"Harmony" is the second of a three-part theatrical project adapting the science-fiction writing of the late Japanese author Project Itoh. Each film of the ambitious project utilizes a different director and studio. If you look at reviews of the three films, "Harmony" should come across as the worst among them. And it's easy to see why. "Harmony" breaks almost every rule of good filmmaking. Most of the story is told through dialogue, in a "tell, don't show" manner. It's dialogue is lengthy and ambiguous, with most of it unnecessary. As for animation, Studio 4C relies heavily on 3D animation for its characters, often cutting back and forth between them, potentially jarring the audience. Overall, the story comes off as being too self-important without giving the viewer reason to agree.And I absolutely love it.Yes, I am probably in the minority here. But I loved "Harmony"'s visual style and arresting musical score. I loved the tense mystery and thriller aspects buiding up to a terrorist the protagonist knew as a child. And I loved the thought-provoking ending. The story is just that good, even if it isn't told particularly well in movie format. The artistic direction is just that good, even if the production values are weak compared to most comparable films. It's a haunting experience. Set in the far future, the emotions of the human race are carefully regulated through medication. Most of society agrees with it: it makes them happy. But some don't like their loss of freedom and self-will. Tuan is one such person, living as a military agent with disregard for the rules, while recalling the events of her teenage years between her, a friend named Cian, and a charasmatic girl named Miach, who had convinced the three to commit suicide, both the escape the world they were trapped in and as protest against their government. They almost died that year, but were caught just in time by their families; only Miach didn't survive. As Tuan returns to her hometown as an adult, television broadcast waves are intercepted, and a static voice explains how the end of the world will occur, unless everyone in the world kills another human being. Tuan is put on the case to investigate while the world in engulfed in panic, and she's the perfect woman for the job, for she knows that voice. She doesn't know how, or why, but it has to be Miach.
It's a bold setup for a story. Sadly, it doesn't get more interesting beyond what I've described... most of the movie is of watching individuals kill others or commit suicide in violent fashion, or else simply talking about their ideals about whether the world is right or not. But despite it all, I was captivated for every minute of it. Even Miach's motivations are easy to predict long before the big reveal: she was rapped as a child. Even then, it's effective, told in a revealing monologue that horrifies the soul. I've seen rape used as a plot device multiple times in anime for shock value, but "Harmony" is one of the few that I feel use it properly, with respect to the horror of it, and with powerful payoff. And the ending to the movie may not satisfy some, but it is exactly the type of daring conclusion I like to see, leaving me pondering its meaning long after the credits roll. It's a very philosophical thriller, something that might be better as a book than as a film, and I think you can be entertained by it if you understand that from the start.But if a story isn't well-suited to the film format, how can one make a film? As prettily as possible, I suppose. The environments and character designs feel clean and sterile, almost with a medical cleanliness, making things feel all the more uneasy, especially when a splatter of blood happens to come across. The animation, like most of Studio 4C's work, is fantastic: I only wish they didn't rely on 3D character animation for nearly half of the movie. The music is as hypnotic as the visuals, using a choir chant in repitition. Haunting is really the best word I can think of to describe it all.If you've read this review and are still doubtful that "Harmony" is worth watching, you probably wouldn't like it anyway. But for me, it does what any good science-fiction story should do: it makes me think about where society is headed, whether it is right or wrong, and whether we are already there. Visually, audibly, and mentally, it is a feast for the senses, even if those flavors don't work together in the way they ought to.