Picture of the HQ of Kyoto Animations that I took on my trip to Kyoto.

It took me a long time to think of how I wanted to write this blog post, and I’m still not very sure how I’d want to structure it. But here goes.

Kyoto Animation - the one and only

When many people are asked what their favorite anime studio is, a great amount of names come up. There’s a lot of famous ones, such as Studio Ghibli and Madhouse that are loved by many for various reasons. But one name stands out for me, as it does for many others. Kyoto Animation.

Kyoto Animation, shortened to Kyoani by many (as I will in this post), is a gem within the anime industry, both in their anime projects and their system of work. Approaching how Kyoani works first as a studio, the main difference between Kyoani and other anime studios is that everyone working for Kyoani is hired full-time. Most people working at other studios are more like freelancers, jumping from project to project, sometimes for different studios as well. Hence, they are usually paid by each project they accomplish. However, Kyoani’s employees are all on payroll, working with a monthly salary. This may sound extremely basic, but in the anime industry, this is unheard of. This basically ends up making a job at Kyoani much more stable. In a world of terrible working conditions for animators in the anime industry, Kyoani was a shining beacon of difference in working environments for anime studios. A role model for other studios.

And a role model Kyoani was for their quality of work. Every anime project, TV, Movie, OVA, or anything else in between, has always shown the highest quality of art, animation, and sound that was available. For example, the work and attention to detail in Violet Evergarden, a Kyoani production, was simply impeccable, and that alone made it a marvel to watch. Other works, such as K-ON and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya are no exception, and this attention to detail that Kyoani has always makes every anime special.

It wasn’t just the production value, but also the content of writing of the works. What should be a mundane slice-of-life view of someone’s life always looked fun, lively, and yet comfy in anime like K-ON, Tamako Market, and Lucky Star. Other anime took this slice-of-life and turned it to intriguing mystery, such as The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and Hyouka. Finally, in Nichijou, it took slice-of-life into a wacky, slapstick comedy that never failed to get laughs. Other Kyoani productions took more emotional paths, such as CLANNAD, A Silent Voice, and Violet Evergarden, that makes watching each minute harder.

This mixture allowed Kyoani to make anime that I found to always be a must watch. Kyoani took existing source materials and flipped them into animated masterpieces of their own,and in some cases, went above and beyond the source. Out of the 12 animes that I gave a perfect 5 stars on my list, 9 of them are Kyoani productions. I wanted to write about one in particular that impacted me greatly, that being Liz and the Blue Bird.

Liz and the Blue Bird

Liz and the Blue Bird is a movie of a side story off of Sound Euphonium, another anime project based on a light novel that Kyoani has worked on. The movie’s main focus is on the relationship between the two main characters, Mizore and Nozomi. The two are set to play a duet of a music piece named Liz and the Blue Bird, a piece based off a fairy tale on the relationship of a bird and a girl. Throughout the hardships of practicing the song, the movie shows the relationship between Mizore and Nozomi are challenged, and throughout allusions to the fairy tale and other motifs such as university and going on separate paths.

Many audiences and critics didn’t like Liz and the Blue Bird. Some people thought it was just boring, without much substance to go on (as many people think about some Kyoani works). Others thought the drama and tension between Mizore and Nozomi’s friendship was too weak to be significant. However, this movie affected me greatly, especially due to the circumstances that I was going through at the time.

When I went to watch this movie at theatres at October, I was fresh off graduating from high school, and separated from long friends across borders. Another significant issue was that I still didn’t have a university to go to. Having been rejected from every school so far, I was still waiting until the end of December for final waitlist results. My best friend especially hit me hard, already being in the middle of his semester at a university that I could only dream of getting into.

While watching the movie, I felt a lot like Mizore, feeling uncertain about the future, feeling like I was falling behind of my best friend, who could only be drawn parallels to Nozomi at this point. But most of all, I asked the same question that Mizore did: Am I the Blue Bird, not wanting to let go to the past and friends, or am I Liz, who can let go of the Blue Bird, for the bird’s own good? Liz and the Blue Bird really did help me learn that regardless of the past and others, I needed to carve my own path that works for me. While friends are great, ultimately I need to make the choices for my own path for myself. With the uncertainty that I was going through at the time, I really needed this lesson, and Liz and the Blue Bird was able to teach me this.

Aside from personal connections, the art, music, and other production values for Liz and the Blue Bird worked perfectly for me. It strayed off from the original artstyle of Sound Euphonium, and sticked to a more watercolor style, which I loved. I especially thought it fit well with the fairy tale setting of Liz and the Blue Bird, making it feel like a picturebook. All the character designs, while more simpler than its Sound Euphonium counterparts, had its own charm and beauty. The music, especially the duet performances of Mizore and Nozomi, were also great, not only in quality, but also telling the story. From the unsynced performances at the start to the great final performance of the duet at the end, it really showed the relationship of the two change throughout the movie.

Other Kyoani works, such as A Silent Voice, do stand out more than Liz and the Blue Bird on its own. And I do agree those works are brilliant, having given A Silent Voice a 5 star rating as well. But in my personal circumstances that I had when I entered the movie theatre that day, Liz and the Blue Bird just clicked for me. I never felt more relatable to a movie, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Conclusion

This all comes in reflection to the tragic arson incident at Kyoani’s Studio 1. With the death count at 35, and with some key names of Kyoani’s directors being revealed as deceased, I’m still honestly in denial. Beyond the tragedy of lost of lives, some of the best talent in animation in the world were erased in a single, terrible accident. While Kyoani will surely not go down from this incident, I do feel like it would be a while until they get back on their feet, and I wish them all the best in recovery.