"August Symphony" Review: A moving story woven with summer melodies

"August Symphony": A moving melody played between dreams and reality

■Overview of the work

"August Symphony" is a feature-length animated film released on August 22, 2009. It is based on Kawashima Ai's autobiographical novel "Saigo no Kotoba" and was directed by Nishizawa Akio. It is distributed by Go Cinema and produced by WOW World and WOW Corporation, and is a moving 118-minute film. The film tells the story of a young girl named Ai who pursues her dreams to fulfill a promise she made to her mother, her only family.

■ Story

Ai, a young girl, moves to Tokyo alone when she enters high school and struggles to make her dream of becoming a singer come true. However, the reality is harsh, and far from making her debut, she is fired from her agency. Despite being on the verge of failure many times, she begins working as a street musician in Shibuya. Despite feeling like giving up on her dream during lonely days when no one would stop to listen to her, Ai sets a goal of "performing on the street 1,000 times."

One rainy day, a young company president and members of a student conference are drawn to Ai's voice as she sings in an underground shopping mall in Shibuya and offer to support her. Although they have no specialist knowledge of music, they support Ai through trial and error, handing out flyers and independently producing CDs. Gradually, Ai's street live performances establish a style of singing and playing the keyboard, and passersby begin to stop in their tracks, and she gains a steady fanbase. Eventually, Ai decides to perform on stage at a large music hall in Shibuya, but around that time her mother falls ill.

■Explanation

"August Symphony" is a moving story based on the true story of singer-songwriter Kawashima Ai. She set three goals for herself: "1,000 street performances," "5,000 CD sales by hand," and "perform a live show at Shibuya Public Hall," and she focused her activities on street performances in Shibuya. Her background and the path to her debut are as dramatic as a fictional story.

Based on Kawashima Ai's memoir "The Last Words," this work is reconstructed as a youth drama featuring the young president who discovered her and the student staff who supported her. It depicts universal themes such as friendship, love, a single-minded attitude toward life, and the passion of young people, making it a moving film that will touch the hearts of viewers.

Director Akio Nishizawa has taken on the four major obstacles in animation: realistic characters, everyday scenes, music, and mob characters, and has taken on the difficult task of using many of Ai Kawashima's songs. This work was created with the sole desire to make people watch it as a movie, not just as an anime, and further evolves the realistic expression techniques that Nishizawa developed in his previous works, ``NITABOH'' and ``Furusato-JAPAN''.

Production studio WOW WORLD added powerful members to the staff who worked on the previous film and tried new production techniques. For example, they held a live concert by Ai Kawashima at Shibuya Public Hall and incorporated the footage into the CG and animation, pursuing a thorough realism. This work, which combines hand-drawn animation with live action and CG, shows new possibilities for animated films.

■Cast

• Ai: Misato Fukuen
• Ai's Mother: Keiko Takahashi
• President Akiba: Kazuya Takahashi
• Old Man: Manabu Yamamoto
• Takeshi Ishida: Wataru Takagi
• Shoji Seo: Hiroyuki Yoshino
• Fumihito Nakai: Hiroyuki Mizushima
• Izumi Umezawa: Hitomi Ando

■ Main staff

• Original work: Ai Kawashima "The Last Words"
• Director, Screenplay: Akio Nishizawa
• Directed by: Hiroyuki Shimazu and Satoshi Shimizu
• General Producer: Masahiro Murakami
• Planning, Web Producer: Masae Nishizawa
• Character design and chief animation director: Tatsuo Yanagi
• Art director: Tadashi Kudo
• Music Director: Makoto Kuriya
• Sound effects: Shizuo Kurahashi
• Theme song: Ai Kawashima "It's Okay"
• CG Director: Shuichi Fujinaka
• Animation Director: Masahiro Murakami, Hiroyuki Shimazu, Tatsuo Yanagi
• Storyboard: Hiroyuki Shimazu, Hitoyuki Matsui, Keiichiro Furuya
• Sound Production: Tsubasa Shioya
• Animation Production: WOW WORLD
• Produced by: WOW Corporation

■ Main Characters

• Ai: To fulfill her promise to her mother to become a singer, she moves to Tokyo from Fukuoka by herself when she enters high school. She is fired from her agency and at a loss, but she sets a goal to "perform 1,000 street performances" and works hard toward her dream.
• Ai's mother: Ai is everything to her. She believes that Ai's dream is to become a singer, and despite her frail health, she works hard to get Ai into high school in Tokyo. Even after Ai moves to Tokyo, she continues to encourage her over the phone.
• President Akiba: A 35-year-old young president. A skilled president of a marketing company. He also supports the "Student Conference" for university students who want to start their own businesses, providing them with part of his office space. He is unconventional, frank and trustworthy, like an older brother to the students. When he gets passionate, he becomes a bellamy type of person. He is actually a very romantic person and can easily cry.
• Old Man: A homeless old man living in a suburban park. His eyes shine with kindness on his pitch black face. He once had a period of social success, but now his family is torn apart. However, he seems to like his current life, which has made him realize that there are things he could not see when he was only seeking success.
• Takeshi Ishida: Leader of the Student Conference. He is a humorous person, but he sometimes shows leadership and is trusted by the students. However, he is not the type to think things through before he acts, he is careless, and he doesn't know much about things.
• Shoji Seo: He supports Ishida as a sub-leader of the Student Conference. He observes the situation objectively and acts after careful consideration. Even when Ishida and the others are just enjoying themselves, he calmly comments.
• Nakai Fumito: A good-looking young man with a calm and gentle impression. He is the only member of the Student Conference who is knowledgeable about music. Unlike Ishida and Seo, he is polite in his speech and manner, and dresses stylishly. He makes the most of his sociable nature and is in charge of external negotiations and persuasion.
• Umezawa Izumi: A sports girl. She is a smart female student who gets things done efficiently. She is a reliable person who can point out important things in discussions. On the other hand, she is a good confidant for Ai and acts as a kind "older sister" figure.

■ Theme songs and music

• TM1
• it's okay
• Lyricist: Ai Kawashima
• Composer: Ai Kawashima
• Arrangement: CONEY'S JELLY
• Vocals: Ai Kawashima

■ Evaluation and impressions

"August Symphony" is a film that has touched many audiences through the story of a girl chasing her dreams. In particular, Ai's single-minded attitude and the warmth of the people around her who support her resonate with viewers. Director Akio Nishizawa pursued a quality that would be acceptable not only as an animated film, but also as a general film, and as a result, he created a moving work that combines realistic images and music.

The film's music is centered around Kawashima Ai's songs, and her singing voice makes the story even more moving and profound. The theme song "It's Okay" in particular strikes a deep chord with the audience, as if symbolizing Ai's feelings. The film also has a stunning visual presentation that combines CG and live action, realistically depicting the streets of Shibuya and the immersive street performances.

The cast is also excellent. Misato Fukuen's voice as Ai perfectly expresses her strong will and fragility towards her dreams. Keiko Takahashi's portrayal of Ai's mother is also impressive, portraying her kindness and strength, deeply moving the audience. Kazuya Takahashi as President Akiba and the other voice actors playing the members of the student conference also bring their characters to life.

■ Recommendation points

"August Symphony" is a story of young people chasing their dreams that will resonate with and inspire many people. It is especially full of scenes that will touch the hearts of those who love music and those who work hard towards their dreams. Also, don't miss the visual expressions that show new possibilities for animation films.

This work depicts universal themes such as family love, friendship, and the pursuit of dreams, and is enjoyable for a wide range of generations. It is a must-see for fans of Ai Kawashima and those interested in her music. It is also recommended for those interested in the production process and technology of animation films.

"August Symphony" is a work that you should definitely experience at the theater, with its moving melody played between dreams and reality. Ai's story will give each audience member an opportunity to reexamine their own dreams and goals.