And so we get the ultimate “read the manga” end from Mashiro no Oto. As was totally expected, of course – there was never any question of this adaptation being more than an advertisement for the source material. As exceedingly frustrating as that is I’ve grown so used to it – it’s the norm with anything outside one of the narrow commercial lanes that dominates anime today – that I brush it off these days unless it was a series I truly loved. That wasn’t the case with Mashiro, though for an overall “B” series it had the distinction of delivering a lot of “A” moments (along with all the Ds and Fs).
I will say this much, the areas where Mashiro succeeded were very notable – as a music series, and as a depiction of the challenges of growing as an artist. Setsu was a lead who deserved better than the series he got (though not to the disastrous extent of something like Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso). His struggles felt very real, as a fiercely talented 16 year-old confused about his place in the world and as an artist. When he said he yearned to create a performance with depth it really resonated with me. Setsu is like a boy who understands the concepts he wants to express but lacks the linguistic skills to express them. Which in point of fact is a pretty good description of a lot of young artistic geniuses.
In point of fact, I knew that unless Souichi was a paper tiger – and we had no reason to suspect he was – Setsu wasn’t going to win. Shifting gears completely halfway through a performance isn’t going to win competitions. As Seiryuu later tells him what the judges want is cohesion, and his performance – as fascinating and ultimately evocative as it was – lacked it. Umeko certainly cost him second, though I doubt Setsu would have beaten Souichi either way – but even if he could have, would she have been even more pissed if he’d won using his own style rather than her father’s?
I rarely use the word “hate” for anime characters, but Umeko easily clears the threshold. Sorry, but she’s a vile piece of work – a terrible human being who’s an insult to mothers everywhere. Her shameful display during the awards ceremony, making a mockery of the sham competition she bought and paid for, is just the icing on the cake for a deplorable character arc. I’m not blaming the writing, which I’d say about 80% thinks we should dislike her (though it should be 100%) – but she is truly awful. For all that Wakana tries to be Setsu’s catcher in the rye, he’s got his work cut out for him protecting him from Umeko. Even his father comes off looking good by comparison.
As for Souichi’s performance, it was great – hampered only perhaps by the fact that I expected it to be. Apparently the trademark of the Kamiki school is power, and he certainly delivers it. But it’s a layered and interesting power – not as interesting as Setsu’s mercurial flights of artistic fancy, but more commanding and yes, cohesive. I could easily see the biggest threat to someone like Souichi’s ascension being boredom and, as such, having someone like Setsu around to push him would be a huge benefit.
The differences between Setsu and Souichi are pretty striking. Souichi has two of the titans of the shamisen world as mentors and a wealth of tournament experience. Setsu has Wakana, by his own admission not a true genius and (unbelievably) only 19 himself. And Wakana spends most of the time 700 kilometres away. Seiryuu will get his share of hate for his conversation with Setsu but I was basically OK with it – he was being brutally honest because he thought Setsu needed to hear it. Kamiki is trying to get Setsu to grasp where he stands as an artist – and in point of fact, he’s one who might logically wind up teaching Setsu in the future.
I think the story, depressing as the ending was, leaves Setsu in a pretty hopeful place. He has the talent and he has the hunger to develop it – as long as that’s the case, he should become the artist he’s capable of being. If you want to see that happen of course you’ll need to read the manga – welcome to anime in 2021. As brilliant as the anime was at staging the performances themselves – and as crucial as that was to its appeal – reading the manga is perhaps a bit of a hard sell (which I never found to be the case with Kono Oto Tomare, telling you something about the writing of each).
Snowball
June 19, 2021 at 6:05 pmI think Setsu is probably Nobunaga Shimazaki’s strongest role in a while. His character certainly improved and grew on me as the series went along. His frustration and sorrow in this episode was really authentic. It’s such a shame that the supporting cast, apart from Wakana, were disappointing and I’m glad they were spared the role of consoling him at the end. Perhaps in the subsequent story he would seek advice from his father and I would certainly think that is a wise decision if he wants to succeed as a musician.
I’m hesitant about this series without the great music and I have scanned through some raw chapters, but haven’t been enticed enough to read it.
Bukszie
June 19, 2021 at 6:36 pmLiked a lot of things about the anime but some bugged me
Why do mentors or people giving advice in anime have to be so cryptic or so roundabout in giving advice
Seeing where Setsu was at the end of the series wasn’t pleasant.
Why didn’t Matsugoro just tell Setsu what he was lacking instead of the whole find you sound thing
We’ve seen seiryuu’s inner monologue how highly he thinks of setsu’s talent. Why did he point out only the negatives but not the potential.
Does he really need to get involved on competitions to find what h is missing. I don’t think the show justified it as well as they could have.
Apparently umeko organised this whole competition to motivate him and instead broke him. Why. Her best idea wasnt to belittle and ridicule her child’s accomplishment.
Seeing how much struggle and suffering he went through over the series in part because people were being cryptic instead of tell what could be done annoys me a bit. These people weren’t there to see what he went through
Sorry if this went too long. I guess what I mean is too many mentors in anime give a lot of cryptic advice that causes a lot of suffering for the students trying to figure it out instead of being straightforward. I really didn’t like it here
Bukszie
June 19, 2021 at 6:57 pmApologies for the grammatical errors. Should have gone through it before posting
Guardian Enzo
June 19, 2021 at 8:15 pmNo problem, thanks for the comment.
I don’t actually think he’s broken – I thin he’s discovering the frustration of wanting to be great and knowing he has to work to get there. I would also say Kamiki gave him pretty straightforward feedback that he needed to hear.
Bukszie
June 19, 2021 at 11:58 pmI agree he did I just wish he also gave him some encouragement. It felt all negative like he didn’t believe setsu could do better. We know how highly kamiki thinks of his potential I just wish he mentioned that to him as well.
Riv
June 20, 2021 at 2:22 amI did go investigate how far the English translations of the manga have made it–they’ve almost caught up to where the anime ended. But I’m not sure if I’ll start reading or not. I found the last few episodes had less of the stuff that annoyed me in earlier ones, but I suspect that could be just because it was so focused on the tournament. I’m afraid that the story will now once again get mired in the pedestrian plots and weak supporting cast. But I may try one volume at least to see. I do like Setsu as a character.
Kim
June 20, 2021 at 4:10 amUnfortunately this series failed to get me interested enough in reading the manga. I did love the music but that of course will be absent from the Manga
It’s a shame because I think Setsu has potential as a main character. It’s just the rest of the characters kind of felt like duds next to him.
Guardian Enzo
June 20, 2021 at 8:46 amExcept Wakana (at least for me). I also thought Kamiki and Souichi were fine.
leongsh
June 20, 2021 at 10:37 amNot sure whether I want to follow up with the manga. The shamisen music performances were the main thing keeping me watching. Setsu’s development helped a small bit. The only other characters now of interest to me in this whole story are Kamiki (he’s being set up as Setsu’s mentor), Souichi (the rival that Setsu needs to push himself further), and Wakana (to act as the shield and the home base for Setsu). The rest are meh. Maybe the parents as they are the aggravators, the villains, etc. to rage against.
Miyu Fan
June 29, 2021 at 6:07 pmI honestly thought with the music budget together with well animated music scenes means this was a 24 ep series, so I’m surprised this was only 12 eps.
All the shamisen playing scenes are amazing and Setsu is great as main character (kudos to Nobunaga Shimazaki, great acting and he did it with not a very common dialect too!). Umeko is worst character no doubt. I am intrigued whether the Tanuma siblings knew Setsu is their father’s son – they should know they are adopted at least. Well it’s time to read the manga now for answers.