Kono Oto Tomare!

Like usual, this post contains spoilers! I’m going to be talking about the manga as well so if you haven’t read it yet, then you might want to skip over this post!

Kono Oto Tomare is a manga by Sakura Amyuu. It centers around a small koto club in Tokise High School that aims to be the nationally recognized koto group.

Kurata Takezou, the president of the Koto Club at Tokise, fell short of his dream of reaching the nationals. His senpais then graduated shortly after that, and he was the only one left at the Koto Club. He carries his senpais’ and his own dream as he continues to pull the Koto Club forward.

Kudo Chika is a rumored delinquent. What nobody knows is that he changed before that incident happened, but nobody listened because he was already known for his violent nature. He longed for a place to belong, people to accept him for who he is. And the koto club is where he found his group. His passion for the koto was first lit by his grandfather and eventually became a big fire as he joins Takezou in the dream of reaching the koto competition nationals.

Houzuki Satowa, is a koto genius, the best of the best. But in the end, she’s just a normal child seeking for affirmation and comfort. Having to lose both of what she wished for in her mother, she left her family and joined the koto club. Her love for the koto never changes despite all the hardships she has faces, and is one of the core members in the club. Without her, the koto club wouldn’t be the same.

Kurusu Hiro, is a cheerful girl who enjoys doing fun things. But her past isn’s all sunshine and rainbows. Having been betrayed before by her own best friend, she has put up layers among layers of defenses so that she wouldn’t be hurt the same way again. And to help relieve the pain, she goes to ruin other’s relationships too. But that all changed after she saw the unwavering trust among the koto club. The koto club tore down her defenses one by one, and eventually got HIro to accept them.

Anime:

The anime is very colorful and very nice. The music is off the charts too! The production team put actual koto music into the anime and omg it sounds so good! Tenkyuu in particular sounded heavenly, thank you production team for bringing Tenkyuu to life!

Manga:

The manga is a whole masterpiece like the anime. Although you can’t hear the music when you’re reading the mange, you can still feel the intensity of the music through character’s expressions. The mange also goes more in depth with the romance part since the manga is part roamnce. ANd I must say, the couples are to die for! Amyuu does a very good job incorporating romance into Kono Oto Tomare!

Final Thoughts

Kono Oto Tomare is far from over! The nationals is just starting in the manga, so we have a lot more to look forward to! I especially look forward to all the fluffy romance we’re going to get from our (not yet) couples! Maybe you can guess who they are? Hahaha

I also really like that Amyuu has chapters dedicated to each character. It really helps build character and makes all of her character rounder! This way we can all somewhat relate to each character and realize that even though they’re in a manga, their life really isn’t all sunshine and rainbows.