Harmonie

(A Non-spoiler review and what should you expect before diving in.)

I can totally understand if people won't like this short anime. It has open plot filled with unanswered questions and a umpteen possibilities for both the MCs future.

So before jumping into this take a step back from the usual anime and relate this anime with your own life experiences. Reminiscence the time you were in a similar position yourself. We all have done it -- Create a facade in front others so that they can just accept us and slowly pull up the curtain if you click with someone. This short anime is a ... mirror to our social life in society, whether you are an introvert or extrovert, you always show something else even to someone you actually really like, just for the sake of the approval.

Remember the time you first met the love of your life or someone you really like? Did you not portray yourself much more than you actually are?? Someone more to likes of the other person and the other person does the same thing if not show what they really are. This is how socialising and relationships work.

This anime is a satire of the our social lives. How we present ourselves in front of different people.

Now let's talk about the Story and plot :

The story is already explained by me, it's your and mine and our story. A story of our social life in the real world. As for the plot, it's an open plot story with so many possible endings -- Good, Bad, Complicated, Tragic, Dramatic, this anime can take any form of ending and there we have the metaphor of our lives. We also have all kinds of endings for us. The ending of this anime only is a beginning to a story, a story which can take any form when played further. JUST PUT YOUR OWN STORY AFTER THE ENDING OF THIS ANIME AND SEE HOW THIS ANIME IS A SATIRE OF OUR SOCIAL LIFE. (Story - 10/10)

The Art style :

The art style is great if not excellent. There is realistic vibe which surrounds the whole episode. The dull colors represent the satire which all the facades create around the classroom. Maybe I'm reading too much into this but it does make sense somehow. (Art & Style - 9/10)

Sound :

No seconds thoughts here. The music is downright fabulous. I'm not exaggerating but every piece of music only compliments the sequence which is going on. Not to mention the ED which is again -- A satire. (Sound & Music - 10/10)

Character development :

So there are 7+1 characters in the anime. 2 MCs, 2 Male MC's friends, 2 Female MC's friends, 1 Conflict character and The Girl who is +1 because she is an exposition one.

Both MCs have a world of there own, An introvert and an extrovert. Male lead is an introvert who wants to enter the Female leads world and for that what he needs is bridge -- a connection, a similarity. He kind of lucks himself in because of her initiative when she heard piano's music and did what she did next (won't say for spoiler's sake). Which not only made the bridge possible but also created that delusional ending. The male lead is not your typical anime character, he is as realistic as we are in life everyday. For the Female lead, she is the extrovert in story who has created a world for herself to live in (The reason explained by the+1 character and the other thing)

The supporting characters just explains and emphasizes the worlds of the both MCs. Who they actually are, well yeah there is more to her world, which is better if you uncover yourself by reading into the Dream sequence. (Characters - 10/10)

Overall - 8/10

I really liked this short anime. I would highly recommend watching this with no expectations of any drama, conflict, intense romance or satisfying/unsatisfied ending (like any other anime). Just expect an honest satire on our lives which the anime represents.
Yes, there is drama, conflict and romance in this short anime but doesn't our own lives have these 3 as well?? Satisfied or unsatisfied with how our relationships turn-out to be?? Well see for yourself...

Hope this extensive review helps.

It's an impossibility to fully understand someone, from their past, present and their current way of thinking, but one little connection is at least enough in order for that one person to open up to you...

Harmonie looks at what happens when this little connection opens

Harmonie is a 25 minute "movie" produced by Studio Rikka who previously worked and co-produced with Purple Cow Studio Japan on Sakasama no Patema and was presented in Anime Mirai of 2014.

For such a simple premise, Harmonie managed to execute it's premise in such such small timeframe of 25 minutes, the story focuses on Akio Honjou voiced by Yoshitsugu Matsuoka who ... happened to hear a ringtone from Juri Makina voiced by Reina Ueda and that is the catalyst and the connection to Harmonie's plot and theme.

For our main duo of this movie, Akio is your typically bland main male protagonist who just happens to have a talent in remembering songs and he somewhat overcomes his shyness that wasn't exactly elaborated on in the movie but he grows a spine through the course of Harmonie, however the more major focus is on Juri and her past she had gone through with the song in her phone being the connection and the "world" she is a part of. It's the song that allows Juri to open up to the only other person that even a little "gets" what she went through due to the "dreams" both Juri and Akio has/or had that has different implications for the both of them, with Akio seeing the song a way for Juri to open up while Juri sees the songs as something to best to be forgotten as it brings up terrible memories. But it's because of the song that Juri and Akio has that connection, that connection in order for Juri to not only open up to someone that was a stranger at first but also for her finally release her suppressed memories from her past as she has a someone that knows what she went through.

Minor characters are both for support in most cases however there is one rival character in the movie which LA won't name but LA saw that character as a bit of double edged sword for the movie, mainly because yes, it's to emphasize Akio being in the same wavelength as Juri but it's also felt like an "almost" cheap ploy for it to occur in the first place, yes high school and the such but nonetheless.

The animation done by Studio Rikka was competent enough considering with was presented in Anime Mirai of 2014 from the vibrant atmosphere to the daydream surreal world of "Juri's song" and the decent character designs. Studio Rikka's animation was great to say the least.

Voice acting was great as well from Yoshitsugu Matsuoka being in his niche role, but the rather interesting find was Reina Ueda as Juri Makina, a well known voice seiyuu in genki girl types though she did to odd "playing against the type" roles such as Ouka Ootori from Taimadou Gakuen 35 Shiken Shoutai and later on μ from Caligula and Reina as Juri is just another as LA almost mistook her vocals as Megumi Han, nonetheless the voice cast is great with the majority of the cast actually act like teenagers which they...kinda should be like, you know high school and all.

Harmonie is a VERY interesting look into how someone can enter your world even if it's one little connection that you share together be it a song or your hobbies, in which in happens quite regularly in every day life and Haromine effectively executes those themes of connections in such a short timeframe without feeling rushed and that that is a feat in itself.

Harmonie is a short 2014 film from Studio Rikka. You may know them as the studio what done Eve no Jikan. It also has the same creator/director, Yoshiura Yasuhiro. I don't know what to expect from it, but I did quite like Eve no Jikan. So, having the same studio and creative force as that isn't a bad sign.

Story:

We open with a young man talking about the concept that we all live in our own little worlds and can never truly enter someone else's. He posits that his world must be close to that of his two friends, hence why they get along really ... well and wishes that it could be closer to his crush's. He and his friends have a conversation while she has a conversation with her friends. During which one of them changes her ringtone. Class resumes and she gets rung, much to her dismay. He finds himself fascinated by the song and he's recreating it using a piano app on his phone. She happens to hear and wonders how he can recreate it after hearing it once for a very short time. He explains it as him just having a strong ear for music and asks her where he can find the full version. She hands him an old mp3 player, thereby inviting him for a glimpse of her world.

The biggest problem with the narrative is just that it's largely made up of very minor teenage drama. He likes her but she might have a boyfriend. Then the possible boyfriend gets jealous because they start to bond because he gets a glimpse into her reoccurring dream. It's less than compelling and something this short really needs to grab your attention quickly since you know it's not going to have a lot of opportunity to improve later. The narrative sequence is also a bit obvious.

The best part of the film, by far, is the dream sequence. The rest of it is a bit boring while that whole sequence actually grabs you attention and shows what looks to be an interesting little world.

Characters:

You wouldn't expect a twenty five minute film to have much in terms of characterisation. Which is certainly the case here. The characters are a pretty generic bunch designed to call common slice of life archetypes to mind and, thereby, build off of those characters you know to create the illusion that they're deeper than they actually are. The problem here is that the film's premise is working off of this idea of our individually constructed worlds and that doesn't exactly work as it should without characters who are actually well developed. It's no wonder the dream sequence used to showcase the love interest's own world has to be so outlandish. It's the only method they had to make her seem kind of interesting.

Art:

The film is very well drawn and animated. I'll give them full credit on that count. The dream sequence is, again, the part that really stands out positively. It has a very strong sense of atmosphere and some interesting visuals. The artwork outside of that still looks good, but the visuals themselves aren't that interesting. You've got a bunch of standard looking kids faffing about in a rather drab looking school.

Sound:

The acting is fair enough. Our main children were voiced by Ueda Reina, who I don't think I've heard in anything else, & Matsuoka Yoshitsugu who voiced Array in Rinne no Lagrange, a very minor character in Madoka and never appeared in anything else good. At least as far as things I've seen. They both deliver decent enough performances. As do the rest of the cast. The music is pretty nice. I like Kokia's performance for the theme tune.

Ho-yay:

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Final Thoughts:

Harmonie isn't nearly on the level of Eve no Jikan. Length is probably a major factor, since it's only twenty five minutes. But, ultimately, its big issue is just that the under-developed characters can't carry the premise. I do like the idea and I won't claim it's handled poorly, it's handled okay, given the short running time. So, my final rating for Harmonie is going to be a 6/10. It's an all right little film and it may be worth watching just for the dream sequence. Next week it's time to revisit a familiar franchise with a look at JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken: Diamond wa Kudakenai.