On-Gaku : Our Rock ! 

A group of secondary-school student drop-outs, led by Kenji, decide to form a group, without knowing how to play any instruments. The Kobujutsu group is born. The original idea comes from the manga cult by Ohashi Hiroyuki : Ongaku. Although it was considered impossible to adapt it for the cinema, Iwaisawa Kenji took up the challenge of adapting it almost on his own. He used the rotoscope process, a technique which consists in taking real shots and then tracing the outlines of the figures, frame by frame, over these shots. A process with no shortcuts which needed 7 years work. He wanted to make a film “ the likes of such which had never been seen before”.

“I wasn’t thinking especially about the behaviour of young people today when I made this film. These are three friends who understand each other without words, as they are so close. I see it as a very sound relationship. Aya is an essential character since she creates a contrast to the three boys. By that means, she allows the story to go forward, since without it nothing much would happen on the narrative level. She is the link between all the events”. Iwaisawa Kenji