Blue Thermal at New York International Children’s Film Festival ⋆ Soulcial Dreamin' Ent.

New York International Children’s Film Festival took place on March 3 through 19, 2023. Established in 1997 to celebrate the beauty of film and the power it holds. With the belief that film can open up gates for young people to learn more about themselves. Drey and I were able to catch two films from this year’s program. Introducing Blue Thermal.

Blue Thermal was based on a manga of the same name by Kana Ozawa. Written and Directed by Tachibana Masaki. Also co written by Takahashi Natsuko. Meet Tsuru Tamaki after relocating to Nagasaki to attend Aonagi University. Tamaki looks forward to having a typical school experience. Making friends, finding a boo and enjoying her newly found independence. While playing Tennis, she accidentally causes a chain of events leading to a broken glider. Taking full responsibility for her actions, she joined the Aviation Club, as an attempt to pay back her debt. With some additional benefits.

Observations

Flight as a theme is always a fun one. Freedom! Liberation! Fearlessness. It can emphasize a lot of things. In Blue Thermal, it was as much of a part of the story as it was a symbol. Let’s take Tamaki for example. A young woman on the cusp of a fresh start. At a new school, in a new city. Seeking out new experiences. -nahmean.

She’s then whisked away by words and dragged into joining The Aviation Club, which she later begins to love. There is a moment when she says out loud that this wasn’t what she wanted. And yet, she finds herself on the other side of this new experience. Somehow with things she urned for even though they looked a little different.

Plus, the icing on the cake is- she’s nice wit it! A natural intuition to sense occurrences that the other pilots were using computers to lock in! Some real Wo (man) vs. Machine shit. Moreover, there are literally flying objects. I have full intentions of keeping this spoiler free. So now you’re probably wondering? Liz, that’s all cool and whatever. But why should I care?

Why should you watch Blue Thermal ?

Cool your jets! My G! My answer to that is simple. Blue Thermal is refreshing. It’s not often that we see animated movies about young adults. Especially college age adults. The animation and artstyle is gorgeous. The main character is likable and you can’t help but root for her. Everyone loves an underdog story and with Blue Thermal you get a lil taste of that.

I also think the story was executed really well. We get to watch Tamaki go from someone who was unsure of herself to a person who’s confident and won’t let anything get in the way of what she wants. She became determined as hell. She showed up and out for her team! Telecom Animation Film, the Studio responsible for this project, knocked it out of the park.

The voice acting was solid and you’re sure to get a chuckle or too out of the ordeal. I smirked quite a few times. The music was pretty and matched the scenes really well. Shōgo Kaida, the composer, delivered a stunning score. The music can really make or break a scene. These songs accompanied the animation so well and helped breathe more life into it. Blue Thermal was a ride. I highly recommend checking it out for yourself.