# Blue Giant (BLUE GIANT) (2023 film)
**Blue Giant** is a 2023 Japanese animated drama film directed by Yuzuru Tachikawa, adapted from Shinichi Ishizuka's jazz manga of the same name. It follows Dai Miyamoto, a high school student from Sendai who takes up the tenor saxophone, moves to Tokyo, and forms the jazz trio JASS with pianist Yukinori Sawabe and drummer Shunji Tamada. The film was released in Japan on February 17, 2023, runs 120 minutes, and features a score composed and performed by the jazz pianist [Hiromi Uehara](https://www.edgepedia.org/hiromi-uehara).[1](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/9959) • [2](https://eiga.com/movie/95954/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Japanese release | February 17, 2023; 120 minutes; drama/animation; distributed by TOHO Visual Entertainment[1](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/9959) |
| Director | Yuzuru Tachikawa, known for *Death Parade*, *Mob Psycho 100*, and the *Detective Conan* films *Zero the Enforcer* and *Black Iron Submarine*[3](https://db.nipponconnection.com/en/film/2423/blue-giant?darkmode=y) |
| Source material | Ishizuka Shinichi's manga *Blue Giant*, serialized in Shogakukan's *Big Comic* from 2013, winner of the Grand Prize in the Manga Division at the 20th Japan Media Arts Festival[1](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/9959) |
| Music | Composed by Hiromi Uehara, who also performed the in-film pieces, with leading players from the Japanese jazz scene participating[1](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/9959) • [2](https://eiga.com/movie/95954/) |
| Voice cast | Yuki Yamada (Dai Miyamoto), Shotaro Mamiya (Yukinori Sawabe), Amane Okayama (Shunji Tamada)[1](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/9959) |
| Production | Studio NUT; screenplay by NUMBER 8, the manga's story director and Ishizuka's editor[1](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/9959) • [4](https://www.tokion.jp/en/2023/05/20/pianoman-number8/) |
| Encore release | After a successful first run in spring 2023, a re-edited version with a larger budget premiered at the Tokyo International Film Festival in October 2023[5](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2023/11/23/film/blue-giant-jazz-in-anime/) |
## Spoilers
### Story and characters
Dai Miyamoto is a high school student in Sendai, a former basketball player whose life changes after a friend takes him to a live jazz performance. He begins practicing the tenor saxophone day and night, unable to read sheet music but playing with full commitment, and moves to Tokyo after graduation.[1](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/9959) • [6](https://www.annecyfestival.com/about/archives%3Aen/2023%3Aen/programme%3Aen/2023-programme-index%3Ardv-200001503295)
At a live music club he meets Yukinori Sawabe, a talented pianist of his own generation who grew up in a family of musicians and favors precise technique over improvisation. The two decide to form a band, and Dai's classmate Shunji Tamada takes up the drums as a complete beginner, completing the jazz trio JASS.[1](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/9959) • [7](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/jan/29/blue-giant-review-anime-jazz-hiromi-uehara) Their goal is to perform at So Blue, Japan's top jazz club, and to change the [Japanese jazz](https://www.edgepedia.org/japanese-jazz) scene.[2](https://eiga.com/movie/95954/)
The three characters represent different approaches to music: Dai channels raw emotion through his saxophone despite only four years of playing, Yukinori is restrained and technically exacting, and Shunji brings beginner's enthusiasm to the drums.[7](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/jan/29/blue-giant-review-anime-jazz-hiromi-uehara)
## Production
The film adapts the first part of Ishizuka's manga, which ran in Shogakukan's semi-monthly magazine *Big Comic* from 2013 to 2016 and sold more than eleven million copies in Japan.[4](https://www.tokion.jp/en/2023/05/20/pianoman-number8/) • [8](https://www.shogakukan.co.jp/pdf/Shogakukan_Fall_2023_Catalogue_FICTION.pdf) The series won the Grand Prize in the Manga Division at the 20th Japan Media Arts Festival and placed third in the Manga Taisho awards.[1](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/9959) • [9](https://docs.ficomic.com/IMAGES_39/dossier-30-manga-en-v4.pdf)
**Animation choice.** Ishizuka said a live-action adaptation had been proposed earlier, but he preferred animation because a live actor playing the saxophone would fix the character's image to one individual, while animation leaves the character more open. Toho's offer to produce it as an anime matched that view.[10](https://cinemore.jp/jp/news-feature/2844/article_p1.html)
NUMBER 8, who had worked as the manga's editor and story director alongside Ishizuka, wrote the screenplay and said he had long wanted the job if a film were made. He described the film's structure as different from the manga, with live performance scenes as essential factors and the characters heightening their emotions in a process leading toward the shows.[4](https://www.tokion.jp/en/2023/05/20/pianoman-number8/)
The animation was produced by studio NUT, with Yuichi Takahashi as character designer and chief animation director.[1](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/9959) Reviewers noted the production mixes hand-drawn 2D work with CG sequences during performances, a combination that drew mixed assessments: the IFFR review praised the performance sequences as spectacular and inventive, while a [Crunchyroll](https://www.edgepedia.org/crunchyroll) review criticized the CG as clashing with the 2D design and feeling unfinished in places.[11](https://icsfilm.org/reviews/iffr-2024-review-blue-giant-tachikawa-yuzuru/) • [12](https://www.crunchyroll.com/pl/news/features/2023/3/26/review-blue-giants-anime-adaptation-brings-jazz-to-the-big-screen-but-at-what-cost)
## Music
The score was composed by Hiromi Uehara, the internationally known jazz pianist, who also performed the pieces used in the film; other leading players from the Japanese jazz scene took part, and reviews single out saxophonist Tomoaki Baba and drummer Shun Ishiwaka alongside Hiromi on keys.[1](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/9959) • [2](https://eiga.com/movie/95954/) • [11](https://icsfilm.org/reviews/iffr-2024-review-blue-giant-tachikawa-yuzuru/) Ishizuka said Uehara composed nearly all of the in-film music, an answer to readers who describe the manga as one where "you can hear the sound" while reading.[10](https://cinemore.jp/jp/news-feature/2844/article_p1.html)
The Guardian's review called the score sublime and described the live-music sequences as spectacularly animated, with solos rendered as tongues of flame and electrical currents flowing from the instruments.[7](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/jan/29/blue-giant-review-anime-jazz-hiromi-uehara) The IFFR review noted that the film plays jazz performances out in their entirety, prompting spontaneous applause at festival screenings.[11](https://icsfilm.org/reviews/iffr-2024-review-blue-giant-tachikawa-yuzuru/)
## Release and reception
The film opened in Japan on February 17, 2023, and screened as a sneak preview at the 2023 Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June.[1](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/9959) • [6](https://www.annecyfestival.com/about/archives%3Aen/2023%3Aen/programme%3Aen/2023-programme-index%3Ardv-200001503295) The Japan Times described it as the sleeper hit of the year: its first spring run was popular enough in [Japan](https://www.edgepedia.org/japan-epzdpsev89) and overseas that Tachikawa was given a larger budget to re-edit the film, and the encore version premiered at the 36th Tokyo International Film Festival in October 2023 before opening again across Japan.[5](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2023/11/23/film/blue-giant-jazz-in-anime/)
**International release.** GKIDS acquired North American distribution rights, and the film received a limited theatrical release in the United States and Britain in October 2023.[13](https://gkids.com/tag/blue-giant/) • [14](https://www.dexerto.com/anime/blue-giant-netflix-2884066/) It later reached Netflix in the United States and Canada on September 1, 2024, with earlier Netflix debuts in Japan (March 2024) and other territories.[15](https://flixboss.com/movie/blue-giant-81763062) In Hong Kong it earned HK$2,114,058 from 30,416 admissions during its 2023 run.[16](https://www.fdc.gov.hk/en/publication/Hong%20Kong%20Film%20Industry%20Data%202023_EN.pdf)
Critical response was largely positive about the music and performance animation. The Guardian praised the film's rendering of the physical ecstasy of live performance while noting that its jazz world remains an all-male one on screen.[7](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/jan/29/blue-giant-review-anime-jazz-hiromi-uehara) The IFFR review called it "a triumphant ode to the artform," while finding the between-performance character work less distinctive.[11](https://icsfilm.org/reviews/iffr-2024-review-blue-giant-tachikawa-yuzuru/)
## References
1. [JFDB – BLUE GIANT](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/9959)
2. [映画.com – BLUE GIANT 作品情報](https://eiga.com/movie/95954/)
3. [Nippon Connection – BLUE GIANT](https://db.nipponconnection.com/en/film/2423/blue-giant?darkmode=y)
4. [TOKION – Interview with NUMBER 8 on "Piano Man"](https://www.tokion.jp/en/2023/05/20/pianoman-number8/)
5. [The Japan Times – Sleeper hit anime 'Blue Giant' gets an encore](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2023/11/23/film/blue-giant-jazz-in-anime/)
6. [Annecy Festival 2023 Programme – Blue Giant](https://www.annecyfestival.com/about/archives%3Aen/2023%3Aen/programme%3Aen/2023-programme-index%3Ardv-200001503295)
7. [The Guardian – Blue Giant review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/jan/29/blue-giant-review-anime-jazz-hiromi-uehara)
8. [Shogakukan Fall 2023 Catalogue (Fiction)](https://www.shogakukan.co.jp/pdf/Shogakukan_Fall_2023_Catalogue_FICTION.pdf)
9. [Ficomic Press Kit – Manga (BLUE GIANT, Manga Taisho)](https://docs.ficomic.com/IMAGES_39/dossier-30-manga-en-v4.pdf)
10. [CINEMORE – Director's Interview Vol.283 with Shinichi Ishizuka](https://cinemore.jp/jp/news-feature/2844/article_p1.html)
11. [ICS Film – IFFR 2024 review: Blue Giant](https://icsfilm.org/reviews/iffr-2024-review-blue-giant-tachikawa-yuzuru/)
12. [Crunchyroll News – REVIEW: Blue Giant's Anime Adaptation Brings Jazz to the Big Screen](https://www.crunchyroll.com/pl/news/features/2023/3/26/review-blue-giants-anime-adaptation-brings-jazz-to-the-big-screen-but-at-what-cost)
13. [GKIDS Films – Blue Giant](https://gkids.com/tag/blue-giant/)
14. [Dexerto – Blue Giant Netflix](https://www.dexerto.com/anime/blue-giant-netflix-2884066/)
15. [Flixboss – BLUE GIANT on Netflix](https://flixboss.com/movie/blue-giant-81763062)
16. [Hong Kong Film Industry Information 2023](https://www.fdc.gov.hk/en/publication/Hong%20Kong%20Film%20Industry%20Data%202023_EN.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Films by genre, form, and subject › Animated and short films › Japanese anime features › Released 2014 to 2026*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license