+4
Just finished On-Gaku: Our Sound, and I thought it was good. The film is at its best when it explores the boredom and general disinterest of the main characters and showing the ways they attempt to find value in their dull lives, such as making empty threats about fighting people, or being amateur musicians. One gets the impression they choose to start the band on a whim, rather than having any strong passion for music. It's just something to pass the time and fill up their days for a bit. Also, a few scenes, such as Morita hearing Kenji's music for the first time, look rather visually impressive (even though I was baffled that Morita loved their music as much as she did). For the most part though, you can definitely feel the low budget since most of the visuals look rather dull and lifeless. Part of this can be explained since one could argue the dull visuals are at the heart of the characters' dull lives, but another part of me found a couple of the visuals (the awkward pauses, for instance) unpolished and ham-handed in their attempts to represent Kenji's emotional state. Still though, I thought this was pretty good and, roughness aside, it remains an interesting film. It won't make my ballot though.