Project Sekai Movie: Kowareta Sekai to Utaenai Miku

At a CD store, Ichika Hoshino hears a song by Miku that she has never heard before. On the monitor, she sees a "Hatsune Miku" in a form she has never seen before, and couldn't help say it out loud, "Miku!?" Miku was surprised at the voice, her eyes meet Ichika's, but she disappears shortly after.

Later, after a live performance on the street, the Miku that Ichika saw before appears on her smartphone. Miku looks sad and downcast, and when Ichika quietly asks Miku about her story, she tells Ichika that there are people to whom she wants to deliver her songs, but no matter how much she sings, her songs are not reaching them.

Miku, who saw Ichika singing to the hearts of many people at her live performances, thought that if she learns more about Ichika, she can do the same, and came to Ichika. Ichika smiles at Miku and says, "If it's all right with me."

And a new story of Hatsune Miku and the boys and girls begins—.

(Source: Crunchyroll)

Hatsune, Miku Main

Fujita, Saki Japanese

Hoshino, Ichika Main

Noguchi, Ruriko Japanese

Kagamine, Len Supporting

Shimoda, Asami Japanese

Kagamine, Rin Supporting

Shimoda, Asami Japanese

Megurine, Luka Supporting

Asakawa, Yuu Japanese

Akiyama, Mizuki Supporting

Satou, Hinata Japanese

Kaito Supporting

Fuuga, Naoto Japanese

Yoisaki, Kanade Supporting

Kusunoki, Tomori Japanese

Kamishiro, Rui Supporting

Toki, Shunichi Japanese

Tenma, Tsukasa Supporting

Hirose, Daisuke Japanese

Hata, Hiroyuki Director

Aketagawa, Jin Sound Director

Ueda, Reina Theme Song Performance

Kusunoki, Tomori Theme Song Performance

Reviews

Apr 20, 2025

Platypus900

Recommended

COLORFUL STAGE! The Movie: A Miku Who Can't Sing is not only a love letter to Project Sekai but to Vocaloid as a whole and delves into how Hatsune Miku’s music affects and resonates with both us and the characters in the game's universe. Assuming the audience is already a fan of the iconic vocal synthesizer, the film outlines how important a role Vocaloid music has played in shaping both us and the various Project Sekai characters, and caters to the audience’s individual experiences with the aforementioned music. The vast array of colorful characters serve as a mirror, aiming to reflect the audience's diverse backgrounds ... and their connection to Vocaloid music back at them, and perhaps touch upon how Miku serendipitously came into their lives. Music as a medium possibly has the most potential for personal resonance, and this is expressed through the idea of a “Sekai”, which is a physical manifestation of the character’s desires, often informed by the music they want to create and how they want to express themselves externally. In this vein, the film takes care to highlight how Vocaloid music may have informed our persona as well as assisted us through tough times, with its massive variety of themes and soundscapes, serving as a potential catalyst for catharsis or inspiration. Not only does A Miku Who Can't Sing cover the connection between Miku and the audience, but also how Miku can be used as a tool for various producers and creatives to express themselves, detailing an artist's desire to reach others and express their often turbulent internal thoughts and feelings outwardly. The film does a great job at illustrating the soul-crushing feeling of when one puts their heart and soul into their art only for it not to reach anyone at all; and how isolating these feelings of rejection can be when you are desperately crying out for help in your works, yet nobody is willing to listen.

Admittedly, I have minimal experience with the Project Sekai mobile game and can only imagine how my experience and perspective on this film would be elevated with more context and personal attachment to the characters. That being said, the movie only requires minimal external context apart from a basic summary of the character dynamics present within the five groups. Feeling any degree of passion for Vocaloid music, and especially Hatsune Miku, should provide enough groundwork for the film to be a worthwhile experience. On a more technical level, the performances were stunning and the music covered a large variety of genres, from hip-hop to idol music to rock, displaying the wide breadth of music which has, to a degree, been inspired by Vocaloid and the culture surrounding it. The animation itself was impressively fluid and expressive, bringing the large variety of distinct personalities found within the cast to life and excellently highlighting the quirks and traits that define them.

If I were to critique the movie in any way, the outset of the film is rather languid and takes a while to move at a more engaging pace. Furthermore, the dialogue tends to repeat itself in a manner that can feel rather blunt and lacking in subtlety, especially in regards to the sheer number of times Miku attempts to sing her signature song within the movie, Hello Sekai, in hopes of reaching others. These slight nitpicks aside, it is undeniable that Vocaloid has had a massive impact on otaku culture, spawning thousands of songs and even original works such as the Kagerou Project. The movie starts and ends with the members of rock band Leo/Need feeding a stray cat, and this could be easily be interpreted symbolically as a testament to the longevity of vocaloid as an artform, proposing that the genre will never die as long as artists and creatives keep feeding the vocal synthesizer new material. On a personal level, I am a massive sucker for works that interact with the audience in a more meta sense, forging a strong connection between the narrative and our lives. To me, that's where much of the brilliance of the movie lies, and one of the main reasons I would recommend this movie for each and every Vocaloid fan, Project Sekai fan or not. Thank you, Hatsune Miku. Your voice has reached me, and millions across the world!

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Apr 22, 2025

_1Rose_

Mixed Feelings

This is going to be my first ever review on here, so apologies if it lacks substance overall, still figuring out how to format it and get things across, so be patient, though I saw this Movie in Theaters and thought why not add a review for it whilst it's still fresh

Going to keep this as spoiler free as possible, and also write a different 'perspective' of what I think it'd be like if you have *not* played Project Sekai or know much of Hatsune Miku in general




First up miscellaneous things:
Overall if you're a fan of PJSK or Vocaloid you'll enjoy this, they made ... sure to give as utmost screen-time as possible to each of the groups and characters quite well!! There're a few inside jokes for die-hard fans, and there's also countless random screens throughout the Anime in the background playing popular as well as more obscure Vocaloid songs!!

It didn't feel to me like any particular person was overlooked, but also because of this every character is quite surface level if you're never played the game before, granted the amount they did squish in was quite a feat for an under two-hour movie anyways
This also seemed very coming of age story to me, if you're on the younger side or quite whimsical it might be more interesting to you, but the story itself doesn't really 'go' anywhere, and I'll elaborate later in the review

Other than that, this is a pretty perfect representation of what Vocaloid is and what Miku was created for, it conveys the raw human emotion behind art and music, and the passion and pains that come along with it, the messages in this might appear surface level but the amount of history behind Miku and Vocaloid as a whole did make me cry in the theater

Alright moving on,

STORY IF YOU HAVE PLAYED PJSK:

Quite good, it keeps the original plot and characters from PJSK, but brings about something new a new miku!! Where'd she come from, why can't she sing, why's she appearing to those whom already have a Sekai!!

Like I said earlier they give a decent chunk of screen-time to all the characters whether it's in slice-of-life flashbacks or showcasing the groups dynamics, no character's story goes to in-depth though it does seem Ichika was intended to push the narrative along and slightly more portrayed as the 'main' besides this movies Miku of course

Now without spoiling much, the story is overall predictable, it's pretty much in the title, this Movies Miku cannot sing and get through to others, que the tragedies that come with a handful of people in the world who can't listen to music and get the messages they desperately need to hear or feel, and guys let's go fix Miku and show her more music and ways to touch others!!

I quite liked the portrayal of the Sekais in the Anime especially how each one was showcased during a certain part where things started not looking so good for the Sekais and our Vocaloid cast, for example the Theme Park Sekai showcased the characters running from immediate danger by doing tricks, flashy moves, and acting where-as the Empty Sekai showed quite the contrast with the characters standing still and taking in the possible embrace of death just a detail thought worth mentioning as there are countless other small things like this, though I feel they belong more in the Animation category respectively

Though during the story, it seems they repeat A LOT of the same phrases and things, yes some are necessary though most points could easily be brought across and deeply explored once or not just, not brought up every 20 minutes, though it doesn't truly hinder the viewing experience and some might need this

Though the story is good and quite a heart-warming, coming of age, band story, the new Miku didn't end up doing much, once she gets a good ending, it seems like in the after credits scene somebody new joins her Sekai, but she mostly ended up disappearing to not hinder the game and that's quite obvious, as when the whole movie is over it's like, wait, nothing changed, well except for a few NPCs lives, though then again it does go along with the message of the movie of how one song should be sung so it can reach countless people, but even if it doesn't just a single person is enough

STORY IF YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED PJSK:

Going to be repeating a bit of the same thing as above, but if you've not played PJSK before-hand these would be my 'concerns'

The whole movie doesn't really explain the Sekais
(Semi-virtual worlds created by the strong feelings of characters, usually discovered or made by songs each world get's their own Vocaloid cast ex, Miku etc and they can only access this world through their phones or devices)
Though I get why they didn't explain most of this and similar things in the movie, it would be a bit of a curve if you are going in with nothing prior

That also goes for the characters, it might be overwhelming as they introduce 20+ characters and then duplicates of each of the Vocaloid's per Sekai, without prior knowledge you might be guessing for their backstories or what characters are hinting at since all the characters/groups are given a good amount of overall screentime but this also comes at a slight cost of the characters all being quite surface level, granted this is the daily life of highschoolers mostly lol

The end of the movie steers towards musical more than anything, there's also a lot of repeating of what they should or need to do over and over, which wasn't that bad but still a bit jarring at times and then it feels a bit like nothing happens at the end, yes it felt great, the closure was, alright, but if this whole movie didn't happen it wouldn't change much of anything with our main characters, mikus, or world, this seems like it was done to keep the game lore going the same direction so it's alright

Phew, alright onto the next category,

MUSIC/OSTS:

If you're familiar with Vocaloid at least or have played PJSK you'll have a great time, the OP, ED, and songs between were just right
They showcase each group with a song and you instantly get what they're about and if you already know the songs then, your faves were done justice!!

There's also Vocaloid songs EVERYWHERE, you might recognize some, they're playing on screens, phones, billboards, shops, in the background, it really adds to the immersion as well as some fun easter-eggs for die-hards

Now whilst most of the OSTs didn't quite stand out much to me, nothing was jarring, and everything went together beautifully, and some were quite tear-jerking as well!!

ANIMATION:

It's a movie, so the animation is usually going to be decent, and whilst it isn't MAPPA crazy, it's pleasing to look at and quite smooth, there's so many small details and easter-eggs that make the characters feel so very alive, it made for a great viewing-experience

Now what was surprising to me the most was most of the stage scenes were animated not using CGI/3D, which, perhaps I should've excepted from a musical-theme'd anime, but knowing the game being 3D for dance scenes and Vocaloid's on stage overall, it was pleasant nonetheless

In fact, had to check it wasn't 3D later as I didn't bring glasses to the theater uhhh, actually should you trust this animation review-

The animation also really helped out the humorousness

Alright that's a lot of rambling so here's a 'summary'

- The story is easy enough to get and a bit predictable overall, whether you've played PJSK or even know of Miku or not, the end feels like closure but also an invitation of what could come, though at the same time, a, did anything actually happen during that at all
It's fine for a quick bite-sized wholesome and emotionally moving movie with some amazing songs

- It really conveys what Vocaloid is about, as well as creative endeavors and passions, from singing, to art, to design etc

- The characters are all there and ALL of them, there's a lot like 20+ so if you're not familiar with them beforehand, what they tell you is pretty surface level but still emotional and gets the Anime moving along

- Overall, a very coming of age story, reminiscent of a musical just without awkward breaking out into song, and things do get quite emotional along the ride

- Not usually a fan of movies as it feels like the passage of time is messy, but this conveyed it quite decently and knew where to utilize flashbacks and quick slice-of-life moments

- Hatsune Miku

Thanks for reading these rambles, not sure if it was helpful but oh well and yes this was a run-on sentence, anyways if you've read this far you're interested!! So, watch it!!

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Apr 13, 2025

Nikitachan

Not Recommended

if youre only going with very imited miku knowledge into this: do not watch this.
its cute for children but other than that i really dont see anthing that this move has going for itself.

the music was very average, there was basically no story? and you barely actually get to see miku herself..
predictable outcome, repetetive scenes, if you dont already know the characters there isnt really an introduction to them, no development. the art was fine.
there really isnt even much to write in the review about lmao

ALSO the english title is misleading

to put this into the words of my artist friend: midku

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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	Poll: Project Sekai Movie: Kowareta Sekai to Utaenai Miku Episode 1 Discussion AkeZZZ - Apr 10	10 replies	by AkeZZZ »» Today, 3:40 AM
	Do you need to know Project Sekai lore to watch the movie? lorextreme - Apr 6	5 replies	by razisgosu »» Apr 18, 9:41 PM
	The US release date for COLORFUL STAGE! The Movie: A Miku Who Can't Sing has been moved to April 17-20. (Originally April 11, 2025) Xanek - Mar 19	0 replies	by Xanek »» Mar 19, 4:28 PM
	GKIDS announces the acquisition of North American rights to COLORFUL STAGE! THE MOVIE: A MIKU WHO CAN'T SING. (In North American Theatres April 11, 2025) Xanek - Feb 13	1 replies	by Alaaddin05 »» Feb 14, 6:36 AM
	Ending theme song "Worlders" Xanek - Jan 29	2 replies	by Serafos »» Feb 9, 6:39 AM