-You know what, screw the HD screencaps. I could use those few extra years of my life they’re taking off.
-Youtube’s less than admirable licensing issues took off the OP and ED I uploaded. Unsurprising, really.

Is there anything wrong with ‘Sora no Oto’? Sure, stressing each syllable of a phrase gives it impact, but it seems criminal to do that to one’s title. Is there any reason not to form one complete phrase? Why use katakana?

What did you think the show was about?

One may ask, ‘Oh Ningyo, nitpicking already?’

Only the finest of troops can join the legion.

Well, yes. Because actually, it wasn’t all that bad. It may be me being too benevolent a critic, but I was honestly cringing less than I was watching normally.

So, is there anything wrong with Sora no Oto? Yes, but I’ll address the good first, for the sake of good karma. Sora no Oto pays very well in aesthetics. I may have to retract this statement later on, as quality likely degenerates, but so far, in its pilot episode, it pleases the senses well.

That is to say, it delights the eyes and the ears, and less so the mind. As a pilot episode should, Sora no Oto’s possesses detailed backgrounds, well-drawn settings in emotive colors. These immediately captured my attention – duly. I thought, if anything, the visuals should at least be good, and that remains mostly true.

SHE’S YUI. Period.

Rio is one letter away from -

Only the finest of troops can join the legion.

One thing the viewer is bound to notice though is the character art style. Yes, how it greatly resembles that of K-ON!. Haters beware, because the resemblance is simply striking. I wouldn’t call myself much of a K-ON! fan myself, but the art style really didn’t stop me from watching it.

Welcome to the city of perpetual drunkenness, where we randomly toast strangers!

To its credit, it doesn’t pump out half as many moé-types as Ladies versus Butlers, and when you factor in the excellent background art, the character art becomes bearable. The cityscape feels to me like an effective marriage between Pompeii and Venetian architecture.

Regardless of my eye for buildings though, the backgrounds proved enjoyable – as enjoyable as the music. I find the OP and ED both very good; the ED is catchy, even though it tastes a little clichéd, and the pilot OP has the somber flair of fine cinema. Also, a French insert song proved a pleasant surprise – That language still scares the hell out of me, courtesy of the best French teacher I ever had, but it’s one I really like the ring to.

That’s where Sora no Oto performs less well – the plot. Not cringeworthy per se, but not the dramatic painting of war and art I first expected. In a nutshell, heroine Sorami Kanata arrives at the city housing the battlement she’s been assigned to, and spends the episode trying to get there (read: fooling around and getting rescued multiple times by her superior officer Rio).

We learn of the city’s convoluted folklore, of a ‘maiden of fire’ sealing away a winged demon and whatnot – presumably with the power of music; I’m not much for folkway language.

Only the finest of troops can join the legion.

Awhoops my foot slipped there

An owl steals away Rio’s necklace, and Kanata sets off to retrieve it. She does, but not before failing a leap of faith and falling into the body of water below, drifting away and becoming unable to return.

Yui fans would be lying if they told you they didn’t like it.

She dramaticizes the sadness of being alone, and then blows on her trumpet, hoping the sound will ‘ring forth’. Which it does of course, summoning Rio and bringing Kanata to the sought after battlement, where Rio says she’ll teach our heroine how to play the trumpet. And thus they live happily ever after.

Now that’s what I’m talking abo- Wudduya mean there won’t actually be any tanks?

Uh-oh, this voice sounds strangely familiar…

Miyuki? No, Mugi? No, Mikuru?

STOP CONFUSING ME!

However, it’s because of this happily ever after ending that I fear that Sora no Oto may mellow into mundaneness, as K-ON! did. Yes, one of the problems is that a post wartime series focused on soldiers doesn’t leave much room for excitement. But let’s face it, not just the art, but the aspect of several girls banding together for the sake of music is bound to cause comparisons to be drawn. Pertaining to K-ON! or not though, truthfully? Here’s an overview of a portion of the blogosphere’s contemporary take.

Whereas mellowness is K-ON!’s signature, and works for it, the same would not fare well for Sora no Oto. It’s just a different theme; taking place in the future, possessing beauteous landscapes not native to Japan, the viewer expects more exotic scenery and adventures. So far, with Kanata’s spelunking for the bell-necklace and the artist’s industrious work, the series is keeping afloat in terms of dynamics, but you never know when the urge to mellow the pace becomes too strong when it comes to a series about a few girls practicing light music.

I can’t believe she BLOWS so much at the trumpet, hah!

That, or it may be doomed to forever push gags as Strike Witches did. Still, it’s only been one episode, let us be hopeful.

It doesn’t scream Strike Witches, it doesn’t scream Strike Witches…

The verdict? I still wouldn’t call it revolutionary, but Sora no Oto is still hurdles ahead of the other moé-type amalgams that grace us these days. Okay, so the characters are essentially moé-types, mirroring Strike Witches characters (The ditzy lead, the strict yet kind mentor, …Lucchini and Sanya), but this isn’t done too jarringly. Watch it for the prominent aspects; that is, pay too much attention to the plot and it will hurt you. Basically, watch it for the background and the music. Enjoy that splendid animation.

Ningyo

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