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Kono Oto Tomare is an anime that I did enjoy watching. I didn't know exactly what to expect from an anime about koto playing, but as typical anime are, it's a school koto club aiming for nationals.

Story:
The pacing is sort of weird throughout the story, bouncing from character arc to character arc, as if trying to fit as much in as they could within 13 episodes. Not to say I didn't enjoy them and come to like the characters, but it definitely felt odd to finish one and immediately run into another arc.

Art:
The art is a shoujo style which doesn't fit the the ... shounen tag on the anime's page, but it's fine with me. Some stills of the characters in certain shots felt odd, like the facial proportions weren't right. Considering how little of the anime is actually those shots, it's fine and it doesn't have a huge impact on the overall enjoyment.
The art of the characters plucking the koto strings is obviously where all of the budget went, but it really was worth it. It aligns with the storytelling and the plot in a way where the climaxes are the best animated and it works well.

Characters:
The characters all feel like they're from different genres. Kudou feels like he's from a shounen anime, while Kurusu seems like she came directly out of a shoujo manga as the main character's love rival, etc and so forth. Oddly enough, they all come together as an unlikely bunch and it works.

Sound:
Of course, this being a music anime, the sound is one of the, if not the most important part of the anime. I've actually heard kotos being played before off of YouTube videos so I already had an idea of what they sounded like. This anime really gave me an insight to what koto ensembles sound like together and it's really cool. The performances that they play are great and definitely the highlight of the anime, in my opinion.

Enjoyment:
The story had weird pacing, the characters give off different vibes and the art is odd looking at times, but it's still worth watching. I still ended up liking the characters a lot, I still had fun with the story, and the art during the performances is great. The music ties it all together. Overall I'd say it's a 7/10 and I'm eagerly awaiting the second season.

This anime is a wonderful thing, and I was incredibly happy to find and watch it.

I personally loved the idea of girls playing baseball, especially in 1925, where they would no doubt be told they couldn't.
The first few episodes were pretty slow-paced as they tried to gain permission from the school and find members, but once they do the plot picks up straight away as they practice and become a greater team.

The story was interesting and kept me hanging for what happens next.
The art was fairly good, not my favorite style, but nice nonetheless.
I didn't pay much attention to the soundtracks, but the ... OP and ED were wonderful.
The characters are incredibly cute and you can obviously see great character development throughout the whole show.
I enjoyed this anime so much, it became one of my favorites the moment I finished.

I highly recommend this anime for all, espescially sports anime lovers.