The Anthem of the Heart

Sometimes it is easier to express ourselves through art. The expression goes, "a picture says a thousand words". And since an animated picture, at 24 frames per second, has thousands of pictures, a movie can have a lot to say. Words can hurt. And as too many find out, once words are said, they can't be unsaid. Naruse is cursed to be unable to speak, but eventually finds other ways to communicate. She finds that the curse did not spread to singing, and creates a musical to express herself. This does have two things that bring it down. It has a tragic overheard conversation, and there was very little payoff from a big setup. But man, this film spoke to me.

This is living proof that an anime movie can be much better, making action movies, terror anyone.

Interesting story and animation is pretty good.

This story is here to put us back to earth, because it's not a love fantasy we all have in our heads.

Frankly, ending came out of nowhere, because the whole time story was leading us in the wrong direction.

I'm not a fan of the ending, but that doesn't make this movie bad.

Anime gave us a really nice lesson: It's not our fault for pointing out other's mistakes. Not everyone who cares about us loves us romantically.

Just because I've watched some animes that are better than this one, I'm giving this one a 8.

It's definitely worth watching.

If you're emotional then prepare tissues. :-)

I coincidentally fell in love with this movie. it has a heartwarming story and the lovely ending that made me cry. the music it's simple but lovely.

I like a lot of Mari Okada's work including Anohana, Maquia and O Maidens in Your Savage Season. However, I came out of "The Anthem of the Heart" with very mixed feelings.

It is a high school drama that feels a bit half-baked. The drama mostly revolves around the main girl, Jun Naruse, who cannot speak because of an event that occurred in the past. This is an interesting premise but the problem is that this is not the main focus as much as it should. Instead, we have a lot of romance subplots with other supporting characters that just aren't developed enough. The third act and even the ending felt incredibly forced as well. I do give props for not being predictable and being a decent message but the execution is kind of poor. This premise feels like it would be better as an anime series than a movie. That way, the supporting characters and even the romance could be more developed.

The movie does have great animation, character design and music. Unfortunately, if you wanted a good high school drama or romance, this is not it.