Kono Oto Tomare! Episode 2 Discussion

Zaugr said:
According to ANN and Anilist, this is the directors first ever anime... And it's really showing. The pacing for everything is so, just... weird, and it's a mess tonally. The way it goes from happy and jokey to serious and emotional, and the way we get to and from certain scenes, everything just feels really off to me. Nothing is landing, and nothing is really gripping me. It sort of feels like this show keeps trying for things that it really just hasn't earnt yet. That and it's intent on telling everything rather than showing... With even the most obvious of stuff.
For example when Kudou was in the classroom with Houzuki the following day and it has to replay Houzuki's words (that we'd heard literally less than a minute before, in the very scene it's referencing) in the form of his thoughts when he goes to confront her, despite already establishing to us that he's troubled and mulling over those words by that scene with his friend Tetsuki after school (played just 20 seconds before...). This is so... Wasteful? Stupid? Annoying? And the show has been littered by dumb decisions like this so far.

I don't know why they'd hand such a popular/highly rated manga adaptation to a complete beginner (at least in animation), but there we go. The story has at least got my interest though even if the presentation really doesn't, so I'll continue at the moment just to see how that develops, but I am getting tempted just to put the manga on PTR and drop this.

Antanaru said:
So it really is just a shoujo series. One-dimensional, cringe-worthy male characters acting like little bitches make it impossible to watch. Writing wasn't as bad as in the first episode but it's really hard to get any worse, so it's not much of an improvement. It's just another title showing that Amano and Arakawa are (one hit wonder) exceptions... I'm out of here, slapping yourself in the face is more enjoyable than watching this piece of shit.

Antanaru said:
@Digitalexile Cry me a river. It's not stereotyping but calling out cliches. Just as an average shounen rom-com often have cookie-cutter female characters catering to little boy's fantasies, shoujo series usually have awfully written male characters catering to female fantasies. It's just a difference how these cliches are handled and how often you see exceptions. This comparison doesn't look good for shoujo...

papsoshea said:
This series is definitely a bit of a slow build which means its big strength is going to be in numbers, cast-wise. And the performance side of it has to, by nature of the premise, start from something very modest in order for its growth to pack a dramatic punch. Takezou and Chika were established very strongly and their chemistry together was fireworks right from the get-go. And we can't forget what Tetsuki adds (that loyal big bro type of character with the great advice).

In this episode, another member is added to the cast, enter Satowa Houzuki! Satowa seems to be a crucial member here in all respects, not least because she’s a prefab koto genius from a notable family – she represents the refined fulfillment of the art right from the get-go, in a club full of amateurs. I have a similar vibe from her that I felt from Chika in episode 1 and she could well enough be a main protagonist in her own right. So far, Kono Oto Tomare! is interesting in the cast structure, in that all three of the mains seemingly fill the protagonist role at different times (I'm making a big guess here, and if this is the case, I welcome it).

I am already a fan of Satowa's seiyuu in Atsumi Tanezaki, she plays the sharp-tongued tough girl to any extreme you’d like, and she leaves no doubt that she’s a formidable customer. Her act when she thinks there might be female sempai in the club totally fools Takezou, and is quickly shed when it’s no longer deemed necessary. What I liked about Satowa’s introduction is that, tactless as it was, she was totally honest and up-front about what her goals where. And from her perspective, Takezou and the club win big too just by having her around. I also think it said something notable about her that she put the tattered “Aim for nationals!” sign back up after seeing what it meant to Takezou.

An emerging dynamic here is that Takezou is the club leader but lacks confidence, and his two subordinates are a professional-level koto player and a boy far tougher and more decisive than he (and I am sure he is also experienced). How does he stay relevant in such a situation? Satowa and Chika also immediately butt heads, unsurprisingly, both being as strong-willed as they are. There is a dance of opposition and harmony here, the chemistry between the cast is going to grow into something truly special. There’s also a larger theme of what it means to be an artist coming through, and it’s an important one with this series. Where does the line between ambition and ability lie, and how much does each contribute to achieving artistic greatness?

After hearing Satowa play, Chika acts to save the club by begging the principal to have the damaged kotos repaired. That moment was about the potential it represented for the club. He knows virtuosity on the koto when he hears it and knows what it could mean for the club – the doors it could open. He acts on his own and in secret but nonetheless, he acts. And Satowa sees herself as being the one to drag the club to first place at the nationals, so in her mind, she’s a solo act too. But that’s not how clubs work, and it’s not how performance groups work either, which is a lesson both will have to learn if they’re going to grow both as people and as performers. In the end, all members help to repair the damaged kotos.

FMmatron said:
Still not really feeling it. Nonetheless, I liked the episode overall and I'm interested to learn more about Satowa's true nature.