Blue Giant

Blue Giant (2023) is a Japanese animated film you can watch online on iFILM, directed by Yuzuru Tachikawa and based on Shinichi Ishizuka's manga series. Seventeen-year-old tenor saxophonist Dai Miyamoto leaves his hometown of Sendai with one goal: to become the greatest jazz musician alive.

In Tokyo, Dai moves in with two other young musicians — a classically trained pianist fighting his own self-doubt, and a self-taught drummer with almost no space to practice. None of them have a record deal or a name. What they have is a small club, a single night, and very little room for error.

Pianist Hiromi Uehara composed and performed the score live, without click tracks or digital correction — an unusual choice that gives the music its loose, nerve-end energy. Stream Blue Giant (2023) online on iFILM.