Kono Oto Tomare! Episode 1 [First Impression]

Eva’s First Impression: Ah at last! Kono Oto Tomare is finally here! The premiere focused on the first chapter, introducing two of the three main protagonists, Kurata Takezou and Kudou Chika.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Takezou initially rubbed people the wrong way with how he constantly kept on jumping to conclusions and adamantly refusing to acknowledge Chika’s desire to join the club. When I first read the manga, I too was bothered by how he was treating Chika just like everyone else until Tetsuki stepped in to tell him the truth behind the incident that has been overshadowed by the gossip and biases. Ultimately pushed Takezou to help and support Chika was when he saw he had cleaned up the club’s sign, realizing despite being rough, he is serious about joining the club. (Rest assure you will quickly come to love him and his friendship with Chika!) Although it was certainly frustrating, I also found it refreshing because it allowed us to see Takezou’s insecurity right from the start. He doesn’t like being taken lightly or being pushed around. It frustrates him how it seems he always messes up during the most important moments, such as failing the entrance exams for Meiryo High School when was plentiful qualified to do so. In fact it was the Koto Club that granted him comfort. Initially, he wasn’t actually planing on joining it, but somehow he ended up go along with it after he had visited their club room. It didn’t matter that he was the only boy, in the end, it became a place he could belong. And now that the members have all graduated, it is his responsibility to recruit members to keep the club alive, and and do his part of passing on the nameless and scoreless piece (which they neglected to mention) that has been passed down for generations.

Then we have Chika, my precious boy who just can’t seem to catch a break from pain and misfortune. You can see it in his eyes, the pain of nobody believing in him. He was basically abandoned by his family, and taken in by his grandfather (a Koto Craftsman), the only one who cared and believed in him despite being a problem child. It wasn’t until Chika realized how much his grandfather loved him that he started changing his ways, and the two shared a precious bond. But just when things seemed to be looking up, everything fell apart when the thugs he used to pick fights decided to raid and destroy his grandfather’s shop and instruments he made. Although his grandfather wasn’t angry at him about it, the public and authorities pinned the blame on Chika. And even a year later, the stigma as a problem child remains. Additionally, if that wasn’t already tragic enough, Chika’s grandfather had passed not long after that, leaving Chika alone once again.

That’s why the Koto and the club (founded by his grandfather) is so important to Chika. It has become something he not only wants to protect, but it’s also something that helps him keep connected to him.

It’s terribly sad how it as though the entire world is against him when in reality, Chika is very earnest and kind boy. We saw that with how he stood up to the delinquents, kicked them out of the club, cleaned up the room without being asked, and restored the club’s sign to its dignified state. He was also willing to pick a fight as a means of “self-defence” when the delinquents tried to attack Takezou. (Yet, had he been caught, it wouldn’t have ended well, so it’s a good thing Takezou stopped him!) 

Luckily, he has a wonderful friend like Tetsuki to quietly watch his back like a guardian angel of a sorts. You will be surprised by how much of a minimal role he actually plays as the series goes on, but it’s the little things that count the most. It’s thanks to him that the delinquents who had attacked Takezou and framed Chika for it turned themselves in. (And it’s a shame that the anime didn’t show it, but Tetsuki actually gave a taste of their own medicine!)

As for the animation, this series is animated by Platinum Vision, who is fairly new when it comes to leading projects. Their last work was adapting Devil’s Line in 2018. The quality wasn’t bad, but there were times when it wasn’t great either. Nevertheless, I’m not too concerned about it since the quality only dipped during lesser frames, so I trust will see the quality improve during the more important episodes. I am also fairly satisfied with the way they adapted the character designs. Needless to say, it’s tough to accurately mimic’s the manga’s breathtaking art. You should absolutely give it a read just appreciate its beauty!

Then of course there was the noticeable absent of the star of the show: The Koto’s sound. I am sure there are some people who are disappointed that we didn’t actually get to hear from it at all. I can’t help but feel  It it was a missed opportunity to have skipped out how awful the former members of the Koto Club had sounded when they were putting on the presentation as part of the club’s recruitment. Perhaps they didn’t want to spoil the beautiful sound, but really that shouldn’t matter when we are going to hear a lot of the new members playing terribly as they gradually learn how to use the instruments!

Truth to be told, I found myself a bit disappointed with how rushed the premiere was. It’s beyond me why they didn’t bother excluding both the Opening and Ending for this week. They absolutely would have benefited the extra five minutes, simply to smooth things out. I was especially not a fan with how abrupt some of transitions between the scenes were, most noticeably when Tetsuki caught the true delinquent students boasting about framing Chika. That cut was not a pretty one. Worse of all, because they everything being thrown at us so quickly, it made it difficult for the audience to actually experience the emotional moments. They didn’t let us soak it in at all, which is a travesty since the emotional delivery is among some of the series’ strongest traits. That said, I still choked up in every single one of Chika’s flashbacks, but I’m not sure if I would have reacted the same way had I not read the manga.

Although the premiere felt rushed, I am still extremely excited for the show, and I absolutely want to cover this. Hopefully they will have the tempo ironed out starting with next week’s episode, as there is really no reason to rush when we are guaranteed to have at least twenty episodes since it has already been confirmed to continue in Fall 2019! So there’s lots to look forward to!

Possibility of Blogging: High!
Possibility of Watching: Guaranteed!