Happy-Go-Lucky Days Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

Happy-Go-Lucky Days Blu-ray Movie Review

Stories of love and passion.

Happy Go Lucky Days is an anthology feature exploring personal relationships. The anime feature is adapted from the original manga by creator Takako Shimura. Executive produced by Hirofumi Itō and Tetsu Kuchigōchi, Happy Go Lucky Days is a quiet exploration of the inter-connectivity of people and their sex lives.

The story explores the sex lives of Sayoko (Fairouz Ai), Shin-chan (Ibuki Kido), Ecchan (Kana Hanazawa), Mika-chan (Kaori Ishihara), Aya-san (Mikako Komatsu), Yagasaki-kun (Seiichirō Yamashita), and Sawa-sensei (Takahiro Sakurai). These are the central characters. Happy Go Lucky Days is their story.

The first short in the anthology explores an unexpected romance that blossoms between two women while attending the wedding of a close female friend. In the second short, a male student confesses to his older male professor that he harbors feelings for him and has for quite some time – and the student is surprised to learn that the connection is mutual. The last two segments explore the close friendship of two youths – both of whom became close as kids and then began to have romantic feelings for one another as adults.

The characters are at the heart of the production. The anime focuses on exploring these characters and their quiet idiosyncrasies in life. The exploration of the journey of the heart (and all that this entails) remains essential to the filmmaking. The anthology finds ways to focus on each of the characters without losing sight of the concept and the vision.

The animation is the best component of Happy Go Lucky Days. The animation production by Liden Films – Kyoto Studio (She and Her Cat: Everything Flows, Monster Strike: A Rhapsody Called Lucy – The Very First Song) is outstanding. Happy Go Lucky Days is a beautiful looking animated production. There are so many details that are well realized in the production.

Much of the success of the animation is due to the animation direction by Eriko Haga (Love and Lies, Monster Strike: The Movie) and Haruka Sagawa (Monster Strike: The Movie, Revue Starlight: The Movie). Alongside efforts by Happy Go Lucky Days art director Yukihiro Saitō (Boarding School Juliet, Magical Sempai), the animation is uncompromising in vision. The art style is beautiful and bold. The use of color is impressively realized. A wonderful example of the uniqueness of anime from a visual standpoint.

Romance begins.

The character designs by Haruka Sagawa (Sorcery in the Big City, Call of the Night) are outstanding as well. The design work is one of the best elements of the production. The cast of characters all appear distinct and unique. There is a sense of the production understanding the importance of making the characters more original within each of the short stories (and the respective frameworks). This is certainly a compelling aspect of Happy Go Lucky Days.

The score composed by CreepHyp is one of the less successful elements of the production. The music doesn't stand out as well as one might hope to find in such a beautifully animated feature-film. The score simply seems to be a mere background accompaniment.

The film often has passages of pure quiet: these scenes are enhanced by the creative decision. Nonetheless, the score doesn't stand out particularly well. On the other hand, the sound direction by Takuya Satō is impressive, and the filmmaking has scenes with rain and other outdoor environment sounds making a mark.

The cinematography by Junpei Takatsu (Cells at Work! Code Black, Chronos Ruler) showcases the vision of the story. Happy Go Lucky Days is a beautiful and bold looking anime production. The cinematography highlights these elements. The use of lighting is effectively realized.

The screenplay by Takuya Satō and co-screenwriters Yasunori Ide (Lemon Angel, Leviathan: The Last Defense) and Yoriko Tomita (Hi Score Girl, Fire Force) is less consistent as one might have hoped to find. The script has some interesting stories but the short nature of the project seems to keep these too brief (in some respects). One can't help but wonder what Happy Go Lucky Days would have been like as a television mini-series instead of as a short feature-film.

Directed by Takuya Satō (Girls Beyond the Wasteland, Kase-san and Morning Glories), Happy Go Lucky Days is a beautiful production and it is brought to life well by the filmmaker – in regards to visual finesse. The storytelling could have been expanded (and some elements could have been improved) but the end results are still reasonably engaging. Happy Go Lucky Days is a sweet slice-of-life anime feature and fans of the genre should consider it worth a watch.

Happy-Go-Lucky Days Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from Sentai Filmworks, Happy Go Lucky Days is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high-definition in the original aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The release for the feature-film is given a native high-definition presentation. The release is not an upscale of standard definition material (as seen on some anime releases). The animation looks spectacular on the release. Colors are vivid and bright. The cinematography looks exceptional. The line art is well detailed as well. The release doesn't suffer from any egregious looking artifacts or compression woes. This release offers a solid encode by Sentai Filmworks.

Happy-Go-Lucky Days Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release includes a lossless, high-resolution audio option: Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround sound (with English subtitles). The surround sound presentation is surprisingly engaging and effective at helping to enhance the experience. The surrounds are used to expand the soundstage for the sound-effects (with scenes featuring dripping rain and other naturalistic sounds making a big impression). Dialogue is clear, crisp, and easy to understand. The release does not include an English dub option. This may disappoint dub fans but the original Japanese language audio track is impressive and is a worthwhile method of viewing the feature-film.

Happy-Go-Lucky Days Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Japanese Promos (HD, 7:02)

The release also includes a selection of trailers promoting other releases available from Sentai Filmworks: The Severing Crime Edge (HD, 1:32), Nozo x Kimi (HD, 1:32), Girls und Panzer das Finale: Part 2 (HD, 00:47), and Ane Log (HD, 1:37).

Happy-Go-Lucky Days Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Happy Go Lucky Days is a beautifully animated feature and the results of the animators involved on the production are outstanding. The anthology explores stories of love and sex (in a unique and compelling way). The production is well directed by Takuya Satō (Girls Beyond the Wasteland, Kase-san and Morning Glories). The story could have used some improvements and the script may have benefited from an expanded edition but the feature is still worthwhile. The Blu-ray release has an impressive video-audio presentation. Recommended.