Paul Elliott’s review published on Letterboxd:
Based on Hiroyuki Ohashi's self-published Manga, and directed by Kenji Iwaisawa, Our Sound is a pioneering anime which was shaped and created outside of the studio system on a partially crowdfunded budget across the span of seven years. The resulting independent animation is a tremendous humanistic recognition on the potency of music, and in the spirit of Rob Reiner's Spinal Tap dials the collection of sounds up to eleven.
The undemanding storyline modestly follows a trio of wayward teenagers concluding that musical acclaim lay in their destinies. So having no musical background yet clasping punk rock aesthetics, they gather together some instruments and embark on presenting their distinct version of the proverbial three chords and the truth. It's animated almost entirely by Iwaisawa, and he implants the story with thoughtfully considered visual motifs binding the narrative to the history and culture of Japan to build a deeper narrative resonance.
The musical sequences emerge via a variety of animated techniques including some feverish and innovative use of rhythmic rotoscoping which openly and boldly resists the films shoestring budget. The film overturns the genre conventions of the high school musical quite wonderfully, and music naturally opens up a whole new realm for the high school protagonists. The fresh animation style from beginning to end, together with the delivery of deadpan comedy, ensures that this is an anime which is both unique and extraordinary.