is a 2018 Japanese animated drama film directed by Naoko Yamada and written by Reiko Yoshida, based on the Sound! Euphonium novel series written by Ayano Takeda and its eponymous anime television series adaptation. Inspired in particular by the 2017 Sound! Euphonium novel Hibike! Yūfoniamu Kitauji Kōkō Suisōgaku-bu, Haran no Dainigakushō Kōhen, the film is a spin-off sequel to the television series, focusing on the friendship of Mizore Yoroizuka and Nozomi Kasaki, two supporting characters introduced during the series' second novel (adapted as part of the second season of the anime adaptation). It is intended as a standalone work that can be fully understood without prior knowledge of the series.
The film focuses on the relationship between Mizore and Nozomi as they prepare for a concert with their high school's wind band; in parallel, it also depicts a fairy tale, from which the music piece worked on by the band is adapted, as a story within a story. Atsumi Tanezaki and Nao Tōyama, among others, reprise their voice roles as characters from the television series; most of them were re-designed to better fit the film's style and story. Liz and the Blue Bird had two composers: Kensuke Ushio, who wrote the minimal-style background music for the high school scenes, and Akito Matsuda, the composer of the television series, who wrote both the background music for the fairy tale segments, and the concert pieces performed by the characters.
It was released on April 21, 2018 in Japan, and had a limited release on November 9, 2018 in the United States. It received positive reviews from critics, with most praise going to the relationship and personalities of the two main characters, soundtrack, and animation.
Plot Mizore is a quiet, introverted student in her third and final year of high school, who is an oboist in the school's concert band. Her closest friend, who occupies most of her thoughts, is Nozomi, one of the band's flutists, who is much more outgoing and popular. Together, the two rehearse a duet from the musical piece Liz and the Blue Bird, which is based on an eponymous, fictional German fairy tale that Nozomi loved as a child. The story is about a young woman named Liz (represented by the oboe in the musical piece) and an unnamed blue bird turned human (represented by the flute) who become best friends and live together, until the two are forced to part ways. Nozomi and Mizore realize that the story applies closely to their own relationship and impending graduation, which worries Mizore; she sees herself as Liz and Nozomi as the fleeting blue bird.
Although Nozomi spends time with other friends from the band, Mizore keeps herself isolated from everyone except Nozomi, and refuses her other bandmates' offers to spend time together. She often tries to express her affection to Nozomi, but finds herself unable to. Niiyama, the band's woodwind instructor, advises Mizore to apply to a music school after graduation so that she can become a professional musician; she is not particularly interested at first, but changes her mind after Nozomi says that she might apply to the same school. This worries their bandmates, as they realize that Mizore's only motivation for playing music is Nozomi, who is not truly serious about becoming a professional.
As the concert approaches, Mizore and Nozomi grow apart. Mizore, anxious about her future and recalling that Nozomi quit the band two years prior, is afraid that she is abandoning her again. Meanwhile, Nozomi is uncomfortable with Mizore progressively opening herself to others and being tutored by Niiyama, envious of her greater potential. Furthermore, the two have trouble perfecting their duet, both because of their increasingly strained relationship and because of their difficulty connecting with the characters from Liz and the Blue Bird; Mizore, in particular, does not understand why Liz would ever let the blue bird go free instead of keeping it with her forever.
Eventually, the two come to a greater understanding of their relationship, thanks to the assistance of Niiyama and other members of the band. They ultimately come to realize that, while they associated Mizore to Liz and Nozomi to the blue bird, Mizore is actually closer to the blue bird—having to let go of her unconditional attachment so she can live her own life—while Nozomi is closer to Liz, who let the bird go free so that she would not weigh it down. At the next rehearsal, they perform the piece perfectly. Mizore's performance moves her bandmates, and Nozomi exits the practice room in tears. Mizore confronts Nozomi privately afterwards; Nozomi confesses that she knew Mizore was holding back her talent for her sake. She also explains that she didn't intend on applying for music school, and had only said so out of envy for Mizore's talent, because she knew that she didn't have the necessary skill to be accepted. Mizore, upset that Nozomi is seemingly ignoring her feelings and leaving her behind, hugs Nozomi and confesses the true extent of her love. However, Nozomi only laughs, knowing that accepting Mizore's feelings would only continue to confine her.
Some time later, Mizore and Nozomi are seemingly still distant from each other, with Nozomi prioritizing her entrance exams over the band. After they meet in the school's library, Nozomi asks Mizore to join her at a café after school. On the way, she says that she will back up Mizore perfectly in their duet, only asking for "a little time". Mizore answers that she will continue to play the oboe. As the two walk together, Nozomi suddenly turns to Mizore, causing Mizore to look surprised.
Voice cast
Atsumi Tanezaki (Japanese) / Laurie Hymes (English) as Mizore Yoroizuka, an introverted third-year high school student and oboist in the concert band Nao Tōyama (Japanese) / Stephanie Sheh (English) as Nozomi Kasaki, a third-year flutist in the band and Mizore's more outgoing friend Miyu Honda (Japanese) / Courtney Shaw (English) as both Liz and the Mysterious Girl, the main characters of the Liz and the Blue Bird fairy tale Konomi Fujimura (Japanese) / Sarah Anne Williams (English) as Natsuki Nakagawa, a third-year euphoniumist and the vice-president of the band Yuri Yamaoka (Japanese) / Megan Harvey (English) as Yuuko Yoshikawa, a third-year trumpeter and the president of the band Shiori Sugiura (Japanese) / Xanthe Huynh (English) as Ririka Kenzaki, a first-year oboist in the band Chika Anzai (Japanese) / Cristina Vee (English) as Reina Kousaka, a second-year trumpeter in the band Tomoyo Kurosawa (Japanese) / Courtney Shaw (English) as Kumiko Oumae, a second-year euphoniumist in the band Ayaka Asai (Japanese) / Alyson Leigh Rosenfeld (English) as Hazuki Katou, a second-year tubaist in the band Moe Toyota (Japanese) / Cassandra Lee Morris (English) as Sapphire Kawashima, a second-year bassist in the band Houko Kuwashima (Japanese) / Ryan Bartley (English) as Satomi Niiyama, the band's woodwind instructor Yuichi Nakamura (Japanese) / Mike Pollock (English) as Masahiro Hashimoto, the band's percussion instructor Takahiro Sakurai (Japanese) / Wayne Grayson (English) as Noboru Taki, the band's music director
Production Liz and the Blue Bird is the third film based on Sound! Euphonium, following Sound! Euphonium: The Movie – Welcome to the Kitauji High School Concert Band and Sound! Euphonium: The Movie – May the Melody Reach You!, both of which were abridged adaptations of the anime. However, the movie takes place within the universe of the television series, in which Mizore and Nozomi appear as supporting characters; conversely, main characters in the series such as Kumiko and Reina only appear in supporting roles. Despite being a spin-off, the film is also meant to work as an independent story, and does not require knowledge of Sound! Euphonium. Character designer Futoshi Nishiya re-designed the characters instead of using the designs from the series, in order to better fit the film's style, story and themes. The crew also included Mutsuo Shinohara as art director, and Naomi Ishida as color stylist. Stephanie Sheh served as casting director and ADR director for the film's English release.
Yamada originally discovered the characters of Mizore and Nozomi when they were introduced in the second of Takeda's novels, Sound! Euphonium 2: The Hottest Summer of Kitauji High School's Wind Ensemble Club. She stated: "I was moved by the focus [Takeda] placed on developing new characters in that section of the story, and remember becoming captivated with the relationship of Mizore and Nozomi. At the same time, I thought it was a terribly sinful story. And yet so very transparent and rash... At any rate, I thought it was fascinating. I can definitively not come up with this kind of perspective by myself. Since I liked it so much, the two have since been on my mind." Yamada had worked as storyboard artist and occasional director for the anime series; at the time, Takeda was working on a two-part sequel to the Sound! Euphonium novels that would be published as two different novels (Hibike! Yūfoniamu Kitauji Kōkō Suisōgaku-bu, Haran no Dainigakushō): the first, Zenpen, would be focused on Kumiko, and the second one, Kōhen, on Mizore and her relationship with Nozomi. The series' crew read the novels before they were published in order to prepare a potential film adaptation; as it would have been difficult to properly depict both Mizore and Kumiko's stories within the same film, the team decided to make two different films instead, with Yamada directing Mizore and Nozomi's because of her "increasing interest in them", and Tatsuya Ishihara, the main director of the series, directing Zenpen, which would be titled Sound! Euphonium: The Movie – Our Promise: A Brand New Day and would be released the following year.
Yamada stated about the making of the film: "My first thought was to put my impression of Nozomi and Mizore's story into something visual. Then, when pulling myself right up-close to the problems and growth the two girls experience, I made sure to catch any small changes or realisations the two may have. I wanted this film to be in its most suitable form to match what this story wanted to depict.... I wanted to catch and depict these softer, more subtle aspects. For example, even the slightest aversion of their eyes is something born from their thoughts and feelings. This is something I wanted to take great care of – I wanted to make sure I didn't lose any of it. It's like watching and quietly holding your breath, recording what you see. Like watching the girls behind a pane of glass; a single touch enough to make them disappear. I put importance in using colour to reflect this sense of fragility and fleetingness.... For this piece of work subtle emotions and the buildup of feeling was important. So I was careful as to not add acting that was formulaic, like 'they're sad so they'll make a sad face'. For example, the flautist Nozomi. When she lifts the corners of her mouth and narrows her eyes, it is recognised by the other that she is smiling. She's the sort of girl who thinks like this, but looking at it the other way, by 'smiling' she's maintaining the distance between her and the other. It was important to not take shortcuts in depiction, as to protect the dignity of these girls who live their lives thinking about this with every step they take."