So Ra No Wo To

It isn't often that I watch an anime with mixed or average reception as I don't want to gamble wasting time on a dull series. However, it is only then that I find shows as woefully underrated as So Ra No Wo To. As others have pointed out, I think perception of this show has suffered due to unfair associations with K-ON!, as if K-ON! single-handedly invented both the moe art-style and the slice of life genre. But, I digress. Story: 7 So Ra No Wo To plays out in pretty typical episodic fashion until the final few episodes. Those looking for an epic military drama shouldlook elsewhere as this show is more akin to a light deconstruction of the "cute girls do cute things" genre that has become prevalent in the past decade. The greatness of the story comes from the incredibly interesting setting that the writers and art directors have crafted. The world is multi-faceted with plenty of attention to detail. I find it fascinating that the world is so well designed that almost any gripe can be explained away with logic. Why would the military accept such young girls? Because the military will take any able body. Why would these girls all end up at the same outpost? Because they are in a low risk area that borders a no-mans-land and are therefore seen as non-essential. Why would Kanata join the military just to learn how to play the trumpet? Because it is the only feasible means of musical education in a world ravaged by war. The writers also do a great job of sprinkling in plot details along the way that are subtle and don't feel hamfisted in the slice-of-life episode format. One complaint I do have is that some supernatural elements introduced at the beginning and reiterated near the end of the series go unexplained, though I'm sure it would have been difficult to explain them given the show's format. Art: 9 The art in this show is held to a very high standard and is some of the best I've seen from shows produced by A-1. The backgrounds are breathtaking at times. The old cobbled streets of the town, Seize, the dilapidated warehouse in Clocktower Fortress, and the lush mountains with scattered ruins of a bygone age really give the viewer an excellent grasp of the setting and its unique past. I felt at home in Seize by the end of the series and that really shows a great deal of care was put into the art. The animation is of a similar high quality and those who write it off as "another moe blob show" should really pull the stick out of their arse. The characters are visually well designed and distinct and their mannerisms represent their personalities splendidly. CG is used to animate the mech-like battle tanks and this works just fine for the majority of the show since there is only a single tank. However, towards the end when there are many tanks on screen, the CG can be visually jarring. Really though, I've seen far worse. Sound: 10 As is typical, the Japanese dub was superb. Rio's gruff voice was an excellent contrast to Kanata's peppy, adorable voice. Each seiyū filled their respective trope with each character and made them each as lovable as they were adorable. With at least a general focal point of the show being music, the soundtrack should be held to a rather high standard. Once again, Michiru Ōshima shows why she is one of the greatest anime composers in the world. The soundtrack beautifully understates the setting with soaring orchestral moments, contemplative mandolin, and a track sung in French that stirs just the right emotions when it needs to. Being a citizen of the United States, I am easily bored to tears listening to Amazing Grace, but Ōshima's arrangement for So Ra No Wo To actually brought me to (non-boredom) tears because it worked so well within the context of the show. Somewhere between her work on ICO and the original Fullmetal Alchemist, this soundtrack captures the essence of the show perfectly. Character: 8 Being a slice of life show at its core, So Ra No Wo To relies on its characters rather than a succinctly presented story. Though the members of the 1121st Platoon do tend to fit neatly into the mold of slice of life tropes, they also offer unique and varied backstories that help define their personalities. In a world of near constant warfare, some of these characters have had incredibly traumatic pasts and it is interesting to see in what ways they have grown to overcome the bleak realities they've faced. I also love how each character is revealed to have a specific reason for being in the military and at Clocktower Fortress. The citizens of Seize are also great characters that show how life has been for those outside of the wide-reaching military. Kanata is the perfect character to offset the more depressing aspects of the other characters and the setting with her unending hopefulness. This leads to some charming dialogue as she interacts with the members of the 1121st. The special episodes from the OVA are a must watch as they help round out the characters and likewise the show as a whole. While many of the characters had wonderful scenes dedicated to exploring their past, I was surprised at how little was actually displayed about Kanata's past. Aside from a recurring flashback, it is unclear where and how she grew up. I also would have enjoyed seeing more of Noël's backstory, though what was shown was enough to understand her actions in the show. The "villain" who appears towards the end was very one-dimensional and was used more as a plot device than a character, but it works just fine within the context of the final episodes. Enjoyment: 9 I enjoyed this show much more than I thought I would. Through a mix of low expectations and high reward, So Ra No Wo To really surprised me and offered a wonderful experience in a short 14 episodes. Overall: 9 The definition of a hidden gem.

When I was young and ignorant, I often cried a lot. Give me this, give me that, I didn't care - I wanted it now. My parent's go-to strategy? Hum......."Amazing grace, how sweet, the sound, that saved, the wretch, like me...." Instantly, I would sleep. There's something magical, or, for a lack of a better word, penetrating about that song. It strikes right through your heart, uplifting your spirit and calming your soul. Sora no Woto evolves and becomes something truly wonderful with a powerful, underlying theme. The story is wonderful; it starts off slice-of-lifey and really slow and painful, especially for the people who wanta grandiose story and perfect mood/tone. However, stick through the first half a dozen episodes, and you slowly fall in love with the characters. Throughout the beginning, there is an undertone of dread and mixed optimism, a bittersweet tang in the back of your mouth so to speak. The little hints and clues slowly build a bigger picture that encompasses the main story, eventually interfering with their perfect lives. I don't want to spoil anything because trust me, it gets pretty intense and riveting. I become to sympathise with the characters, their plight, their endless struggle against an unkind and unloving world. And throughout it all, there was the ominous, foreboding military. The overall theme is magnificent - it portrays a common struggle humanity constantly is at war with: aggression and ultimately, love. The artwork is dazzling and spectacular. There's this cheery sort colors that blend with the moods of the characters. During the happy parts, the colors appeared lush and bright. The depressing or gloomy or grim moods brought storms, dark clouds, and other drab colors. There were vast mountain vistas and grand scenes of nature and of a quaint town. The setting depicted 18th century Europe accurately, with a technological quirk here and there. Everything was drawn to exact detail; the cobblestone streets, the distant snow on the mountains, the old vehicles - I almost felt like I was there. Besides the fact that Amazing Grace is one of my favorite songs, the sound continually surprised me. The trumpet sound was clean and pristine, reflecting the beautiful sceneries. The panoramic views and sound melded together perfectly. The OP was a foreshadowing of an important event; the ED was happy and go-lucky, as if to say, "Phew, it's over." I listened to both, and ended up loving both. The characters were your typical cast of a slice-of-life - the tsundere, the carefree one, the authoritative one. In the general slice-of-life, there isn't a character arc; however, here there were major changes in personalities and attitudes. Dark secrets were revealed, and pasts were uncovered beneath once impenetrable outer masks. The characters themselves were standard only for the first couple episodes; once they dug deep, truths were uncovered that changed their perceptions about each other for a long time. Overall, I enjoyed it thoroughly, much more than I originally thought. I loved the story progression and epic conclusion and little things both big and small. Though it may seem too happy-go-lucky for the first episodes, the dark nature and underlying tone eventually force their way to the surface, and prepare for a bumpy ride. Through music, a simple song can calm all.

It was really hard for me to tell what to expect from this show as I started to watch. It was also hard to come into the show WITHOUT having K-ON in the back of my mind as I looked at the art style of the characters (and I apologize in advance as I’m probably going to be doing comparisons to that show, but mainly to show that this is not K-ON). The synopsis on this site is quite vague, and with this being part of the Anime no Chikara project, there's no knowledge of the full story as there was no prior mangathat it was based on (though a simple search can find you the details you need at this point). Yet despite all these, I took the plunge into the series and came out satisfied overall. Basically we have a moe slice of life show applied on a military skin with a musical influence with the brass being the focus (mainly trumpet, but also bugle). The Yui-look-a-like Kanata comes in with a similar musical knack about her, though not of natural musical skill, but instead regarding her uncanny perfect pitch in how she can identify notes in just about everything around her. With regards to the level of moe, it's nowhere near as extreme as something like K-ON is, but is rather a more natural fit to the setting and the characters in comparison. There aren’t any moments where it goes into chibi-mode with silly music and colorful bubbly backgrounds. It maintains the same art style with your standard portrayal of the emotional palate. As for the setting, most of the story takes place in the town and the fortress. From the first episode onward, they do a good job portraying the livelihood and the colorful traditions of the townsfolk. They do give tastes of the post-war world when they show various crumbling structures, ruins, the vast barrens of Nomansland, and through character flashbacks. The various themes that this show has provide an interesting angle. There’s a bit of a supernatural theme as we get tastes of ghosts, spirits, and legends of angels and demons and whatnot. There’s even a bit of mafia-like action, surprisingly. As for the military aspect, and in particular with events towards the end of the show, we get to see a much more serious side of things with the drama between Rome and Helvetia as well as with the characters themselves. When you step back and take a look at all these parts, it is quite a strange mixture of elements. Some aspects of this concoction work while others, not quite so much. The core to this anime I feel ultimately revolves around the relationships between the characters. Between the townspeople, the church (if you want to call it that), and the military, they do a good job to show the varying interactions they have, such as some townspeople’s dealings with the military, the role of the military in the town, and the hardships of post-war orphans and their caretakers to name some examples. Most importantly is the relationship that the five girls share with each other and how their personalities sometimes clash but ultimately mesh together. Story – 7: I’d have to say the backdrop of the story is quite interesting and that the ultimate direction, though it takes long to develop into anything, is decent. My main complaint was that it seemed to take a long time for stuff to happen, with a lot of episodes spent on character development and slice of life moments. The main plot elements only showed their face in the last few eps. Art – 8: Sure it’s hard not to associate the character art-style with K-ON, but they are drawn well, animations are fluid, and the backgrounds and settings are well done, such as the landscape, the rolling clouds in the skies, the rain, and the snowfall. Oh, and the Takemicaduchi is pretty sweet. Sound – 10: The seiyuus fit the roles well with regards to the personalities of the characters, but where it shines is the soundtrack. The music goes great with the mood and setting, and the OP and ED I think both show what the show is about with the ED showing the lighter side and the OP showing the more deep side (thumbs up for Kalafina). The use of French in some of the background songs and the style of music really gave me the feeling of the small remote town of Seize. Character – 7: I think that the characters were developed decently and they gave enough time showing the background information on each one of the major players, though not so much with Kureha. The mains may have fit certain standard archetypes, such as clumsy, tsundere, and so forth, but I think their personalities are interesting enough, especially Rio, maybe Felicia a little, and Noel as well. They did well in showing the bond that the girls share with each other as well. Enjoyment – 7: Like I said, main downside for me was the pace, but it wasn’t like it was difficult to sit through or anything. There were some fairly emotional moments and such, but then again I’ll admit that I’m easily moved in that sense. Overall – 8 (7.8): It surpassed my initial expectations which weren’t that high to begin with and was a decent watch. Not bad by any means, but not superb either. I think your view will really depend on how you approach it. It touched on several things, but I don’t think it was trying to really excel at anything in particular. I think it’s a story of friendship, hope, and humanity, with the military aspect simply being part of the setting. (I’m curious to see how the next Anime no Chikara project will turn out, as that looks to be a bit more interesting and deeper in terms of the story.)

Sora No Woto was one of those series where pairing up against a full length anime would be unfair. Let's start with the plot: It all begins when teenage soldier Sorami Kanata joins her latest company to learn to play the trumpet and ends up with a small group of teenage girls on the outskirts of some mythical country after WWIII and on the brink of another major war (at least that's what I presume). From there, there's no other plot development besides this myth about these "fire maidens" and how this group of five girls protect the city just like these maidens did in legend. Now theactual review: In my opinion, for the series's genre, it was a well composed anime with no details left out. Kanata's interactions with her fellow soldiers and superiors display the thin set emotions of those on the brink of war. It a sense it's almost like a rendition of a Vietnam vet's recollection of the war. Everyone has some war related history that dramatically effects the way they think and operate, plus they really tug at your heart strings. The way plot twists were set up were also timely and didn't leave that "really did that just happen" taste. However there are always things to pick on and I can certainly dissect this one. For starters (this really isn't a serious point but w.e.) this plot description could haveve totally been an ecchi. Second, all the war action only appeared at the end of the series, which would have been nice to see through out the whole thing. Lastly, this series seemed like it could have easily been a legitimate full length series, but hey, beggars can't be choosers. Overall 8/10, it fit neatly into its genre description, but wasn't ground breaking (mostly because it was a slice of life). Personally I would recommend this to those out there who are bored and just want to kill time while waiting for a different anime to add a new episode or something.

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