Sawamura Matsugorou is a shamisen player of legendary talent. Upon his death, his grandson, Sawamura
Setsu, lost his ability to play. Having lost his beloved sound, Setsu finds himself in Tokyo in search
of a new sound to love. Tachiki Yuna, who works at a club, hooks him up with a gig to play there as a
warm up act. Setsu imbues the sound of his shamisen with his many thoughts and feelings he has of
others, still searching for his own sound and his own feelings.
(Source: Crunchyroll)
Sad to see this beautiful anime ended today - hoping for season 2. Will give this a rewatch in the future. You ever go into a show and have no idea what a shamisen is and decided to watch it on a whim? Well I am glad I did, because I did not expect to fall in love with this anime. From all that it gave us from start to finish, I felt like I was caught in the middle of a storm waiting because I was so captivated by this show because of all the sound it produced. Truly a beautiful anime that deserves more recognition. Sorry if this review is a little all over the place, since I'm just typing as I go with whatever comes to my mind. To review, I'm gonna mainly start by focusing on the beautiful OP Blizzard and will work from there on. Blizzard returns for the final episode!!! I love that OP and I think it is the perfect opening for this anime, nothing against the second opening. Those are both great in their own respect to demonstrate where Setsu stands. Now just to review my final thought on this show with mainly his final performance. Why Blizzard was the perfect song choice to demonstrate the beauty to this anime. We see throughout the entire series, he was chasing after his grandpa. Chasing after the sound that is lose, it is like chasing someone through a blizzard, you can only go so far before you lose sight of their footsteps in the blizzard. We see how Setsu is lost and eventually he does get free from it which we have the second OP. Which features all his friends, because now he has found a new path before him. But with the final couple episode, reality comes crashing down again when we are met again with his mother and father. He is again caught up in the storm (which blizzard was the perfect choice for the final episode). What a way to close off this anime and truly one of my favorite this season. With his final piece being broken into two part, the sound he was chasing and his own sound. Instead of trying to keep following a path, we must create our own path even through the storm. We can only hope for season 2 where Setsu must find his own footing and path and walk it. As his friends seem distant now and lost. Sometimes we are just caught in the midst of everything and we forget about those who are with us. If we were to talk about the visual and art style, it is beautiful. Along with the sound created, this was a delight to the ear. How they portray the sound with nature, how beautiful the sound of the shamisen captivated me so much. It was not a show I was expecting to love but this turned out to be one of my favorite of spring 2021. Is it a masterpiece? Well that is up to you to decide, but base on my own personal enjoyment, I would give it a perfect score. Since I absolutely loved everything about it. From the art, to the sound and the characters. I was happy with the plot as well, especially since with the final result being what it was. So now I wait here patiently hoping one day I will hear season 2 being announced and jump for joy. Until then, I will just enjoy what was presented and I love both the OP and ED. It is truly a great work of art and deserve more praise. A hidden gem of this season for sure.
This year has seen a multitude of subjects within the medium of anime; from amazing titles including Shingeki no Kyojin and Wonder Egg Priority to more unusual and smaller works such as EX-ARM and HOME!. As the seasons transitioned in the industry from winter unto spring, the many studios were left with some massive holes to fill. While many would argue that there were only a few productions this season that were comparable to the last, they fail to realize the beauty from smaller and lesser known pieces such as Mashiro no Oto that I believe, is one of the most solid and understated works this period. The *OP for this work titled “Blizzard” was extremely pleasing to hear and felt well thought out. Played by the BURNOUT SYNDROMES, the music was energetic with great immersion with the listener. I thought it was creative to weave the shamisen throughout this composition as it felt playful and free. However, even though the shamisen is supposed to play a harmony in this piece, it sometimes felt extremely overpowered by the guitar. The ED which is named この夢が醒めるまで (Romanization is “Kono Yume ga Sameru made”) was a delight to hear. Unlike Blizzard which felt somewhat overpowering, this work felt like a perfectly even split between the lightness of the Shamisen from the Yoshida Brothers and the depth of vocals from Miliyah. I found this work very interesting as it sounded extremely contemporary. *Also, the Second OP was alright I guess. Didn't really care for it as much as the other two songs though --- Mashiro no Oto follows a boy named Sawamura, Setsu throughout his journey with the Shamisen. Having originally been a run away from his hometown, he meets various different individuals to help him take gradual steps into his new life. When originally watching this work, I felt underwhelmed; the mundane senses and lack of intensity from the show. However, I slowly came to realize that this atmosphere was intentional. I felt it genuinely as I watched Setsu chase his late grandfather in order to try to find himself. This slump that he found himself was emulated through the environment that the show had provided. Dark and dull colours, and little to no action being taken were all elements that felt reflected towards me. I felt myself being dragged into a deeper and deeper hole, until everything was quiet. Then I saw it; a lone performer walking onto a stage. I questioned it, almost scoffing as this moment felt too cliche. But then he started playing, and I felt it. An immediate shiver went down my spine as I heard the vibrations from the Shamisen. I felt elated and energetic for some reason and I heard a variety of different sounds; “wind perhaps?”. I was filled with a deluge of emotion during this time until everything went blank. It was just me and the sound of a shamisen. Something about the playing is just so enthralling as it captured me and the audience within this show. This show generates its atmosphere throughout every element. It uses melancholy colours and art to portray a feeling of emptiness which intensifies that sound of the shamisen which is in contrast, full of emotion. The animation is extremely simple and shows that the show was just focusing on what was important - sound. Every aspect feels calculated to its fullest extent, emphasizing how impactful it is on the viewer. I implore anyone who is debating this series to at the very least give it a try, just even one episode, to experience the magic that Mashiro no Oto creates. SPOILERS AHEAD!! I really enjoyed this show in the end. Unlike others, this was realistic and left me with an empty hole at the end. It wanted me to keep hearing Setsu’s shamisen. While the ending was ugly and was bitter, I myself felt encouraged and filled with emotion even though I wasn’t even the character in the show. Can’t wait for another season of this beauty.
Mashiro no Oto - also known by its English name "Those Snow White Notes", and will be henceforth referred to as MnO for convenience - is a story of overcoming loss, living up to a past legacy, improvising on the past no matter how painful it may be, forming connections with people, and how to compromise traditionalism with modernity. It's a multilayered yet simple story told very effectively, with a handful of hiccups along the way that don't take away from how incredible the show is. MnO's strength comes at its specific focus on its central main lead in Setsu, who beyond a shadow of doubt is one of the highlights of the series. Setsu loses his entire purpose in life when his grandfather passes away, leaving behind nothing but a shamisen that his grandfather warned him not to play for risk of living in his shadow. What follows is Setsu escaping his insulated life in the countryside for a more open life in the city, albeit one where he knows absolutely no one; the series takes advantage of this to dive into the kind of person Setsu is in quite a bit of detail. Setsu's stoic demeanor betrays an overly sensitive, emotional person who absolutely loves playing the shamisen yet in spite of that is weighed down by what it means to him on a personal level. The first episode taking place in a crowded, rowdy city as Setsu stumbles across help and does a makeshift concert as he's initially mocked - before being cheered by the crowd instead - is an intentional choice, showing someone constantly alienated due to the most important thing in his life being a traditional instrument that people have largely moved past, winning back the crowd with nothing but raw talent and emotion. There are layers and nuances to Setsu's character arc and I'm honestly not entirely sure I can cover all of them; he's empathetic to the struggles other have while also being self-centered, a character flaw he does his best to overcome when made leader of his school's shamisen club. He gradually opens up with his feelings to others and tries to connect with his clubmates, awkward as those attempts may be; this attempt at connection extends to the point where his playing style shifts from outward confrontation with his clubmates to attempting to compromise when playing together. This extends to his attempts to no longer live under his grandfather's shadow; he increasingly moves back and forth between moving beyond his death and trying to have a style of his own, being told at one point that no two people will ever have the same playstyle, and that shamisen - despite the instrument's traditionalism - is no different from any other style of music, with modernity and traditionalism at once coexisting and at others outwardly confronting each other. Setsu's main obstacle in the story, as a result, is him increasingly both modernizing his playstyle and finding ways to become more expressive, while being pressured (by rather toxic guardian figures) to instead follow his grandfather's path. It's a compelling as hell character arc and beyond a shadow of doubt the series utilizes it to the fullest extent, having Setsu be a dynamic character who constantly changes both as a reaction to outside forces and while being introspective over himself and his grandfather, and I can't wait to read the manga to see where it goes beyond this. The side characters are a largely likable bunch with a few outliers; Setsu's mom is a hatesink, being an abusive bitch who wants nothing more than to drag Setsu to living even deeper under his grandfather's shadow, and is the de facto closest thing the series has to an antagonist, culminating in a memorable and incredibly emotional last episode where...well, watch the show and see it for yourself. Taketo, the musician in the first episode who threatens to beat Setsu for spending time with his girlfriend, is a similar hatesink whose characterization strikes as rather shallow, being at one moment an irredeemable sack of human garbage and the next being a mild jerk who shares an apartment with him and even attends one of his performances later into the series. These are outliers to the rule, but it's worth mentioning them since their characterization left much to be desired and did get in the way of enjoying the show at times. Thankfully, the rest of the cast are a fairly straightforward and likable bunch; Shuri and Yui doing their best to play the shamisen, both growing more confident outwardly, was a joy to see, with Yui having several standout character-driven moments late into the series that had me emotionally invested. Rai is the least developed of the bunch but his more flamboyant personality dragged a chuckle out of my humorless heart, particularly when teasing either Setsu or Kaito. Speaking of which, Kaito acts as a damn good foil to Setsu, similarly being someone who lost what he was best at and similarly pressured by a rather abusive family into diving into law, rather than him being into football. So far, I'd say he's my favorite of the club after Setsu, especially considering his more impassioned and emotional outbursts when cheering the team as opposed to Setsu's quieter demeanor. The group had a nice chemistry going on, and their interactions were pretty fun. Other characters I can similarly praise for decent characterization - Mai and her more tomboyish personality betraying an inferiority complex towards Setsu being an easily memorable example. Artwork is detailed and rather pleasant to look at, with character designs being somewhat simplistic but having decent coloring, particularly during concert scenes and noteworthy flashbacks or Setsu's introspections. Animation is fluid from start to finish, with concert scenes looking absolutely stunning, facial expressions being dynamic and insanely fun to look at, and often neat visual cues and gags involving background occurrences that were pretty neat little touches to the overall feel of the series, at one point lighthearted and at other points somber. On backgrounds, they're absolutely stunning and add much to the series' visual style, with explosive presentation emphasizing the mood of given characters or even something as basic as characters walking through various locations, which are similarly lovingly detailed. The most memorable thing about the series - Setsu's character arc aside - is the absolutely astounding sound design, ranging from the voiceacting, sound effects, transitions and ESPECIALLY the concert music, which all sounds absolutely amazing. Everything from the detailed animation of finger strokes, introspective monologues and consistency between how characters perceive the music against how it actually sounds is handled insanely well, with several noteworthy concerts being prominent examples of this scattered throughout the series. The series, unfortunately, does come with another problem; it's incomplete as of the time of this writing, leaving us with an introduction to what I doubtlessly think is a well-written and expansive story down the line. Kodansha starting a proper translation of the manga is worthy of praise considering how underrated the series is, however, and here's to hoping for a season 2 down the line. Thank you very much for reading, any and all feedback would be appreciated.
Após perder o seu avô, Sawamura se vê perdido na vida, sem ver sentido ou valor na música ele vai até Tokyo tentar descobrir o seu propósito e o que dava sentido tanto a música de seu avô quanto a própria. Ao chegar na cidade, encontra pessoas que se envolvem com seu propósito e com o envolvimento de sua mãe em seus planos ele acaba sendo forçado a tocar o instrumento e buscar a mesma excelência que seu falecido avô possuía. Mashiro no Oto é um anime que explora a mente de um músico frustrado, diferente dos que são lançados anualmente, este não fala sobre alcançar o sucesso ou grandes espaços na indústria, mas sim o que dá sentido ao fazer música, no caso do protagonista, a busca de seu “verdadeiro som” através do Shamisen. Acompanhamos boa parte da obra pelos olhos de Sawamura, que através de sua vida em Tokyo entende que a arte acima de tudo deve ter um sentido, e que até mesmo frustrações podem ser transformadas em música. O anime vai bem ao explorar o drama do personagem principal, apesar de que muitas vezes parece ser algo simplório, por mais que fique claro que a obra se trata de amadurecimento e buscar sentido no que fazemos, o mesmo parece ser uma casca vazia. Por mais que Sawamura passe por diversos momentos que aparentemente o impactam, não vemos mudanças drásticas em sua personalidade, o que acaba sendo compreensivo ao percebermos que essas situações afetam sua música, essa sendo sua melhor forma de expressar quem é, mas ainda assim é estranho que não haja impacto em seu comportamento. Já os personagens secundários aparentam estar em situações bem mais interessantes do que o principal, não que essas sejam desenvolvidas com esmero, mas fica nítido quem são e aonde querem chegar, sejam aqueles que tem como objetivo a música ou não, além de apresentarem traços de personalidade bem maiores que o protagonista também geram mais empatia por agirem e reagirem de acordo com as situações pelas quais passam, esses suprem o que é esperado do personagem principal. Outro elogio que devo deixar a obra é como ela expressa a música através dos comentários dos personagens e conceitos artísticos, por exemplo um personagem diz que a música o faz sentir uma brisa suave em um campo, logo em seguida a paleta de cores fica esverdeada e ouvimos ao fundo um leve ressoar do vento. A trilha sonora também é maravilhosa, seria terrível se um anime musical usasse de músicas repetitivas e sem graça, mas não é o caso, as composições são ótimas e para alguém que nunca havia escutado Shamisen com tanta frequência, fiquei agraciado com o'que foi apresentado aqui. Eu espero ver uma segunda temporada em breve, este é um anime cheio de potencial para se tornar algo grandioso se trabalhado com cuidado, até lá eu o considero apenas bom, porém recomendável, principalmente para apreciadores de drama e boa música.
__SPOILER-FREE!__ **This was the very first review I ever wrote over half-a-year ago, now being published. I'd like to think I've come a long way since then.** I’ve taught music and music history at a university, but interestingly enough, music anime and I have a bit of a troubled relationship. I suppose it stems from the fact that I find real-life stories about what music means to people so much more compelling than what fiction usually provides. It’s rare that I come across a music anime like _Sound! Euphonium_, _Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song_, or _Kids on the Slope_, which manages to both excite my musical imagination and make me feel compelled to follow the overall drama. Which brings me to _Those Snow White Notes_, a show where I wasn’t sure what to expect from it. All I knew going in was that it concerned an instrument that I knew a little bit about, but not anywhere enough to be called an expert. I’ve listened to a few shamisen recordings, but that’s about the extent of it. In a way, it was being out of my element with a new music anime that gave me a nervous, but excited anticipation. _____ The story follows Sawamura Setsu, the grandson of a famous shamisen player. His grandfather dies and Setsu loses his drive to play the instrument, even going so far as to leave home. Through a series of chance encounters in Tokyo, including a run-in with his pushy mother, Setsu enrolls at a high school and ends up being roped into forming a shamisen club with several others students getting involved. As the story goes on, he tries to discover what it means to create his own sound and stop imitating the sound of his grandfather. As a concept, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with this. It’s a little basic, but basic is fine so long as the surrounding content is worth it. Setsu as the center of the show manages to be a good presence. He’s a bizarre combination of aloof, tacky, confident, and confused, which is something that can be reasonably-expected for a prodigy at a particular skill. It’s complemented by a quiet aura rather than one bursting with bravado, giving the sense that he’s always being honest and authentic. He can certainly come across as abrasive, but it doesn’t leave the impression that he’s trying to hurt your feelings on purpose. The cast surrounding him is unfortunately more of a mixed bag. Setsu’s family members and others who have a history with him are certainly given time to stretch their legs, but his fellow students are lacking. Shuri, the main girl that the anime focuses on in the shamisen club, is less of a character and more of a vehicle to get Setsu on his way. She doesn’t have much in the way of personality except for being drawn to Setsu’s playing and perhaps being a little unsure of her own abilities. There’s a plot involving her wanting to reintroduce a shamisen sound to her grandmother’s life, which Setsu recognizes as something that his grandfather wrote. After the plot was over and the grandmother is never seen again, I felt that I learned far more about what the music meant to the grandmother than I did anything about Shuri herself. Something happening to a character is not the same thing as something happening to the character’s family member. One does not substitute the other. As far as the rest of the main and side characters, they aren’t much in the realm of memorability, with the notable of Setsu’s mother, Umeko. She is, by far, the most-infuriating character in the show because of her helicopter-parenting desire to control her son’s future. Every time she was on-screen, I could feel my stomach get a touch knotted. Despite her robust singing tone in the second episode as Setsu accompanies her, a genuinely good sequence, I did not miss her when she wasn’t on the screen. The manner by which she tries to wrap her hands around Setsu’s destiny was unpleasant, even though I feel that was the point of her character. The visual style of the show is also strangely unpleasant. _Those Snow White Notes_ opts to remove most instances of shading or more-complex color combinations and designs in exchange for solid colors. I found the visual style to be an unintentional complement to the characters, mostly one-note or lacking in an overall impression. This seemed most evident during the episodes where the characters all wear matching clothes, as there is seemingly-nothing there to give any hint of complexity in the visual design. The musical sequences themselves, however, are the most aesthetically-rich portions of the series. The recording quality is excellent, and the animation seems to reach a new life with its vividness and energy. Even in the first episode of Setsu going onto the stage to entertain the restless crowd ended up being a beautiful sonic experience. There are a number of these sequences throughout the show, both in terms of actual performances for audiences or the characters playing in private or with no one else around. The abundance of these sequences helps balance out the episodes with slower paces, making each recording feel worth the wait and leaving me eagerly anticipating the next time a sequence would appear. Despite their quality, these sequences are also dogged with the problem that the characters feel the need to consistently think to themselves about what it is that they’re hearing. _Those Snow White_ Notes doesn’t particularly give the audience watching the chance to form their own conclusions about what the sound is, or what the sound is doing to them. The characters, in essence, serve as the audience surrogate to a fault; if I want to be moved by Setsu or someone else’s playing, then I want to reach my own conclusion about it, not be told how I should react based on what the on-screen character is observing to themselves. As an audience member, I feel cheated by this, as though because I don’t know enough about the shamisen, I need a guide to help me. I have the ability to listen; why can’t I listen uninterrupted? It’s a sour sticking point because the first episode’s performance is full of people who haven’t heard this type of sound before, yet they were moved by it. If they could be, why not I? If we want to cling to this idea of music’s universal ability to be appreciated, then it should be as unimpeded as possible. I’m not saying that there should be absolutely no commentary, but rather that it went over the line of too much. This series of interruptions also carries over into Setsu’s overall character arc. While I said I liked his personality earlier, he’s a bit of a flake. It seems that every time he comes close to making some kind of breakthrough, there’s always something that forcibly pushes him back. It’s as though the series is trying to delay his climactic moments rather than allowing them to happen organically. We can only have him ask where his sound is and what he’s feeling so many times before the exercise gets tired. I know that he’s a teenager and thus prone to these kinds of emotional swings, but yet again, it’s just too much over the line. _________ _Those Snow White Notes_ is ultimately a flawed show with its heart in the right place, but only offers occasional glimpses at what the heart has inside. Even then, those glances are clouded by unnecessary commentary or fluff that leaves the series feeling like for every dramatic step forward it takes, it takes a similar step backwards. It’s not a bad show, but the emotional resonance it’s attempting to reach doesn’t have the necessary strength to get there. The music segments are worth seeing in isolation, and if you should so choose to watch the show as a whole, perhaps you’ll be enchanted by it more than I was.