Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
gappyawn
This is my second favorite anime about music, right after Your Lie in April, of course. I gave the first season 8/10 because I didn’t enjoy it as much as the second season. I took a lot of thing from second season. For example; "Instead of trying to change people, trying to understand them can change both yourself and the people around you." This is the most valuable thing I got from the first season. İf u loved your lie in april, you must watch this. Or you liked this anime you must watch your lie in april. They cover almost same topics. (and guys... watch jojo then thanks me). Good to Watch guys!
Read at the sourceCyanCheetah
Kono Oto Tomare was a magical anime. There are only half a dozen music-focused animes that I can think of:
Bocchi the Rock
Your Lie in April
Hibike! Euphonium
K-On
Belle
Bang! Dream.
These are the ones I can think of. But Kono Oto Tomare is the ONLY anime that not only focused 100% of its energy on the actual music but also was very good at it. Bocchi the Rock was hilarious but not as music-focused. YLIA was depressing but again not as music-focused as Kono Oto. I know YLIA had some AMAZING Piano music selection, but not as focused on the music as Koto. K-On! was a cute Moe anime that had amazing moments but then again that was a Slice of Life with not as much focus on music. Belle was a dramatic movie but did not as much focus on music as it did not just save the world. Finally, Hibike…
Read at the sourceBenx2019
Issues from season 1 are pretty much the same. More pointless depth is given to side characters, but on the other hand main characters feel a little less superficial in their depth given we have actually been properly introduced to them now. The op and ed are slightly better than season 1. Otherwise in all other regards season 2 retains the same issues and promise as season 1. Season 2 holds up well to the expectations season 1 set, not that they were particularly high. The soundtrack is a big reason this anime is as enjoyabe as it is, but I don't really thing it's a "good" anime. It is enjoyable despite being flawed. 6.35/10
Read at the sourceAnaelAnimanga
I'm not a big fan of anime talking about music (apart from Bocchi The Rock).
I never thought that '' Kono Oto Tomare '' would prove me wrong.
I was able to discover a new instrument and the ost are fabulous especially "Tenkyuu" which is sublime.
The characters are endearing and have their own story that influences the way they play and their feelings about the koto.
There is humor and more serious moments, and we can, according to our own experience, identify with a character, which intensifies my interest in this work.
I can only recommend seeing this anime can't wait to see a third season.
Read at the sourceAppleDangani
(Kono Oto Tomare Season 1 and 2 by Amyū Sakura) Non-Spoiler Review
(March 21, 2022)
Have you ever felt the excitement and joy of doing what you really love? Facing your weakness head on, admitting that you are hundred or thousand steps away from what you want, but you still take each and every experience to learn and be better. Loving the process with unwavering belief that you can reach what you're aiming for.
Kono Oto Tomare is a story about high school kids who came to love playing a Koto. A traditional Japanese instrument which also called “Kin”. Koto is a long Japanese board zither having 13 silk strings and movable bridges. The library's makers describe the Koto's sound thus: "It has a lightness of flying butterflies and the sputtering of fish, but has the strength of thunder.” Fo…
Read at the sourceryancartwright98
A cartoon about an instrument i hadn't heard of made me cry. 10/10
Over all the story is great, throughout the first and second seasons the writers do a fantastic job of showing us how much the characters care about what they're doing and about each other. And they do an incredible job at making YOU care about it too. You can feel the passion of the characters and it pulls you in and makes you feel what they're feeling. You can feel the love, passion, and excitement of the characters, and you can really feel the passion of the writers, the animators and especially the sound team that worked on making this incredibly moving peace of art.
It's shows like this that remind me why i originally got into watching anime (the first several Animes i ever watched were very emotionally moving work…
Read at the sourceHumabon
Even with the absence of a grand mind-blowing plot, Kono Oto Tomare tells a heartwarming story of friendship, professionalism, and character development through music. It may follow the traditional format of sports anime, but each scene has superb execution, beautifully conveying the internal struggle of each character. The unique element of this anime is the use of the Koto. Even if I don't know this traditional Japanese instrument, I felt the connection for the Koto as each strum reverberates to my heartstrings.
Like Your Like in April, Kono Oto Tomare is a show you watch with your ears. After the show, it leaves lingering emotions and appreciation to keep watching the musical performance repeatedly. I hope there will be another season. Kono Oto Tomare is very underrated, and it deserv…
Read at the sourceakmal8
I had been looking for a laid back comedy/slice of life type anime after finishing a few other titles. I came across Kono Oto Tomare by chance after watching a different anime in the same genre, and seeing this title in the recommendations list.
I was hooked by the end of the first episode of the first season and binged this series in less than a week. This anime is deeply moving. I'm a 33 year old man and no other work of fiction has brought me to tears as much as this series. This anime is not principally about music, or musicians. Music is the medium used to tell a story. But it's not some run of the mill coming of age story either. Each episode leaves you wanting more. The characters grow with each episode. I was totally sucked into this world, and I felt a strong protective instinct…
Read at the sourceamandont
Pretty equal if not a teensy bit better than the first season, just a culmination of all the sweat and tears of the gang and a finale that was just stunning really.
This season in my opinion was better than the first due to a few reasons, I think that the character of Akira Dojima was just beautiful. I think that her character is so intriguing, it's so worth the time to explore further, it really propelled the group to be better and it was really the main reason this series got better and better.
I also liked that we got a bit more Koto this time round, especially about learning the basics of Koto. I feel like this series really underplays just how difficult playing music is, and knowing that most of them are newbies, it's pretty unrealistic for them to be as good as they are. So I reall…
Read at the sourcevault-dweller
Just one of the most likeable main casts in any anime in years. That right there should be the reason you watch this show. I could end the review there and 90% of my entire point will be reached. But I'll flesh things out a bit.
The plot, honestly isn't important. It's about a struggling high school classical music club and their dreams to reach nations. But honestly, even though this is the story we follow throughout the two seasons, it's not why you're watching and not what truly matters. It all comes down to a genuine, pure, lovable group of characters that all have their struggles, be it big or small, and how they overcome them together. They believe in, support and care about one another in such an honest way that you can't help, but feel the same towards them. So you rout for them.…
Read at the sourcecocolita22
Imagine watching this show and not giving sound a 10. You don't have to love every aspect of this show, but you physically cannot tell me this wasn't the most beautiful music. I had never heard of the koto before this show and now I can't stop thinking about those haunting notes.
Few music anime can touch a chord like this, pun intended. I promise you will love this show once you give it a try. It took me two episodes to realize it was special and I was dreading the end. Luckily, both seasons are incredibly solid and gorgeous. The character development is precisely why you need to watch this show: they grow together and change so obviously, but it is the type of change you root for the entire time.
Story: Chika is a delinquent who grew up around the koto, since his grandfather would mak…
Read at the sourceijen
This review is based on the whole 26 episodes.
Let me give you some touch of reality, sugar+spice+everything nice = powerpuff girls, is only fiction not reality. When you mix Music+ Shounen+ Sports?= Diarrhea, that's the reality.
Kono oto tomare is nice anime but the tags of the genre and concept, is really flawed. I guess i have to be blame the original mangaka and the producer for this, for them being out of touch with how the world works. You see, it's hard to feel something if you don't get involved with field and mangakas who does research with google to get ideas and watch his or her predecessors, get only the outline not the actual themes. And with no experience and just the shallow ideas plus wild imagination= Diarrhea.
Get these points, as a jack of all trades, I'm saying this,…
Read at the sourceyugeee
I am very touched by this anime, their struggles and big problems like problems with their parents and their past. Slowly they conveyed their message through the koto musical instrument. The character development is really visible..and what really touched me was when they succeeded in making people touched when playing Koto in competitions ..
. Anyway, this anime has a lot of life lessons ... And there is a little bit of romance. I highly recommend you this anime!
especially for those of you who really like the beauty of Koto music. I just heard them playing it was touched ... the music of Koto was very beautiful and soothing. I really got goosebumps with this anime.
really like this anime because there are many flashbacks that are very heartbreaking, but slowly the relationship between d…
Read at the sourcewasteis0lation
While inheriting a lot of the other main problems of season 1, it was a nice continuation and didn't drop in quality. It does feel kind of rushed, however, and as many have noted, for a koto/music anime there's a visible lack of koto screentime.
***MILD SPOILERS***
The final performances could've at least been all full length like Tokise's, instead we got 75% music 25% backstory we could've had before the scene. Redundant.
********************
They're STILL trying to push the Kudo x Satowa agenda when we all know Kudo's one and only true love is Tetsuki so that's an automatic -1 to the rating yep.
Speaking of best boy Tetsuki - not enough screen time. What the fuck?
*** SPOILERS ***
I think Akira's storyline was the most interesting out of all. The feeling of being a lost hard wor…
Read at the sourceLoneAce
I did a review on the first season. I did it for both seasons so might as well copy paste:
When i first heard of Kono Oto Tomare, I was quite curious as to how the anime would fare in comparison to Your Lie In April. I am thoroughly surprised at how the story developed, and simply how deep each character development is. The prejudice that hovers around each character is slowly but surely unpacked and what you get is a masterpiece in terms of character development.
Unlike Your Lie In April, there are just so many competitors which viewers might adore and despise in the Koto Club's journey to the Nationals. Some of the issues that are addressed very well in Your Lie In April are also explored and addressed beautifully in Kono Oto Tomare, from parental expectations to not liking one's own p…
Read at the sourceMisbah_shah
Highly recommended! Go for it!
A good story with a unique theme always catches the attention.✔️
STORY: 10/10
I'll only explain 6 points regarding story.
1. REALLY INTERESTING THEME, That is "Koto Club"
Now what exactly is this koto? It's a musical instrument and focus of this anime is Music. Members of this Club play this instrument KOTO, since all of them have their reasons to be in this club because this club is quite underrated in the school. Once they join the club, they get along well, due to the president of this club Kurata. 2. 7 Members of Koto Club:
Kurata, who's a very well spoken and mannered guy. He wants to collect at least 5 members in order to save this club from being disbanded from the school since a club must have at least 5 members to be recognised. The person who…
Read at the sourceveemon23
I will put spoiler warning because I will talk about what I like and didn't like about this show. I want to honestly believe this is a 10/10 but I can't find myself to say it is. Since there's just one part of it that really didn't sit too well with me.
As for the plot of the anime, it's nothing special, pretty typical and predictable but I watched it not because of the plot but because of the characters. I think that's the main reason I really kept watching because I enjoyed the characters. This mainly meaning I enjoyed Chika and Hozuki a lot! I honestly thought the President was kinda of boring lol.... no offense to those who like him. I treated the three friends as side character or supporting more then main. The other characters I really like are the teacher, Kurusu, and Akira. I lik…
Read at the sourcePologhost
Am I a sucker for music anime and character dramas?
hell yeah,
but does that discredit all the inredible things this show accomplishes?
Hell no.
The 2nd cour is even better story wise only having the flaw of a Villain McVillain type character. It doesn't detract from the main strenghts of the show, showing each characters struggles and doing the sports anime thing of showing the opponents hardships as well.
Character wise the addition of akira is great, they continue humanizing and characterizing our cast very well. The main cast except for Sakai feel like real characters.
Furthermore they are actually friends with each other onscreen instead of us just being told XY are friends like in lesser shows.
The main story beats might seem over dramatic at first, but I think they do well to…
Read at the sourcemahpquan
I cannot help myself giving this anime a 10 out of 10 overall. I know that it is a bit bias but hear me out on this one.
Story: It is just a typical and very normal storyline, well-executed but nothing special. I'd still give it an 8.
Art: It looks really nice to me, still following the art from the 1st season. Some people say it's not up to 2020 standard but I enjoy it, so there's a 9.
Sound: YOU HAVE TO GIVE IT A 10. IF you did not have spine chills hearing some of the songs featured in this anime, then I do not think that musical anime is for you ever, and even if so, you'd probably cry a whole lot listening to Tenkyuu.
Character: Character development was ok, a bit lackluster here and there. Overall an 8 for me.
I really enjoyed the anime a lot and would ABSOLUTELY RECOMMEND it to ANY…
Read at the sourcezztl9
tl dr; Much better than the first season, some parts even gave me goosebumps
The season covers our group's journey for the nationals, competing in the qualifiers. They put in so so so much effort, and it even covers the super young prodigies we see a lot in videos nowadays, too. There were no unnecessary drama unlike the previous season--just the ones necessary to push the story forward.
More character development and better koto skills for our favorite boy, and less doormat-ism for the club president--Overall satisfactory character development for all characters the viewers would care about.
Aside from the wonky faces in between scenes every now and then, the animators did a good job in crucial scenes as well. Imagine being assigned with the task to illustrate a performance lul; bless…
Read at the source
