Ahh this was another great episode.There were a lot of feel good moments, as well of great humour that had me in tears from laughing so hard. Seriously, Satowa’s shift in personality is no joke! We see her utilizes this in full force as a means to secure enough members for the club, and successfully charms three of Chika’s friends into joining. She is such a crafty girl, I love it. She knew the boys wouldn’t be interested in the koto, but whether or not they were to participate was irrelevant to her since all they need was three more heads to count. However due to the jackass Vice Principle looking for any opportunity to pick on Chika or find a reason to expel him, he dares them to put on a ‘satisfactory’ performance in a week time, to prove the members are serious about the club. Luckily Satowa had just arrived at the scene and successfully managed to get an extension of a month’s time to prepare, with additional conditions of performing in front of the entire school. It was a quick-witted move on her part, since she recognized that the vice principle wouldn’t acknowledge them regardless of well they perform in a week time. By setting the stage in front of an audience, it provides a way to effectively shut him down for once and for all.
…That is, if they can put on at least a decent performance. Unfortunately everyone but Satowa are total noobs. While Takezou has some experience, even he was terrified at the pieces she was suggesting for the performance. The boys also got a hell of a wake up call of how seriously they need to take practice after she takes them to the Spring Traditional Music Festival, where they witnessed elementary kids perform “Ryuuseigun”, the piece she has suggested for them to learn.
And I have to say, this was actually the scene I found myself excited for because the way it was depicted in the manga, was absolutely hilarious! But much to my dismay, they severely watered down the sheer intensity of the scene, and by doing so, they failed to properly convey just how overwhelming the boys truly felt. It’s one of those scene that could have greatly benefited having an extra minute or two to spend on it. Additional, while we are going to get to hear the group perform this in front of the school, I did feel a bit disappointed that we didn’t actually get to properly hear the song itself. All we got was a taste, and that was it, but I digress.
The trio who are the “club’s saviours” are Kouta, Sane and Mittsu. They are all good boys in their own right. They became friends with Chika after he had saved them from being beaten up by some dangerous delinquents because he knew they were Tetsuki’s friends. Ever since, the boys have always been trying to figure out how they could help repay Chika for his help, and what better way for them to do that is to help him protect what he cares about most: The Koto Club! There was no way in hell they were going to let the vice principle have his way, so even though they are not particularly interested in the instrument themselves, they are willing to make the time and effort to learn! It goes to show just how selfless these boys actually are. APPRECIATE THEM!
This week also continued to further highlight how once Chika has his heart set on something, he is 110% devoted to it. He understand that he is the the one reason why the club keeps on being picked on by the vice principle, and so that’s why he is so determined to work hard. Because of that, he also came up with a clever idea of making cardboard koto to help him and the trio learn the chords and notes, especially since they don’t have the luxury of time to focus on the basics.
Ugh I love him so much! MY HEART! HE’S SUCH A GOOD BOY!
STUPID VICE-PRINCIPLE! GO AWAY! STOP PICKING ON HIM!
Chika’s sincere feelings of learning how to read the Koto sheet music, and learn how to play has also earned him some recognition from Satowa. She had underestimated how serious he would be about learning the instrument, but as it turns out, the two of them are a lot more similar than either one of them could have ever imagined. Satowa is a lonely a girl, who finds herself on her own because she doesn’t know how to make friends, and the time she had, she had been made into an outcast by the kids who couldn’t keep up with her dedication to practice. So as someone who had devoted so much time practicing so seriously, to see someone (like Chika) with that kind of is comforting to know that her teaching methods and intensive practice (morning and after-school) schedule won’t scare him away.
We also saw how Satowa struggles to even get involved with the club. It was right after they finished watching the performance at the festival, she heads straight home, alone. We also got to see how she has gone out of her way to disguise herself (under the pretend of her family’s fame), and how she avoided her mother. Tetsuki also offered insight in regards to Satowa’s strict training routine she had set up for the club, by explaining she may have been taught in a similar style, and so she is simply teaching based on how she learned. As it turns out, it was something that was bothering her, as she opened up to Takezou that she may end up being the blame for scaring the boys away.
And truth to be told, she may have had it not been for Chika stepping up to come up with a creative way to help himself and the others so they won’t be dissuaded by her methods, perhaps the past may have repeated itself.
There were so many things to love about this episode, (APPRECIATE GRANNY TOO FOR GIVING CHIKA A DISCOUNT ON THE PLECTRUMS PIECES!!!!!) that all I wished was there was just a little bit more time for them to work with. Over the course of the first three episode, it’s clear that the struggle to find just the right pace is the series’ biggest hurdle at the moment. Last week was an improvement, this week, was more of the first half of the episode I felt had been rushed, while the second half was a lot more solid. I also was pleased to see the end of the episode felt a lot more smoother and natural than the last.
Those who have read the manga also probably have noticed they cut out some interactions/scenes, but I don’t think it’s anything to fret about. In fact, I hadn’t even noticed it myself until I went back to double-check to verify how differently I had felt about about how the performance they watched was conveyed in the manga VS the anime. It was seamlessly done, which goes to show how it was a reasonable sacrifice given how they were already struggling to pace the episode with the existing time restraints. I just hope they don’t try cramming three chapters in one episode, dear god I would be terribly frustrated if they do, especially since I would like them to start taking their time. But alas, I probably wouldn’t have been nitpicking the details had I not read the manga prior to watching this (which was my own fault for not holding back just a few months before it started airing, but I couldn’t help myself, the manga is so freaking good!). It has been a while since I covered something I have already read, so it’s probably going to take me a bit more time to get used to it, I always do. With that said, this is the main reason why I would advise holding off from reading the manga until after the anime finishes airing (and that includes the second season (or cour, whichever it’s supposed to be) in the fall. But if you’re not hyper aware of pacing details as I am, then maybe you will be okay with the indulging yourself with the manga in the mean time!
