At my high school in the U.S., it was said that while the athletes were the talk of the school, it was actually the band kids who were embroiled in the juiciest drama.

If "Sound! Euphonium" is any indication, that trait is international. The anime series, which ran for two seasons between 2015 and 2016, traced the interpersonal conflicts of the members of the brass band at the fictional Kitauji High School in Kyoto. Now Kyoto Animation, the studio behind that series, has revisited Kitauji and its band with the film "Liz and the Blue Bird."

This feature-length animation, which might be considered a "sidequel" to that series, centers on the relationship between Mizore Yoroizuka (Atsumi Tanezaki) and Nozomi Kasaki (Nao Toyama), two third-year students who have been best friends since middle school. Mizore, who plays the oboe, is shy and soft-spoken, dependent on the outgoing Nozomi, who plays flute. As the band prepares for nationals (and the pair prepare to graduate), Mizore grows depressed as her separation from Nozomi draws near. Meanwhile, the band is assigned to play a piece based on a German fairy tale called "Liz and the Blue Bird," another story in which two friends must bid each other farewell.