Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Kono Oto Tomare!: Sounds of Life
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Gina Szanboti
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Despite all the static exposition needed to get us there, I'm glad we got over that speed bump quickly. I guess just the advisor remains to win over, though they could throw something new into the mix (noticed some new faces in the preview).
Her koto concert kinda reminded me of Piano no Mori, when Kai would go off on his own free interpretations and drive the purists crazy, even while they were moved to tears by it but spoiler[wouldn't pass him]. |
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leongsh
 Posts: 181 |
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Episode 9 is the starting point for Takezou's turnaround. The trigger of his younger brother, Takeru, dissing his friends in the koto club without having ever known them has riled him up to defend them. The positive reinforcement from the praise that his parents gave him got him thinking to speak up. This eventually led to him confronting Chika and letting him know why. Chika shared how much Takezou's support when he was wrongly accused meant to him. It's another positive reinforcement for Takezou to be more upfront. With Hiro as the vice president in support of him, the future episodes will bear this out.
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omiya
 Posts: 1825 Location: Adelaide, South Australia |
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I happened to have Tokyo MX 1 on when episode 11 was broadcast. It was magical hearing multiple koto playing together.
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11339 |
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13
Really loved the editing in this episode, and the visual metaphor of standing up to go join the group. While waiting for the review, for your listening pleasure, "Kuon", without the interruptions. 
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Merida
 Posts: 1945 |
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That was definitely the best part of the episode! 
The injury thing was a bit too overdramatic for my taste, i fully expected Chika to faint after their performance (and he probably did off-screen...). But overall i really enjoyed this show, despite the lack of decent animation and music, the endearing characters made up for that. Looking forward to the second half! |
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Covnam
 Posts: 3644 |
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Agreed. I don't feel it was really needed and felt too trope-y, but the excellent music in recent episodes still helps pull this half of the first season up. Looking forward to the next half. Hopefully there's less typical drama and more music =) |
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Lord Vaultman
Posts: 810 |
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I will say this much. There will be music off and on similar to this first part. The last 3 or 4 episodes if the show ends where I'm suspecting will have a bunch of really good music though for your listening pleasure. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11339 |
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Well, the new season probably won't be getting a weekly review since Lauren had a bebe (congratulations!!), and since no one is covering it in the Preview Guide, I guess no one else has watched the first season? I'm still going to vote for it. There's also no listing in the Series Discussion area, so here I am, being too lazy to make one!
Episode 14 picked right up where we left off, and many tears were shed, but they got much surprising encouragement from Takinami-sensei, including his running some interference over Chika's injury so that Kurusu wouldn't be put on the spot. She feels guilty enough as it is. And even more surprising, in Episode 15 we learn that Takinami is the child of a famous conductor and an equally famous pianist. After their performance he's become suddenly all kinds of helpful. Lol at poor X and Y, forced to hide their identities from birth and living in lonely isolation. Feeling sorry for variables is a teaching technique I would never have thought of in a million years.
Meanwhile, love is in the air all over the place. I got a chuckle out of Houzuki (the subs translated "Houzuki-chan" as "Hozy"?) hiding Chika's face with a piece of cardboard to hide his laughter from the other girls. And I can see why Kurusu would get all weak in the knees over Takezou, after that threatening yet brilliant defense. "Don't worry. I'm a better judge of people than you." Ending all that drama with the other three boys giddily bloodying up their masks was the perfect way to finish.
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Merida
Posts: 1945 |
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I also enjoyed the new epsiodes, though it's been a bit too much romance and too little koto playing for my taste...
Speaking of which, i really would have liked to actually watch the performance of the winning club in that competition. From my understanding they were also underdogs, so it must have been pretty amazing to make the judges choose them over all the established clubs. |
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NeedMoreCats
 Subscriber Posts: 318 Location: Westchester, NY |
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Thanks for this, good idea! I have to say I got my hopes up when I heard that Lauren’s maternity leave was over but naturally, with a new baby, she’s cutting back on her freelance work. Bummer, but of course I totally get it. Doesn’t mean I won’t miss her reviews. She posted a great photo of the baby on her website, https://www.otakujournalist.com/. Check it out! |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11339 |
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Wow, they didn't even give us a chance to vote for it.
16 I was starting to get a little weary of the girls continuing to be drama queens, but thankfully it looks like they got that mostly squared away now. At least Kurusu tried to apologize out loud for being an idiot, and not just dialoguing in her head. And Takinami-sensei is really starting to act like a mentor and useful club advisor. It's nice when anime adults act like adults. I'm still kinda wondering what was going on in the first season when it looked like he was conspiring with the vice principal trying to shut them down. Gotta say though, Takezou has been looking especially not-nerdy these last couple of episodes. Seen through his two girls' eyes, even more so. We even got a little bit of koto music, yay, though it was kind of a weird selection (was that one of the OP or ED songs or incidental music? Seemed very familiar.). Too bad the boys had their masks vetoed, but they looked cute anyway. |
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yuna49
 Posts: 3804 |
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I'd like a bit more koto and a bit less "drama." Similar shows like Sakamichi no Apollon, Hibike! Euphonium, and, at another level, Nodame Cantabile, showcase more music than Koto oto Tomare. Adolescent romantic embarrassments can only go so far without becoming cliched. Let them pair up and then focus on nationals. It's not like everyone in the audience doesn't want to see Hozuki X Chika and Takezo X Kurusu. Just let it happen already.
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Lord Vaultman
Posts: 810 |
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Your going to continue to see plenty of drama with koto music mixed in here and there. There is alot of story they still have to dissect but spoiler[we should see plenty of koto music when (if) they get to the national qualifier competition towards the end of this season and it should be even more music than we saw for the regular competition at the end of last season.] |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11339 |
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Ooh, I felt the hairs on my neck bristle at the first sight of Dojima. Chika's already set her back on her heels a bit, so it should be interesting to watch the others chip away at the chip on her shoulder, especially the Good Boys trio.
Seems like she's not totally got her heart into being the bad guy though, in the sense that she's also pissed at Granny for not believing in her enough to need to sabotage the competition, no matter how weak they might be. It's weird, but now I feel like Sensei has things in hand and will protect them, so the drama isn't as nerve-wracking as when Kurusu showed up and Takinami was acting like a saboteur himself. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11339 |
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I knew she'd get a sympathetic backstory. Her bro was pretty cool, but really, she was right that it made more sense for her to quit school and get a job than for him to give up a potentially lucrative career (I guess? Do top koto performers rake in big yen?). Damn you, truck-kun! ::shakes fist::
I also recognized that final internal conflict, with the voice in your head going, "And just where do you think you're going? Get back here." Anyway, here's a nice recording of the composer of "Mizu no Hentai," Michio Miyagi, playing it. And here's an interesting take, with some nice visuals of the transformation of water. There are a ton of other videos of this piece on YT, with most of them played as a duet, which is a little surprising. |
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