Summary
Yuzuru Tachikawa is a name that should be very familiar to anime fans afterhis three seasons directingMob Psycho 100, to say nothing of a positively glowing career besides it. His newest film,Blue Giant, is soon making its North American debut courtesy of GKIDS, and while it might not be as grand and bombastic asMob Psycho, it looks quite gorgeous.
Based on the award-winning manga from 2013 by Shinichi Ishizuka,Blue Giantwas released in theaters in Japan on June 24, 2025, animated by Studio NUT (Saga of Tanya the Evil,Deca-Dence). GKIDS announced its acquisition ofBlue Giantearlier this year and on July 22, 2025, released a new trailer announcing that it will come to theaters on October 8 and 9.
RELATED:The Best Music Anime, Ranked
What is Blue Giant?
Blue Giantfollows Dai Miyamoto, a middle school basketball player whose life is changed forever when his friend takes him to a live jazz performance that connects with him like nothing else.Despite his inability to read sheet music, much less any sort of tutelage, he decides to start playing the saxophone, and dreams of becoming the greatest jazz player in the world.
Self-taught and going it alone, his journey to becoming the best takes him to Tokyo, where he befriends pianist Yukinori Sawabe and drummer Shunji Tamada. While it takes some convincing, they form a group and face the pressures of the finest stages in the city while trying to find their rhythm together, confronting their self-doubts and limitations.
Jazz and anime have gone hand-in-hand over the decades, notably the works of Shinichiro Watanabe such asCowboy Bebopor the Studio MAPPA period pieceKids on the Slope. Additionally, there arethe soundtracks of works likeDurararaorACCA-13. For a story all about jazz, the bar is set quite high, butBlue Giant’s composer is poised to raise that bar.
The Production Team
The film is composed by Grammy award-winning jazz composer and pianist Hiromi Uehara, who won Best Contemporary Jazz Album in 2011 for her work with The Stanley Clarke Band. As credited in GKIDS' recent trailer, Uehara herself will be performing the piano, while jazz musician Tomoaki Baba will play the sax, and percussionist Shun Ishiwaka will play the drums. Additional music is being provided by Kazuma Jinnouchi (Suzume,RWBY: Ice Queendom)
This is Yuzuru Tachikawa’s second time directing a full production for the studio, the first being 2020’sDeca-Dence. He’s joined by chief animation director Yuichi Takahashi, who held the same role onVivy: Flourite Eye’s Song,and the upcomingMononokemovie. His work onVivy, in particular, might give audiences a good idea of what to expect from the film’s performances.
Vivy’s art style was famous for moments of impeccably detailed shots, especially in the way the light played off of reflective surfaces and fabric. InBlue Giant’s case, during the height of the performances, the lighting, detail, and character acting wonderfully convey the exertion by the musicians. The myriad folds and creases in Miyamoto’s shirt under the harsh spotlight give him the look of a man drenched in sweat, putting everything into his act.
The animation looks to not only express itself through realism but also some more abstract expressionism. Check out the above clip and notice the ways thatthe energy of the musicis visualized through the lightning effects coming off the saxophone or the colorful bursts popping with each hit of Tamada’s drums. When someone says “a jazz anime by the director ofMob Psycho,” this is exactly what one should imagine.
The only thing that might take the viewer out of it is the CGI and this isn’t the first music-oriented anime with to be bogged down somewhat by 3D animation.Givenis one of the most belovedmusic anime in recent years and many of its concert scenes are 3D. This makes sense because it’s cheaper and because hand-animating the kind of articulation that goes into playing instruments is difficult and expensive.
Even with some CGI, however, this film overall looks gorgeous, from the performances to the nighttime cityscapes, to the pencil-drawn look of shadows over the characters' faces. Whether as a lover of jazz or a fan of Tachikawa’s work, interested to see where this director goes next,Blue Gianthas a lot to be excited about.
