English Dub Review: Kono Oto Tomare!: Sounds of Life “Confrontation”
Overview (Spoilers Below):
The sixth episode of Kono Oto Tomare! focuses on Akira, the new star pupil of the Hozuki school. We join her in her childhood as her older brother Keishi rises through the ranks of koto competitions until he is recognized as a genius performer. All throughout her early life, Akira looked up to Keishi, idolizing him and wanting to be a koto prodigy just like him one day. However, she quickly realizes it’s not as easy as he makes it look. Even with hard work and diligence, she can’t compete with natural-born talent that people like Hozuki and her brother possess.
When her parents are killed in a (very suddenly staged) car crash, her life falls apart. Keishi quits the koto in order to obtain a real job, and Akira is promoted to the top student at the Tsubaki school. Training under Grandma Dojima, she is able to progress and take first place at a competition, but the only reason she places first is because Hozuki is disqualified due to her tantrum of a performance. Seeing Hozuki as having ruined everything she’s been working for all her life, Akira is crushed. She’s not sure what’s she’s doing with the koto and life in general anymore. The episode ends on a rather dark note.
Our Take:
At the halfway point of this season, I never expected for the show to sidestep and deliver an episode devoted almost entirely to Akira and her backstory. It’s a bold choice, and it turned out pretty well I’d say. Akira never seemed like a stereotypically evil antagonist, with flashes of indecision and self doubt showing through. Now that we’ve spent a lot more time with her, it’ll make continuing story of her tutoring the koto club even more involving.
The main thing the episode works to do is humanize Akira. We’ve only known her as the woman who stole Hozuki’s place at her own family’s school, but now she’s taken on a character of her own. Her early life is very sweet. Hanging out with her brother and professing a love for the koto that’s entirely pure, she is almost an entirely different person. It’s difficult to see how the nature of competition changes her. We always hear that hard work and diligence can take us to the highest of heights, but it’s also true that sometimes natural talent just can’t be matched. Akira learns this the hard way, and the fact that both her brother and Hozuki ‘quit’ the koto after achieving the success she’s after makes it all the more frustrating for her. “When talented people are moving away from the koto, why is someone like me still hanging onto it for dear life?”
We finally move back into the present during the last little bit of the episode, and get a confrontation between Akira and Hozuki. Now that we know more about both girls, the conflict takes on more emotional power, and honestly at this point, I’m not really ‘rooting’ for either one above the other. I just want them both to be happy! I can see a future in which Akira finds peace helping the koto club achieve their goals. We get so close, but then her insecurities, her doubts, and the voices of all her naysayers pull her back into the darkness. By the end of the episode, I’m a little fearful for Akira with her current state of mind. I sincerely hope she gets a happy ending.
The dub is solid. Caitlin Glass does a good job voicing Akira, but she always seems a bit withdrawn. That may fit the character, even if it makes it harder to get invested in what she’s saying. “What a simple, gentle time that was for all of us. I really loved it.” Akira’s opening memory of her childhood was nice to see her enjoying life for once. “No matter how hard I worked, I would never be able to reach that place.” Talent VS practice is an interesting subject for the show to tackle, even if I wished it dug a little deeper. “I was just trying to remember how hard your fingertips are, no big deal.” Even amidst all of Akira’s drama, we find time for some Chika/Hozuki flirtation. “I used my performance to throw a tantrum. That piece was my way of screaming.” Beautiful line by Hozuki. I think she and Akira have a lot in common if only they can break through to each other.
Confrontation is an episode that takes a break from the main plot to take us back into Akira’s past. It’s an effective way of exploring what makes her tick, and does a good job drumming up some sympathy for her. I still think she’s up to something, but I understand why now. This may not have moved anything forward on its own, but giving us insight into Akira will allow us to understand her motives better next week as we continue on with the koto club’s race to the Nationals.
