Those White Notes
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| So this is the end huh? 3/10 Man I really appreciate Shamisen but goddamn the story and the character was so bad. That's some brutal shit in the end "You're pathetic". I feel so bad for him but still overall it's not an enjoyable anime. |
| Well, thats it, man! End of those snow white notes! So, the reason behind Setsu's lost was a bit of intriguing. Cause, its like Kaji-kun string case, its more of technical reason by those judge explanation, can not changed the shamisen style in the middle of the performance. Because its created such a negative impacts for their overall scores. A bit of loss for me. But, there it was, the reason behind all of those competition dramas. Souichi got a simple victory, cause there's no one can stop that solid performance, even from the changing style sounds of Setsu. Okay conclusion to this competition arc, i guess. Even they used the first opening again to bring the more of the previous hype back to this finale. But, i am gonna say, its a bit late. A trivia information about Umeko current husband also being dumped on this finale. Its that judge glasses man. Surprising? Not really. Cause an intricate annoying bussiness woman always got a twist, wherever she went by. The frustation of Setsu was understandable too. Then, its looks like he will be more aware for his own sound, rather than always listening to such an annoyance person like Umeko for example, from those latest point. Thats being said. This is really a mere introduction for Setsu lives journey founding his own sound far from his beloved gramps sound. More story coming on. But, once again, read-the-fuckin-material-sources-to-now-more route, always been a trouble for an anime only viewer like me. So, yeah, its a 7/10 from me, considering all of nice Burnout Syndrome op, and very good shamisen ed for the show. The shamise plays always been nice too. But, everything else? Its just OK to introduce you, for the real and next story of Sawamura Setsu-kun.... |
 Hide and seek is the best offline games on this fatamorgana-called-world-thing. Please comment nicely. I am newbie here. I'm level  on mal-badges. View my badges  |
| Setsu won and lost for the first time in his life. Learning to live with it has him tired. So what awaits is will he rise up or just fall to the depths as always. |
When someone asks me why I like anime, I'd say Just Because. |
KANLen09 said: Of course, you had to insert in the 1st OP because we've reached the end of the anime adaptation. Setsu's skills are as immaculate as his playing of his Gramps's song "Matsugorou", going back to the roots of why Setsu has an interest in playing the Tsugaru-shamisen in the first place, and delivering such a jaw-dropping performance. Playing his sound for the people and having fun, Setsu's definitely released his burden, but to Aunt Umeko, she is a bitch relative for desiring nothing but the ABSOLUTE BEST. Even to his rivals, the expectations thereafter are high. Even Tanuma Souichi delivers a stellar performance...though from the outsiders' view, he's a total monster behind the Tsugaru-shamisen. You can tell by the intensity of the playing that just rocks the entire body to oblivion, and that's on top of the fact that his performance JUST CLICKS amidst the complicatedness. Even if Tanuma meant to tease Setsu about his playing, the fact that Setsu got 3rd place in the individuals' division, it made the competition look more of a joke than the group competition, much less Tanuma getting an almost-perfect 1st place with barely any competition, and of course, whom none other than Aunt Umeko who's disappointed with the results and making a scene with purposely dropping Setsu's award onstage just to humiliate him. Even Kamiki Seiryuu and Setsu's biolgical dad Ryuugen getting in on the humiliation to shut down Setsu, it just feels like whatever Setsu plays, it can be easily surpassed right now. The ride from the start of the show has been nothing but a disgrace to Setsu, who came home, and cast his Tsugaru-shamisen aside...to an open ending for his Gramps to bring him interest again to create his own sound. Hmm, very good show, but not great. tywhoppity said: I thought I was watching Furuba for a moment, with the crappy parents and all. What are trying to do, break his limiter? I had a stepmother like Umeko, and I still hate her, even after all these years. Umeko is Setsu biological mother so it makes what she did to Setsu worse Doesn't make her any less hot though |
| I've loved this show right up until the last bit. That was just... a terrible way to end things. Not only was Umeko a horrible person, no one did anything to protect Setsu from her. Even the people who usually want the best for him (Wakana, mainly) seemed to agree that that had to happen, that Setsu had to be torn apart so he could eventually get stronger. The longer I think about it the more pissed off I get. Ugh. |
| From the way it sounds like, Umeko is trying to purposefully rile Setsu through her words, claiming it is hard to get him motivated. But I feel that it really is just so toxic, always comparing him to someone and calling him pathetic. I really feel bad for him because so many people are claiming to try to "help him" by acting so negatively -- I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up hating playing because it has just become such a burden of always not satisfying people even though he just wants to play for himself, but alas that can't happen because the plot must move on! |
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| Great ending, and playing Blizzard made it even better! Well, it's to be expected that Setsu wouldn't win, but third place for your first competition is still amazing. Souichi's performance was awesome, though it felt kind of short. I feel really bad for Setsu, like damn. My perception of Umeko changed a little after her talk with that judge, she's not the pure devil we think she is, but that doesn't make the things she has done any less terrible. There's other ways to motivate a man, though yeah Setsu is difficult to deal with, but there's gotta be other ways to motivate him. I really hope we get a second season, I know there's so much more to adapt in the manga (that I cannot find). Overall a pretty good show, good drama and good music. 8/10 |
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| well i enjoyed this anime a lot, i thought it was fun and had nice songs, and the characters were also pretty decent, Shuri (and Sakura as well) is adorable, i kinda thought about putting her on my sig lol that being said, i wanted to give this a 9 (just like kono oto tomare), but... his freaking mother, this final episode (with all the negativity), and specially how much they talk/add piano songs and everything else during the performances... just no lol 7/10 i'd most likely watch a season 2 |
winddevil1Jun 19, 2021 4:43 AM
fav "new" girls from winter <3 (2 extra girls this time, but 36 seasonals so whatever) ... click sig for older seasons and more possible picks |
| Even if there's still more content, they still ended it kinda bad. Pretty frustrating episode and anime for me. I'm not sure why they decided to just have everyone criticize Setsu from nowhere, then suddenly people have 'grudges' towards him, like he broke something special of theirs. Even then, compared to most instruments, the shamisen is a hit or miss for me. Can't say I really enjoyed listening to it even as a musician. Roped me in the first few episodes, but that seemed to slip off later on. |
| I hope we get a sequel. Also, I'm sorry, but I honestly did not like Tanuma's performance. It sounded so messy. |
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| man what umeko did to him was inhuman how can you treat your own child like that >:( but setsus performance was so good, to be honest i didn't feel the goosebumps when souichi played so i wasn't surprised that he won but it still did upset me i really hope we get a second season someday cause there's so much potential for setsu to improve and to be japans number one and i really wanna see the story of him becoming one |
| Feel like Umeko and Commander Ikari can duke it out for worst parent of all time at this point... What was that? Certainly not the ending of a show I really enjoyed and in the last 2 episodes has totally lost me. This was just a trainwreck really. I had it at 9, then episode 11 dropped it to an 8 and now it's a 7. Not sure how an enjoyable show blows it's end so dramatically. |
| My 144th completed series chronologically. For the record, I extended it a 5/10 rating. |
Already over? Well, I hope that we will get to follow Sawamura on his path again in the future. In animated form, that is. |
| Anybody else loved this anime way more than they thought? this season was packed with so many insanely good series like vivy/t. revengers/nomad/odd taxi/fumetsu/moriarty p2, but this one has been so hype for me every ep, maybe it was because it's the first i listen to the shamisen instrument, the sound of it just gives me so many goosebumps whenever i listen to it. Great final ep, hopefully there will be a 2nd season! |
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| 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. |
WatchTillTandavaJun 19, 2021 2:28 PM
| This finale did NOT go how I expected it to at all. This felt like something that should've happened at the midway point rather than the end, instead of all that weak and pointless drama from the other members of the Shamisen Club. I guess it could be a good starting point for a second season but it was pretty risky considering it might not get another season. The season started so well with the potential for a really emotional and stirring anime but it dipped in the middle when it tried to force drama for the other members of the Shamisen Club. The only one whose conflict felt natural was Kaito and it felt relevant to the story because he was experiencing a similar lost feeling to Setsu, but the rest... it was strained and unnecessary and took away from the sentiment of Setsu's journey. The last 2 eps bought us back to that riveting place from the start of the season and I'd love to see another season to explore Setsu's story from here, but if there is a season 2 - please just stick with Setsu this time! Setsu's frustration and disappointment were palpable; I can't imagine being in such a conflicting situation. He should be proud that he ranked in his first ever performance but thanks to his asshole parents (especially Umeko, the bloody bitch), he just feels failure and rejection. |
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| Damn, Setsu got disrespected by pretty much everyone there even though he played very well. They all agreed that he found he was able to express himself in the 2nd part of his performance so why are they acting like he has such a long way to go? If he played like that the whole time he would’ve been really close to Soichi. Nevertheless, at least we got to see Setsu actually show some emotions and drive in this episode. This anime kinda disappointed me after the first 2 episodes, but I wouldn’t give it anything below a 5. If we get a next season I expect it to be better since we won’t be focusing on the school club anymore. |
jadecar said: I love this episode also don’t like it as the final episode. My thoughts too. At first I thought, Umeko was just being a grade-A bitch but the later scene made it seem like she was trying to teach her a son lesson.....kinda roundabout and it didn't really sit well with me. Overall, I enjoyed this series quite a bit actually and I would like to see a second season of it. I'm giving this series a 9/10. I highly recommend Kono Oto Tomare, which I genuinely love and I think it's a better show overall when compared to Mashiro no Oto. |
| First place for Worse Mother Ever goes to ...Umeko!! Breaking his award and calling him an embarrassment is motivation? I knew Souichi was going to win, but personally I didn't like his sound. It was harsh to me. Maybe I didn't like the song. I thought Setsu would be 2nd though. Did Souichi even realize that they're half brothers (or step brothers..can't remember). I hate that it ended like this with no 2nd season in sight. |
| a solid powerful emotional frustrating season ender episode! Setsu became only 3rd placer because his first half of the performance is based from his gramps while the latter 2nd half is his own sound! this failure will only make Setsu go stronger and for that we have to wait for S2!!! 5/5. 8/10. |
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| Let me talk first the last episode From Setsu's performance, its great but not enough to beat that Souichi guy. Honestly I expect him to not win 1st place in his very first major competition. Hes still new to this kind of things and confused whether to use his gramps sound or steal and revise it or make a new sound. Also I think he needs to figure out that he needs to play for himself and to listeners not for his dead gramps, to put simply let his self fly on its own sound and stop hiding in his gramps shadows. Like what the guy said he has talent but he need a coach that will help flourish his sound even more, that guy will be Kamikiri i think. Everybody knows that Setsu has a huge potential in the future. He need that guy Kamikiri to guide him. I dont know anything from the manga but this is just my hunch in next season if we will get one. Next season probably focus on improving Setsu's mindset (this is his huge weakness) and shamisen skills even more to defeat Souichi. I like the last ep let the MC suffers first so he can develop himself. Overall I did enjoy the anime Im glad they bring back the old op i think that is more suited for anime compared to the other one. The plot and story are good, at first we tought that Setsu is OP but when he enters the individual competition he realized that theres someone that better than him. Also he needs to learn a lot even though he have an incredible talent. Then the characters are amazing, Setsu's team got at least great a charac develpment. I'm a bias to this kind of anime like Kono oto Tomare so 10/10 |
| B O C C H I S W E E P |
| His Mother is such a f*cking B*TCH!! for heavens sake let the kid play a song how he wants to. And why did he get the 3rd spot I dont even remember who the guy that got 2nd is lmaoo they shld've made it more believable..ughhh seeing him cry just hurts soo much.....regardless I look forward to a second season. |
| well no annoucement for season 2 so its a go read manga ending. |
| I thought the anime overall was a solid 8/10 but man this last episode could have increased the score but it was such an open ending that just like Setsu left me empty. Most likely won't be a second season so I guess I'll read spoilers but I really don't wanna read a manga based around music. Also Umeko is trash |
| Listen to my podcast https://anchor.fm/waifusandweeaboos Follow my twitch. https://www.twitch.tv/sorasensei1 Spring 2024 Waifus on Profile "You can have multiple Waifus" -me |
| I'd actually be happy if this gets season 2 |
| I figured that Setsu changing sounds halfway would hurt his score. And I just hate to see the perfect kid get first place as expected. But man his parents were absolutely brutal. No wonder the guy has issues. His mother embarasses hin in front of everyone and his father just comes to gloat. Big kudos to this show for daring to end on a low note like that. Not very many shows have the balls to do that. Setsu is learning about competition, finidng his own sound, and what it feels like to lose. All these thibgs are brand new to him hence his breakdown. I am absolutely itching for more. If there was one thing this show did well, it was keeping its audience hooked. There is so much more room for growth for noth only Setsu, but also characters like Mai as well. How will Setsu recover? Where does he go from here? Who could he learn from to get better? So many questions for one character alone. 0verall, this was the surprise hit of the season for me. Excellent animation for the shamisen playing, a fun cast of characters, excellent music, good character development, and it hooked me so many times. I think there were some pacing issues, and the piano pieces over the music felt clunky despite understanding why they chose to do that. I loved this and I really hope to see a sequel very soon. Not just for Setsu, but the plethora of extremely cute girls too. 8/10 |
| I'm way disappointed in how this series turned out to be. How it started, what happened to that random girl whose name/face I can no longer remember. Then basically everything is a high school drama with competition and teamwork. There are no catchy characters. Umeko is an annoying b*tch. Kono Oto Tomare is still soaring high in the high schoolers with difficult pasts playing traditional instruments genre. But there at least the music is superb! Love that one. Have to say though that the ED song played for Mashiro no Oto will be a forever favorite for me, at least that was great! I guess there should be S2 after this ending. |
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snowman_builder said: I'm way disappointed in how this series turned out to be. How it started, what happened to that random girl whose name/face I can no longer remember. Then basically everything is a high school drama with competition and teamwork. There are no catchy characters. Umeko is an annoying b*tch. The first episode felt like it was setup for an entirely different show than what it ended up becoming. |
| This show, was absolutely amazing! Reminded me so much of Kono Oto Tomare, but with a different instrument as its focus. Storywise, i think the other one is a bit better, but in this one, the shamisen acts were flawless, for example, that 1st episode gave me goosebumps all over, when Setsu was playing. Characters were also really endearing BUT fuck Umeko, his mother is just a fucking self centered snake and i hope she gets what she deserves later on in the story. But yeah, what kept me really into this show were not only the shamisen acts, but Setsu's journey to find himself and his own sound, not an easy road, but i'd really like to see more of this on a 2nd season, im craving for it. Too bad for the competition, but it managed to spark Setsu's inner flame and realize he was in the wrong all along and needs to create his own sound so he can finally take a step forward. 8/10, what a pleasant surprise this was |
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| Overall really great anime.shimisen from Japan kind of reminds me of sitar from India. Music and ost were perfect. Story was great too. But too many female admirers to my liking. |
  Click for a anime mashup! Still not gone bandwagon u, keep crying. Here u are welcome to CRINGE at my EXISTENCE |
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| Overall this was boring anime for me. This would be good show if it stayed at episode 1 and don't flow towards school theme. The girl from ep 1 was the only not annoying or plain girl. |
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| Umeko. What a bitch. Bullying her own son in public. |
| after everything that Umeko has done so far sure I'm gonna believe that actually she is a good mom just trying to motivate her child lmao... and his 'dad' too no doubt about that. 10/10 best parents ever (just trying to motivate their child. it's for his own good you don't understand it's a parents thang). also emotional abuse is always very motivational. that long haired guy is right - Setsu is a spoiled brat. what a lucky talented bastard. abandoned by his parents as a kid completely. but talented so how dare he be upset about some talented-people-world shit? just be grateful you're talented. AND your parents came running to motivate you too, you ungrateful piece of trash. they love you so much uwu |
SorvarinJun 26, 2021 10:45 AM
| see you, space cowperson . . . |
| The kick-him-when-he's-down fest was painful to watch. Not just both Setsu's parents are absolutely awful to him, but nearly everyone else too. This is an unstable emotional teen for crying out loud, what if he decides to off himself after all that trashtalk. |
| ったく、嫌な世の中だよ。 |
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