Recently, GKids announced that they've secured international film distribution rights for the anime film adaptation of Hiroyuki Ohashi's award-winning ON-Gaku manga series.GKids has already confirmed that a North American release of the film is in the works.
ON-Gaku: Our Sound previously won the Grand Prize at the Ottawa International Animation Festival 2019 and recently took home the Best Original Music Award for a Feature Film at the ongoing (virtual) Annecy International Animation Film Festival- the world's oldest and biggest animation film festival.
The film took over 7 years to complete as it's composed of over 40,000 hand-drawn frames. After announcing the project back in 2012, Ohashi turned to the Japanese crowd-funding website Makuake in 2018 to raise ¥4.13 million yen (~$38,166 USD) to complete the project. China's Netflix equivalent Bilibili will be releasing the film there while Anime Limited will distribute the film in the U.K. and Ireland.
In a press release, Rodney Uhler, GKIDS’ Director of Special Projects stated, "On-Gaku: Our Sound reminds us of our favorite indie comedies while remaining a wholly unique film. Kenji Iwaisawa’s remarkable hand-drawn work has created a film full of quotable lines, distinctive characters and infectious style. It remains one of the most fun viewing experiences we’ve had all year, and we can’t wait to share the film with audiences."
Having no skill, money, or even a full set of drums, a feared trio of high school delinquents nevertheless decide they are destined for musical glory.