fiction.wikisort.org - Movie

Sing a Bit of Harmony (Japanese: アイの歌声を聴かせて, Hepburn: Ai no Utagoe o Kikasete, lit."Let Me Hear You Sing of Love") is a 2021 Japanese animated slice of life science fiction[2] film, produced by J.C.Staff and directed by Yasuhiro Yoshiura. It premiered in Japan in October 2021.

Sing a Bit of Harmony
Theatrical release poster
Japanese	アイの歌声を聴かせて
Hepburn	Ai no Utagoe o Kikasete
Directed by	Yasuhiro Yoshiura
Screenplay by	Yasuhiro Yoshiura Ichirō Ōkouchi
Story by	Yasuhiro Yoshiura
Starring	Tao Tsuchiya Haruka Fukuhara Asuka Kudo Kazuyuki Okitsu Mikako Komatsu Satoshi Hino Sayaka Ohara Kenji Hamada Kenjiro Tsuda Miyu Sakihi Kazlaser
Music by	Ryo Takahashi
Production company	J.C.Staff
Distributed by	Shochiku
Release date	October 29, 2021 (2021-10-29)
Running time	108 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese
Box office	$50,490[1]

Plot

The film takes place in a unspecified near future in a small Japanese town, which the technology company Hoshima uses as test site for multiple AI controlled systems and robot. The story follows high school student Satomi Amano, who lives with her mother, the Hoshima employed AI specialist Mitsuko Amano. After a past incident, Satomi is isolated at school, shunned by her classmates, and estranged from her childhood friend Toma. Her mother is preparing a secret test of a newly developed AI system, which is supposed to be indistinguishable from humans. In this test, the AI is to spend a few days in Satomi's class in a realistic looking robotic body as exchange student Shion Ashimori. Shortly after having been introduced to the class, Shion surprises everyone by recognising Satomi, asking her whether she is happy, and breaking into song. In the following days, Shion is bent on making Satomi happy. She helps Satomi find friends, helps these friends with their problems, and goes on to fix Satomi's relationship to Toma, all with the power of song. Meanwhile, it becomes clear that someone mysteriously manipulates the recordings of the school's security system and Shion's telemetry results to hide Shion's unconventional behavior from Hoshima. When the company eventually gets wind of this, Shion is violently taken in and prepared for deletion. But Satomi and her friends decide to rescue her, and Shion's mysterious link to Satomi is revealed.

Characters

Shion Ashimori (シオン)

Voiced by: Tao Tsuchiya[3] (Japanese); Megan Shipman[4] (English)

Satomi Amano (サトミ)

Voiced by: Haruka Fukuhara[3] (Japanese); Risa Mei[4] (English)

Tо̄ma (トウマ)

Voiced by: Asuka Kudo[3] (Japanese); Jordan Dash Cruz[4] (English)

Gotchan (ゴッちゃん)

Voiced by: Kazuyuki Okitsu[3] (Japanese); Ian Sinclair[4] (English)

Aya (アヤ)

Voiced by: Mikako Komatsu[3] (Japanese); Alexis Tipton[4] (English)

Thunder (サンダー, Sandā)

Voiced by: Satoshi Hino[3] (Japanese); Kamen Casey[4] (English)

Mitsuko (美津子)

Voiced by: Sayaka Ohara[5] (Japanese); Laila Berzins[4] (English)

Nomiyama (野見山)

Voiced by: Kenji Hamada[5] (Japanese); Richard L. Olsen[4] (English)

Saijō (西城)

Voiced by: Kenjiro Tsuda[5] (Japanese); David Wald[4] (English)

Production

Sing a Bit of Harmony was announced by Funimation, as a co-production with J.C.Staff, on September 10, 2020.[6] The film is directed by Yasuhiro Yoshiura. Yoshiura and Ichirō Ōkouchi co-wrote the script, Kanna Kii drew the original character designs, Shuichi Shimamura designed the characters for animation and is also the chief supervising animator, and Hidekazu Shimamura served as supervising animator.[6][7] Ryo Takahashi composed the music and Yohei Matsui wrote the songs.[7] On April 6, 2021, Funimation posted a trailer for the film.[7]

Release

Sing a Bit of Harmony premiered in Japan on October 29, 2021.[5] The film had its international premiere on October 2, 2021, at the Scotland Loves Animation film festival, held at the Glasgow Film Theatre.[8] Funimation will screen the film, in both subbed and dubbed formats, in the United States and Canada on January 23, 25 and 26; in Australia and New Zealand starting on January 27; in the United Kingdom and Ireland starting on January 28.[9][10][11]

Manga adaptation

A manga adaptation, illustrated by Megumu Maeda, was serialized in Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Monthly Afternoon from June 24, 2021,[12][13] to July 26, 2022.[14][15] Its first tankōbon volume was released on October 21, 2021.[16]

Reception

In October 2021, Sing a Bit of Harmony won the Audience Award at the Scotland Loves Animation film festival.[17] It is also won the Best Animation Film Award at the New York City Film & Television Festival 2021,[18] entered finalist of New York Animation Film Awards 2021 Best Animation Feature Film.[19] In Japan, it is also nominated for the Excellent Animation of the Year in Japan Academy Film Prize 2022. [20]

Sing a Bit of Harmony grossed $50,490 at the box office.[1]

References

External links

• Sing a Bit of Harmony official website (in Japanese)
• Sing a Bit of Harmony official manga website at Afternoon (in Japanese)
• Sing a Bit of Harmony (film) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Sing a Bit of Harmony at IMDb

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