Goodbye, Don Glees! has a very unique name. Don Glees isn’t some main character’s name—though it sounds kind of cool, to be honest—but is the name of a club run by three young souls who are just trying to enjoy their youth despite living in a small rural town. Toto Mitarai, Roma Kamogawa, and Drop are three friends and one summer, decide to do what most kids do, play with a drone while launching fireworks into the sky. Unfortunately, a fire breaks out in the forest and obviously Don Glees is blamed since they were playing with fireworks. It won’t take too much to figure out what happens next as the group tries to clear their name but the adventure is what really makes this film exciting.

Many elements of Goodbye, Don Glees! feel really relatable and that is what makes watching this movie so enjoyable. Just like real life, there are many highs and lows in Goodbye, Don Glees! and we won’t spoil some of the big shocking moments—one may have you in tears—but we were pleasantly surprised by how hooked we were while watching. So yeah, there aren’t any giant mythical battles or gun shootouts—which is what Madhouse seems to be known for, yet you won’t feel bored while witnessing the journey three young teens end up having and how it reflects just how crazy life can be at times.

Aside from the gripping adventure plot that screams with teen years, Goodbye, Don Glees!’ the cast is easily the shining element of this hour-and-a-half-long movie. From the carefree but adventure-loving Drop to the overly serious student Toto, these main characters are so filled with personality and depth that it is a shame they don’t have a full 12-episode series to really explore them. Roma will probably be the character many viewers will relate to as he tries to find out what makes him special compared to his friends.

When we weren’t laughing when the trio tried to fight off a bear with hair spray, to them all trying to escape cops, we legit kept wondering what would happen next to this merry bunch. That’s why when the last few big moments occur we were left shocked and literally reminded ourselves these three aren’t real but just fictional anime characters. By the end of Goodbye, Don Glees! we dare you to pick which of the three is your favorite as even we here at Honey’s Anime can’t decide!

The more noticeable issue of Goodbye, Don Glees! can be found in our earlier comment. Being a movie, Goodbye, Don Glees! is only an hour and a half in length which really is just the bare minimum to fully flesh out these characters, their world, and their stories. Honestly, we feel there is so much more we could have learned from each character and while Goodbye, Don Glees! does a great job of giving just enough, we really feel these three are criminally not given enough time to share their stories. Imagine meeting possibly three new friends and only learning a bit about them before they leave. Could you really say you know them? You might like them and want to know more but sadly you soon discover they are never going to be around you ever again. It sounds silly but we wished this movie had just a bit of a longer run time.

Madhouse has done some outrageously good animation before in the past and while Goodbye, Don Glees! might not be their best animation, that doesn’t mean it’s not excellent. Rather than be over the top like MANY MadHouse works, Goodbye, Don Glees! has some eye-catching visuals, especially when you look at the set pieces. During the dream phase, we were just floored by the stellar designs and couldn’t look away! Madhouse never fails to impress and Goodbye, Don Glees! is yet another one of their great works to add to their already impressive list of amazing anime movies/series.