Jazz up your January with a big screen performance that combines an award-winning story with a score by world-renowned musicians. Anime Limited have announces that BLUE GIANT will be the opening act of 2024, coming exclusively to selected cinemas across the UK and Ireland from 31st January 2024!
Adapted from the internationally renowned manga by Shinichi Ishizuka, Blue Giant tells the story of Dai Miyamoto, a high school student whose life is turned upside down the day he discovers jazz. Picking up a saxophone and leaving his sleepy hometown for the bustling nightclubs of Tokyo, Dai will find that the life of a professional musician isn’t for the faint of heart, as he must confront what it truly means to be great.
Directed by Yuzuru Tachikawa (Mob Psycho 100), BLUE GIANT is a moving ode to the power of music and the artist, featuring a powerful and energetic score composed by world-renowned virtuoso pianist Hiromi Uehara, who performed during the opening ceremony of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Uehara is also joined by Shun Ishikawa of Millennium Parade (Mamoru Hosoda’s BELLE) and saxophonist Tomoaki Baba.
Since the original manga’s publication in Big Comics magazine, BLUE GIANT has earned critical acclaim and been nominated for numerous awards, winning the Japan Media Arts Festival Award and the Shogakukan Manga Award. Continuing its success on the big screen, the film was shown as a sneak preview screening at the 2023 Annecy International Film Festival, and won the Audience Award at the 2023 Scotland Loves Anime festival.
Synopsis:
Dai Miyamoto’s life is turned upside down the day he discovers jazz. A former high school basketball player, Dai picks up a saxophone and begins practising day and night, determined to become one of the greatest of all time. He leaves his sleepy hometown for the bustling nightclubs of Tokyo, but soon finds the life of a professional musician is not for the faint of heart. His passion eventually wins over the cocky but talented pianist Yukinori, and after Dai convinces his friend Shunji to learn the drums, they launch a new jazz trio whose rough sound contains a raw energy that quickly wins attention from local audiences. But what does it take to truly be great?
From director Yuzuru Tachikawa (Mob Psycho 100) and based on the award-winning manga, Blue Giant is a moving ode to the power of music and the artist, featuring electric performances and a stunning jazz soundtrack.
BLUE GIANT will be released in selected cinemas across the United Kingdom and Ireland from 31st January 2024 in Japanese with English subtitles. Will you be checking out BLUE GIANT when it arrives on the big screen? Let us know in the comments. Don’t forget to check out more anime news right here.
