This movie came to me, recommended by Wyrdwad. Its original story comes from the same writer of Night on the Galactic Railroad: Miyazawa Kenji. I’m glad I checked it out, as it’s one of the most unique music-anime I’ve seen. The story is about Gauche, a professional, though not very good cellist. While this premise sounds rather bland, there is one element in the story that totally gives this movie its own style and charm. I refrain from saying what it is, for the sake of spoilers, though. It’s best if you watch this movie without knowing anything.
Because of that element, this movie turned into quite an adorable fable, that neither feels too long nor too short. I also admire the realism, Gauche (or “Goshu”, as his name is in the anime) acts surprisingly likable throughout the movie, as do the other side-characters. The story also isn’t afraid to go into a bit of the technical stuff, while still remaining easy to follow.
Despite its age, Gauche the Cellist remains an enjoyable light watch for every age, apart from the people who need action, perhaps. While the movie didn’t reach any heights, it did what it set out to do, and a very good job as well. The art looks fairly unimpressive, though. But because of that, the characters end up looking like any other average Joes, making the mood of this movie even more down to earth.
The animation is nothing impressive for a movie, but I must note that this is one of the few times where the animators actually bothered to try and synchronize their instruments with the background music. Most anime nowadays don’t even bother, and I remember how Nodame Cantabile’s attempt of using CG for this failed horribly.]]>
Gauche the Cellist Review – 81/100
