Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.5

Inu-Oh Blu-ray Movie Review

Inu-Oh is a thrilling musical odyssey that takes audiences on a journey unlike anything ever seen before. Created by Hideo Furukawa, Inu-Oh is a testament to the strength of anime as a creative medium. The rock-opera anime production is imaginative and intelligent. Original character designs were by Taiyo Matsumoto and help to shape the visual language. Fans of unlikely rock epics will find a lot worth appreciating about the film.

Inu-Oh features stunning animation production by Science SARU (Ride Your Wave, Lu over the wall). With production and distribution from Aniplex (anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - The Movie: Mugen Train), Inu-Oh features theme music performed by Avu-chan and Mirai Moriyama. The voice cast includes Avu-chan, Mirai Moriyama, Kenjiro Tsuda, Tasuku Emoto, and Yutaka Matsushige. No anime fan with a spirit of adventure and an interest in imaginative filmmaking will want to miss this gem.

Inu-Oh (Avu-chan) is born in to a family of esteem and wealth. Yet despite the heritage of his family, Inu-Oh is also born with a curse. Inu-Oh is unable to fit in easily with others around him and he always feels left out as a result. Yet Inu-Oh manages to meet and befriend a musician named Tomona (Mirai Moriyama). Tomona is unlike most musicians – he is blind and yet he perseveres anyway.

The unlikely pair become close friends and start to host their own electric rock concerts. The concerts become huge events and countless people come to see Inu-Oh and Tomona perform at their shows. Despite the nice success of the band, there are those who wish to see them fail. Can Inu-Oh and Tomona overcome all obstacles to be the rock group to end all rock groups?

The character designs are fantastic and are a testament to the strength of animation as a medium for storytelling. The character designs by Nobutake Ito (Lu over the wall, The Tatami Galaxy) bring the anime world to life. The designs are unique and creative in approach – making the world building enormously effective. These characters are more wondrous in design than one might expect. The production has a evocative feeling of being a classical world of art and the character designs reflect the bold direction of the animation.

The animation is stunning. Inu-Oh features some of the most imaginative and compelling feature-film animation that the anime medium has ever seen. The visual language of the film is something to be celebrated and championed. The art style evokes hand-drawn art and classical animation (from a different era) while being sleek and sophisticated for modern sensibilities. The art direction by Hideki Nakamura (Cat Soup, Inuyashiki Last Hero) is first-rate and adds a lot of visual splendor to the film and its sense of style.

Under the chief animation direction of Satoshi Nakano (Pokémon the Movie: Hoopa and the Clash of Ages, Pokémon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle) and Yoshimichi Kameda (Space Dandy Season 2, Paroru no Miraijima), Inu-Oh is a masterpiece of animation. The animators brought together a visual sense of splendor that is so unlike anything else out there. The visionary sense of style feels both cutting edge and nostalgic at the same time.

There is something profoundly special about the animation style and the manner in which it helps to enhance the filmmaking. The experience is heightened by a wide margin because of the stunning animation featured throughout the production. For an anime rock opera, the animation feels so perfectly in tune with the concept of the film that it brings the story to life in an evocative manner.

The cinematography by Yoshihiro Sekiya (If Her Flag Breaks, Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!) is lush and organic looking. The visual splendor of Inu-Oh is a sensory blast. The animation is highlighted well by impressive cinematography by Sekiya. Sekiya understands the filmmaking style and brought visuals forward that enhance and deepen a appreciation of the film.

The score composed by Yoshihide Otomo (Lupin Zero, Orange) is one of the best elements of the film. Alongside the song selections, the music of Inu-Oh is front-and-center. The score and songs provide enormous depth to the filmmaking. The music is profound and hypnotic. The rock opera aspect is essential to the foundation of the filmmaking. Inu-Oh wouldn’t be the same without the strong emphasis on music. It was essential to the film that the music ebb and flow with the storytelling perfectly. An exceptional effort by Otomo.

Written by Akiko Nogi (I am a Hero, Library Wars), Inu-Oh is a compelling tale and one that uses the script as a essential glue to the rest of the production. Though the dialogue and story might take a backseat to the spectacle at hand (with the film being a rock opera, after all), the script excels and manages to find a good balance of character moments and dramatic depth to accompany the nice spectacle.

Masaaki Yuasa (The Tatami Galaxy, Ride Your Wave) directs. Yuasa is one of the most gifted and important modern anime filmmakers working in the medium. Yuasa is one of my favorite anime filmmakers and a talent that is impossible to ignore. The brilliant auteur filmmaker has a strong understanding of the medium and the capabilities of anime to explore a variety of genres and a variety of styles. Yuasa does something quite unlike anything else in his career with Inu-Oh.

Though some of the stylistic choices of the director may recall The Tatami Galaxy for fans the heart of the film is refreshingly original and as an ambitious rock-opera anime. The creative direction of the film is exciting, bold, and innovative. A testament to Yuasa as one of the best anime filmmakers. No anime fan with an interest in original and compelling works will want to miss the genius of Inu-Oh. Inu-Oh is a revelatory experience.

Inu-Oh Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Released on Blu-ray from Shout Factory and GKids, Inu-Oh is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high-definition presentation in the original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.39:1 widescreen. The release is presented with a high-bitrate encode with a 35mbps average bit-rate. The presentation quality on the release is exceptional. The colorful animation appears robust and detailed on the release.

The art is crisp and well-defined on the release. The line art is stunning in appearance and there are never compression woes to distract from the viewing experience. The encoding benefited from the enormous bit-rate and the image is nearly flawless throughout the entire high-definition presentation. An outstanding presentation by GKids.

Inu-Oh Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release includes a selection of lossless audio options: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (with English subtitles). The release has received 24-bit high-resolution audio encoding. The lossless audio encoding on the release is outstanding and is a good example of why 24-bit depth audio makes a huge difference in sound reproduction. This is one of the best aspects of the release.

The lossless audio is crisp and dynamic sounding throughout the entire feature-film. Dialogue sounds well reproduced throughout. The score and songs have a sense of vitality and depth that will floor audiences. The sound direction by Eriko Kimura (Penguin Highway, Lu over the wall) is strong and imaginative. The surrounds are actively engaged and the soundstage is creative and enveloping. Outstanding. The audio is revelatory and makes the film all the more fantastic to experience.

Inu-Oh Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The first print run of the release includes a nice o-card slipcover.

On disc extras include:

Interview with Masaaki Yuasa (HD, 12:02)

Q&A at US Premiere (HD, 13:48)

Yuasa Draws Inu-Oh (HD, 12:13)

Scene Breakdown (HD, 24:03)

Trailers and Teasers (HD, 5:39)

Inu-Oh Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Inu-Oh is a masterpiece of animation. The anime gem is a rock opera with a sense of imagination quite unlike anything else to ever come before. Directed by the genius auteur Masaaki Yuasa (Ride Your Wave), Inu-Oh is a must-see cinematic event that demands to be seen any anime fans and even audiences unfamiliar with the medium of Japanese animation. The production has exceptional animation, compelling storytelling, and breathtaking music by Yoshihide Otomo. An engaging sensory experience, Inu-Oh is a must-see film.

The Blu-ray release features a stunning video and audio presentation. The release benefits from a high bit-rate encode and 24-bit high-resolution audio. The audio presentation is the real star of the show, providing an immersive and dynamic audio experience that is revelatory. The release also includes supplementals delving in to the production with Masaaki Yuasa. A well-rounded release. Highly recommended.