A bunch of guys who look like yankees and young ladies from prestigious families... these are the members who play the "Koto"! What's more, they aim to be number one in the country! "Stop This Sound!" is an unprecedented youth story about a "Koto Club." The first season will be broadcast in April 2019, and it has already been decided that the second season will start broadcasting in October. In this article, we will introduce the original koto music that appears in the work and was created for the anime.
"Sepia Wind"
This song is the song that Ai first heard "Satowa's sound" in the second episode of the anime. When Ai was about to enter the clubroom, Satowa happened to be playing this song, so she eavesdropped on it, and Ai was blown away by the greatness of "Satowa's sound".
The smooth, flowing melody really brings to mind the image of wind. This song was composed by the mother of the author, Amyu-sensei, who is also a teacher at the Koto class. By the way, since this song was composed later, the title does not appear in the story.
"Ryuseigun"
At the beginning of the story, this song is played at the school morning assembly under the condition that "if the Koto club cannot perform to the satisfaction of all the students, it will be disbanded." The dynamics are clear, and the loud parts have a heavy sound that gives you goosebumps. The soft parts also have a lonely sound, like the "roar of a lonely dragon," as the old lady at the instrument store said. It's a satisfying song to listen to, and when I think of the main character, Kuon Ai, and her friends playing it, I can't help but tear up. I can also understand the feelings of all the students, surprised and moved by the resounding sound of the koto. This song was composed by Amyu-sensei's older sister, Hashimoto Migiwa-sensei.
"Kuon"
In the story, this song was prepared as one of the candidate songs for the Kanto Japanese Music Festival, and since Kuon Ai's name is the same as hers, she said, "This song is for me!" and decided to perform it. At the Kanto Japanese Music Festival, Kuon Ai injured her hand, but hid this from the club members before participating. In the middle of the song, the sound becomes distorted due to Kuon Ai's injury, but Mizuhara Kota brings it back together by playing a part that he is not good at. From there, Tokise High School's performance became a "heart-shaking sound" that reverberated throughout the venue. This performance prompted the advisor, Takinami, to decide to teach seriously.
This song has a flowing melody that blows with varying intensity. This was composed by Amyuu-sensei's mother!
"Tenkyuu"
This is the song that Satowa played at the competition and was disqualified. It was an original song that Satowa played to convey her feelings of wanting her mother to pay more attention to her, but her mother didn't get it and even said, "Your koto is like a deadly weapon." This caused Satowa to stop facing her mother and she was excommunicated from the Hougetsu-kai.
"Tenkyu" means "rainbow"!
"Tenkyu" is an original song that Takinami arranged into a "yang" version of the song that Satowa played at that time, with "Tenkyu" as the "yang" version. At first, it was going to mean rainbow with "Tenkyu", but Takinami suggested the kanji "Tenkyu" was used. Indeed, the song starts with a quiet tone reminiscent of falling rain, and builds up beautifully and ephemerally towards the end. It's a song that combines a rainbow after the rain and the other side of tears.
"Tenaki" was composed by Amyuu-sensei's older sister, Hashimoto Migiwa-sensei.
A compilation of original koto pieces! "Konooto Tomare! ~Tokikise High School Koto Club~"
All of the original koto pieces introduced in this article are included in the CD album "Konooto Tomare! ~Tokikise High School Koto Club~". This CD was released by King Records on March 8, 2017, and achieved unprecedented sales for a pure Japanese song, reaching 14th place on the Oricon rankings!
It was also a hit as an instrumental, and even won the Pure Japanese Song Album of the Year award at the Japan Gold Disc Awards! It is still available on Amazon and other sites, so if you're interested, be sure to give it a listen.
