Setsu Sawamura runs away from his small home village following the death of his grandfather, the legendary shamisen master Matsugorou Sawamura. On his deathbed, Matsugorou told Setsu to give up the shamisen if he was only going to imitate others instead of playing in his own way. Grieving, Setsu heads for Tokyo, hoping that the big city can inspire him to discover his own unique playing style. But Tokyo defies his expectations by drowning out all other sounds with the deafening noise of its city life.
Concerned about her son, Setsu's rich and successful mother, Umeko, waltzes back into his life and forces him to enroll in Umezono Academy. At the school, he meets Shuri Maeda, a girl who is fascinated by the Tsugaru shamisen and wishes to perform a song her grandmother once heard a long time ago. Shuri starts up a shamisen appreciation club and convinces Setsu to teach the members how to play the instrument. As he becomes more involved with the club, will Setsu be able to recover his love for the shamisen and discover the unique sound he lacks?
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
Alfredo_Elric
Mashiro no Oto is a new music anime about an culturally important instrument: the shamisen. From the first episode, the audience is drawn to Setsu, a very skilled shamisen player who has yet to find his sound, leaving his home in the countryside for Tokyo after his grandpa has passed away. Throughout Setsu’s journey, there are many forced, dramatic moments to be able to meet new characters or push the story forward. While the music is gladly the strongest point to this anime, there are many flaws that come with it. Before explaining further, some cultural context of this instrument should be known. Kabuki isa very important theater within Japanese culture. There are different types of theater like Bunraku, the puppet theater, but both use the shamisen instrument as an important figure. The shamisen can either emphasize the intended emotions from the play or help with fun sound effects. Also, more so within Kabuki, the plays are known to be overdramatized to the point that the play is supposed to be seen as fake and not particularly believable. The influences from the Kabuki are impalpable and important in understanding Mashiro no Oto better.
While I do agree with the majority that Mashiro is rather melodramatic, this does not come without reason. As mentioned earlier, Kabuki is a theater play dramatized to an extent that is purposely unauthentic. For the audience, these plays are not meant to be viewed as realistic but as entertainment within its ‘fakeness’. For that reason, Mashiro no Oto is not as contrived as a normal kabuki play. Not even close. But this shows how Mashiro no Oto’s story was influenced and mixed with more modern entertainment that led to the melodrama within the show.
The animation style is very light and dream-like throughout the anime, helping portray the influence of the unrealistic, mythical beauty that kabuki plays have. The music along with the animation when they display the powerful sound that a shamisen player can have is also pulling from Kabuki and Japanese theater. The shamisen is at the forefront when it comes to Japanese theater music and sounds, so it must be able to perform and portray various emotions. In fact, the whole performance relies on how skilled the player is. For a more modern day audience, not as many people have experienced these theater performances. Thus, within an anime, they must be able to deliver a compromise that shares a similar feeling to real life. Thankfully, the director/crew at Shin-Ei Animation managed to display their prowess in the animation style when it comes to the shamisen parts. Watching an animation of a kabuki play will certainly not feel the same as a play in-person but by adding visuals that compare emotions received when looking at different natural scenery to the emotions the shamisen is conveying and pair that with strong music, the reception is enhanced within the anime style performance. A point that cannot be left out is how it is sad that the overall animation does not stay consistent. I do admit that there are moments where the animation seems to decline especially in the later episodes but I did not think they were particularly obnoxious.
However, if there is one almost unbearable part of the show, it is also the most notable flaw of Mashiro no Oto and that is the comedy. To put it simply, it constantly feels out of place. One moment, the anime will have a calming atmosphere following Setsu before it suddenly changes to a randomly placed comedic moment. A brief example is how Setsu is thinking about how he's going to play a specific piece before some character interrupts him by either saying something supposedly funny, acting strangely, or Setsu running into an argument or awkward situation between two characters. Some of these comedic moments are portrayed as a necessity, especially in the beginning, when introducing its wide cast of characters who offer their unique chemistry in a rather niche setting. However, with this being a slice of life anime, one must place great care towards the flow of events to pace the audience for the climactic emotional impacts. Without any spoilers, an example of how the pacing gets lost is how certain scenes would begin to build up to a serious moment, like watching snow fall pile onto the ground into an untouched, crisp image only to have the some comedic stranger think it would be funny to reenact their earlier Dance Dance Revolution session only to leave many dense, messy footprints and forever ruining the could-have-been nice emotional landscape from before. In the slice of life genre, the biggest problem is almost always the illogically inserted comedy sprinkled about to lessen the emotional weight that they can bring. Mashiro no Oto is unfortunately no different. In the end, I believe the best way to use comedy in slice of life anime is to have it flow or not have it at all.
Mashiro no Oto is all about its music, and I can gladly say that it is the best part of this anime because this show is about a lesser known, underappreciated instrument outside of Japan: the shamisen. Even as a person who has not had much exposure to a shamisen, all the music that has a shamisen used is just impactful. Within the events of the show, the moments where either Setsu and others play, there is volume and heart to them. If the music was intended to be powerful and well played or by a character struggling, the difference is conveyed and better noticed as more episodes are seen. From this, Mashiro no Oto has succeeded in giving me a greater appreciation for the shamisen sound. Sadly, outside of the shamisen music itself, the music directing is rather bland. The many quick tone changes mean numerous changes in music. This includes many sudden tone shifts indicated by sad music. A part that needs to be pointed out is how these changes of music can ever come to overshadow the actual shamisen playing. I’m not here to listen to a sad piano bishounen when the shamisen is literally still being played on screen. It's workable music on its own but the quick changes do not flow well and should not overshadow the actual star instrument of the show.
On the other hand, the voice acting definitely deserves applause. Mashiro no Oto has kept in mind their Seiyuus and where each character comes from. There are multiple characters that live from different parts of Japan and Shin-Ei Animation did not forget to add in the accents. Even as a non-native and non-fluent speaker, I can still clearly hear the differences between the words spoken by the characters.
Concerning the characters, they are not the most in depth characters and a lot of characters that I still don’t remember the names of are all pretty flat to push the story along which may be partially influenced by the 12 episode limit constraint and not having enough time to fit everything in nicely. Beginning with Setsu, he is a character that is more of a loner with others eventually drawn to him. By trying to find a way to move on from the loss of his grandfather and seek his own sound, he is able to grow and understand himself better due to these other people. Concerning a lot of his inner dialogue, the number of times he has talked about his gramps, how he can not play the piece right, and how he can not find his sound is a chore for the audience to get through due to how repetitive his words feel. However, I can now better understand Setsu and his situation, which honestly could and should still be fleshed out more, due to his untapped potential as an authentic musician lacking both self-esteem and motivation. In the end, the last two episodes portrayed Setsu's character better, which is what I wanted from this slice of life anime.
For the other characters, the important ones like Setsu’s friends, and some later side characters get like two to five minute long for backstories. For Setsu’s brother, Wakana, he’s the acceptable ‘helicopter older brother’. I do wish that they could have made more time for the audience to understand the other characters better. To sum it up, a lot of these characters are placed and have desires just to directly or indirectly help Setsu with his journey of sound, even if it causes the show to feel less believable.
[Slight Spoilers in Upcoming Paragraph]
Two characters that follow that description the most are the teacher, Keiko, and a fellow classmate, Shuri. Keiko acts like a teenager and is always excited to go help the shamisen club. She also is able to reach out to more well-known people easily and it is explained through how Setsu is apparently known by certain people in the shamisen community. Does that mean she just gives out Setsu’s information to people in hope of them reading her emails? For a well-known alumni, Seiryuu, Keiko was able to reach out to him so easily. Would previous alumni be so willing to meet anyone who is going to their old school? Most likely not. And then we have Shuri, who is one of the first people Setsu met at his school. She was interested in the shamisen due to her Grandma wanting to hear a shamisen song that Setsu’s grandpa played in the past so she got Setsu to play again by convincing him to try to play it and basically establish the shamisen club. After the first half of the anime, she becomes more of a side character to tell Setsu what he should hear at a specific moment as well as still being around to show a beginner's struggle of playing the shamisen, timing. Her struggle is lame in comparison and could have been done better when compared to the others in the group. During the competition, two of the group members, Kaito and Rai, were able to play effectively and well despite being beginners and the new style being told to them by Setsu moments before going on stage while Shuri is still struggling with timing. “Wa” indeed Shuri.
[End of Slight Spoilers]
In the end, if you don’t like how the shamisen sounds or are not interested in Kabuki influences, then I would not recommend it. I admit that I enjoyed the music and visual style, more than the actual plot and characters. This anime will not be able to perfectly replicate the feel of a Kabuki play but if you are willing to see an anime that does embrace parts of its cultural theater roots with strong music, I would tell you to give this anime a try.
Luubie
Learning about Japan's artistic cultures is always a wonderful experience. How many times do we come across anime and manga that use themes that are unusual in the Western, but that produce an essential meaning in this very rich country? This season, eyes were definitely on the most popular animes and that overshadowed some titles that could deliver much more than just 12 Episodes. Mashiro no Oto is one of those hidden and silent animes within the huge catalog of titles. That's bad for the show's visibility, but definitely its relevance, even if filtered by the few people who appreciate that kind of culture, ismore than pleasing, it's surprising.
Mashiro no Oto is basically a show involving an instrument and a melancholy story of Setsu, the protagonist. He lost his inspiration and his reason for existence, his grandfather. A gentleman known to everyone within the lovers of Shamisen, a stringed instrument. In Japan, Shamisen is like a guitar, however, if we go into the deeper culture of the country, it is possible to find records of the development and popularity of Shamisen as a very rich cultural artifact. Like any other instrument, Shamisen causes impact, emotion, sadness and freedom. In Mashiro no Oto, Setsu is the main catalyst and emitter of these varied emotions. He is young and having lost his grandfather recently shook him, so much so that he decided to flee to Tokyo, where his new life begins, in search of a "new sound", as the "sound" of a loved one disappeared before his eyes. eyes. At first, Mashiro no Oto honestly doesn't bring many predictions about what he really wants to tell. In fact, the anime deceives the audience. Until the first episode, you could see Setsu getting involved with Yuna, a girl who worked at an adult agency, but that's not exactly what happens. Of course, Yuna has her importance in Setsu's plot and development, she becomes a decisive factor in his resumption with Shamisen.
However, if we're going to define one that awakens Setsu at its peak, it's certainly his school's Club. Maeda is an inexperienced girl from the Club and was the only one until Setsu's arrival. Even though she doesn't have great ambitions, what led her to continue with the Club is a song sung by her grandmother, but without the use of instruments. Along with Maeda, Kaito and two other members. In the beginning, their composition was not so positive. Setsu needs to develop and avoid his selfishness to harmonize with the rest of the team; Maeda has a "mental block" at times and this prevents her from advancing in songs and performances. Kaito is the most explosive of the group, and most of the discussions come from him, but this is due to frustration in football and family pressure on his future. The whole group somehow has some insecurity and it is well supported throughout the show, no matter if it's in a Championship or a show for just one person (as it was with Maeda's grandmother), everyone was building a bond of some kind. way with Shamisen.
Even Setsu's relatives. Umeko, his mother, is a deprived woman and somehow doesn't deserve to be called the "mother" of a talented instrumentalist. The lack of it in Setsu's life is not felt at first sight, being often pushed aside to continue the show. But the very actions of Umeko that created a break with his children, causes a lot of trouble for them. The contrast between them is visible and sharp. Wakana, for example, occupies even more the role of Setsu's father, even though he is an older brother, something that is more demonstrated with the development of the protagonist, who starts shy, rigid and impulsive, but who starts to become aware and understand which is not unique in the music world, especially in the world of group competitions.
This competence is also transmitted among the characters enshrined in the anime, such as Shouichi, Mai and Kamiki. The three have an engaging relationship with Setsu and his group over time and feed them positively with each new episode.
But you can't just give merit to the anime. Mashiro no Oto is one of the shows that I most visualize the capacity of a production, from the creation of a story to its final execution. It is evident the work of the show staff, which was done by the Shin-Ei studio. Yes, the same Shin-Ei studio that made animes like "Takagi-san" and "Tonari no Seki-kun", but which today has been constantly questioned for its weak and disappointing work. It is the example of "Hachi-nan tte". Incorporating a show like Mashiro no Oto was practically a miracle. Much was said about the quality that the anime would deliver over time, but expectations were really exceeded. Congratulations to the whole show staff, I look forward to another new production, with the same quality and dedication.
Also worth mentioning the amazing songwriting. For those who know and love Haikyuu, Burnout Syndromes is the band that best suits the show, both for the musicality and the lyrics of each song, in addition to its very engaging choruses. Mashiro no Oto was no different. Each episode was redefined with the openings and the band's work was the best possible to convey the sensations that the anime is. I should also mention Shamisen's own musical structures. All the melodies combined and made Mashiro no Oto a cultural grandeur. I think few people who saw this show really knew what this instrument was. I myself was completely unaware of its importance and its way of playing. Now I'm really happy to have absorbed some of this and I'm looking forward to more and more anime themed. It's been a while since we had musical animes either. It's something that had its peaks like Beck and Shigatsu wa Kimi in Uso, but lately it's been getting rarer. There are still some more unpopular works about music, but it is necessary to have a more adequate attention with the whole audience, it is a theme that can bring more history than we imagine.
Finally, Mashiro no Oto is an essential show that changed my expectations with the year 2021. Many shows did not deliver a good story, nor were they even able to innovate. But this show is just the opposite. All the episodes are really good and the settings combined with the sentimentality of their own makes Mashiro no Oto an exclusive show. It's an anime that I wish it had a sequel, it was so worth every minute with this anime.
If you don't know it, give it a try, it's a show that can interest even those who don't like music. It's an eclecticism in anime form. The wind blows in Mashiro no Oto, and this time it's to bring welcome.
Stark700
Life is full of opportunities and the teenage years is no exception as the time to experience growth. What does that tell you about Setsu Sawamura? Is he an opportunist seeking glory or trying to find his own purpose in life? You see, if there's anything in life that's difficult, it's to live in it. Chances are that if you're the average anime viewer following only a few shows every year, this slipped under ther radar. It didn't achieve mainstream popularity even in its own genre. And let's be honest here, judging on the premise itself gives the impression of a niche type of show. Indeed,Mahiro no Oto (Those Snow White Notes) packages together a variety of characteristics and genres that mixes music, drama, and most importantly, character growth. With that mind, it's time to take a deep dive into what you're about to see.
From day one, it should come to no surprise that Setsu Sawamura is talented but also a self-disciplined person. He has a music background and protrayed as a gifted shamisen player. But on the personality side, he's not easy to get along with. In fact, Setsu has the mentality of a perfectionist but not in the way you think. He strives to discover himself and deep down wants to reignite his passion of music. Thanks to his flameboyant mother Umeko, he's given an opportunity, the opportunity of a lifetime as he enters Umezono Academy. It's from there where his true journey begins.
I'm not going to try and convince you to like Setsu or not but on the general surface, he is a relatable character. You ever recall a time in your life where you wanted to discover something new in life? A hobby? Achieving a dream goal? Picture yourself as Setsu and you may realize how realistic his character is. However, on the outside, he is a closed shell. He doesn't open up to people easily and acts mostly with indifference towards his peers. There's an understandable reason too given his past with his grandfather. It isn't until he meets Shuri Maeda and other students at his academy that he truly begins to embrace music again. It's rather ironic as well since she started a music club with similar reasons as Setsu. Both characters wants to discover a certain piece of music with a sense of purpose. Otherwise, Shuri's personality is a sharp contrast with her bright and friendly personality. This brings some trouble in the beginning as Setsu has a dead mind set on shamisen. It seems to be the only purpose in life to rediscover himself and to be quite honest, living a life like that sounds almost abysmal.
Now, the shamisen club in this show isn't exactly a group drafted like some NBA team with a collective purpose. Every character is there for a reason but the range in diversity of their personalities is almost laughable. You'd have to be the judge for yourself but let's just say that the shamisen club isn't exactly built for teamwork. In the world of shamisen, every character has to also rely on themselves and not hold back. Setsu knows this from the very beginning so he had that one single minded purpose. It really isn't until he understands why the club is together that he begins to feel a passion of music again. And truth to be told. watching the shamisen club shows that every character needs to improve, whether it's their technical skills or people skills. For the latter, I'm looking at you Setsu.
Looking at this show from a story perspective, you're going to have to embrace yourself for a slate of melodrama. This isn't some happy goofy storyteller trying to make you laugh. Sure, it has its lighthearted moments here and there. However, this is a show made up for drama that appeals to emotions. To be more precise, it appeals to human emotions. Yes, Mashiro no Oto appeals to the inner human emotions that we all experience in every day of our lives. Setsu dealing with the aftermath of his grandfather's death is a prominent example. When watching this anime as a drama, it draws you in by showing what the characters goes through. It's watching how their lives unfold that you can truly enjoy the show together. Likewise, you may also find the witty dialogues and character personalities entertaining. Characters such as Yui, Umeko, Kaito, and Mai all make memorable impressions. Among them, Umeko especially stands out as a commanding woman who displays the 'no nonsense' attitude. Can we just give her a medal with her character debut?
Like most shows with music and competition, there's definitely talent when the characters steps onto the stage. Rivalries even exist at some levels such as Mai's desire to prove herself to everyone, especially Setsu. Others such as Kaji contains the level of determination to go beyond their limits. In one particular episode, he plays despite having a broken instrument to show that anything can be done when they put their heart into their work. That brings back to the topic of Setsu. After joining the club, it seems his heart opens up more with a love for shamisen again. It doesn't happen just over night but little by little, he doesn't let his past hold him back. It's this type of character journey that is worth watching for and if you came here for that, then Mashiro no Oto will be a sweet treat.
Given a show about music, we can see and hear the talent of the cast. Artistically, the performance scenes has an unique vibrant style of showcasing the production quality. Every one of the shamisen performance scenes stands out above its typial animation quality. It feels surreal, magical, and grabs you into to your seat. Even if you're not a music fanatic, those scenes are captivating like a magical spell. Now, I'm not an expert on shamisen but even I can see why this show wants those performances to look more elegant than any others. It's to showcase the important of shamisen and its culture, not just as a competition but a way of life. t's a the heart and soul of the show that gives our characters a purpose after all.
It may be somewhat of a niche show but don't let that hold you back from watching Mashiro no Oto. It's not just a show about music but about personal discovery. Looking at it from a realistic perspective, life itself has limitless possibilities and the cast in this show wants to take opportunities to discover themselves. And if you came into this anime with a similar reason, to perhaps discover something to take away from this show to remember, then you're in the right place.
IrrelevantGuy
Mashiro no Oto started out as a trainwreck. Riddled with horrendous pacing issues, the first episode tried fitting in way too much content for its own good, nearly making me give up all my hopes for the anime. I'm glad that I stayed until the end, though, because what came afterward was nothing short of spectacular. Mashiro no Oto focuses on the traditional Japanese instrument known as shamisen, something that very few people are familiar with. However, this is not necessarily an anime about shamisen. First and foremost, Mashiro no Oto is an anime about the inner growth of a troubled teenager named Setsu Sawamura, whomerely plays shamisen. The anime primarily chronicles Setsu's tumultuous life as he tries to overcome his struggles with the help of his friends and family members.
Mashiro no Oto isn't really the first anime to touch on the topic of shamisen; that title actually goes to Nitaboh, a movie which depicts the life of a renowned shamisen player. However, the former is thematically more rich and varied than than the latter—mainly due to the fact that while Nitaboh is a moderately long movie, Mashiro no Oto is a one cour TV anime which provides it much more time to flesh outs its themes and characters. And fortunately, the series takes great advantage of this opportunity.
Despite the rather unique subject, the actual storyline of Mashiro no Oto is quite predictable and formulaic; however, along with the awe-inspiring shamisen music, the nuanced and compelling characters make the anime very entertaining to watch. As I said earlier, in essence, Mashiro no Oto focuses on our protagonist Setsu's gradual growth as both a person and a shamisen artist. Expectedly, Setsu receives the most amount of focus in the anime, and thus he is the most compelling character of the cast.
Setsu is a conflicted individual. Ever since the death of his grandfather Matsugorou, who used to be his sole source of inspiration, he has been struggling to find meaning in his life. Now in search of his own sound, Setsu sets out for Tokyo, only to be dismayed by the strange and overpowering ambience of the city. Luckily, he meets Yuna Tachiki there, an ambitious actress who, after seeing his distress, decides to take him to her apartment. Then, following an unexpected turn of events, Setsu enrolls in Umezono Academy and starts up a shamisen club with his new friends.
Setsu's endeavors to rediscover his love for shamisen is the focal point of the story, and Mashiro no Oto illustrates this point beautifully. Setsu may not leave much initial impression due to his irritatingly blunt and secluded nature, but later on, the anime detailedly explores his backstory which indicates why he behaves that way. Prior to his grandfather's death, Setsu's life was simply confined to the world of shamisen; it was one of the few things he genuinely cared about. So when his grandfather—the person who taught him how to play shamisen—passed away, Setsu was distraught and lost his motivation for playing shamisen.
Luckily, he does change for the better. Setsu's development gradually occurs as he regularly interacts with others; he learns to improve himself through observing his friend and potential rivals. Granted, even now, he occasionally struggles to find motivation and gets frustrated when he fails to meet his expectations, but it's undeniable that he has changed drastically from the person he was at the beginning. Setsu has now become much more confident and recovered his passion for playing shamisen. He has made genuine friends who would always be there for him, something which he wouldn't have been able to imagine few months ago.
Despite the series' marked focus on Setsu, the secondary characters are also well-written and decently fleshed out. Almost all of them, particularly those who are close to Setsu or rival him, play a pivotal role in shaping up Setsu's character and complement him as a persona. Their own contribution in the story isn't underwhelming by any means, though. They have been given their own backstories which makes them stand out individually. They all have a realistic motivation for why they want to play shamisen or pursue it as a career, which makes it easy for the viewers to relate to them.
As I said earlier, the storyline of Mashiro no Oto is rather formulaic, but it doesn't cause much problem since the characters are more than enough to keep the viewers engaged. The content of the anime is mostly dramatic and maintains a serious atmosphere, but there are a fair amount of light-hearted scenes as well. The not-so-serious moments of the anime include our characters goofing around and having fun with their shamisen, which are very entertaining for the most part. There are occasional scenes in the anime that provide comic relief, and while they can be hit-or-miss, it didn't hinder my enjoyment that much.
Perhaps the place where Mashiro no Oto shines the most is its breathtaking music. The shamisen playing of this show is actually phenomenal. Athough I'm not familiar with traditional instruments at all, I can tell that the performers are putting their heart and soul into playing the shamisen, which is quite a feat to achieve. Setsu's performances in the Matsugorou Cup were exceptionally beautiful—I was astonished at how a musical piece can capture someone's heart so easily.
All of the theme songs fittingly incorporate shamisen music too, among which the first opening titled "Blizzard" is one of my favorite theme songs from this season. The background music mostly features traditional music, which fits in excellently with the solemn atmosphere of the anime. Lastly, a great deal of care has been put into the voice acting—the most notable example of this would be our protagonist Setsu, especially due to how distinct his dialect is and how good it sounds.
Excluding some of the flaws here and there, the animation of Mashiro no Oto remains consistently smooth throughout its entirety. Facial expressions are normally beautifully depicted, but the quality increases tenfold when the characters are playing shamisen. Rapid finger movements are fluidly animated, and several visual metaphors are used to represent the piece that's being performed, which makes the performances even more immersive.
Mashiro no Oto isn't really flawless, though. It does have problems, and most of them stem from the rather peculiar first episode.
The first couple of minutes of Mashiro no Oto are strangely intriguing. At the very beginning, we see a young man run away from his house in the middle of a blizzard, while a captivating shamisen piece plays on the background. Shortly, a seemingly older person leaves the house in a hurry and stops the young man from running away, and they engage in a short yet heartfelt conversation surrounding the death of their grandfather. When I first watched this scene, I found myself genuinely moved by it—despite not knowing the context behind it in the slightest. Maybe it was because of the solemn atmosphere and how wholeheartedly everything was potrayed; that scene immediately absorbed me into the anime.
Unfortunately, the rest of the first episode is vastly inferior. Much to my surprise, and annoyance, the intriguing opening scene quickly dissolves into a substandard romance story between two characters that barely know each other, which is awfully paced and makes little sense in the context of the plot. I honestly don't know what the creators were thinking of while making this, because later on, this part of the story is basically entirely forgotten. Luckily, at least they didn't expand on it, but without a doubt, the anime could have done without such a poor introduction.
There are a few other issues with how the narrative is constructed. For starters, since the anime has only covered the early stages of the story so far, some of the characters are a bit unimpressive since there hadn't been much time to fully explore them. For this exact reason, the conclusion to the anime may not sit too well with all of the viewers, while I personally think it's quite satisfactory. In addition to this, the drama can be a little overstretched and over-exaggerated at times, instead of getting straight to the point.
Despite its flaws and relatively niche subject, though, Mashiro no Oto is surprisingly a very compelling show that provides an elaborate glimpse of the shamisen world. While it may not be a perfect experience, it is easily one of the best, and probably the most underrated, anime from the Spring 2021 line-up, and that says a lot given how great of a season this has been. The first episode is probably going to underwhelm you, but don't let that mislead you into thinking this show isn't worth a watch—because it indeed is.
I'm eagerly waiting for the second season. It has the potential to be even more amazing.
WatchTillTandava
*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.
heldencrow
The music is superb. Purely as an introduction to the passion and tradition of shamisen and acoompanying song this anime could not have been better. I will always be grateful to have been given this chance to experience that for the first time. And not just one or two performances: the show features multiple Japanese artists playing together or alone, sometimes introducing us to new ideas, sometimes playing the same piece but made individual through their own styles. However. The excellent music and good supporting artwork are let down by the story and characters. The main character is The Troubled but Brilliant Artist in Searchof His Own Sound. A cliché in service of a cliché. He is silent, moody, self-obsessed and generally an asshole to everyone. But they always seem to forgive him because he is a genius. We may be sure he's a genius because everyone tells us over and over again.
Every so often the script, will chuck in a sequence where he's briefly helpful, but its always all about him in the end. It takes some hard work to produce such a consistently unlikeable hero so I guess that is something.
The other characters are mostly groupies in the Setsu roadshow. All the characters in ep1 acknowledge his greatness and disappear forever. The members of the shamisen club, two of who had never even expressed interest in playing shamisen before and come to think of it why did they even join? - mutter about his assholery but take it because of his greatness. All the girls love him. Cats refuse to take a dump if he is near.
His mother is a shonen supervillain which would be fine in a more extreme setting like a Birdie Wing golf course but here it is just weird.
Oh well. As a celebration of music, a towering crescendo. As a character piece, an irritating twang.
simonsenpai98
Biggest Upset endings in anime history. Written poorly although music is 11/10. Plot is 2/10. I hate when they over dramatized the story to distract from actual musical journey which is supposed to be a main theme. Nodame Cantabile is a perfect example of how music anime is done right. Cowboy Bebop have better musical journey than most "music" anime out there. Worst part is cliff hangers. I hope studios stop doing that for business reason because many viewers will drop & move on to next anime which don't have cliff hangers. I hope there's season 2 because there's no way if this is how the showends.
I'm upset because it could've so much better.
The protagonist seems to need psychiatrist & his "mom" shouldn't be around him. The main plot ought to be MC not caring about competition, not flip flopping like politicians would. I couldn't care less if he didn't win but unrealistic drama made it hard to watch. Characters are all over place.
I feel Sakura Chan should've been heroine & it would have been more interesting & fun.
And pretentious edge lords of supposedly villains are cringe worthy & promote no musicianship whatsoever. If it was about Wallstreet stock brokers, it'll be perfect.
In summary, it's all about music. Not points or competition or business.
Zaysaki
The music pulled me in and it is good. Everything else i had to endure. I was rolling my eyes so hard i had to start fast forwarding some of parts between the music. So much terrible writing, pointless drama and tear jerking. Mediocre characters at best, throwaways at worst. I know it's a problem in manga/anime as a whole, but damn some of these female characters were so stereotypically useless. It started well enough, but went down hill quite early. Completely threw away an interesting story and went with just another high school setting with an arena arc to top it off. I expected better, butit was so bad that it actually made me write this review. If you think this is like 'Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu', think again.
ren0080
Lemme tell you, even if you don't know sh*t about music, I think you'd enjoy this anime. I mean, even me who had sh*tty music taste who only likes jpop songs had a boner when I listen to this anime's music performances. And that's saying a lot since all other music/ost that did that are only from a few (Sawano, Kajiura, Kenji, etch.) The story itself is very simple. Although it had a rocky start with unimportant characters being introduced in episode 1 just to never mentioned them again for the rest of the season. But never mind that, the pacing of this anime is quite good.It had natural progression and it doesn't have any forced development in it's story. Overall, very good.
The characters however are kinda forgettable. Like, the minor characters I mentioned in episode 1. The start was very shoujo-like, then they scrap that idea and moved on to high school music shenanigans. So yeah, those characters won't probably show up.
But other than those, the main cast are decent enough to be enjoyable. I don't have much problems with them. Same with the MC because I kinda like his development as a character.
The animation is very plain looking. It doesn't have any thicc lines that solidify the characters in each scenes. Instead, it has super thin lines that they might as well just blend the characters in the background. I don't know, I just don't like it's style because it is very forgettable.
The music though, it's great. Banger worthy.
The opening 2 wasn't very good, but every other music and ost in this anime was just chef's kiss. I love it.
Overall, it's a very good music anime. And I don't mention that very often because most music anime I like are girls doing idol/music stuffs. Very rarely did I actually like watching a guy doing music stuffs.
(6.8/10)
Edenharley
By the premise alone you might think this show is an absolute skip, and I don't blame you. It's essentially "quiet boy is good at the shamisen, a traditional Japanese instrument". That's it that's the plot. However there is so much within that plot that makes this show so fantastic. Firstly and probably mainly are the music and performances, the soundtrack for this show is really unique as it's mostly only performances of the shamisen, even the OPs and ED are based around the instrument. These performances, however, are truly breathtaking. You wouldn't think something as "boring" as a shamisen performance could make you legitimately excitedbut this show excels at that. Each performance is shrouded with character development and really neat visual elements along with really great animation that gives you chills every time, the playing itself is really interesting and the pieces they pick are really good anyway aside from all that. You really feel yourself rooting for these characters as they play their hearts out, especially the protagonist who has the most performances and also the best in terms of story and development.
Secondly as I briefly mentioned above the character moments are very deep and tie in very closely to the plot. Without spoiling anything, the way the main character's performances change according to what he is feeling and interactions he has with other people is a form of character development I've never really seen before. The character dramas that occur are definitely bordering over-dramatic, however that is absolutely the point in a show like this. They feel exaggerated but not in any way forced, all this exaggeration does is make you want to root for the characters and enjoy their performances more - and you do really care about these characters and can tell that they care about each other too. Again without spoiling anything, there are moments where you feel incredibly angry at certain characters for being cruel or harsh, but this anger is more frustration at the fact that their cruelty is justified (in most scenarios) and that you know eventually the recipient will learn and grow from it.
Overall this is one of the most underrated shows I've ever seen and probably ever will see - because sadly I don't think many people will watch this. I can't explain enough how fantastic the performances are and how well they execute them, to me as a musician as well I could really understand a lot of the emotions and frustrations within them. With all this being said, I'm not sure if this show is for everyone but it was definitely for me. I wouldn't say it's a must watch because I could see this not being certain people's cup of tea, but if you're at all intrigued from reading this then I can promise you you won't regret watching it.
Yun45
I'm not usually a big fan of music animes but this anime really captured my heart from beginning to end. The music was beautiful and the story was good. There were heartwarming moments, emotional moments, and many more emotions to experience from this anime. Honestly, this anime kept surprising me in many ways and kept me on my toes throughout the whole show. I have nothing but good things to say about this anime. I highly recommend this anime, sadly it seems that this anime is very underrated. I will be eagerly waiting and wishing for another season of Mashiro no Oto.
tensura1704
This review is Spoiler free.... "Mashiro no Oto" before starting this anime, I never watched any music and competition based till now. But after watching the first episode it's like... We can give this anime a chance. This story is totally based on an instrument called Shamisen. Well to be frank... the music is the heart and soul of this anime. Let's get into deep: Story: 7/10 It's really a simple story. There's nothing new about the story. The plot is a bit predictable. You can easily guess what's gonna happen next. Also the pacing of first 3 episodes are good, then it gets dragged. Unnecessary Elements aretoo much in the anime that makes you a bit bored.
Art: 8/10
I think the art is good. The soft texture of the backgrounds which will add it's speciality while the characters playing is a bit awesome. While I was immersed in listening to their tunes the backgrounds still make an impact on what you are listening. Coming to the characters... Shoujo anime always have cute faces. A bit unclear... but the art is good.
Sound: 10/10
I really need to give 10/10 in sound. New comers or readers if you still have some doubt in my sound rating just go again and listen to it after closing your eyes. The music is really heart and soul of the anime as I mentioned. You'll enjoy.... nope you'll get immersed into the music. The sound department really did an awesome job...
Characters: 6/10
Well, I think they need to build up the characters... yes, this can happen if the studio produces another season of it. We still don't know about many characters. Mainly Setsu... he's still a mystery, they just showed some flashbacks when he starts playing music. Also Setsu's classmates needs some glow up too. It felt like some characters are unnecessary.
Enjoyment:7/10
I'm glad with the music. It still plays in my mind after the episodes. The comedy is good tho. Well there aren't many issues..
Overall: 7/10
Mashiro no Oto is an anime will become one of your favourites if you are a music fan. The plot is a bit bland and some episodes will be kinda dragged, But if you withstand them, even an average anime watcher can enjoy this show. If the studio continue to produce some new seasons with fixing it's plot... I'm sure that it will become one of the best music anime of all time.
anairam9
When I first read about this anime I was hyped, and it did not dissapoint. Story: 9/10 The first half was good enough to keep me watching, with some silly moments here and there. But the second half came unexpected. As we dive more into Sawamura's conflict, the episodes feel shorter, and you are left craving for more. In some episodes the melodrama was at the same level as a soap opera. But, on a personal level, his search for his own sound and identity hit home, and his frustration never felt more relatable than now. Art: 7/10 The series' art in general looks fine, but when the shamisenis out, you get some beautiful shots and movements that makes the instrument feel alive.
Sound: 10/10
The ops and ed were great, and the score in general was good. But the 10 goes for each time you hear the shamisen being played. Nothing less than outstanding.
Character: 8/10
While there are many cliches in the characters, there are also a lot of moments when they feel real, from the expectations of the adults, to the frustrations of the teenagers, and the ambition of the musicians. You can't help but to see yourself reflected on them.
Enjoyment: 9/10
The series grabs you from the start with the first perfomance, hypnotizing you with the shamisen. That feeling only grows with every perfomance, as you get to know more of the characters and empathize with their emotions.
Overall: 9/10
While I was hyped, I wasn't expeting much from this anime, so it was nice surprise that it is a good as it is. I definitely recommend it, and the only thing left to say is I cannot wait for Season 2.
Curiouswanderer
So after reading the volume 1 of the manga and the series had gotten an anime at the same time, I was first blown away at how it was presented like I never seen an anime character ever playing the shamisen. This was very refreshing because this instrument has a gorgeous sound… that is if you know well how to play it properly (definitely not me!). The first OP, closing and the songs that each characters had played in this anime, was incredible. I even was interested with our main boy here Setsu because he just wants to make his own music rather than shareit with others. This is the part I felt went downhill for me that the schoolmates of his, were pretty much pointless and dull like there were all run of the mill from your typical manga. A “damsel in distress”, a “video gamer” , a “jock and a flamboyant dude. I mean why? They were pretty useless, especially the teachers (a woman who acts like a schoolgirl and a old dude who fancies his moustache….ok).
Let’s be real here, I felt the characters around Setsu were basically unlikeable, I mean wouldn’t even care if this was a one man show unless if it was done right! Overall, if you want to look for a deep plot, I’m afraid this ain’t it chief. However if you want to hear only gorgeous music, then you all should check this anime out!
TwilightDweller
Strange, clumsy, erratic, but riveting. If I had to describe this show in a few words. The range of emotions I felt while viewing were unexpectedly diverse. The title of Mashiro no Oto speaks for itself, the "sound" they produced was exceptionally candid. For many people, after a certain point of viewing title after title, they may stop fussing over the technical details of a production and start focusing on more abstract concepts such as feeling the emotion or passion of the creators conveyed through the characters, or particular themes or messages that resonate with them. This is one such work for me. The plotisn't particularly exceptional and the pacing is pretty poor. Particularly the beginning and ending, both being quite abrupt. There aren't any groundbreaking moments in the arcs for these characters outside of the protagonist (who actually has a pretty amazing growth over the course of the show) either. But these elements come together, and bubble up. They set up beautiful moments of performance where the emotions of the characters come across in their music, and it was a surreal feeling seeing these emotions expressed in this way. Each and every performance was different, and totally enthralling. Undoubtedly this work could have benefitted from a better introduction and more well paced plot, but the characters themselves, and the emotions they expressed were easily enough for me to be left satisfied.
As an overall recommendation this anime would be a hard sell. If you are someone who has similarly moved past needing a proper plot and well paced drama, there are many cool things going on here, the most notable being how you can really feel the creators' passion during the performances. These things all left a significant impression on me.
Alice0006
When I know this only has 12 episodes but the manga already has 27 volumes and it's still ongoing: I know this will be unfinished journey. So I will not pay attention much to the ending while reviewing this and just hoping for second season. Story: A journey about a boy who search for his sound. All his life, he is only imitating his grandpa. After meeting many people, perform in public, and participate in competition, he start to discover his own sound and learn many other emotion. I actually already skimming the manga and I know he will perform in public later on so this animeis really just the beginning of his journey. Even if it's only the beginning, we clearly can see he grow as a person, and many characters and event happen here is for that purpose while other characters are also growing a bit along the way. I think this journey searching for yourself (sound) through shamisen is really interesting.
Sound:
I really love the sound of shamisen since long ago. If you often watch Japan traditional performance, you will realize many of them use shamisen but this is the first time I listen to shamisen as its own performance. I don't know how to describe, but I love how shamisen sound so layered. This is the first time I actually can relate to what the character said about sound of instrument for example: Kamiki said Setsu sound is Mercurial, I understand really well. I can also feel the sound of rain in Setsu's performance imitating his grandpa. All of the performance is so beautiful and bring up the beauty of shamisen.
Characters:
It's really weird that I don't hate or like the character. My feeling toward them is similar with how I feel toward human being. They are characters with their unique characteristic, flaw, and strong point. I can relate to some of them, feel annoyed or feel sad (Setsu last episode). But most of all, the one that's explored a lot is Setsu. We saw how by meeting many people and experiencing many things, Setsu little by little develop to the point he can perform with his own sound. In the end of anime, we see he start to waver because what his mom said and make fatal mistake, he start to depressed but it seems he will stand up again. If you see this as music story revolve around how they want to win competition, you are wrong. Competition is just one of his many step toward founding himself. This is unfinished journey of Setsu. Because this is unfinished and the anime finished when he is in the middle of depression (which is the opposite of what this anime is about), I only give this 8. I think they should finish it when he already feel better and stand up again but they choose to finish it here.
Enjoyment:
I really enjoy this anime! Every week we can hear a really good performance of shamisen. I can see a really solid character development and it's also fun. I hope there is second season!!
VicenteDragneel
I started watching this anime because I was intrigued by the musical instrument they use and the way it sounds. I stumbled upon a dramatic anime in which the protagonist tries to create his own music despite being heavily influenced by his grandfather's music. Story: 9/10 The story revolving around Setsu, the protagonist, is spectacular. Despite having immense talent, he lacks his own unique style when playing the shamisen, only imitating his grandfather's music. Thus, he must search for his own essence. Art: 8/10 The art is perfect and doesn't need much more than it has. Even the fingers playing the shamisen and the movements are fantastic. Characters: 9/10 The charactersare perfect in every sense. None of them seem flat or unimportant, and the characters who are meant to be irritating are portrayed very well. I particularly love the protagonist and his brother's personalities, while I strongly dislike the mother and childhood friend.
Music: 10/10
I feel the need to express my opinion on the music. I never thought I would enjoy the sound of the shamisen so much. I've seen the instrument in some anime scenes before, but this anime represents it extremely well. I even want to listen to certain tracks while studying or simply for pleasure
Despite everything said above, I give it an 8/10, which I think is the note that this anime deserves the most
CaptainTexas
The first episode of this show intrigued me with an interesting set of characters, a decent premise (wandering musician trying to deal with grief), and decent music that showcased an instrument that I didn't have much exposure to. Unfortunately the rest of the series doesn't deliver on the promise of the pilot. We are quickly introduced to your bog-standard high-school setting that turns, rather quickly, into your standard tournament arc. The shamisen does occasionally shine but is often drowned out in unnecessary overly-expository dialogue or, worse, saccharine, see-how-hard-we-are-trying-to-tug-at-your-heart-strings?! background music. The show sets up some interesting characters and character dynamics (our protagonist has an amazinglydysfunctional family) but fails to develop the cast enough for any one person to truly stand out. (The exception may be our protagonist's mother, whom is the kind of character we all love to hate.) The plot and tone meander quite a bit. The show seems to be probing the question of whether the art we create is for ourselves or for those around us but doesn't really get as the meat of that juicy philosophical steak, preferring instead to be content nibbling around the edges.
Annoyingly thought, I want a second season. The first season has built up plenty of characters and plot to explore and I would love to see how the writers use them to develop the themes they only hinted at in season one.
MihikoAnim
Mashiro no Oto, was amazing and moving ... but only at the beginning and end of the anime. The story is not banal, it surprises and one wants to follow the hero's story further. Setsu, after his grandfather's death, runs away from home and sets off from the village to the big city, meets new people, and begins his journey to find his sound. And so it begins, but quickly ends up in high school and the school elements get tangled up. The famous story of the tournament in which friends and the main character are to take part begins. At this point, I started rewinding theepisodes, not wanting to see the whole thing.
The story is patterned, you won't see anything new. High school students and Setsu's new friends are boring and simple. The same is true of a teacher who cannot understand that she is no longer a teenager. Simply put, from a great start we get to like thousands of other anime without any special expression.
They arrive at the tournament - we see a lot of team and solo performances. Their musical performances are beautiful and it was really nice to listen to them. The last episode gives me back faith in this anime. It ends up being a great anime that didn't have a silly plot inside, giving you hope for the future.
The heroes were the biggest difference between the beginning and the end and the middle, which strongly influenced the quality of the story. In the middle of the story, we see the stencil and shallow main characters of high school students as we see more supporting characters at the beginning and end. They are presented in a more complex way, with their own lives, thoughts, and ideals that are not easy to change. These are not only nice-looking characters who support and admire Setsu. They have expectations, problems, and criticism for the main character. They influence him and we see in his behavior and thoughts the cause-and-effect condition caused by meetings with these characters.
Music, as well as the line, was pleasant to listen to and watch. As a musical anime, the soundtrack was really amazing, the first opening and ending can be listened to several times without getting bored. The line is nice and smooth in animation. During the concerts, we can see the characters' feelings about the songs beautifully graphically reflected.
I recommend anime just for listening to the concerts and seeing the first few episodes. Watch the further story, decide for yourself if you want to get through it to the good finale.
