While I'm not the biggest Hatsune Miku fan, I'd venture to say I'm "familiar" with the franchise. I've played several Project Diva games, listened to several Vocaloid songs, seen her live at various events, and even dabbled in music creation software a bit. If you're like me, I can safely say this isn't a movie made for you. Rather, COLORFUL STAGE! The Movie: A Miku Who Doesn't Sing is a movie made for one group of people: the players of the smartphone game Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage.
This movie doesn't linger over insignificant details like "explaining the setting" or "introducing the characters," which proves to be a problem in a film like this. It took me half the movie to decipher the basic conceit of the world: that several groups of young musical artists from different genres can enter their own secret realities, complete with their own versions of Miku and her friends. Even excluding the various variants of Vocaloid characters, the five bands featured prominently in the film mean there are over 20 human main characters to keep track of, and the film has no problem switching between them seemingly at random.
Director: Hiroyuki Hata
Writer: Yoko Yonaiyama
Stars: Akina, Yu Asakawa, Naoto Fuga
To say it's a lot to take in at once is an understatement. Even after watching the film from beginning to end, I can't remember a single name or anything about them, beyond their physical appearance or a characteristic quirk. Of course, those who have played Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage frequently probably wouldn't face these problems; they would already be familiar with the world and characters, and seeing them in all their animated splendor would almost certainly be an exceptional pleasure. This is what I mean when I say the film is for smartphone gamers, not your average Miku fan.
However, that doesn't mean the film is impenetrable. The plot is fairly straightforward. Instead of focusing on the Miku of a particular band, each (unbeknownst to the others) encounters a new Miku, hailing from a broken world without humans. This Miku has been trying to connect with the humans who need her, making them feel they're not alone through her songs, only to appear as distorted static on their screens. As she meets the different bands, she tries to get each to teach her how to emotionally connect with people through their music, as they all do, in the hopes that she can one day do the same.
Thematically, the film is about helping those who need help and how those people often reject those around them. Giving up on a dream can be incredibly lonely, and while the Miku of the Shattered World tries hard to connect, to let them know they're not alone, you can't help those who don't want it. It takes the right person at the right time to have any chance of success. Luckily, even though Broken-World Miku can't succeed alone, she has five groups of new friends willing to help her.
It's safe to say that music is a fundamental aspect of humanity. It connects with each of us on an emotional level and can alter our mood like few things can. However, it's also deeply tied to personal tastes. A song can resonate deeply with one person while another finds it silly. Therefore, the climax of the film involves each band taking Broken-World Miku's song and creating their own song around it, attempting to convey the song's message in their own words and musical style.
What we get from this is the musical highlight of the film. We see interpretations of Miku's song in styles such as hip-hop, idol music, hard rock, children's music, and a traditional Vocaloid music video. It's impressive, especially considering the film is packed with great music (as you'd expect from any Hatsune Miku project). Visually, this isn't the most attractive anime P.A. Works has ever released, but that doesn't mean it doesn't look great. The animation has a high level of detail and excellently depicts both the real world and Miku's various pocket worlds. There's fantastic use of light and shadow, and the character designs are so distinctive that, despite the large cast, it's impossible to mistake them.
What stands out most is the film's aforementioned musical climax. In many similar anime, the big concert scene switches from traditional 2D animation to 3D to perfectly replicate the singers' movements. However, this film retains the look of 2D animation throughout, even in this huge scene with complex choreography.
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