[grylsyjaeger]

Just finished watching Sora no Woto and the extra episodes and well, damn.

The show had a lot of highs and lows for me. When we go from the deathly seriousness of episode seven to the slap stick comedy of episode eight I had to check that I had indeed loaded up the correct episode since the flow was in a completely different direction. The ending was stale and well, I would have preferred some form of tragedy to befall the 1121st Platoon. I almost expected Kanata to get shot whilst playing Amazing Grace which whilst I touch on the subject, I will say I didn't find Kanata playing amazing grace and halting the battle that unbelievable.

I mean, we're talking about an age where not only radios are non-existent but most of society's music and instruments have been lost in the flames of war. It's only the well known tunes like Amazing Grace that have truly survived and are passed down from generation to generation.

Then there's the fact that trumpets are seen to be used almost exclusively as communications tools and it appeared most soldiers would understand what each tune meant so hearing a trumpet in the distance was not that uncommon during a battle for both sides. What would be uncommon is what I could only gather as being the most well known song of their world being played at the joining of a battle.

It's a song about redemption and forgiveness. Not war.

However on the whole I must say I loved Sora no Woto. I loved the characters, I loved the artwork style, I loved the Takemikazuchi design (seeing it in action was worth the wait!) but most of all I loved the people and the world it portrayed.

A world where everything as we know it today, mobile phones, television and even radio have become long forgotten relics but people still continue to live on happily and hold onto their beliefs.

It's just one of those shows that makes me sit back and just appreciate the things we have now.

Oh and seeing Noel fire an MG42 from the hip with a smile on her face was just about my favourite scene of the anime.

Now if I only someone would actually release some good figures of the girls. A Kanata in her standard fatigues with helmet and trumpet would be a welcome sight.