Well, that was a pretty frustrating episode of Mashiro no Oto.  But of course that was by design.  We were effectively robbed of the big climax we’ve been building towards, Setsu’s solo performance (though I note with interest that it’s actually Souichi going last).  I have no innate talent as a musician so I won’t claim to understand what Setsu is going through, but I love – and study – music enough to know that finding your own sound is a brutally difficult challenge.  It’s the same with writing – we all start out imitating those we admire, but only the real artists have the ability to grow past that.

It’s the Kaji post-mortem that opens the episode, and he does a fine job salvaging the moment.  But of course that doesn’t make him a factor in the competition.  I rather suspected what Odawara-san said – breaking a string would be considered a fault for not maintaining your instrument.  The judges aren’t going to give a score based on the potential of a two-string performance  – and there’s no chance Kaji was doing anything but salvaging his dignity.  But that’s not something to be taken lightly, and that he was able to soldier on and win the crowd (who would surely be in a forgiving mood anyway) to his side is to his credit.

This “duty” BS really pissed me off, but again – it was supposed to.  If we know anything about Umeko it’s that she has no consideration for Setsu as an individual – he’s strictly an asset to her, and sometimes a weapon.  No, it’s not admirable that she wants to promote Matsugorou’s sound – understandable certainly, but she’s completely in the wrong here.  Matsugorou himself would be horrified by what she told Setsu, which only goes to show that she didn’t know her father any better than she knows her son.

I don’t blame Setsu for being thrown by that.  He’s sixteen, and he loved Matsugorou.  Of course he’s going to be susceptible to that sort of guilt, and while I hoped Wakana might be able to bend his brother’s ear long enough to set him straight, Setsu walks on stage carrying the burden Umeko placed on him.  Just like Kaji, he starts out in a style that’s not his own – trying to be something he’s not.  The difference is that Setsu is way more talented, and the man he’s imitating was a true generational visionary on the shamisen.  This is really good stuff, but it feels hollow and empty even before the BGM starts to drown it out.

Playing piano background music over Setsu’s performance will probably be a controversial decision, but I totally get it.  This is a performance with no substance to it – indeed, Setsu eventually declares that he can hear no sound at all.  The way it’s staged accentuates that fact rather brilliantly.  It all feels like a massive anti-climax, no doubt to Setsu as much as anyone.  “It can’t end this way, can it?” is what I was asking myself – and of course, it can’t.  Setsu is eventually going to realize that he can’s honor Matsugorou by obeying Umeko.  He has to do what his grandfather prodded him to do – stop imitating and start creating.

After all that, then, next week has a lot to live up to.  Especially when you consider that Setsu’s performance is surely at least half over, so he (and Yoshida Brothers) has to cram every last bit of inspiration he has into a couple minutes playing,  There’s that and Souichi’s performance too, of course – and we haven’t heard him play a single time, unless my memory is faulty.  It’s all basically advertising for the manga of course, as these sorts of series usually are (though this story without the music holds limited appeal for me).  But I find myself quite intrigued to see how the anime will tie this all up next week.