La Corda d'Oro (Primo Passo)

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Animation

I managed to squeeze in one anime series over the weekend. I've seen a lot of Naruto and Bleach episodes as well as some replays of my favorite animes but I have been slacking off in my reviews...

I've been seeing this intermittently in Animax Asia channel before I went to Japan, but as usual I found the English dub unsatisfying and went looking for the English sub version. I found fansubs downloaded to a dvd, but it was just my luck it got stuck on the 3rd ep. Argh! I had 23 more eps and this to go. What to do?

Turned to my favorite video streaming sites and watched this inspite of a headache, that's what. (Adik!)

This is not an Italian animation film, although the title is Italian and means "The Golden String". The story is simple, the music is profound. Well, I am not sure about the playing part since I am no music guru or reviewer, but hearing music from composers like Bach, Chopin, Tchaikovsky et. al. makes for some nostalgic times. There are also short Lili (the fairy) "pointers" or lessons about music introducing very interesting snippets about various composers and musicians ranging from Grieg to Liszt to Schumann etc.


Setting: Seisou Academy
Two groups of students: General-Education (Gen-ed) and Music students.

Enter Lili, a fata, or a fairy of music, who has blessed the school due to the original founder saving his life many years ago but who bemoans that no one can see him. He is a mischievous sprite who just wants people to enjoy music, hence I would think his making the heroine take part in the contest (concours is its equivalent term in French) stems from his wanting to make not just musically-inclined people but students like those in Gen-ed enjoy it.

Hino Kahoko, a Gen-ed student saw Lili (that is what you get for running late to class), who in turn bestows upon her a magic violin, which allows her to play on it beautifully as long as she knows the tune. Basically the violin is a mirror or an instrument wherein Kahoko's feelings about the music she is playing or hearing are amplified and so we have a heroine who does not really know one iota of playing a violin, becoming a contestant (thanks to Lili) for the annual musical concours in the school where many music students would like to participate in. This causes a furor, to put it mildly.

Enter a couple of guys with different backgrounds and stories....(cue: music).

There is Tsukimori Len, a violinist prodigy whose mother is a famous pianist and whose dad is also a famous violinist. He is cold, detached but as usual in anime there must be one guy who plays the role of the "beautiful icicle". He plays the violin very well, but it lacks the "soul" and "emotion" which later comes about due to the influence of Kahoko.

There is Tsuchiura Ryoutaro, a talented soccer player and gifted pianist who is a Gen-ed student and helps Kahoko out many times. He has quit playing publicly ever since he was young but due to Kahoko, finally entered the concours and displayed his piano-playing for everyone to enjoy. He and Len have a lot of disputes.

There is Hihara Kazuki who plays the trumpet, and he is one character I like seeing around because he is very energetic and cheerful and has one of the most obvious crushes on our heroine. He likes sweets just like Kahoko and has a prodigious appetite. This is the usual anime formula ingredient of loud, "genki", eats-a-lot character.

Another handsome guy is Yunoki Azuma (belonging to a rich flower-arranging clan) who plays the flute and is the "prince" of the school, and whose life and rhythm turns upside down due to Kahoko, leading him to go against his venerable and scary grandmother's wishes in leaving his flute and interest in music behind. He used to play the piano very well but had to change instruments due to the rule that the older brothers should not be overshadowed by the younger ones.

There are other good-looking characters in the series (sleepy cello player, basfhul clarinet player, obnoxious trio of women etc.) and I will not attempt to list them down but leave it to the readers to google them.

Suffice to say, we can expect these various characters (namely the ones competing in the concours) to have Kahoko touch their lives in one way or another, changing them and their music.

Our heroine also, in time, amidst one crisis to another, generally comes to love her violin, even after it ceases to be a magical one in the middle of the concours and due to her never-giving-up and do-her-best attitude, most people in the end do admire her (even if her playing did change to somewhat like a beginner prior to the last set). During the times people heard her play, they were touched by the "honesty" of her music...meaning there are no tricks or techniques to it but just music being played from her heart.

Sweet story and romantic possibilities aside, why I reviewed and liked this anime is due to the short pieces of classical music being played in the concours and during various episodes depicting the preparation of the competitors. It has been a long time since I listened to any classical pieces, but after hearing them being performed on the anime, there were really times in my viewing, when I stopped and replayed the scenes if only to hear the music again.

Tristesse or La Chanson de l'adieu made my heart swell.
Gavotte made me chuckle and become energetic.
The Ave Maria violin duet also made me solemnly reflective and grateful. Ah..music does the heart good!

The list below is taken from wikipedia.

Some of these pieces may already be familiar to the readers, it is just that we don't know exactly how to refer to them, so my tip is just to go google or download them and listen to them once in a while. I especially like violins and fiddles, but you may opt instead for the piano. clarinet, flute, trumpet or cello versions.

* Music Played On The First Selection
- Hino : Frédéric Chopin – La Chanson de l'adieu (from Étude No.3 (Opus 10-3).
- Hihara: Josef Franz Wagner – Unter dem Doppel Adler.
- Shimizu: Luigi Boccherini – Cello Concerto No.9 in B Flat Major (G.482).
- Yunoki: Edvard Hagerup Grieg – Morning Mood.
- Fuyuumi : Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger – Romance in G Major.
- Tsukimori :Henryk Wieniawski - Polonaise No. 1 (in D major for violin and orchestra - Opus 4)

* Music Played On The Second Selection
- Hino: Johann Pachelbel – Kanon und Gigue in D-Dur.
- Tsuchiura: Frédéric Chopin - Fantasie-Impromptu
- Hihara: Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy – Auf Flügeln des Gesanges(on the wings of song)
- Shimizu: Charles Camille Saint-Saëns – Le Cygne
- Yunoki: Jules Massenet – Meditation from "Thaïs"
- Tsukimori: Vitali's "Chaconne"
- Fuyuumi: Charles Camille Saint-Saëns – Romance


* Music Played On The Third Selection
- Hino: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Mélodie
- Tsukimori: Maurice Ravel - Tzigane.
- Hihara: Franz Schubert - Serenade.
- Shimizu: Gabriel Fauré - Sicilienne.
- Yunoki: Johann Sebastian Bach - Partita in A Minor.
- Tsuchiura: Frédéric Chopin - The Revolutionary Étude.
- Fuyuumi: Robert Schumann - Three Romances No.2.

* Music Played On The Final Selection
- Hino: Schubert - Ave Maria
- Tsukimori: Niccolò Paganini - Caprice No.24.
- Hihara: Gustav Holst - Jupiter from The Planets.
- Shimizu: Johann Sebastian Bach - Prelude from Suites for Solo Cello No.1.
- Yunoki: Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninov - Vocalise.
- Tsuchiura: Franz Liszt - La Campanella
- Fuyuumi: Polish Folk Song - Clarinet Polka.

* Music Played On The Special Episode [ Episode 26 ]
- Hino: E.Elgar - Op.12 Salut d' Amour ( Accompanied by Fuyuumi )
- Tsukimori: Beethoven - Op. 50 , Romance No.2 in F major
- Hihara and Hino: F.J. Gossec - Gavotte in D Major
- Shimizu: J.S. Bach - Suites for Solo Cello No.1, Prelude
- Yunoki: R.Drigo - Notturno d' Amore " Serenade "
- Tsuchiura: Liszt - S.541 Liebesträume ( Dreams of Love ) No. 3 in A Flat Major

btw, this anime is taken from the role-playing game from Koei's Neoromance series. I don't know it either but I can give a good guess :-) I have no idea of how the manga is going on but there may already be a season 2 for this.