La Corda d’Oro: Blue Sky: Episode 08-10 Review

Also known as: Kiniro no Koruda: Blue Sky
Streaming Allegiance: Crunchy Roll
Reconnaissance Report by: Jessica Craven
Progress: Episode 10


Episode 10Episode seven features the semifinal round of the competition. After this round, Kanade receives additional responsibility for the ensemble (I know this is a bit vague, but I don’t want to give too much away). This additional responsibility at first frightens her, but Housei and Chiaki take her to see an area full of fireflies, which helps her realize the true dynamics behind an ensemble (no pun intended). Additionally, Reiji’s hatred for Kanade continues to resurface, and Kanade slowly begins to remember that they were in a violin competition together when they were children.

In the episode after the semifinal round, Sei takes Kanade to an indoor garden full of roses with a piano at its center. He’s at his “I need to fall in love for my music” antics again, which I find very amusing. This time, he utters in disbelief that he really has fallen in love with Kanade, but I am reluctant to believe him. This is Sei, after all. Nevertheless, the imagery in this scene was really beautiful. I also thought the firefly scene was really beautiful, and it finally provided a solid launching point for Kanade and the ensemble (I was getting a little tired of waiting).

Although I have really enjoyed this series, it seems miraculous that the Seisou ensemble has progressed this far in the competition, as disadvantaged and underprepared as they are. It seems like their music magically comes together all of a sudden in order to further the plot. Granted, the series depicts their practices and struggles, which adds a decent amount of realism, but still, it’s a little difficult to believe.

I also think that the drama between Reiji and Kanade is overdone. The series has not revealed exactly why Reiji hates her yet, but I would guess it has something to do with her beating him at the childhood competition or something similar, and that is a ridiculously petty reason to hate someone so much. Especially since Kanade is having trouble even remembering the incident.

All in all, I’ve really enjoyed the beautiful, and often metaphorical, imagery of this series, as well as the beautiful musiceven if it seems to magically appear. La Corda has been a really good series thus far, but with this review, I feel I was finally able to pinpoint my major critiques of this anime.

Score: 8.75/10.00