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| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rent | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 |
 Ggultra2764
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[series:4711#1552] | |
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Sing a Bit of Harmony was a film that got sandwiched in with Vivy -Fluorite Eye's Song- and Belle in 2021 with its focus on AI and technology within a near-future setting. The name Yatsuhiro Yoshiura may ring a bell to some folks as he was the director behind the highly acclaimed 2008 ONA, Time of Eve, with its mundane focus on androids and exploring how life would seem from their perspective as they secretly have gained sentience. Sing a Bit of Harmony dabbles into somewhat similar elements of exploring a near-future setting with technology as a company is testing out a new AI-programmed robot named Shion to attempt having her blend in with students at a high school as loner student Satomi, who attends the school, is the daughter of Shion's lead programmer and finds her life getting hectic with Shion attempting to give her "happiness." This film has a number of the familiar drama beats you may see from other coming-of-age films that include a lonely teenager being an outcast and another character coming along to help liven up their lives and improve their interactions with others, this chemistry focused on with Satomi and Shion. The AI focus comes into play with exploring the bond between humans and technology with Shion's attempts to bond with Satomi and several of her classmates, as her infectious energy and antics clash with the otherwise mundane environment from her human companions who believably react to her outrageous behavior. This does make things feel a bit different from most sci-fi titles that depict AI as being logical and to the point in their interactions with others, as Shion's lively personality and inability to blend in with students due to unintentionally showing off her inhuman abilities does add some additional dimension to her character with her efforts to make others happy. Elements of Shion's character hint to a more closer connection she has to Satomi than expected that the film does explore as things progress with it. Outside of the focus on the main duo, there is focus on some of the issues affecting several of Satomi's classmates that Shion gets herself involved in as well, notably Satomi's childhood friend and talented engineer Toma. The film has enough time to flesh out and provide some sort of resolution to these issues, though it does get a bit clumsy with handling moments of teenage angst affecting the characters. Overall in spite of having some typical elements of a coming-of-age drama, Yoshiura's touch on the genre with Sing a Bit of Harmony makes Shion's lively character quite different from typical depictions of AI in media and offers some solid exploration on the idea of humans and technology having positive relationships with one another, even if feeling a little romanticized compared to his earlier work on Time of Eve. I'd at least give it a watch, even if it doesn't completely break any new ground as far as its coming-of-age drama elements go. Last updated Sunday, September 03 2023. Created Saturday, September 02 2023. | ||||||||
