Life is a series of obstacles to overcome, and some obstacles involve coming to terms with a difficult past.

Kono Oto Tomare! was an anime that I have been watching with a friend. On my own I am not sure I would have continued with the anime, but my friend happened to watch it all in one go. Mind you we started late at night and he watched until basically noon the next day. I don’t have the stamina or the ability to sit down and binge something that hard. I move from one thing to the next fairly quickly, never staying on one thing for too long. He encouraged me to keep watching and so far I am glad I did. I am currently 12 episodes in and really enjoying the anime so far.

A brief synopsis of the show would be that the koto club, a musical instrument club, is on the verge of being shut down. To save the club the president, the last remaining member, recruits unique characters and aims to win nationals. Lofty and unrealistic I know.

What I like most about Kono Oto Tomare so far is how the show deals with the dark and traumatic past of its characters. Like life, the show puts experiences and obstacles in the way of its characters. Some have had a difficult time being understood, some have had their homes ripped apart, some have been lied about, and others have failed to achieve what their peers did. I like how the show handles and addresses the difficulties of the past, reconciling the past for the characters in the show as it pushes the plot forward. By far it feels like one of the most realistic stories I  have encountered in anime so far. Fiction has a tendency to take us to other worlds to explore human nature. Kono Oto Tomare tackles human nature and the challenges the characters face  in a real world setting with real world issues.

While certainly not perfect, the anime does a great job of creating meaningful dialogue and focuses on character building. While there certainly are some flat characters, the show is anything but flat. It is an emotional roller coaster that builds on the concepts it presents, then delivers resolution in a unique fashion. I had never thought that relying on music and storytelling that Kono Oto Tomare could have delivered on such emotional highs. It could have never existed as perfectly in another form with the visual and musical elements playing a large part of the actual anime itself. It makes use of all the strengths of the anime visual and audio medium.

While not finished with the anime yet, I am certainly pleasantly surprised that I am rating this anime very highly. I strongly recommend it to those who may not have seen it so far.

 

Agree? Disagree? What are your thoughts? I want to know!

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