, texting, and singing does not count in a emotional realization. Fast forward in time, she is now randomly chosen with 3 other students to head a play for the entire class to preform in front of a community center. Now a baseball play, cheerleader, a quiet musician, and a quiet girl have to come together for this to work. 
    And wow does this work. Everything about this is beautiful. Each character is fleshed out very well. All have their issues with one another but as they have to work together now, the conflicts and resolutions for each one are done beautifully. The backstories are done well and while the story is predictable at times, it does it a refreshing way the you can`t help but to feel the emotional for the characters.

CHARACTERS 
Jun Naruse

Expressing herself threw the story she rights for the play based on her experiences, she still hopes to find her shining white prince as she did in when she was younger. Believing she has in Takumi, she becomes more open, even if she can`t talk, and becomes the person that everyone comes around to. Everyone becomes invested, caring for her well being even if Takumi is the only one that knows whats going on. The build up to that point was done well, with Daiki being the harshest to her. Then when everything is said and done, he might actually be the person that cares about her the most. Yet, she tries to overcome the pain of her parents divorce and her feelings of herself. With the help of Takumi, she does exactly that.

Takumi Sakagami

Having a similar past as Jun, he is quiet involved with everyone, worrying about how they feel instead of himself. While he does help Jun with her trauma, she helps him just as much. As said before, Jun becomes a person where everyone can rally around. Takumi having a past with Natsuki and pushing her away, he does not want to the same to Jun. Seeing how hard she pushes herself and knows of her past and situation, he cares about her but it never goes past as friends. This of course destroys Jun as she thought he was her knight. Leading to a confrontation where Takumi lets Jun vent her frustrations and feelings to him. Understanding her, both characters accept each other as friends in a scene.

Natsuki Nitō

While being a cheerleader and is supposed to be to have this high above everyone else attitude, she doesn`t. Yes she dates someone from the baseball team, at least hinted at, and use to date Daiki, she still has feelings for Takumi. She still cares about his well being and becomes jealous when he starts to hangout with Jun while working on the project. Of course this a huge misunderstanding and tries to help Jun. Most of her growth comes from her trying to rebuild a relationship with Takumi, expressing her feelings to him and is somewhat defensive of her feelings.

Daiki Tasaki

The character that I thought was going to be useless and whose arc was going to be forced actually surprised me. While being an injured star baseball player, he pushes everyone around and when he selected to be part of group, he has no intention to be in it. When he does join in thanks to Natsuki, he is very harsh to Jun. Then after some harsh words from the baseball team, he realizes his attitude and changes it.... for the most part. Hell, he becomes Jun`s greatest supporter and is hinted that he might actually have feelings for her. The amount of growth that each character had was great, and his by far surprised the most and I actually really liked it.  

Animation/Music
    The animation in this movie is just so dam beautiful. Throughout the whole movie, there was`t one moment where I thought the quality dropped. You could point the CGI car in beginning but that would the biggest nitpick you could do.

    The music is also well done. This movie having a musical in it, the music has got to shine, and thankfully it does. The way the music connects with Jun was done very well.

Overall     
    While this might not leave you crying on floor in the fetal position, but there is a lot tearjerking moments. The characters are great, the execution is great, the animation is just amazing. Defiantly give this movie a watch when you have time. 

ngleichner - 2016-04-27 16:43:11

Lets kick this off with the story. Important background knowledge first: A young girl named Naruse stumbles upon a magnificent hilltop castle. Her curiosity makes her see something she should not have: Her father coming down from the castle with what seems to be a princess- but Naruse has never seen her father with this princess before. Excited, she goes tell her mother about the castle upon the hill and how her father was going down the hill with another princess. Having been told something Naruse shouldn't have said, her Father is kicked out and the family is torn apart. Then, a magical egg prince appears and seals her ability to speak because she wishes not to hurt people with her words anymore. [Words aren't very good to describe the aforementioned parts without spoiling it] HOWEVER this all changes when she is forced to sing in a musical, and much to her surprise, she finds herself able to express her feeling and thoughts through song.

The meat of the plot revolves around her, and a bunch of other individuals, having to organize and participate in a school musical after being unwillingly chosen to do it. Among them a baseball captain, Tasaki, and 2 other students, Sakagami and Nitou. They are all developed quite nicely in the time of 1 hour and 59 minutes. The dramatic conflict is quite well played out, tension rising between Sakagami and Tasaki at the start, Tasaki and his baseball team, along with romantic conflict forming between Naruse, Sakagami, and Nitou, this love triangle of uncertainty. Thus, I really enjoyed watching that. I could go into further detail about all of it but you'd rather save it for when you actually watch the movie. What I can say, is that there is a very strong sense of resolution to the story and the character development [How characters change] is absolutely spot on. Especially Naruse's, as she is the main focus, on how she transforms from a quiet, unnoticed, kind of girl to someone willing to stand up for others and express herself, ever so slowly, through sometimes moments where she forces herself to shout her feelings and moments where she just begins to sing at the most random of times. [This show is a little like a musical, or at least music and song focused at times] 

The art was not bad even though art doesn't play much of a role in this sort of setting. But now we get to the music. The music shines when the characters are writing or singing songs. There is a rendition of "Somewhere over the Rainbow" in Japanese and the lyrics are altered to reflect what Naruse wishes to say, which is to express her thoughts and feelings [Even musical the characters organize is a retelling of Naruse's story made more child friendly]. This song isn't heard a lot throughout the movie, but I shed a tear when it was sung during the performance of their musical. Evoking emotions is what the creators intend to do, and they did it damn well.

Overall this movie intended to be dramatic yet heartwarming, provoking the viewer's emotions to what it called for, and this show is all that. A beautiful piece of entertainment that will live on in the heart of the 726th viewer. What else do you expect from the writer of AnoHana?

[VIEWER WARNING: The drama is, to be honest, quite important when deciding if you want to watch this or not. It's a great part of the show. If you can't stand high school type drama, or you can't just click with it [essentially all drama we can't relate to we call "Melodrama"], perhaps you shouldn't watch this despite it being well portrayed and executed in my opinion. It's like people who don't like burgers will never eat any, no matter how good they are.]
//I did not make this review all credit goes to GarryMuffuginOak on MAL 

cabbott - 2016-04-19 22:17:05

This became an instant favorite for me. I'll be recommending this forever now. 

alexzander73 - 2016-04-16 09:53:28

Overall, film ini benar-benar sangat musikal bagi saya. Semua jenis musik yang disajikan di dalam film ini, benar-benar mampu membawa penonton masuk ke dalam cerita yang sesungguhnya. Sangat indah, sehingga saya sendiri pun benar-benar menikmati setiap alunannya. Lalu, penggambaran karakter, art style, dan alur ceritanya, benar-benar sungguh disajikan dengan baik. Selain itu, plot twist yang disajikan juga mampu membuat emosi saya sendiri naik-turun tidak terkendali. 

Walaupun memang, ada beberapa bagian yang membuat saya sendiri sempat bosan, namun hal itu tidak menghentikan rasa penasaran saya untuk melihat seperti apa kelanjutan kisahnya. Dan ternyata, keputusan saya memang tepat. Saya menemukan beberapa bagian cerita yang membuat saya semakin memahami alur ceritanya dan apa yang sedang terjadi dengan kehidupan para tokoh. Entah itu sebuah kenangan yang memilukan, atau membahagiakan. Semuanya tersajikan dengan proporsi yang cukup baik bagi saya. 

Intinya, film ini telah mampu membawa saya tenggelam begitu dalam menuju inti cerita yang sesungguhnya. Ada begitu banyak pesan moral yang tersampaikan secara tidak langsung bagi kita yang menontonnya dengan penuh penghayatan. Selama kita mampu menghayati ceritanya, mulai dari awal, tengah, sampai pada akhir, saya jamin anda akan benar-benar merasakan cerita yang sungguh, luar biasa dan sangat menyentuh.

Yang saya rasakan pertama kali setelah selesai menonton film ini adalah, perasaan sedih dan juga bahagia. Entah bagaimana cara menjelaskannya, namun itulah yang saya rasakan secara pribadi. Jadi, bagi kalian yang tertarik untuk menontonnya, saya harap review amatiran saya ini cukup membantu, dan saya bisa jamin, anda akan menyukai film ini, atau bahkan film ini akan menjadi salah satu film favorit anda.

kaden.leffler - 2016-02-20 21:11:40

If you want a movie which you can easily fall in love with, relate to and completely immerse yourself into, its the one. The music is to die for and the main character showcases everything the movie is. 

anais.sanford - 2015-10-22 13:18:41

Kokoro ga Sakebitagatterunda (AKA Anthem of the Heart) starts off with a fantasy-like view into the mind of our heroine, Jun Nagase. However, this fantasy is a lot more grounded in reality than it may seem.

The good thing about this film is that the characters are very real. Their emotions are ones that I feel are more realistic, and thought it was a breath of fresh air. The story does have some overly melodramatic scenes, which kind of takes away from the value of the emotion, but the film makes the viewers aware that, yes, it is overly melodramatic. I think, in a way, that is what also makes it more real.

At the end of the day, the film has a very nice message to tell, and one that most people can relate to. While I notice some of the issues tackled are ingrained in Japanese culture, the overall theme was one that I believe may be universally appreciated.

For those expecting an AnoHana-like story, you won't get this here. This movie will probably not make you cry as much as AnoHana, if at all. It's one that deserves a more internal analysis, rather than simply feeling for the characters.