The way I was so invested in their performance despite having zero interest in the koto prior to starting this show. Never underestimate an anime's ability to hook you with a premise you didn't initially care about (Kono Oto Tomare!)

Shout out to Rakugo, which also is an anime based around an obscure art form which unfortunately is also a top notch roller coaster.

Thanks for this video, I indeed had the same reaction, really well developed story around a niche art form.

I remember reading the manga for this when it first came out and needing to go to youtube to find a video of people playing it to get a good idea of the sound. I've always enjoyed more instramental music so it was fun to listen to and discover.

After watching this anime I started listening to koto music.

The mangaka’s sister wrote and even did a live performance of ryuuseigun https://youtu.be/Y_Db88Ef6FQ?si=oqbg--O71RS50vAZ

OMG, one of my favourite anime scenes ever, this hit me hard when i watched it. 10/10 season overall, too.

Platinum Vision is not the best studio in the medium BUT i did notice their effort for this show.

The scene is also on YT with a staggering 16 million views on it.

This show had one of the rougher starts among the anime I've seen but once the story and cast finally got settled, it really became something very sweet and satisfying to watch, especially for such a niche instrument.

Kono oto Tomare, Hibike! Euphonium and Your Lie in April are all three some of my favorite anime of all time each for slightly different reasons even though I was never seriously into music throughout my life (I was a competitive athlete from middle school until the end of college).

For some reason sports anime often feel inauthentic for me on the emotional aspect of competitions while the music anime always nail it for me but it might just be because of my personality.

Kono oto tomare is the one with the best performances, the build up to Tenkyuu is amazing and I tear up every time I listen to it. It was scary for me how much I related to Akira looking back at my own experience in sports.

Hibike! Euphonium on the other hand nails the dynamics, realities and emotions of the journey through being in a high school / college team better than anything I have ever watched. I know a lot of novel fans didn't like the changes they did with the anime but I thought the changes were for the better. The bittersweet ending for Kumiko is how things often turn out in reality.

It's always a roller-coaster of emotions for me watching these sort of shows, I can empathize so much with the characters but it brings both a lot of regrets and bittersweet memories from my own experiences as well. They hold a special place in my heart.

If you loved Kono oto and haven't watched Hibike! Yet, please give it a shot you won't regret it!

Yeah that’s how I felt when “TOKAI TEIO ! TOKAI TEIO !”

I’ve learned to divorce my initial interest in the topic from my expectations for any particular show. For example, I hate camping. One of my favorite shows is laid back camp. I’ll have to check this one out as well.

Will have to check this out! It reminds me of {Those Snow White Notes}

Kono oto tomare!! I wish we'll get more seasons of this one, the manga is so beautiful

One of the most overlooked masterpiece anime of all time.

LOVE IT! I think it's underrated tho

I may or may not have watched 22 episodes of this today.

So good.

Peak show, I desperately need a new season

Too beautiful for words. I had a similar reaction to the song in 'Your Lie in April', the final episode where the protag-kun plays Chopin's Ballade No. 1. My regret is that the exact song in that episode is not available on Spotify.

This and Chihayafuru got me - I love music, so Kono Oto Tomare was on my PTW list, and was excellent. If you want great anime about lesser known (at least in the west) competitive card game, watch Chihayafuru. I can still hear card game opening "naniwaa..." chant in my head :)