Genius Party 7 – Baby Blue

So far I’ve skipped Genius Party 3 and 5 because they are not yet translated and unfortunately my Japanese isn’t good enough to fully understand them. So for now this is a review of Baby Blue, the seventh and final Genius Party short. I’ve wanted to see this ever since I heard Shinichiro Watanabe was the director and it did not disappoint.

Baby Blue tells the story of two high school students, a boy named Shou and a girl named Hazuki, who take the day off from school. On this day Shou decides to “forget about tomorrow and the future and go somewhere.” The rest of the film, which is just under 15 minutes long, follows them on their journey as they try to get to the beach to set off some firecrackers.

A growing up story about two childhood friends has been done a thousand times before but Baby Blue never felt like a boring re-hash. This is partly because the interactions between Hazuki and Shou are refreshingly subtle. Watanabe doesn’t try to create too much tension or drama and because he keeps the dialogue fairly simple they feel like real humans instead of just anime stereotypes. 

The voices are a lot flatter than normal but somehow this doesn’t really detract, instead it helps create the relaxed mood. Perhaps part of the reason why they sound like this is because Yuya Yagira (Shou) and Rinko Kikuchi (Hazuki) have primarily done live-action not voice overs. 

The art in Baby Blue is very nice with good looking backgrounds. Whether on a train, in a classroom or riding on the highway it’s obvious the creators worked hard to make them realistic and pleasing. The clouds are especially impressive and although not quite Makoto Shinkai level I think he’d be proud.

Yoko Kanno worked on the music and once again she does a fantastic job. It enhances every emotion and perfectly matches the feeling of going on a trip… I want this soundtrack.

I certainly enjoyed this short a lot. The last scene was poignant without being sappy or unbelievable and it felt like a perfect send off to Genius Party.