Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
Rihito Sajo, an honor student with a perfect score on the entrance exam and Hikaru Kusakabe, in a band and popular among girls, would have never crossed paths. Until one day they started talking at the practice for their school’s upcoming chorus festival. After school, the two meet regularly, as Hikaru helps Rihito to improve his singing skills. While they listen to each other’s voice and harmonize, their hearts start to beat together.
Dou kyu sei is a beautifully restrained 58-minute theatrical anime adaptation of Asumiko Nakamura's manga. Its greatest strength is its cinematography and visual style — Nakamura's distinctive elongated character designs are faithfully and strikingly rendered, with a muted, pastel palette and deliberate, quiet pacing that gives the film an unusual intimacy for anime romance. The plot is slender but sincere, a gentle coming-of-age romance that trades drama for emotional authenticity, though its brevity limits narrative depth. The voice acting is understated and naturalistic, fitting the tone without being particularly distinctive. Novelty is moderate — Boys' Love anime existed before this, though the film's contemplative, literary quality and faithfulness to a unique artistic source set it somewhat apart from genre conventions. The ending is tender and satisfying, closing the loop without melodrama, though it doesn't quite transcend to something truly memorable.