(L) Kono Oto Tomare!

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

As we've discussed, the two earlier strong schools had good technical abilities but lacked emotion. Also, as I think this episode observed, the piece played by the school with the strong boy up front was too focused on his performance. Taki-sensei wrote a piece that let Satowa show off her skills but involved all the other players as well.

Yeah, but I didn't think I'd, you know, be able to hear the difference.

[Cloudedmind]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

As we've discussed, the two earlier strong schools had good technical abilities but lacked emotion. Also, as I think this episode observed, the piece played by the school with the strong boy up front was too focused on his performance. Taki-sensei wrote a piece that let Satowa show off her skills but involved all the other players as well.

Overall a great episode. I plan to watch it again later just to hear the koto performance.

Actually, I think Himseaka was all technique and no heart, while the second school didn't lack emotion it was just as you mentioned to focused on one persons emotions/heart, Mio's, since this was the song that was supposed to allow him to break out of his shell. Tokise was a perfect blending of the two, great technique, and beautiful emotion that wasn't just centered on one person. Every single person was involved, and showcased in this performance. Without them the song wouldn't have been the same. Mio, just as well could have played by himself, and we'd more or less had gotten the same product.

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

Damn allergies...

My sister conveniently decided to make fresh onion soup during this episode.

[Kouvley]

That performance of Tenkyuu was incredible.

Wow.

[leongsh]

King Records has released the episode extract covering the full performance of Tenkyuu from the anime on YouTube.

YouTube

https://youtu.be/u5LDoMHlqHw

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

[MCAL]

Originally Posted by leongsh

King Records has released the episode extract covering the full performance of Tenkyuu from the anime on YouTube.

YouTube

https://youtu.be/u5LDoMHlqHw

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

Why don't mind if I do!

[Guardian Enzo]

The more I listen to Tenkyuu, the more it puts me in mind of something Joe Hisaishi would have written for Kaze Tachinu. It has the feel of a Japanese-Italian hybrid.

[Guardian Enzo]

And that's how you do a manga adaptation right there...

[Nachtwandler]

Yup. Despite ther lack of resources studio, director and writer made a great job with this adaptation. Pros to seiyuus also.

[Ulin]

Very solid adaptation to me. It's been by far the best anime this season. I guess there's no hope for a continuation but I'm sure I'll try reading the manga

[Kanon]

Finished watching the series yesterday, and it became one of my all time favorite. I liked it from the beginning but I have to admit it was a bit rough, but the show kept getting better and better with every episode. The drama was great, the romance was cute (no shitty love triangles! yay!), and the music was amazing. Count me as another one who was blown away by Tenkyuu. I really never thought it would make me feel such strong emotions. No other musical anime has done this. Apparently the piece was written by the mangaka's sister.

I'd love to read the manga, but a work about music that obviously doesn't have any music just doesn't work for me. The anime ended at a good place too, with most of the characters' problems resolved. I can only think of the matter with Chika's dad that needs to be addressed.

My favorite character ended up being Akira. Really great all around once she got past her issues.

[trufflegarlow]

Yes! I really love this anime and feel this is too underrated. As a musician (tho not one that can play the koto), it made me appreciate the instrument so much that I had to listen to the music videos in youtube for so long. Can't wait for the next season. I read the manga, but I feel that watching it with the music would be a lot better.

[SeijiSensei]

I just rewatched the entire series and was as emotionally involved as I was the first time around. They can't just leave the story here; we need to see them at nationals!

So the manga-ka's sister is a koto performer and composer. I marveled again at the talent of the koto performers in this show. Both Tenkyu and the piece played by Hasegawa were clearly technically challenging, and the performances showed the difference between the two school's styles. Both were technically excellent, but Tokise demonstrated a level of musicality that justifiably won them the award.

One other feature of this show that didn't get much coverage in the comments was the animation of the performances themselves. The plucking and bridge changing was always spot on. Whether rotoscoping was involved or not, these animations were excellently done.

[Guardian Enzo]

I feel ya, but the odds of another season are surely pretty remote. Fortunately there's always the manga.

[SeijiSensei]

Reading a manga just seems so unrewarding compared to actually hearing the music.

Is your pessimism based on sales for this show? I thought the manga was pretty popular, or is 2.3 million in sales not that much.

Over here Kono Oto Tomare even got a dub.

[Guardian Enzo]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

Reading a manga just seems so unrewarding compared to actually hearing the music.

Is your pessimism based on sales for this show? I thought the manga was pretty popular, or is 2.3 million in sales not that much.

Over here Kono Oto Tomare even got a dub.

For 20 volumes it's not that much, really. It's a modestly popular manga but it doesn't check any of the industry's increasingly narrow boxes for commercial viability. It doesn't hit the target audience for disc sales, there are so idol tie-ins, no merchandising to speak of. Having a manga to flog helps, but unless that manga is massively popular (like an upper-echelon WSJ title) it's not enough on its own these days. As an example Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun is a much better seller - consistently in the Top 10 franchises in manga volume sales - and it could only get one cour.

If you want to be that sort of series - not trendy and with limited additional revenue options - and get multiple seasons, it has to be something really huge like Chihayafuru. It has roughly 2X the volumes of KoT but over 10X the volume sales. And I get the idea that S2 and S3 of that were never a sure thing and only happened because the series has some very influential backers who are passionate about it.

A music anime isn't the same experience in manga, no. But I do think the KoT manga is excellent - I was enjoying it long before the anime was a glint in a producer's eye.