This review on Mashiro no Oto contains spoilers. If you haven’t seen the chapter, we recommend that you do it and then come back to read the review.
Chapter 11: Storage
A mistake from which he was able to recover, but the setback disqualifies him as the winner, Kaji accepts the defeat fighting the defeat and is applauded by the audience. The following are good but normal, nothing redeemable. Setsu’s internal drama was lessened, he was calm, analyzing the sounds he heard and tasting them obento by Sakura, but the peace is broken by Umeko, who demands that she play like Matsugoro. These words change his mind so much that not even the voices of his friends make him think, he hums with despair. He goes on stage and doesn’t give what he is, he gives what everyone supposedly wants to hear except his grandfather who urges him to have his own sound. It is published and the interpretation changes.
Chapter opinion
My second favorite chapter, the first will always be the best for me. I’ve seen it with different strengths, fluent and constant, in addition to a clear theme that is repetitive but goes deeper which doesn’t make it boring. Dynamism, humor and tension were carried well. What had to be addressed was tackled at the right time, with no more or less space. It is important to emphasize this as it generally does not reach all chapters. Another very redeemable thing is the sound of the chapter, excellent and divine, it seemed to me the best of the anime. Setsu’s performance seemed sublime to me, at least from what was heard, and that the budget goes into hiring someone to play that way is really worth it. So excellent.
Tragic hero
Odysseus is the epitome of the tragic hero of the West. This king of Ithaca suffered inhuman incidents due to the whim of the gods. Adversity was his faithful companion, and he reached his own bed with his beloved only after passing the myriad of pains (although it is worth noting that there were joys too).
This heroic and tragic quality is put in the mouth of one of the characters to refer to Kaji who fought a battle from which he emerged victorious, but everything changed when the tightrope attacked, only the good performer could save the presentation , but fell silent. But like the Avatar, Kaji continued before it was canceled and its sound began to have a nuance of its own, in desperation he found himself again. Although it was a good performance, the “objective” qualification counts, he was not disqualified but he will never be able to return to Ithaca.
But young David managed to defeat Goliath, in what way? Kaji was the hero who lost but with whom we can relate, and that’s enough to go from a story to a legend.
Different sounds
After listening to Kaji, Setsu begins to identify the sounds of each one, locate them, and compare them to her own. The fact of making him lonely is a symbol of who he is and of his own sound, which can only be disturbed by the appearance of another person, in this case Umeko. This difference in sound makes the protagonist think what he wants and others react for him.
The parents both want the sound of matsugoro representing the unknown, but hey, a point in the life of the shamisen This must not be forgotten. It feels like his mother is telling him, if you don’t interpret the sound of your grandfather, you won’t really love him. The reason is understandable, only that the difference is in the taste, whether you like it or not.
The deadly disease
Soren Kierkegaard, a Danish philosopher, gave one of his books this title. Here we just take what he is referring to: the deadly disease is despair and is related to the inability to self. That means that you are not you, that you are denied your individuality. This seems to me what happens to Setsu throughout the chapter, it is denied.
He only manages to be confirmed by his friends, but too late, because the words of his neighbors and himself are permeated, he is no longer looking for himself, but for the ideal. With this attitude she enters the stage and this is how she acts: imitate. “Is it really you?” This is the question his acquaintances seem to be asking, especially his brother, who understands that Setsu has to be out of the models for the sake of his own freedom. Only one person can free him from external ties: he and his role model, the grandfather.
Sound of silence
Before the noise that deafened everyone, there is the silence that terrifies. The sound change comes with a scream that comes from the depths, he understood what he wanted and what his grandfather wanted: to find his own sound. This is the idea repeated throughout the anime, but here he gets a different treatment, eventually Setsu manages to converse with his grandfather’s true feelings and this breaks his silence, it leads him to his self-roar. He stopped being a desperate being.
What a good chapter. I hope Souichi’s performance is up to the task as he is supposedly the best. I am also waiting for your response to this sound. Hopefully the ending is as good or better.
