Liz and the Blue Bird (リズと青い鳥, Rizu to Aoi Tori) is a 2018 theatrical anime film based on Ayano Takeda’s light novel series Sound! Euphonium. The adaptation is directed by Naoko Yamada and produced by studio Kyoto Animation. Staff credits also include writer Reiko Yoshida and music composed by Kensuke Ushio and Akito Matsuda. The film was first released in Japanese theaters in April 2018.
Background:
Students and best friends Mizore Yoroizuka and Nozomi Kasaki prepare to play a complex musical duet, “Liz and the Blue Bird”, for oboe and flute.
Though they play beautifully together and have been friends since childhood, Mizore and Nozomi find that with graduation looming and the duet proving difficult, their friendship begins to buckle under the pressure. Interspersed with the story is the fantasy tale of Liz, drawn like a storybook, contrasting with the crisp realism of the school. These two distinct styles weave with stirring music to tell a touching coming-of-age story.
Plot Synopsis via Anime Limited, January 2023.
Sound! Euphonium is a solid series that offers a great cast of characters, KyoAni’s usual stunning visuals and an interesting story about the music band. After those two seasons came multiple films, most were theatrical compilations but there were also continuations and spin-offs. Liz and the Blue Bird is the spin-off film of the bunch and one that you can jump into without having seen the first two seasons which is great for newcomers. In addition, the art style is also different and the character spotlight is placed on Mizore Yoroizuka and Nozomi Kasaki, rather than Kumiko Oumae and her group of friends.
The film was well received and received a theatrical release in North America by Eleven Arts. Now the franchise is considered ‘cursed’ by some folks because of the poor handling of the home video releases. The first two seasons were released by Ponycan US in North America, which were going for Aniplex style prices and mixed reception on the discs, while only the first season made its way into the UK by Anime Limited because the rights were tied to Crunchyroll (which made acquiring the second season complicated) and the French branch authored it to pretty poor reception as well. Liz and the Blue Bird was also dubbed into English and for some reason Eleven Arts couldn’t even provide a consistent cast between this film and the other Sound! Euphonium film they acquired.
There’s also another issue that Liz and the Blue Bird are using the theatrical masters rather than the home video masters, which is a common problem with Eleven Art licenses and while the changes are mostly minimal, this is still a fault on the distributor for not putting enough effort for their home video release. Anime Limited after all of these years did manage to finally acquire the UK rights to release Liz and the Blue Bird, but using the same disc as the US release.
Collector’s Edition Contents:
Given that Sound! Euphonium received a collector’s release, Anime Limited have done the same for the spin-off film which is great.
The collector’s edition package contains a rigid box housing an Amaray case that includes the Blu-ray disc, and alongside that are a 32-page booklet, and an A3-sized fold-out poster. The booklet includes artwork from the film as well as character/staff interviews and storyboards.
The artwork is free of any information or BBFC content and the info sheet covers the information and specification like previous Anime Limited releases. The collector’s edition Blu-ray set is limited to 1000 units for SRP £39.99.
The film was made available for pre-order during Anime Limited’s 12 Days of Christmas 2022 Early Bird pre-order line-up for £24.99, but with the Anime (Un)Limited discount lowered the price to £22.50. It was initially going to be shipped before 2023 but stock issues occurred after folks like myself ordered it early, but regardless it did dispatch before its official release date.
Physical Contents:
- Rigid Box with Amaray packaging and clean artwork
- Info sheet for specification and BBFC description
- 32-page booklet
- A3 Poster
On-Disc Contents:
Distributor: Anime Limited
Released: 30th January 2023
The collector’s edition release for Liz and the Blue Bird contains the film on a single Blu-ray disc, with the encode and authoring done by Shout! Factory and Eleven Arts.
Audio options include Japanese audio with English subtitles and the NYAV Post English dub commissioned by Eleven Arts with optional English SDH subtitles also available. The white subtitles are unlockable during playback and the disc regions are restricted to B for Blu-ray.
Blu-ray Specs:
| Languages | English, Japanese |
| Audio | English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 |
| Video | 1080p High Definition Native format 1.85:1 aspect ratio |
| Region | B |
| Subtitles | English, English SDH |
| Locked Subtitles | No |
| Discs | 1 BD-25 |
Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:
No extras on the disc
Unboxing Photos:
Final Notes:
Liz and the Blue Bird is available to order through multiple retailers across the United Kingdom. The collector’s edition Blu-ray release can be purchased through Amazon UK, Anime Limited’s online store, MVM’s Anime-on-Line, and United Publications.
(Disclaimer: Amazon links are also included when available. They are affiliated so if you decide to order them, I’ll earn a small percentage if they ship which will help me with any hauls or small bills.)
The Normanic Vault 
Leave a comment