Anime Reviews (2010-2019): Kono Oto Tomare! – Sounds of Life – Season One (A Neo-Tokyo 2099 Anime on Blu-ray review)

“Kono Oto Tomare! – Sounds of Life – Season One” is highly recommended and I can’t wait for the second season!  Great story, cool characters and an awesome storyline!

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TITLE: Kono Oto Tomare! – Sounds of Life – Season One

ANIME RELEASE DATE IN JAPAN: 2019

DURATION: Episodes 1-12 (325 Minutes)

BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, 4×3, Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0, English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Subtitles: English

COMPANY: Funimation

RATED: TV 14

Release Date: May 5, 2020

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Originally created by Amyu

Directed by Mizuno Ryoma

Series Composition by Hisao Ayumu

Character Design: Yamanaka Junko

Art Director: Mayuzumi Masaki

Music by Haneoka Kei

Anime Production: Platinum Vision

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Featuring the following voice talent

Enoki Junya/Alejandro Saab as Takezo Kurata

Tanezaki Atsumi/Amber Lee Connors as Satowa Hōzuki

Uchida Yumi/Daman Mills as Chika Kudō

Matsumoto Sara/Alexis Tipton as Hiro Kurutsu

Furukawa Makoto/Anthony Bowling as Michitaka Sakai

Ishiya Haruki/Austin Tindle as Saneyasu Adachi

Namikawa Daisuke/Brandon Potter as Suzuka Takinami

Aoi Shota/Christopher Wehkamp as Mio Kanzaki

Hoshi Soichiro/Howard Wang as Sentaro Miya

Iguchi Yuichi/Josh Grelle as Kota Mizuhara

Mizuki Nana/Lydia Mackay as Isaki Kudo

Terashima Junta/Matt Shipman as Ousuke Kiryu

Sakura Ayane/Meg McClain as Kazusa Ōtori

Hosoya Yoshimasa/Robert McCollum as Tetsuki Takaoka

Yamaya Yoshitaka/Stephen Fu as Haru Kasugai

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Down to its last member, the koto club will accept anyone who is interested in the traditional Japanese instrument. But when both a delinquent and a prodigy player sign up, finding harmony isn’t going to be easy.

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For those looking for a modern music-driven anime series, definitely give “Kono Oto Tomare! Sounds of Life” a try!

An anime adaptation of the manga series “Kono Oto Tomare! Sounds of Life” which was serialized in Shueisha’s “Jump Square” in 2012, the series is ongoing in Japan and a total of 20 volumes has been printed.

In Japan, a total of 26 episodes have aired and for this first season, a total of 13 episodes are included.

The series revolves around Tokise High School’s Koto Club.Kurata Takezo, a second year student, is the only student left in the new school year and now he must recruit members or else the club must closed down.

For Kurata, his goal is to protect the club and when the first person that joins the club is Kudo Chika, a person who has a bad reputation of being arrested for the alleged destruction of his grandfather’s koto business.

And Hozuki Satowa, a koto prodigy who is joining the club, but with her stuck up demeanor, will she be a team player?

And with more members needed for the club to function, will Kurata’s meek nature and weak style of leadership prevent him from leading the koto club?

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Words can not describe how much I love this anime series.

Typically, we are often given a underclassed high school sports team who dream of being good enough to compete for a championship, but what if you were able to use that theme for Tokise High School’s Koto Club?

The series focuses on the Koto Club led by Kurata Takezo and the first season primarily focuses on the club members and establishing their storylines.

Kurata Takezo is the new leader after the majority of the club has graduated. He’s not a leader, but got the position because he was the only one left from the club and promised to keep it going. He is often bullied and picked on but he’s determined to find new club members to keep the Koto Club alive.

Kudo Chika is a juvenile delinquent who lived with his grandfather, who owned a Koto business but also was responsible for starting the Koto Club long ago.  His grandfather always wanted his grandson to smile, not to get into trouble and embrace koto.  But when Kudo is framed for the destruction of the koto business and days later, his grandfather had passed, Kudo wants to desperately make his deceased grandfather happy by getting into koto and joining the club.

But with his brash demeanor and the fact that the school fears him because he has a bad reputation, will he be allowed to join the koto club?

For Hozuki Satowa, she is the daughter of a grandmaster who owned the prestigious koto school, the Hozuki Group.  Hozuki is a prodigy and had a stuck up attitude, but wanting the koto club to succeed, she is also a person with secrets.  Why is someone that is a prodigy with the koto joining the koto club with people who may not have the same skill?

Add with background stories on a few of the other members of the club, why did they join the koto club?

If anything, you can’t help but root for this club.  They are no doubt the underdogs, with a vice principal who is wanting to tear down the club, to a club tht is filled with people with no koto talent, what happens when they are given the task of perform in live in one month for their fellow schoolmates or close down the club.

If anything, the characters and the story are what I found delightful and addictive, that I had to watch it all in one sitting.  It’s an impressive and entertaining anime series, especially how it incorporates music heavily into the anime series.

The animation from Platinum Vision is actually very good. Colors are vibrant, I saw no major softness.  If anything, “Kono Oto Tomare! – Sounds of Life – Season One” looks and sounds good in HD!

Speaking of audio, the voice talent for the anime series for both the English dub and the Japanese soundtrack are well-done.  I was quite impressed of how the voice actors were able to connect to the viewers, because there are quite a number of emotional scenes in this anime series.

As for special features, the Blu-ray features an episode 7 audio commentary with the English cast and the textless opening and ending songs.  Also, included are the 4 exclusive art cards.

The anime series is presented in Blu-ray but a Funimation Digital Code is also included.

Overall, there have been a few anime TV series which were released on Blu-ray that I found to be fantastic in terms of its storyline.  “Kono Oto Tomare! – Sounds of Life – Season One” is no doubt one of the my favorite anime to be released in 2020.

The thrill of competition, the emotional pain that some of these members harbor inside and how they must find ways to handle things, may it be on their own, or through their new friends they met through the club.  The character dynamics of this anime series was great!

The storyline is also unique in showing the spirit of koto, introducing audiences to koto but most importantly, the thrill of club members trying to keep their koto club alive and then preparing for a major competition.

“Kono Oto Tomare! – Sounds of Life – Season One” is highly recommended and I can’t wait for the second season!  Great story, cool characters and an awesome storyline!

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