*I didn't intend to write this as an actual submitted review, but decided to post it on a whim, because why not?
*Spoilers included
I thought the first episode or two were excellent, as was the season finale (even the penultimate episode was pretty solid, mostly because of the build-up of tension leading into the finale and re-focus back on Setsu and the individual competition). The other 10 or so episodes though were a huge letdown.
Beyond the first and final episodes, I love the color palette and lush art style in this show and most of the shamisen playing scenes and their musical quality (I say most,
...
because some were kind of a retread and others were too diluted with being drowned out with interspersed characters' talking and the general OST of unnecessary piano music loudly playing over the shamisen).
What I didn't like was the very generic character archetypes with threadbare characterization of the school club group and very rushed, forced, and hollow/shallow seeming melodrama which was reminiscent of a Spanish soap opera. It felt very unearned and there was so little time to develop it properly and so little substance, that the "payoff" to any of these breezed through character arcs felt impotent and non-existent.
I also found the change of direction in the series confusing (which is ironic on a meta level when you stop to think about it, because the in-universe critique of Setsu in the last episode was his abrupt change of focus confounding his audience), because the way the move was set up and portrayed in episode one, it almost seemed like Setsu was in his early 20s going off to move to a different big city and get an apartment, or at least 18 - 20/early college age. So I found it jarring to see him randomly plopped down in a high school club setting. And the decision to abandon the direction of the first episode, where it seemed it was teasing at the beginning of a journey of him having to settle into a new life in a new urban environment and find his place in the musical world in a new city, his relationship with the girl and her old friends, etc. seems bizarre.
Overall I found the female character, her boyfriend, Setsu's older brother and immediate family, and even the young girl and her father who oversee Setsu's apartment more compelling than his high school friends.
Basically, the first episode felt almost deceptive, like a form of false advertising. The beginning and the ending of a series, any series, are highly important. You need some really worthwhile material to hook people in in the first place and then, even if a show is regarded as at a masterpiece tier throughout its runtime, a poor series finale and not "sticking the landing" can really sink and irreparably mar its reputation. So it's nothing new for the first episode and the last episode of a series to be some of its best, but in this series the contrast is too great and it feels too incongruent and jarring because the majority of everything in the middle is too lackluster in comparison.
I rated this series a 5/10 and out of 11 seasonals watched, it's actually been my least favorite thus far and will probably remain in that position, but one peculiar thing to note is that while my opinion has been more negative of the series on a whole than the average who probably place it somewhere around a 7, reading the immediate feedback on MAL, Reddit, and elsewhere, I get the sense that I actually enjoyed the last episode more than the majority of people, including the majority of those who actually rated the series overall higher than I did. I think it's because many of the decisions they made in terms of plot developments and character portrayals in the last episode actually felt very bold and brave in contrast to what they did throughout most of the show's runtime.
Winning the competition or coming in second would be no surprise, but the third place rank actually did surprise me, and then to have all the important people around him be excessively cruel, critical, and callous until he breaks down in a crying fit giving the message that, even if you decide to do the "right" thing in the end and are "authentic" to yourself, it will just be written off as "self-indulgent" if you can't bridge the communication gap between the authentic self of what's in your mind and heart with other people actually felt shockingly and hauntingly, oddly realistic to how most people think and act. And a little courageously so. He gave it his all in the end and that still wasn't enough to salvage it and ends up just being derided as a whiny brat as the adults and other kids around him just kind of shake their head and either call him a whiny brat, or act perplexed, distance themselves from him, and don't know how to react. I thought...how sickeningly true to life....
It couldn't save the series for me, but as I said I admired it. I can't agree with (at least what I believe/my interpretation of) the series' message which seems to want to portray other characters' behavior toward Setsu as justified and coming from a good place or one of tough love makes right (mainly referring to his mom Umeko in this case, but also the older mentor figure whom I find annoyingly condescending and arrogant), but it does seem to strike an unnerving strong chord of fidelity with how many people actually operate and what drives the cruelty and avarice of theatre parents concerned with prestige and social position above all else. And I don't ever have to agree with the actions, beliefs, or behavior of characters portrayed onscreen to consider the portrayal and story artful and beautiful, valid and valuable.
This series was always at its best when it organically portrayed how ugly so many people's attitudes are toward competition, self-loathing/obsessively masochistic self-flagellation, and the narrow mindset of so many people that music or art in general only has true value based on others' appraisal of and how they receive it, and what that translates into for your social status. I find it a hideous and loathesome attitude and mentality, but this is how too many people are...Stage moms that treat their own offspring like dirt and a commodity and people who bawl all day over placing second or third because everyone is judged so harshly and looks down on everyone else and themselves to a fanatical degree.
I didn't actively enjoy this show for the majority of its run, but I'm glad I watched it (as I feel about all series I complete even if I give them a "lesser" rating of 6, 5, 4, etc. otherwise I simply would have dropped them; there was enough of note and interest to keep going). The last episode pissed me off royally, but that has value too. It pissed me off in a good way. Because it drove me to think and feel something, which is after all all I want out of anime and all my art and entertainment. The 80% of the rest of the show didn't push and challenge and piss me off in a provocative way. It pissed me off in a dull and generic, derivative, and humdrum way. A series with the artistic acumen, guts, testicular fortitude and candid insight to execute what it did in its last episode shouldn't have played it so lame and safe, coloring within the lines over ground so thoroughly beaten to death it's slurry for most of its runtime.
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Jun 19, 2021
Mashiro no Oto
(Anime)
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*I didn't intend to write this as an actual submitted review, but decided to post it on a whim, because why not?
*Spoilers included I thought the first episode or two were excellent, as was the season finale (even the penultimate episode was pretty solid, mostly because of the build-up of tension leading into the finale and re-focus back on Setsu and the individual competition). The other 10 or so episodes though were a huge letdown. Beyond the first and final episodes, I love the color palette and lush art style in this show and most of the shamisen playing scenes and their musical quality (I say most, ... |
