La Corda d'Oro – Blue Sky Episode 1 [First Impression]

Eva’s First Impression
*TEARS* My goodness, it was so nostalgic watching this. I didn’t realize how much I missed a thoroughly classical music show, it just been so long. I am really looking forward how this series will go!
Kanade and her friend Kyoya went down to visit his brother (Ritsu) to attend a recital only to discover that the two of them have both been transferred to Seiso Academy and will be living in the Linden Hall dormitory. Ritsu then invites them to join the orchestra club to compete to fly to higher heights, and so the two think about it and then agree to do so.
I am quite excited to see how the competition will go this round since this time, high schools from all over will be participating within the Concours that will be taking place in the summer (much like the big stuff we see in the sports! Ah it gets me so pumped up!). The winners will receive sponsorship and scholarships to study abroad.
Unlike La Corda d’Oro Primo Passo series, our heroine Kanade has no need for a magical violin as she was known as a prodigy violinist when she was a child. However, recently she had received a letter questioning whether she had met her limit of her abilities. It really took a toll her on and tore down all her confidence she had up till now. Kanade used to love participating in competitions, as of the late she has been turning down invitations to participate and claims she isn’t that interest right now- but all of that changed since Ritsu added her to the participants list.
Speaking of Ritsu, I don’t know what’s up with him but he is pretty cold towards his brother Kyoya and Kanade. He stopped addressing her familiarly by calling her by her last name instead of her first. The trio were very close as they were childhood friends. Ritsu appears to be dead set to get the three of them back together to pursue their dreams, but at the same time, the future for Ritsu’s career as a musician appear weary. As someone who is suffering from tendonitis, I immediately picked up on the fact that Ritsu may be suffering Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Tendonitis or something similar since he was struggling to hold a glass of water. I have a dreadful feeling that is the ulterior reason why he had set up a double for the competition was so that his brother or someone else can take his place if worse case scenario does happen. The being said, Ritsu doesn’t seem to have any qualms doing whatever he likes as he instantly adds his brother Kyoya and Kanade to the limited list of participants for the Summer Concours (who had only joined the club and transferred to Seiso Academy that very day!). I am expecting the Orchestra members to be acting quite bitter and nasty to both Kanade and Kyoya, so let the drama ensue!
One of the interesting things we have learned is that while they were little, Ritsu claims he had met a Music Fairy (most likely Lili) when he was little while visiting Seiso Academy, and had received a ring from him to give to Kanade. With that they made a promise to attend Seiso Academy together (lets the violin romance begin- oh wait, there are more than one violinist this time round heheheheheheheheheheheheh *cackles* Quite a selection you have there Kanade). Speaking of which, Kanade appears to have a childhood crush on Ritsu. While she loves the way he plays the violin I wouldn’t be surprised to see if she has actual feelings for him. The characters in this series tends to mix up the feelings and get confused or don’t even realize they have fallen for someone, ahahahaha! (Not all of them are oblivious like that, but you get what I mean!)
It is pretty clear to me that Kyoya has some sort of complex with his brother Ritsu. I don’t know what it is, maybe he is jealous that Kanade has a crush on him and may feel inferior to him when it comes down to their musical abilities. Unlike his brother, Kyoya at the moment has no interest in becoming a famous musician. That said, I am looking forward to how he and his brother is going to intereact, even more so when he finds out about Ritsu’s condition. I am sure it will be heart-wrenching.
I am super curious about why Myoga Regi harbors such anger/hatred towards Kanade. A part of me believes that he is frustrated that she had ‘given up’ participating in competitions because he may have viewed her at some point in the past as a worthy rival. I also wonder if he is the one who sent that letter, but right now Kanade seems to get the feeling that it may have been Ritsu.
It was such a shame to see the animation quality dip in the middle of the episode. Things were looking really bright and I truely hope that the quality will be consistently strong throughout the show, but I wouldn’t hold my breath for it after what had happened within this episode. The character designs however were really nice and I liked there is a softer touch to the colors. I absolutely loved the OP theme. Both the song and sequence were great and I will certainly be sitting through it every week. The ED theme is well, nothing too special but I do like how they made the sequence similar to La Corda d’Oro Primo Passo’s ED.
I am absolutely PSYCHED for this series. Of all the shows this season, this is the one I am most excited for now that I have finally seen the episode (JFC, the Preview only came out yesterday! What the hell is with that?! Talk about crappy promotion on the internet….)
Possibility of Blogging: GUARANTEED! This is all mine to cover!!!!!