On-Gaku: Our Sound – Ongaku (2019)

Directed by: Kenji Iwaisawa | 71 minutes | animation, drama | Original voice cast: Shintarô Sakamoto, Ren Komai, Tomoya Maeno, Tateto Serizawa, Kami Hiraiwa, Naoto Takenaka, Yasuyuki Okamura

Although already as bald as a billiard ball, the Japanese Kenji goes to secondary school. After school, he invariably hangs out with two friends and plays video games ad nauseam. Every now and then the group of friends fights in the street. Then Kenji accidentally comes into contact with an electric guitar. He drums up his friends and mumbles something about music and bands (Kenji doesn’t express himself in more than three syllables per sentence at all). What do you actually do with a guitar? Start a band with your best friends, of course. However, musically they know nothing about blows. And yet they try. After all, why not? Maybe it’s to impress girls? No, not necessarily. Maybe to stay out of street fights? Perhaps. Or to combat boredom? Yeah, too… or something like that. So, go ahead with that goat! Punk has never waited for anyone. But does anyone actually wait for their sound?

‘On-Gaku’ is wonderfully straightforward. In addition, the film has a rather specific form of humor. Let’s assume the dry kind. Maybe this isn’t for everyone. Still, it feels refreshing. And even though the story has little to do with it, it sticks just enough. Particularly convincing is how the makers portray the languor and spontaneous adventure of the teenage years. The overall tone can best be compared to that of Jim Jarmusch films, such as ‘Stranger Than Paradise’ (1984) and ‘Mystery Train’ (1989): minimalistic with a dash of absurdism. Just like in Jarmusch films, you often do the same in the world of ‘On-Gaku’, but at least you kill time with your best mates. However, that guitar changes that. Immediately Kenji also wants to organize a music festival. This level of ambition doesn’t exactly match Jarmusch’s characters.

In addition, the animation style of ‘On-Gaku’ is very striking, especially for a time when Pixar and Disney dominate the world of animation. It is not only quite different from western animation but also closer to home, such as Studio Ghibli. The drawing style of ‘On-Gaku’ consists solely of pencil marks, very thin and flat. Sometimes the film almost falls apart and seems to disappear in one big beige area. However, when punk or other music blares out of the speakers, the animating style looks hard and dirty. Then everything comes alive. In addition, mostly only the characters move. Their background is often as static as that in Yasijro Ozu films. Furthermore, ‘On-Gaku’ is pale in terms of color palette and therefore not nearly as sweet as that of many animation films. Nevertheless, the minimal approach captivates. Perhaps the strength of this approach is that it does not draw attention to itself. This creates more space for the very specific humour. Moreover, the makers have implemented the minimal style so consistently that when something changes in it, it really adds something to the emotional resonance. This makes ‘On-Gaku’ almost unique in its kind: it contains both the simple and complex emotions of our adolescence. Cork-dry, but also certainly worth a melancholic tear.