English Dub Review: Her Blue Sky

We’ve got another anime movie written by Mari Okada finally getting dubbed, so it’s time to bust out the tissues. To those who may not be familiar with that name, Okada is a veteran writer in the industry, known for a ton of iconic works across a range of genres, such as Maquia: Where the Flowers Bloom, Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans, and most relevant as a point of comparison for our purposes today, Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day. I guess she also seems to like titles with colons and full sentences in them too. But in case you don’t know Anohana (or would rather forget it because it drove you to tears), it followed a group of high schoolers who used to be best friends but drifted apart after the death of one of their group, only to be pulled back together when the ghost of said friend appears to one of them. Tragic pasts are shared, secret unresolved crushes are shared, reconciliation is had by all. The reason I bring that show up in particular is because it seems the idea of ghosts being used for unresolved trauma and feelings seems to have stuck, going by this movie’s premise.

After a family tragedy destroys plans for Akane Aioi and her aspiring guitarist boyfriend Shinnosuke, the two drift apart. Thirteen years later, Akane’s younger sister, Aoi finds a ghost of a somehow still young Shinno trapped in a small house his band used to practice. This is increasingly odd as Shinno, despite being disillusioned about his musical dreams, is alive and well and now in his early 30’s. What follows is a story of things left unsaid, feelings bubbling up unexpectedly, a love triangle that’s also a square, and finding the courage to follow one’s dreams again even after giving them up. What’s fascinating to me, however, is this idea of a “living ghost”, or Ikiryo, that the younger Shinno represents. While this does share a lot of other qualities with Anohana, the main difference is that while Akane and Aoi’s parents do die in the sad backstory between these three (technically four) characters, the ghost who is sealed somewhere and needs to pass on for everyone to be at peace…is someone who is still among the living. That kinda takes out a lot of the heavy drama that would come from a ghost story like this but also manages to keep in the more interesting parts since we have two of the same character who both have very different views on the situation; one brimming with fire and optimism, the other clouded by cynicism and disappointment.

Though let it not be said that the sisters aren’t an active part of the story as well. Aoi is arguably the main character, dealing with her complex feelings of the idea of someone who she thought was gone and the real life present day version who would be far more disappointing. Meanwhile, Akane, despite being less involved with the supernatural aspect, is also an adult and trying to find her own path forward her own way. Basically, if you’ve ever heard of any of those titles by Mari Okada and enjoyed them, this is probably going to scratch the same itch, even if it likely won’t be covering much if any new ground that a work of hers hasn’t already done. Though frankly it really matters more if it’s done well, which I would say Our Blue Sky is. So, at less than two hours, I would say it’s well worth your time to check it out. But you should probably watch it with some friends and make sure you’ve got some tissues to go with the popcorn.