Goodbye, Don Glees!

Summary

Goodbye, Don Glees! (Japanese: グッバイ、ドン・グリーズ!, Hepburn: Gubbai, Don Gurīzu!) is a Japanese anime film produced by Madhouse and directed by Atsuko Ishizuka. It was released in Japan in February 18, 2022.

Goodbye, Don Glees!
Theatrical release poster
Kanjiグッバイ、ドン・グリーズ!
Revised HepburnGubbai, Don Gurīzu!
Directed byAtsuko Ishizuka
Screenplay byAtsuko Ishizuka
Starring
Edited byKashiko Kimura
Music byYoshiki Fujisawa
Production
company
Distributed byKadokawa Animation
Release date
  • February 18, 2022 (2022-02-18)
Running time
98 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese
Box office$90,052[1][2]

Plot edit

When they were children, "Toto" Mitarai and Roma Kamogawa formed their own club, the Don Glees. When Toto reaches 15, he moves to Tokyo to attend high school. Toto returns a year later to find Roma longing for his crush, "Tivoli" Urayasu, who has moved away to Ireland. Toto goads Roma to contact Tivoli, even calling Tivoli long distance to get Roma to talk to her.

Toto also finds that Roma has added a new member to the club, "Drop" Sakuma. Drop talks Roma into spending all his money to buy a drone. They will use the drone to film a large professional fireworks display, while setting their own fireworks in a secluded field. But on the night of the display, they cannot get their fireworks to light, and Roma loses the drone. Some hours later, a wildfire breaks out in the mountains. The next day, their schoolmates spread rumors that the Don Glees set the fire, based on the police finding their dud fireworks. The three friends locate their drone, and decide to retrieve it to use its video footage to clear their names.

The drone landed in a place in the mountains so isolated that the kids need to hike overnight to reach it. To go, they lie about their plans, and dodge investigating police officers and bears. But they don't make it before sundown, and so settle down near a small waterfall. Drop tells the others about how everyone should have a "treasure" they should want more than anything else. He also talks about his time living in Iceland, where he once found a working telephone booth next to a "golden" waterfall. But he also refers to a stay at the hospital, and asks the others if they would have any regrets if the world ended tomorrow. Meanwhile, Toto spends all his time panicking about his cram school studies and admonishing his friends' childish behavior. He even brings a textbook to the hike, as he has an exam the next day. But he eventually calms down and admits that he's not so sure he wants to become a doctor like his father wishes. He also tells Drop about the origin of the club name. The name comes from "Don't glee" in English, referring to how he and Roma never smiled or played with other kids. Toto eventually adds his textbook to their campfire, no longer caring so much. Roma figures that Tivoli is his "treasure". He holds dear a photo of a field with a ladybug that she took with his father's old professional grade camera.

The next day they find the drone and return, only to see that nearly everyone has forgotten about the fire. But days later, Drop dies. A devastated Roma destroys the Don Glees clubhouse in grief. But among the wreckage, they find two bottles of Coca-Cola with a map of Iceland drawn on it. Drop had drawn this map with an "x" for the telephone booth. The two friends decide to fly all the way to Iceland to find the booth. After several days of hiking, they find a gigantic waterfall that they guess is Drop's golden waterfall. Nearby, they find the phone booth, complete with a working phone. Toto sees the phone number, and realizes that he called this very number by mistake when he tried to call Tivoli. They deduce that Drop picked up the phone when they called the wrong number, inspiring him to seek Toto and Roma out. They also found a note left by Drop describing his treasure as friends who will help him on his last adventure.

Cast edit

Character Japanese English
Rōma Kamogawa Natsuki Hanae[3] Adam McArthur[4]
Hokuto "Toto" Mitarai Yuki Kaji[3] Nick Wolfhard[4]
Shizuku "Drop" Sakuma Ayumu Murase[3] Jonathan Leon[4]
Chibori "Tivoli" Urayasu Kana Hanazawa[5] Victoria Grace[4]
Mako Kamogawa Rino Sashihara[6] Stephanie Sheh[4]
Tarō Kamogawa Atsushi Tamura[6] Alan Lee[4]

Development and production edit

The film was first announced in July 2021, where it was revealed the film would be produced by Madhouse, and directed and scripted by Atsuko Ishizuka, with Takahiro Yoshimatsu designing the characters and Kadokawa distributing the film.[7] Yoshiaki Fujisawa will compose the music. The film's main theme song is "Rock the World" performed by Alexandros.[8] The film was released in Japanese theaters on February 18, 2022.[9] In North America, GKIDS acquired the rights to the film and screened it with Japanese and English-language options on September 14, 2022.[10]

Media edit

Manga adaptation edit

A manga adaptation, written and illustrated by Shinki, began serialization in Media Factory's Monthly Comic Gene magazine on October 15, 2021.[11] The adaptation completed its serialization on February 15, 2022.[12]

Reception edit

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of 18 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.5/10.[13]

Accolades edit

Year Award Category Recipient Result Ref.
2023 77th Mainichi Film Awards Best Animation Film / Ōfuji Noburō Award Goodbye, Don Glees! Nominated [14]
11 November 2022 15th Asia Pacific Screen Awards Best Animated Feature Film Atsuko Ishizuka Nominated [15]

References edit

  1. ^ "Goodbye, Don Glees! (2022)". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved September 23, 2022.
  2. ^ "Goodbye, Don Glees! (2022)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 23, 2022.
  3. ^ a b c Pineda, Rafael (September 9, 2021). "'Goodbye, Don Glees!' Adventure Anime Film's Teaser Reveals Cast, More Staff". Anime News Network. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Presenting the English cast of GOODBYE, DON GLEES!". Twitter. August 19, 2022. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
  5. ^ Pineda, Rafael (September 27, 2021). "'Goodbye, Don Glees!' Adventure Anime Film Casts Kana Hanazawa". Anime News Network. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
  6. ^ a b Pineda, Rafael (December 8, 2021). "'Goodbye, Don Glees!' Anime Film's Trailer Reveals Theme Song, More Cast". Anime News Network. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
  7. ^ Pineda, Rafael (July 2, 2021). "Madhouse Unveils Original Anime Film 'Goodbye, Don Glees!' Set in Iceland". Anime News Network. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
  8. ^ Mateo, Alex (October 27, 2021). "'Goodbye, Don Glees!' Anime Film's Promo Video Reveals, Previews Alexandros' Theme Song". Anime News Network. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
  9. ^ Pineda, Rafael; Loo, Egan (November 5, 2021). "'Goodbye, Don Glees!' Anime Film Reveals February 18 Opening". Anime News Network. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
  10. ^ Mateo, Alex (May 19, 2022). "GKIDS Acquires 'Goodbye, Don Glees!' Anime Film". Anime News Network. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  11. ^ "ジーン新連載は任侠×サイコパスストーリー、「ドン・グリーズ!」のコミカライズも". Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. October 15, 2021. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
  12. ^ Hazra, Adriana (January 17, 2022). "'Goodbye, Don Glees!' Manga Ends in February". Anime News Network. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
  13. ^ "Goodbye, Don Glees!". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved September 18, 2022.
  14. ^ "毎日映画コンクール 石川慶監督の「ある男」が最多の9部門でノミネート". Sponichi. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
  15. ^ "Winners Announced at 15yh Asia Pacific Screen Awards". Retrieved November 12, 2022.

External links edit

  • Official website (in Japanese)
  • Goodbye, Don Glees! (film) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia