Me, commenting this after lik... At this point I just rewatched it.
xD
"The theme moves from one part to another each two times!"
"High level techniques are used in key points."
"But they play in a way we don't pay attention to that by completely hiding the hardship of their performance. That's how music should be."
The best dialogue of the series so far, by far
Sorry if there's some mistraduction, I watched it with a spanish sub
The first time I watched it, I finished with a breathless feeling, this second time, after having heard the song sometimes, the same happens with the performance, so yeah, it's a masterful episode.
I love the fact that this is a big payoff, all of the season till this point has been a slow burn ride, building up some key plot points, placing some dots here and there, and then we arrive to this point and we see everything tie together, while we hear in the background the piece they've been working so hard for, and at the end it's just... so beautiful.
There were some little moments that were really good like Takezo's senpai watching them play, Kasuza seeing how good the club complemented Satowa, Akira's grandmother recognizing the talent of those who she considered scum, or Mio standing up after their performance (that little change in the OP was good), these small details gave a lot of strenght to this episode, it was a good focus on lesser charaters of the show. Coming back at our main group, all the club members were given some spotlight, and I liked that, but this episode was for our original trio, Takezo, Chika and Hozuki, with a major focus on the latter; it was a fast, even small moment, but Takezo remembering how he wanted to give everything of him with the club was good, then he claiming how comfortable he felt by their side and don't wanting it to stop was heartwarming, he surely has built strong bonds with his mates, and it becomes pretty clear here; on the other hand, Chika this time had his spotlight after the performance, as he's the one who without a doubt decides to go on seeking for Hozuki's mother, we already know it, but it's always amazing to see, behind that rude and mean facade, that kind and genuine side of him, their bond surely has grown up strong (that ship is gonna sail, it may even be at the very end of the story, but it's gonna sail for sure), also, that little moment remembering his grandfather's words, those about how playing with those strong bonds you have is unique, was a great callback. And at the end, the primary focus of the episode, Hozuki, and how the relationship with her mother molds her: each side is actually scared of confronting the other, and that has become a huge barrier in their path, more than the honour of a great master or a great prodigy, what they've broken is their bond, it's hard for them to find a way to fix it, and all the monologue we witnessed proves it, it's really complex what ties them and at the same time split them apart, and still they push forward in order to fix some of it, or at least try it, moments like the mother entering the hall and Hozuki being full of joy for it are really powerfull; then we get that cliffhanger, oh boy, next episode will be wild.
Also, this moment was priceless:
No publicy intended
Yep, I should active Windows
By the technical side...
Tenkyuu. That's the only word necessary to understand all the production problems we've saw throughout this season; no really, I wouldn't be surprised if most of the budget went into this piece, the amount of complexity is pretty clear even for someone with very litte knowledge in music like me, this surely wasn't easy to achieve. At the end it was all very worthy, I didn't really cared about the animation problems thus far as I was sold with the plot, but man, they delivered this episode. 8 minutes of pure greatness, Tenkyuu is insanely good.
The directing this episode is top tier, in spite of constantly jumping back and forth between so many scenes, all diferent kind of perspectives, it doesn't lose the momentum neither it feels overwhelming, the balance it's really good, the cuts are smooth and maintain a good rhythm, and the music piece finish to mix it all, I love the fact the performance feels like one single scene, despite of how big it's in duration and content; the latter part of the episode, though much more soft, was still great, there's a sense of urgency for finding Hozuki's mother, and it becomes tense when mother and daughter finally encounter. The animation was great too, despite some problems still visibles in some frames (yes, even in this episode we see some of the usual problems with animation), it delivered really well, there was a good amount of shots detailing the actual playing of the koto, it added some immersion with the effort put into it (I wonder if it's actually correct with the sheet of Tenkyuu), and the atmosphere was beautifully conveyed, it was given a bigger sense of majesty to their performance with the water filters, the imagery of the cherry blossoms and some more abstract effects that nailed the whole scene. Also, it's completely understandable, but I think there isn't enough credit given to the OST nonetheless, yeah, Tenkyuu it's by far the best of it, it's really amazing, but the normal OST in this episode was excelent also: the drums at the begining did a good job hyping us for the upcoming presentation, that victorious yet soft piece when everyone began clapping was beautiful, those sweet flutes when they're searching for Hozuki's mother, the synth at the end when Honzuki and her mother reunite, and those strings when Hozuki's mother arrives for their presentation, it really boost the emotional power of that scene.
Last but not least, lol at the fake reporter (and Isaki and Takezo's senpai later) crying over Tokise's performance, and later at Akira claiming to help them find Hozuki's mother.
This is without doubt the best episode of the series. Completely outstanding.
10/10
The only thing I do at the fact that this post actually took me like thrice (surely more) the time of watching the episode is laughing. I should make these shorter. |