In order to get you back in the bath after these two months of school holidays (for the luckiest of you), we come back to the Masked Noise (Fukumenkei Noise) license which had not gone unnoticed. Whether it's his manga published by Glénat, the anime at ADN or the feature film released last year.
Between musical universe, school routine and love emotion, the Justfocus editorial team played the conductors!
This review contains spoilers. To be read at your own risk.
Masked Noise
Original title: 覆面系ノイズ – Fukumenkei Noise
Alternate title: Masked Noise – Anonymous Noise
Gender: Romance – School – Musical
Country: Japan
Release date: November 25, 2017
Original manga: Ryoko FUKUYAMA
Synopsis :
As a child, Nino Arisugawa sang with Momo Sakaki who eventually moved. However, they promised to find each other thanks to his voice. The girl had also befriended another boy, Yuzu, who was composing melodies. Today, Nino is in high school and has not given up on her dream of seeing Momo again, which is why she has continued to work on her vocalizations. As fate would have it, she meets Yuzu again in high school. He is now part of the group "in NO hurry to shout". As for Momo, he already has a career as a composer and studies in the same school as Nino and Yuzu. The destiny of our three teenagers will then be set up…
Main cast
Ayami NAKAJO
Nino Arisugawa | Jun SHISON Kanade Yuzuriha | Yuta KOSEKI
Momo Sakaki |
Erina MANO [Hello! Project]
Mio Suguri (Orange) | Hayato ISOMURA
Ayumi Kurose | Yosuke SUGINO
Yoshito Haruno |
A common passion
The story of Masked Noise is quite simple or even classic since we follow the daily life of several high school students wanting to break into the world of music. It is therefore not really essential to know the work to appreciate its content. We had watched the anime a few months before so this live movie intrigued us a lot. The story revolves around three main protagonists namely Nino, Momo and Yuzu. These three heroes have a character, a vision and a past of their own and yet, they have a common passion for music. A passion that will also bring them together as the plot progresses where many revelations will be distilled to you.
However, the second theme mixing feelings of love, disappointments or even disillusionment will also be present. This love triangle is an opportunity to develop characters with their weaknesses and make them evolve! A good approach for the viewer to identify with one of them while enjoying the songs of the group "in NO hurry to shout". The band will not be unknown to those who know the anime because it is already present on both credits.
A love triangle
Our first character is that of Nino, she is the one around whom turns the entire pitch of the feature film. The actress takes the features of her model while adding human and warm sides in addition. Although this is not enough to make us fully appreciate it, especially because of its naivety too present and its tendency to take time to decide.
The interpreter of Momo, on the other hand, was able to enter his 2D counterpart by bringing a character between two fires, between pain and fear. We sympathize with him and understand that his choice to get away from Nino was not easy on the contrary… His relationship with this one although complicated is beautiful and endearing as the second concerning Yuzu and their rivalry both love and music!
Now let's talk about Yuzu. The young man is our favorite, he is an actor who continues to evolve in his game and to make his weapons in dramas and films. His role seems quite self-effacing in the face of the deep relationship between Nino and Momo. Nevertheless, he manages to find his place between them, much more than in the anime. We were touched by his presence on screen, especially in painful moments.
It is obvious that our trio slightly crowds out the other people behind them but Mio, Kuro and Haruyoshi have, in our humble opinion, not been present enough. None of these three protagonists has been exploited to the point of making us almost forget them.
Forward the music
Masked Noise's feature film is not bad, it is even very correct although lacking essential information and focusing too much on Nino, Yuzu and Momo. The plot holds up but sometimes lacks coherence or a different approach, depending on the vision of the protagonists. Music is the part that mainly interests us but it is relegated to the background to focus on the love triangle. It also lacks a real effort in the development of secondary actors (Mio, Kuro and Haruyoshi) not marked enough.
The big downside and not the least is in the rivalry presented by the group "SILENT BLACK KITTY", group created by Momo to compete with Nino and Yuzu. Here, we just got a stealth glimpse of his creation being nipped in the bud, which is a shame.
In itself, the scenario is wobbly, the realization does not stand out more but offers good plans during the concert where the costumes are faithfully represented. This adaptation does not stand out from the standards and exploits a subject seen and reviewed leaving us on our hunger while making us quickly forget it. The pitch is not recommended for those who know the license but may probably be better suited to neophytes! If you have a musical ear and are looking for a movie in this genre, it will be perfect but do not have too many expectations.
We were waiting for the live-action film adaptation of Masked Noise, yet just like its anime version, it remains too bland. The story lacks complexity and development but the credits of the film interpreted by MAN WITH A MISSION can always console you!
