Soranowoto

Boy am I glad I gave this one a little more time to develop.

If I had written a review after the first three or four episodes, it would have been called "K-On joins the army", and it would have been a legitimate complaint. The first episodes were aimless, the character types are similar and obviously the animation style is identical. It looked like all they did was take K-On's slice of life formula and move it to an alternate universe where not much really goes on.

But even back then, there was always that little hint of something deeper going on. Why is there a whole troop of women and girls in this town in the first place? Just how many people are left in the world? Why do they have that futuristic tank? Why "Amazing Grace"?

The hints and portents about the world these women live in kept growing through the next three episodes, and now we're starting to finally see some payoff. Episode 7 treads the edge between emotional impact and hokey melodrama without ever falling off, tying together much more of the back-story of the world with the pasts of many of the characters. The history of the world is darker and stranger than the bucolic setting of the town of Seize ever led us to suspect. It's the kind of episode that makes you go back and re-watch the previous episodes for hints you may have missed.

Even during the first episodes, the characters in SnW were a cut above the characterizations in K-On. Apart from the bumbling, but hard-working Kanata, none of the other characters are as one-dimensional as the characters in K-On, and their relationships with each other are more varied than those of Jr. High students could ever be. Lieutenant/Captain Felicia and Sgt. Rio have a trusting relationship that is a realistic combination of male military camaraderie and girl-talk. Something like you would expect to develop in a combat unit of women. This leads to a minor concern I have about the subs though. In ep 2, Felicia clearly states that her rank is lieutenant, but the members of her squad are always calling her taisho (translated as Captain). I'm thinking in this context, taisho should be translated more loosely as "squad leader" rather than as a military rank of Captain.

The opening theme and graphics also deserve high marks. The depiction of the characters as religious icons, coupled with the haunting melody, adds another clue that the everyday actions of these women are more important than they seem. Religion plays an important part in the lives of the townsfolk as well as the soldiers, and the opening helps set this in our minds. The incidental music is generally in traditional styles, with no obvious electrified or synthesized instrumentation.

The one problem I have with this show is it still doesn't really seem to be going anywhere. I think it helps if you view Sora no Woto as a sequence of character studies, rather than a linear story. Rather than a long novel, it's a collection of short stories set in a particular place. But that doesn't jibe well with the back-story. In the long run, dark memories and portents are meaningless if all they foreshadow is a cultural festival. Even one as spiritually significant as obon. If the only real plot is going to be flash-backs to the great war, this series is going to disappoint in the end. The good news is that Durarara is no longer the only new series from the Winter 2010 season that is both intelligent and interesting. I wonder which one will be my favorite in a couple of months when the season ends?

Abstract:
This animation focuses mainly on the five female characters and their lives together. A bit bizarre, this all female platoon is stationed in a peaceful town living a rather quiet life. There is little to no plot or story to follow throughout the episodes, but has a bit of character development with each episode, similar to slice of life genre animations.

You might like this animation if you like Slice of Life genre such as K-ON, Sketchbook, and Kanamemo. Although the setting is different, post-war setting, the genre is ideally the same.

Genre: Slice of Life, Light Comedy, Post-Apocalyptic, Post-War, Seinen

Characters:
The first few episodes of this series focuses mainly on the characters. Now this is the part I'm referring to when I mention its similar to genres like K-ON and Kanameno. The episodes mainly is just daily happenings mainly between Kanata and another character.

Now, they feature an array of female characters with a set of familiar personalities types where people can find appealing.

Here are some of the characters;

Kanata is our main character. A curious child that is a bit naive. Even though after losing her family she is extremely trustful of strangers, extruding a warm and welcoming feeling with whoever she meets. She is also energetic and extremely motivated to learn more about music. Her spotlight story starts on episode 1.

Kureha is a bit of a brat. Like most children, she acts on her feelings more and tends to be a bit of a showoff. For example; She tries to justify her attitude towards Kanata as being a senior to the new recruit, but in reality Kureha is just sour for something that wasn't Kanata fault. Her spotlight story starts on episode 2.

Rio has an authoritative voice and composure. A bit of a tsundere character. Her spotlight story starts on episode 3.

Noel is a soft spoken girl, intellectual, and a hard worker. Her late nights of tinkering with the tank repairs makes her a bit of a narcoleptic. She doesn't show her emotions much and speaks in a monotone voice. Her spotlight story starts on episode 4.

Story:
Now, various other reviews here on crunchyroll say theres a great plot and/or story. If you've just read my character section, I've mention that the first few episodes are nothing but stories highlight two characters interaction with each other. Even up to episode 10, you are given nothing but bread crumbs about the underlying story. They start to wrap up some loose ends with the story starting with episode 11.

Structurally, this storytelling is similar to 'Slice of Life' genres, which shows events of a character's life but may or may not contain a bit of plot progression. It is still entirely possible for them to pull a 180, and have some serious development on the plot with the last few episodes. However, breaking the current trend of storytelling usually only happens for longer TV series.

Below is what I've gathered so far by little hints and visual cues of what might be the plot


What's infuriating me is that I am watching this to hoping for some sort of story progression that they have introduced to us in the first episode. However, is it nothing but a series of cute and adorable character moments slapped on top of a plot that is untouched. Only at the end of the series do they bother to dump everything on you.

So like I've said in my abstract section, there is little to no plot to follow. Don't expect drama nor adventure coming in watching this, even though it is a post-apocalyptic setting.

SO RA NO WO TO takes place in a European (probably French) based countryside. A ceasefire has lasted for 6 months, ending a costly war. Enter Kanata Sorami, an orphaned girl with an ear for chords who enlists for the army to follow her passion, music. She is posted as the 5th member of a platoon on the edge of the Helvetia, guarding the border between "no mans land" and Seize, Trois. Under equipped, under prepared and under appreciated, these 5 soldiers must make the best of every situation if they are to do their duty to their country and survive another day....

The show so far(episode 2) has been going strong. Well drawn and detailed characters, rich back stories to work with and a strong storyline with much depth. Being part of an ambitious project between major companies, I expect this show will not fail its viewers...

Soranowoto grabbed my attention back when I first seen the trailer. More specifically the backgrounds lured me in and the followings of the daily life of the girls of the 1121st platoon. Other parts were also those little bits of curiosity. Soranowoto is uncommon in the fact that it's an original story, and in this case, Aniplex with their Anime no Chikara or Power of Anime. To me, it's just another series that is a question mark at the start. If it has a base such as a visual novel, manga, or light novel. Then it's easier to guess how it'll be. As an original production however, it was a delight in figuring out what will come up next. As I watched the first episode, I quickly realized that it was a slice of life series. Slice of life series, are much like literary fiction in its presentation, and Soranowoto follows it rather well.

The pulp of the series are the characters and their interactions with each other. The series is made from a particular studio I've always liked for the angles, the distinctive bold eyes, and the at times goofy distant animation of characters. There is however a good amount of detail for each character in the series, both major and minor characters. It provides a unique feel to the town of Seize with the beautifully animated backdrops and layout of the city. I found myself drawn to the character Felicia of all the characters. As the leader of the platoon, she changes things up by doing away with much of the military convention. Granted, it's more towards presentation of the series itself, but the character herself is what makes it feel more natural.

As a slice of life series, the story is mostly about the characters going through life. On that record, it does well by following the standard practice of focusing on a character or a particular set of characters. In this fashion, it's easier to develop a connection with a particular character than if it's plot based. However it also leads to making the series feeling weak if someone's more accustomed to a genre based series. Of everything that this series is, it's probably that same element that gave me a weak impression for the ending.

The music in the series only serves as a complimentary service. It plays once in a while, and when it does it'll compliment what's on the screen. When it comes to the music of the series, it's the opening and ending sequences that steal my attention. The opening depicts the characters as the flame maidens while the ending is quite like sightseeing with the cast in different parts of the city.

In the end, this series surprised me. Unfortunately at the same time, the particular gems that sparkles so much that lures those who watch also is its downside. I was left with a feeling of there should have been more but there just wasn't much more to look for. It ended a little weak. Soranowoto is a down to earth series that follows the 1121st Platoon, and it was hard not to find the characters enjoyable. It just didn't leave a strong feeling at the end other than the sense that it was just good. It could have been better if it had a few more episodes.

Storyline:

From the beginning of this anime, I was greatly intrigued. I wont' say hooked, because this is not entirely true. The first episode made me giggle, and the characters of Kanata and Rio piqued my curiosity. However, it took until around the third episode for me to decide that I would stick with this series till the end. And I'm truly glad I did.

The plot is easygoing whilst also providing some intrigue and interesting takes on a post- apocalyptic world where people think of phones as exciting technology whilst they have a spider tank sitting in their basement, and where trumpets are the most effective means of communication on the battleground. (I must admit I did find this element a little distracting throughout – so, you're under enemy fire, you have an armour plated tank, and you have to get out of the tank to give a signal to attack? Yes. Perfectly plausible.)

Forgiving whatever misgivings I had to certain ideas, the plot is enjoyable and well-rounded, leaving no loose end untied. This made for a very satisfying watch, which I have found lacking in much of the anime I have recently seen.

Music:

The theme of Amazing Grace throughout as a signature melody which inspired the troops was a nice touch, even though I personally can't say I care much for the song, but I cannot recall any real moments in this anime where I stopped and thought “That music is really beautiful”. Now this is partly a good thing, as the orchestral themes really didn't detract from the 'action' at any point.

Characters:

Yes, I can easily say I've seen these characters somewhere before. Is this a bad thing? I don't think so in this case. This is a short series, and I feel that when you are limited on time, you really just need to have a stock character which you can easily get to grips with, and get on with the story.

The voice acting was good, the individual voices fitting their characters well. Each character is separate enough from her peers that you can understand why each of them would react in a certain way to any given scenario.

Animation:

The art of this series is truly beautiful. The moment where Kanata first sees the Angel Fossil is a beautifully directed scene, giving you a real impression of its scale and magnificence. Throughout I found myself drawn in by the mixture of Japanese with European architecture and character design. It made for a really interesting feel.

Overall:

I'm truly glad that I gave this anime my time. It's an easygoing, but rewarding, watch. Plenty of funny moments and tear jerkers too. I hope to find more series like this on Crunchyroll in the future.

Five different girls in military and their lives. Interesting? Unfortunately, it doesn’t. This anime is a true example of what happens, if you try to do too much at once on the weak and uninspiring basis.

Sora No Woto, aka ‘Sound of the Sky’ is a mixed culture setting war zone folktale involving a young girl who only came to military to play nice trumpet. If you just read the synopsis, it seems like a very unique and refreshing idea for slice of life genre anime. Sadly, it is not, because the major problem that this anime falls down is from the concept from the start. When you think of slice of life genre, the most important thing is always consistency on everything. Theme, settings, plot, relevance, comedy, all these thing has to be in balanced and united by one main flow of atmosphere. Sora no woto ultimately fails to do that.

Think about the setting of this anime first. There is a war and a town. Only soldiers there in that huge fat town are 5 females, three of them is not even capable of using the guns right. Trumpet is being used for the military communication, and yet they have extremely advanced tank we’ve never seen in any animes. Mixed culture of Europe and Japan looks just awkward as it is. There are all sorts of mysteries arising, yet none of them is properly solved or introduced. Yes, this anime doesn’t make sense of anything. My understanding of 'making sense' is completely different from Gurren Lagann pierce through the time adventure with galaxy sized robot, it's more about the relationship between its circumstance. Sora No Woto always involves the paradoxical elements at the same times, and tries to tell two completely irrelevant lines of the story. I’m just utterly surprised that this anime actually ended with this horribly introduced setting and backgrounds.

There is no real plot we can call; it just portrays the life of 5 girls in military. It’s basically a war zone, so it partially success on telling this story of blood and massacre that those disasters create (*Or not, perhaps. I'm just making this up). Some episode actually does make us to become a bit emotional. It was pretty nice. The problem is, it still doesn’t make ‘sense’. The whole this creation of story looks like giant piece of junk art, chucked in random elements together in one; even Homer Simpson can make that kind of stinkers. I’m seriously concerning about the ability of script writers for this anime. Conversations are very unintelligent and none of them is memorable. I mean, what the hack is all of those flat, cheap, overused and retarded jokes? I mean, they just don’t work for me. From my theory, this happened due to indecisive nature of the staffs who’s trying to make anime deep and emotional but funny and cheap at the same time. Anime clichés with fanservices and terror of war just don’t match; they are basically trying to something that is facing the complete opposite directions. It will never work. Those writers tried to do two things at once; they wanted war drama which will make some of emotional scenes that will cry people in a river, but at the same time, they wanted moe appeals, for financial issues. Well, if they had ability, they really could've used those services in 'appropriate' moment, then I will at least say 'oh well, they wrapped up war and moe nicely'. It doesn't. Some episodes were totally tainted by irrelevant use of moe fanservices, and these taints ruins the whole flow of the mood.

Not just that; maybe the idea of war itself is actually the reason that Sora no Woto breaks apart. I’m not saying war is such a bad theme or whatever. It is just overused way too much. *War is bad thing! I’ll protect this village from that bad thing!*… seriously, everyone knows that. War is bad, and should be prevented whatsoever; and this anime tries to tell us about ‘THAT’. For 12 episodes long series, only thing it said is this one philosophical and complex phrase; ‘WAR IS BAD’, but nothing else excluding the pee joke. Shallow… way too much shallow…

Episode is very, very inconsistent. Some episodes are alright, trying to raise our hopes a bit more. Later, it crushes by terribly executed episodes that are absolutely pointless to put. When some scenes are well concerned, other parts are just utterly boring. It is sad that there are only a few ‘truly’ good scenes, but almost about 15 minutes per episode is just futile. With this shallow plot and setting, it can only do stretching itself out to fill the bottle of 25 minutes. Those filled materials are the main cause of this boredom, and occurred due to simplistic storyline. If they’ve made some solid basis at the start, this never happened.

Thing I can praise on this anime is BG art. It was one of the most gorgeous looking scenes I’ve seen in a while. It is breath-taking, and all those buildings, trees, lakes, cliffs, bridges form a perfect harmony, contrast what I’ve seen in its story. I was utterly surprised about all the animation quality from this anime. CG tank (although it doesn’t make sense) looks great and very well animated. OP animation had some beautiful and abstract art works. On the other hand, it might be just me, but I hate that character design so much. That’s one of the major reasons why I hated K-On. This part of me is pretty much biased, so I will not count this part on the rating; amazing BG art covers all.

Sound is another astonishing thing; I just love classics and violins. A lot of them sounds greatly, although most of time, they are used in inappropriate time. OP is not bad; serious and calming although it was not that candy for me, but ED was seriously mismatching the theme of war. It was funny seeing this difference between opening, ending songs, since that’s what they exactly did for the plot of the anime. OP = War drama!! ED = MOE MOE!!

Sadly, characters in this anime are the most stereotypical, and uninteresting ones I’ve ever seen. I felt like being tortured watching all those crappy cliché treatments. Starting with Katana, she joined military only to learn how to play trumpet. She is really bad at it, but in certain episode, she just miraculously learns how to play it perfectly, for some superficial reason. ‘LOL SHII IZU SUCH A GENIUUSSU!!’. Hell no, that’s brainless on the side of production staffs. She is enthusiastic, cute and naïve; so typical. There is nothing special or interesting thing about this character at all.

Next, we have Kureha, tsundere. Actually, one of those annoying ones. She acts all over the place spreading her faggotry like ‘Katana we are fuckin soldiers, it’s a SERIOUS BUSINESS, don’t play like weabooooz.’ Yet, she can’t even hold her gun tight. This is just another clichéd character, and we can expect nothing new from her. Same goes to silent moe Noel-chan and typical mother type glassed girl whose existence makes no sense. Only character I can say ‘not that bad’ is Rio; the only person there who in fact make sense being a soldier. She is cool and gets annoyed a lot for the ‘proper’ reason, such as Katana being empty-headed. She still has major bullshit things that make everything senseless, but better than all the other lowly characters. Ultimately, the character lacks some large amount of depth overall. Their reaction is so predictable due to the oversimplified personality. They are all clichéd and uninteresting.

Did I enjoy watching this? Try to throw yourself into the trash-bin and swim; you will find it more enjoyable than this shit. It was more of pain; everything absolutely makes no sense, and is more of quasi-experiment without a single noticeable moments. I’m just terribly disappointed how this gorgeous art and my favourite classical music background OST got wasted for this terrible series.

Love the story!

Sora no Woto is my kind of slice of life, but despite of that it actually holds more than that. I love how the directors/writers of this show, presents the "slice of life," daily lives of the characters, or you could say the innocent lives mainly of the three characters, Kanata, Kureha and Noel and simultaneously, explaining the dark side/dark past of a character or basically reality of the world (cruel reality of the world). One of the few shows that actually gives you a lesson and that will hit you. Think of it as a slice of life, melodrama, action. Yup, there's a few action once in awhile.

I have a few animes that this show reminds me of, like Sky Girls and Strike Witches because of the all-female military cast but somehow this show also reminds me that life can be good sometime (ARIA series)... the innocent life... The animations is generally as equal with K-On! Except maybe for the giant robots.

About the characters, all I can say, they are well-developed characters and you'll love them as the story goes on. It's a lovable cast, we have the pure-hearted ditzy, Kanata, the cool and intriguing sempai, Rio, the onee-san-type/you-think-she's-so-innocent-type, Felicia (reminds me of Alicia from ARIA), the tsundere girl who really has a big heart, Kureha, and the silent-type genius, Noel, who reminds me of Yuki Nagoto. Of course, in most of the all-female cast, some girl-to-girl subtext are always present.

I did not focus on the animation and sounds this time but you'll hear "Amazing Grace" over and over. The timing of that old song will some time will get you... ^_^ hehe.

If you like slice of life and military-themed, start watching! ^_^v

PS: Search Crunchyroll or Anime News Network, if you want the synopsis

I watched Kemono no Souja Erin before this. I watched this in one go, without subtitles, save for the first two episodes I saw on time in Japan.

My summary.
A historical landmark in a futuristic post-war world involving a rural squadron and its efforts to preserve peace.

Storyline 4
When it first came out, many said that this was just going to be a lesser version of K-ON, but I would find that hard to say after watching the entire series. This anime is strongly character-oriented, with a climactic group effort displayed at the end. The morals are based on post-war struggles as well as the threat of technological warfare.
The exposition of this anime really conceals (perhaps in a bad way) the nature of the plot. Considering that many decide whether they would watch the anime or not (on time) based on the first episode, I would have to say that no one would guess the seriousness of the plot from the first episode. I also believe that the world setting is much too vast to be used only for such a short series of short stories. I would have loved to have seen in more detail the events by which the world came to be, something more than the glimpses shown from the characters' histories.
The short-stories themselves were nicely done and thoroughly enjoyable (except perhaps Kureha's, which didn't really leave much of an impression). From the comments I read when the first few episodes were out in Japan, I thought this was going to be just a peaceful anime with some girly conflicts, but that was definitely wrong. War is a powerful element to be used in expressing anything really.

Music 3
I like the orchestral and symphonic BGM that matches the atmosphere of the anime. I personally don't like the OP, but it was fitting to a certain extent. I don't like the ED at all however. I'm glad they didn't end with it on the last episode. I also personally don't like Amazing Grace either, but I understand why they chose it as the symbol of international unification.
On another note, I, as a musician, and as one who has (or had) absolute perfect pitch, love the use of music as a significant element in the story.

Characters 4
Two tsunderes... There certainly is moe in this anime, a few panties and cosplay etc. However, I don't think it spoiled the anime, but instead created a good contrast between the serious scenes and the peaceful scenes.
Every character played an important role (except perhaps Kureha). They had solid designs and fitting voice actresses.
Considering that this is a character-oriented story, I would have preferred if more light was placed on the worldly settings.

Animation 4
I love natural scenery, and ruins of human architecture. This anime did a fabulous job with the background imagery.
There were some very minor consistency problems concerning motion objects and characters, but there were many smooth and high quality raw animations to make up for it. I don't play the trumpet, so I can't be sure of whether the animation follows correct playing or not.
The CG was fine. It sort of reminded me of Ghost in the Shell in some ways.

Overall 4
It was a lot better than I had expected. I'm glad I got to finish it here on Crunchyroll. I would advise those searching for good animes to not be disheartened by the beginning.

Key bullets.
-The peacefulness in the beginning is to bring out the seriousness towards the middle and end.
-There is moe. Some unneeded, but it's endurable.
-It's short enough as it is. Just watch it.

Soranowoto is an anime that really seemed to touch my heart. A gentle and addictive story plot that seems to pull you in with mystery and a bit of humor. This series really pulled me in at the beginning with the animation & music, B-E-A-U-tiful & delicate (in alot of ways cute in a child-like sort of manner)! This story seems to warm my heart in the smallest ways, and I admit that I am infact a sucker for these kind of stories. But really wow, this anime really took my breath away within the first few episodes, the story plot is very unique, not like most anime you see with girls as the main characters. I strongly recommend this anime to someone who loves a slow moving plot full of mystery that leaves you craving for the next episode to come out.