So Ra No Wo To

On the outskirts of the country of Helvetia rests the tranquil town of Seize. Upon its cobbled streets, citizens go about their daily lives, undisturbed by the increasingly tense military relations between Helvetia and the neighboring Roman Empire.

It is under these circumstances that the 1121st platoon of the Helvetian army, stationed at the Clocktower Fortress in Seize, receives a new recruit in the young and spirited Kanata Sorami. Having joined the military to fulfill her dream of learning to play the bugle, she excitedly accepts the tutelage of the Sergeant Major, Rio Kazumiya, who happens to be a skilled trumpeter. Working alongside them are the aloof mechanic, Noël Kannagi, the feisty gunner, Kureha Suminoya, and the compassionate Captain Felicia Heideman; together, they experience the beauty of life in Seize and the lasting joy of a community that has persevered in spite of the crumbling world around them.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Kannagi, Noël Main

Yuuki, Aoi Japanese

Sorami, Kanata Main

Kanemoto, Hisako Japanese

Kazumiya, Rio Main

Kobayashi, Yuu Japanese

Heideman, Filicia Main

Endou, Aya Japanese

Suminoya, Kureha Main

Kitamura, Eri Japanese

Yumina Supporting

Fukuen, Misato Japanese

Carl Supporting

Sugino, Tanuki Japanese

Krauss Supporting

Ishizuka, Unshou Japanese

Aldola, Aisha Supporting

Miyahara, Nami Japanese

Hopkins Supporting

Uchida, Naoya Japanese

Shimizu, Akira Producer

Yokoyama, Shuko Producer

Matsumoto, Miho Assistant Producer

Kanbe, Mamoru Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Reviews

Jan 27, 2025

Curlybrace101

Recommended

"The war ended. You're just the last remnant. Humanity...the world can never regain the glory it once had. So end it. It must be far too painful, living a miserable life in a world filled with despair. Is there some meaning to survival in a world like this?"

It's easy to write Sound of the Sky off as a military flavored K-On clone, and I certainly see where that assertion might come from, but I am here to tell you how very wrong that is. Sound of the Sky is not just a military themed show about moe and music, but a story of recovery, companionship, ... finding purpose in life, the universal healing power of music, and the horrors of war.

The thing about Sound of the Sky is that, as a slice of life, it is very slow moving. It takes time to savor its setting and characters while it slowly eases you into the meat of what it's about. It works perfectly for the genre and is highly effective. If you are a fan of slice of life stories, you should have no problem taking it slow and taking time for the story's themes to resonate with you.

The story is about a young girl named Kanata who joins the military of her country, Helvetia, because when she was young she saw a solider playing Amazing Grace on the bugle, and it changed her life. She became a solider because she too wanted to learn how to play such a beautiful song of hope and healing, and in this society, no one else will teach her how to play.

That's right, she joins the army not as a solider but as an artist. She didn't go into this wanting to fight for her country or bring violence onto other human beings. Remember that. It is an important fact for later.

She is stationed in a lovely town called Seize with a platoon of other young woman around her age. Seize is a small, peaceful community that did not face the brunt of the war Helvetia has recently come out of. As you can expect, being stationed in a place like this means that not much happens, leading to the perfect setup for a bunch of cute anime girls to hang out together and do cute things.

Except here's the thing: Sound of the Sky does not forget that its characters are soldiers.

The show spends its first six episodes slowly introducing you to the characters and world. It ruminates on its setting and war-laden times of its world. Amidst showing off what the characters care about and examining the little things that make life worth living, it gives small glimpses into the horrors of the world these characters are accustomed to. Due to war in the past, most of the world is now uninhabitable. There is no longer life in the sea. Society was so irreparably screwed over that, while the languages are still the same, countries and cultures are entirely different.

There is something inherently beautiful about a slice of life set in a post apocalyptic world—about finding meaning in a world already destroyed and making it your home again anyways. The world ended but we're still here. Things might look grim but we will find a reason to keep living, even if its only little things like glass animal figurines or lighting fireworks with your friends.

And then episode seven happens, and the show gives all that it has to challenge that idea. Kanata did not join the army as a solider, but the other members of her platoon did. So the show displays the truth of being a solider and the pain and the death, and amidst all of that it begs the question of why? Why keep going on in a world like this?

And Sound of the Sky answers that question. If there is no reason to go on, make one yourself, and you'll probably find it in the people who love you.

It doesn't stop at episode seven, however. The end of the show leans hard into the military aspect, and it isn't shy about showing what being in the military means. Kanata did not join the military as a solider, but she is one and she will have to be one when duty calls. It sets up a kind, empathetic premise about connecting with someone from an opposing culture and opinion and then tears that to shreds with the truth of being in the military.

"As a solider, I have killed people too. So even if no one else forgives you, I will."

But, in the end, things settle. This too shall pass—even war. And when the dust has settled, you look at the damage that has been done, and you rebuild. You mourn what has been lost forever and then you rebuild anyways. It started as a slice of life and it will end as one, even after asking us why we continue to live and laying bare for us the reality of war.

And what do the soldiers hear in their direst of times that gives them the motivation they need to keep going and bring an end to the fighting—the motivation to reach a point where things have settled? None other than the Christian hymn that started it all.

The world ended, but humans are still here. The world ended, but we still speak the same languages. The world ended, but people still play Amazing Grace around the world.

And there's nothing more I can say that these parting words will not:

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind but now I see.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Mar 15, 2012

milkman57

Mixed Feelings

Sora no Woto strongly adheres to a personal saying of mine: "You never know what you're going to get with short animes". I've watched some truly brilliant shows that were only 11-12 episodes long...and I've also watched some that weren't so good. Sora no Woto was one of those that I wasn't sure about, partially because it could almost be considered an OVA, a collaborative effort of several different studios that had never before been produced in manga, graphic novel, nor any other medium that I was familiar with. However, I found in the end that this show requires some patience before it's true colors ... really begin to show. And they were truly some beautiful colors.

Breakdown:

Story (4/10): I should begin by explaining that the story isn't the strong point of this show. The reason for this is how long it takes for the story to develop into anything with real plot substance.

The beginning of the show is done well enough. We see the main character, and are quickly charmed by her kindness and innocence, and see that she has become a soldier, and is headed to her first deployment. The problem is, we aren't given very much exposition to explain the world she lives in, why her country is at war, or what her family or her home are like.

As other characters are introduced, we begin to understand the dynamic that they share. As I learned more about the characters, I thought that perhaps this show would be more "character-driven" rather than "plot-driven". However, this wasn't really the case either, as the characters don't seem to go through much change early on. They simply have small "adventure" each episode, that doesn't require much prior knowledge of the show, and leaves the characters more or less the same as when the episode started.

Also, seeing as the main cast is composed of soldiers, I thought that they would do more...well, soldier things. All the soldiers where the protagonist ends up are women like her, but they don't really have a whole lot of militaristic duties. They rarely go on patrols or even fire their weapons, for that matter. Ultimately, not much is done with the soldier aspect until the very end, and the rest of the time, these women could be an ordinary group of people who just happen to live in the same outpost. This is why I had a problem with the episodic nature of the show, because it rarely felt like anything of consequence was happening, despite the fact that I was watching a group of soldiers.

I suppose there's nothing technically "wrong" with having an "episodic" feel to a show, where there isn't much overall plot to connect the episodes. However, it's certainly not what I prefer. I personally like to see a strong plot that connects the episodes together, or even having the way the characters interact with one another to create drama and tension. I just didn't feel either of these things with Sora no Woto, which is why I rated the plot so low.

Now, the show doesn't stay this way the entire time. Toward the end of the show, there is a very nice span of two or three episodes where some very big events occur, and I was genuinely excited by what happened. I only wish that more of the show had been so plot driven, and had shown the storytelling prowess that the final episodes did.

Art (9/10) - This show was really quite beautiful to watch. No details were skimmed over, even in the background details. Mile after mile of gorgeous countryside was carefully painted into each frame, making it worthwhile to watch the background nearly as much as the characters. There were some pieces that were animated by CGI, which I didn't find as pleasant as the hand-drawn details, but I suppose machines an be very hard to do by hand. This is probably the show's strongest point, which makes me sad in some ways, since art has noticeably less to do with what makes a show good than many of its other aspects.

Sound (9/10)- Music is a large part of what drives this show, as the tune from "Amazing Grace" often fills the sky. I really enjoyed hearing this piece as it was played on the trumpet, and even in a full orchestration later on. The soundtrack overall was quite good, and I found it interesting that Amazing Grace was so integral to the story. Sora no Woto does mean "Sound of the Sky", which very well may refer to that familiar tune that so many people love.

Character (5/10)- As I mentioned before, there isn't much background given of the protagonist early on. And frankly, we never really learn much about her at all. The main problem I had with the characters was that we learn more about a "supporting" character than the main character. All we know about the protagonist is that she wants to learn to play the trumpet, and that's why she joined the army. We learn more about the background of basically every character than the protagonist, who remains a charming and very lovable, but ultimately very shallow character.

Perhaps what really made her seem shallow was her apparent lack of any sort of character flaw. She is completely selfless, thinking of others before herself, works hard, is completely loyal to her fellow soldiers, and never says anything unkind to anyone. This is all wonderful, but we never see what lies inside her heart. Is she only nice to cover up something tragic that happened to her? Is her loyalty due to the fact that she felt she betrayed someone in the past? The show never really attempts to answer these questions.

The show gives plenty of development to a supporting character that I mentioned previously, which makes it seems as though she should have been the protagonist instead. The cast is ultimately very likable, but their development is rather unbalanced, and we will ultimately learn things about them at the last second so that we can understand something. The creators caught themselves a few times, and had to have a character suddenly say "Oh, by the way, there's this really important thing about this other character's past that we forgot to mention until now, so here it is."

Not a bad cast, just one that was mishandled.

Enjoyment (6/10)- I had to force my way through one or two episodes where nothing really happened in the overall plot. Charming and fun only works for so long before someone like me will get curious about the plot, and this show seemed to forget about the plot until nearly the end. If it weren't for the mismanaged characters and lack of plot, this show could have been a lot better.

Remember how I said that it shows some truly beautiful colors at the end? Well, it does, but not until I had to sit through ten episodes of basically nothing. The end of the show was wonderful, emotionally moving, and brought a very satisfying conclusion to everything. It just wasn't enough to make up for early problems that hurt the overall enjoyment value.

Overall (6/10)- Ultimately, this show is worth watching, but only with realistic expectations. It's a lot of fun to watch at first, gets boring in the middle, but does end on a high note. Just don't go into this one expecting anything mind-blowing.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Aug 29, 2021

jonsmiths0877

Not Recommended

Funny

A poor man's 86 and girl's last tour. Great designs as expected from A1 but bog standard tropes and mishmash of ideas. There's only so many times hearing amazing grace can save a show. The show can't decide whether it wants to be slice of life or drama and ends up being nothing in particular. While some people might be able to give this anime a pass simply for cute girls doing cute things, your time will likely be better spent on any other anime. Where 86 had intense action and shock value and girl's last tour had emotional and poignant moments, So Ra No ... Wo To will just end up leaving you with a jumbled mess of ideas wondering why you bothered watching it and should make everyone more weary of "original" anime series.

Reviewer’s Rating: 1

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