Sorairo Utility: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

Sorairo Utility: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie Review

Sorairo Utility is a slice-of-life comedy set against the backdrop of golfing. Sorairo Utility features animation production by Yostar Pictures. As broadcast on Television Kanagawa and Tokyo MX. Featuring the voices of Miyu Takagi, Ayasa Goto, and Yurina Amami.

Executive produced by Atsushi Matsumoto, Hirofumi Itō (Dark Gathering, Happy-Go-Lucky Days), Keisuke Aihara, Rieko Nagamine (The Elusive Samurai, Dealing with Mikadono Sisters Is a Breeze), Ryōsuke Inagaki (Harmonie, SSSS.Gridman), Toshio Iizuka (The Ancient Magus' Bride, Le Chevalier D'Eon), Yan Jie Pei (Arknights: Perish in Frost, Go! Go! Loser Ranger!), and Yasushi Miwa (The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten, Me and the Alien MuMu). Produced by Mai Miyaji (Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable!, Tokyo Mew Mew New), Masayo Kudō (Cute High Earth Defense Club Eternal Love!, Kamisama Kiss 2), Misuzu Kinashi (The Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess, Scar on the Praeter), Sadayoshi Kikuchi, Shunta Sugimoto (A Nobody's Way Up to an Exploration Hero), and Yoshimasa Okunaga (Akiba Maid War, The Marginal Service). Featuring theme song performances by Airi Suzuki (OP), Masayoshi Ōishi (OP), and Moeka Yahagi (ED).

Minami (Miyu Takagi) doesn’t know what to do with herself. Minami has spent most of her time online with one online video game that has now been shut down and discontinued. What is Minami to do?

A big question leads to experimenting to see what should come next. Minami tries out various clubs, sports, and hobbies to try and find something new to do. None of it works out until Minami stumbles into the game of golf.

Now Minami seems to find an unexpected and fierce passion inside of her for the art of swinging a golf club and hitting a golf ball. With friendship, passion, and energy, Minami may have managed to find her new passion with golf. Swing away!

The characters are quite charming. Minami is a great central protagonist. The character has a lot of fun learning about golf and getting into the sport. The character makes the series all the more enjoyable. Audiences will relate to the character. Anyone who has ever wondered about hobbies, sports, and everything in-between will find the character easy to relate to. The voice work is excellent, too. The voice actors put a lot of effort into bringing these characters to life. The results are exceptional and work well across the board.

The score composed by Daisuke Horita (Azur Lane Queen's Orders, Holy Knight Light) is excellent and one of the delights of the series. The music adds a lot of warmth to the production. The score adds charisma, charm, and energy in spades. The score is a good backdrop to the golf aspect of the anime series. The music works well for character moments, too.

The character designs by Kengo Saitō (Japan Animator Expo, Hallelujah: Unmei no Sentaku) are well done and add a lot to the production. The designs are top-notch and make the cast of characters stand out in compelling ways. The designs feel creative, inspired, and energized. There is a sense of unique creativity to the design efforts.

The animation is one of the best qualities of the production. The series features charming art direction by Yoshitaka Kudō (This Monster Wants to Eat Me) and chief animation direction by Kengo Saitō (Azur Lane: Slow Ahead!, When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace. The team of animators did a fantastic job with the series. The background animation and line art look exquisite during the series presentation. The animation is a clear highlight through and through.

The cinematography by Jiann Horng Wu (The Helpful Fox Senko-san, Zoku Touken Ranbu: Hanamaru.) is beautiful and essential to the storytelling. The cinematography shines with bright and radiant colors. A fantastic cinematographic effort and one that easily showcases the animation at its best.

Written by Yū Satō (The Legendary Hero is Dead!, Space Battleship Tiramisu), Sorairo Utility is a cute and sweet-natured series. The scripting is well done and has a good balance of character moments alongside comedic elements. The comedy of the series is one of the natural highlights of the anime production. A funny and cute series and one that remembers the importance of good lead characters for audiences to relate to.

Directed by Kengo Saitō (Blue: Line Step Brush), Sorairo Utility is a delightful slice-of-life anime series and one that will appeal particularly to fans of golf. The series is a nice delight and one that has plenty of fun energy in the filmmaking. The directing is solid and the production is all the better as a result. Sorairo Utility is a gem of an anime. There is so much radiance in the animation style, the characters, and the heart of the series.

Sorairo Utility: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Released on Blu-ray by Sentai Filmworks, Sorairo Utility is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high-definition in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The high-definition video transfer looks exceptional on the release. Colors pop with considerable depth and clarity. The art style is well showcased with fantastic clarity and detail throughout. The crisp animation is beautiful. The background animation and line art are well reproduced.

One of the great things about physical media and the Blu-ray format is the superior video encoding. Streaming video services are more compressed and the image is less consistent. The image can have more encoding or presentation errors on streaming and is usually not quite as crisp as on Blu-ray. A element that appeals to enthusiasts and collectors alike – for those seeking to eek out the best in the presentation.

Sorairo Utility: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release is presented in Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (with English subtitles). The release preserves the sound direction by Daisuke Horita (Azur Lane Queen's Orders, Holy Knight Light). An impressive soundstage. Dialogue is crisp, clear, and easy to understand. The soundtrack and score certainly sound well reproduced and integrated into the sound presentation. The sound effects are similarly well utilized and integrated into the presentation.

One aspect of the release that is a little disappointing is the lack of an English dubbed option for dub fans. The original language audio sounds fantastic but some anime fans prefer to stick to an English dubbed version so the lack of an English language option might cause some to pass on the anime altogether. Hopefully Sentai Filmworks can re-issue the series eventually with an English dub set, something that the company has done on other occasions under certain circumstances.

One of the coolest aspects of Blu-ray disc is the lossless audio encoding. Streaming video services only provide lossy (non-lossless) audio encoding. For home theater enthusiasts and audiophiles alike, the physical media option provides a superior experience with more refined audio through lossless encoding. The extra depth and clarity makes the presentation all the more enjoyable.

Sorairo Utility: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Clean Closing Animation (HD, 1:32)

Japanese Promo Videos (HD, 00:49)

A Special HAM Cast Round Table Discussion (HD, 18:16) is a nice roundtable discussion. The bonus feature is a pleasant surprise to find on the release. Sentai did well to include this on the box set.

Unfortunately, despite the inclusion of a nice roundtable discussion, the set is still somewhat sparse in regards to bonus features. The release could have benefited from some audio commentaries and cast and crew interviews. In the era of streaming, the more bonus features, the more likely someone may consider a purchase over a one-time stream.

Sorairo Utility: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Sorairo Utility is an entertaining and charming anime series. The animation looks lovely and the production values are wonderful. The lead character is a great protagonist. The series is a nice slice-of-life anime set around the world of golfing.

The Blu-ray release features an impressive high-definition presentation. The release comes with lossless audio, albeit the release does not provide an English dubbed option (which is a bit unfortunate for the release to only include the original Japanese language audio). The set comes with a small selection of bonus features – including a nice surprise in a roundtable discussion. The roundtable discussion does add some extra value to the set even if the release could have used an even more robust selection of bonus features. Fans of the series may wish to consider a purchase. Recommended.