Musician here. The main reason why the final performance was so incredibly impactful is the way that each character was was playing their instrument. When they started playing, Nozomi and Mezori were both playing with relatively equal volume and we’re keeping pace with each other. As the piece continues, you can start to hear the oboe take the lead and the flute start to be overshadowed by the oboe. If you listen, you can hear Nozomi’s notes start to shake, she falls an 8th note behind Mezori on one of the measures, and she starts loosing tonality very slightly. At the end of the movement Mezori is playing better than she has throughout the entire movie, to contrast this, Nozomi is playing as quietly as a flute would allow without breaking notes. I think that this beautiful reflects the entire movie leading up to this point. They start playing in sync with each other, Mezori slowing down and lowering her volume to match Nozmi’s flute, which is a quieter instrument. But as the piece progresses, Nozomi starts to be left behind as Mezori starts to overshadow her. At the end, Nozomi is playing in tune again and synchronized with the rhythm, but she is playing as quietly as she can so that Mezori can really stand out. (This is my take on it. I have the talent to over analyze music, not deep philosophical meanings)

I'm really gonna miss Yamada movies made by Kyoani, its a shame she left the Studio but sort of understandable, after all she had to go through in the past few years

Liz is my favorite Naoko Yamada film. Out of all the film she had directed, liz is really loud in metaphore and subtle gesture, contrasting on how "silent" the movie is. Knowing this is her last movie at Kyoani is really hurt. I really hope they could make another movie that will top this one. Are you watching or planning to watch Heike Monogatari, Naoko Yamada's currently running series? They even brought Kensuke Ushio, and Yoshida (scriptwriter and composer of Liz) along.

Being inspired to stake a very large portion of my grade on this film is very relatable.

“I don’t know, the *bong* with all the metal trinkets attached to it” Excellent

I'm not smart enough to pick up on the nuances in film and media so all throughout the movie I never really questioned Mizore's view that she was Liz and Nozomi was the Blue Bird. so when the teacher told Mizore to consider if she were the bird it all made sense at once and splattered my brain-cell all over my monitor. It was awesome! I'm really glad essays like this exist because almost without exception, the shows I love have facets to them that are completely opaque to me and I wouldn't be able to appreciate otherwise.

I'm so glad that I watched Liz and the Blue Bird after I watched Chikai no Finale, such an amazing way to end my time watching Sound! Euphonium (for now, at least). This is like one of the only movies that could stand beside A Silent Voice in terms of resonating with me, sometimes I even have a hard time on deciding which impacted me more. Such a masterpiece.

Can I just say thank you for making this? What a wonderful retrospective this was; not only wonderful, but entertaining and humorous. I think you hit the nail on the head in just about every aspect of your analysis. Despite having watched this movie countless times myself, there were still things in this video that I had never noticed before. That's the whole fun of discussing movies online like this, right? One thing in particular that I appreciate about this video is that you gave some attention to the side cast of characters. I feel that in many ways, the growth of Mizore and Nozomi would have been impossible without the influences of the people around them. Mizore and Nozomi are in an unstable relationship at the beginning of the movie, but in order to realize it for themselves, they need to be shown examples of stable relationships. Nozomi gets Kumiko and Reina, and Mizore gets Ririka. I'll leave off with this theory: what if Nozomi and Mizore are both Liz and the Blue Bird at the same time? They both are clinging to each other too tightly-both seeing each other as the blue bird-and both have to learn how to give each other some space by the end of the movie.

this is prolly one of the best analyses i’ve listened to on this movie. great job 😭 also severely underrated

I went into Liz and the Bluebird with absolutely zero knowledge of the entire Sound! Euphonium series and to be honest I am glad this was my first exposure to the show. This anime is an absolute masterpiece to a series that is equally as astounding. The fact that no prior knowledge of the characters past from the series is necessary to enjoy this film is testament to how fantastic the storytelling is here. The animation conveys so much emotion from subtle shifts in body language to choices in color palette that little dialogue is necessary to convey the feelings of the main characters. The minimalist soundtrack is also a pure pleasure to behold, especially when presented and timed perfectly with that beautiful and fluid animation. Movies like this are the reason I love anime so much to this day. This is art.

So when you mentioned the performance of the soli by mezori at the start of the climax I find it best to compare it to the two times we heard this duet before. In the first, the flute is dominant giving almost no room for the oboe to have a say almost like talking to someone who loves the sound of their own voice. The oboe by contrast is meek, matching the flute but not in a way that really leads to conversation. The more interesting performance to me is the duet of kumiko and reina as this is a good demonstration of playing as a duet. Firstly kumiko understands when to speak up and what parts of her melody are the important parts and reina understands to play down when kumiko has those lines, though as the characters note its a much more assertive retelling that comes down more to the timbre of the instruments. Then to disect the third performance there are other comments which go in to much more detail then i ever could

I’ve been waiting for this since the chikai speedrun vid! Cant wait to watch

I was waiting for u to review my personal favorite movie

There's something very deeply relatable for me in Liz to Aoi Tori, I really love Mizore, though I think I'm more like Nozomi, especially at that age. I rewatch this movie regularly. It is special to me.

I would like to say I have carefully watched this video with popcorn and given it its fullest due attention but I haven't seen Liz & the Blue Bird - yes I know what abject heresy! I shall return and give you mad props at a later date till then enjoy my like/thumbs-up.

I've seen countless live film, some of my favorites are apocalypse now , taxi driver, the conversation , raging bull and come and see, I realized after watching the work of naoko yamada that the reason I loved these films is because of the subtle visual story telling and how they dwell on very specific hard to explain moods. Suddenly after getting into anime and it's film I ran into sound euphonium and then this. This is by far the best movie I've ever seen because it perfectly executes what I love about film. Also the way they load the feels and tension for the duet piece was incredible. I've never been moved to tears not from sadness or happiness but from sheer musical passion. Exceptional film. Def agree with some of the blue bird scenes but damn I forgive it for the other things it does.

Thank you very much for the wonderful video, I really liked it, I wish you good luck and success in your work! 🤗 😘

and now, theres 1 (2 if you count movie sepparate) piece im still waiting on to hear your take on it. As you mentioned, this was something to be looking forward to, however i do think it wasnt "not what i would expect" as it does shower Liz with the praise it deserves. For me if not for the yet accounted for Violet story, this would easily top the list of my favourite piece of media through time, along with its "sister" story hibike.

Liz and the bluebird, Greatest of all time. Zenith of the medium. Hallmark of media. Gold standard of storytelling. Apogee of creativity. Vertex of invention. Legend among legends. Peak fiction. 17/10 would watch again

As always your analysis is on point and it's a big pleasure to watch through. When I started watching this movie, I didn't even know it was from Hibike Euphonium, so it was a funny surprise. I don't have much more to say this time. This was a great video

Best video on Liz. Also, I haven't watched the Chikai video yet, but from the title I guess we agree on that one too

Woah. I’ve watched the movie twice now and maybe i’m not the brightest but i’ve finally got the metaphor. It just confused me. I’m surprised that this movie also captivated you, who had not much previous music knowledge. Also the soundtrack is just stunning. It also got me to really practice my instrument lol. this is rambly but thank you for this video

Great video, man! Liz and the blue bird is probably my favorite anime movie so I'm glad you enjoyed (can't believe you hate the blue bird tho) Waiting for your Violet Evergarden video now!

only 7 more subs! bout to hits 1000 subs, congrats!

Alright I saw the "almost" and needed to understand it. Now I see it's the blue bird that's the problem. I'll accept it, but I can't relate

I see you are a cultured man as well Edit: Fuck, you're good! I wonder how this movie will turn out if it made into a usual series?

First pronunciation of "oboe" was correct, your (first) explanation of the "(almost)" in the title of the video's very fair, and your description of the best scene in Liz gave me goosebumps. but your pronunciation of "Ririka" and your hatred of the blue bird breaks my eggs. 0/10, disliked so hard it publicly shows the dislike count, unsubscribing, blocking, reporting, and calling my dad (who works for youtube) to get you banned Also i think there's a way to buy the movie poster (or some Liz posters at least) somewhere so that you can actually frame it on your wall.

I totally went in thinking Nozome would be the blue bird but it was interesting Mizore was the whole time. If there was no twist I doubt I would have liked the movie. Because it felt like nothing was happening besides there being tension between the two. IDK it just would have felt like whatever they were building up to just didn't work if they didn't subvert expectations to me.

you know Liz and blue bird Voice by the same person. Cool right?

if you actually put a link below, that would've been next level trolls honestly

but is liz the blue bird?

i didnt really like the blue bird character either, she was more annoying than cute