English Dub Review: Kono Oto Tomare!: Sounds of Life “Kuon”

The koto club bands together in their greatest time of need.

Overview (Spoilers Below):

After the big near disaster last week, the koto’s are fine… but Kudo isn’t. Chika’s hand was injured saving Satowa from being smashed by the instrument, and it’s only getting worse. Chika makes the decision to keep this secret to himself, forcing himself to play through the pain and hide his misery from his clubmates. Even when Mr. Takinami confronts him about it, he declines to step down. This choice nearly costs them their performance, as he starts off playing differently than normal, causing everyone to question themselves. But when it comes down to it, he and Takezo trust in each other and manage to pull off their big solo.

Our Take:

Well, the season finale of Kono Oto Tomare! has finally arrived, and I’m happy to report that it went out like a wind! Er, with a win. The shows final episode managed to capture a lot of the qualities that have made it so successful, like teamwork, personal growth, and good communication… actually, we’d better talk about that last one.

The episode, titled Kuon after the piece they perform, starts out with Chika’s big decision. He doesn’t tell anyone about his injury. Even though a hurt hand is a huge impact on a koto performance. Even though they’ve learned so much about trusting your teammates and relying on each other. He misleads Takezo, Kurusu, and even Satowa. Now the thing is, I can totally get where he’s coming from. On one hand, it’s totally stupid to try and hide such a key factor from his friends and fellow koto club members. On the other hand, it’s exactly something Chika would do, and he does it because he values their bonds so much. After going through all that hard work together, he doesn’t want to miss the performance. Selfish? Yes, but he isn’t only thinking of himself. He also doesn’t want to let down his friends. As Satowa says, later on, they just don’t have the same energy without him.

Takezo overhearing his confrontation with Mr. Takinami is something I liked a lot. It allows him to have a final moment of conflict on his own struggle with taking over the leadership of the club. Burdened with the knowledge that Chika is in pain and choosing not to share it, Takezo does something a responsible club leader should never do: allow him to go on with the performance despite the potential risk to himself and the group as a whole. I love how this proves Takezo has come to terms with his position in the club, not only as a leader but as a friend: “As President, I don’t think this is the right decision. But I don’t regret it.”

The performance itself takes up a good chunk of time near the end of the episode. It reminded me a lot of a finale you might see in Hibike! Euphonium: it was a really powerful moment to watch. From the way the music hit my ears to the way it was interspersed with inner monologues from each character questioning what they should do to salvage the performance, it caught my attention and held me rapt.

The final dubbed episode for this season was a great way to go out. Everyone was pretty on point throughout the episode. One line that stayed with me after the episode was Chika’s exclamation of how much he wants to perform. Daman Mills delivers it with a ton of emotion (almost too much?) but it definitely left an impression. I loved the way Takezo worded this: “The stage is a reward for all the hard work you’ve put in. That’s why you have to enjoy it as much as you can.” Chika’s reluctance to give up is understandable: “I don’t wanna just watch from the sidelines; I’m part of that group!” It’s kinda a terrible move for Chika to pull on his friends, ditching them for the last practice: “I think the poor guy has a case of the nervous poops!” Satowa’s reaction was funny, though: “If he’s going to get sick before a performance, then he lacks the willpower to succeed.” I absolutely adored Koda’s contribution to saving the group: “They deserve to finish this with a smile!”

The final episode of season one delivers a great ending, despite leaving me a little frustrated with Chika. The group was able to come together when it counted, and show off what makes them special. They may not have the technical preciseness of other schools or the pool of talent that some possess, but they’ve got something no one else has… each other!