schuster.candida - 2016-12-20 05:32:20

La Corda D’Oro is pretty much the first anime I ever watched, so I have somewhat of a nostalgic attachment to this show. It’s a sweet and relaxing anime about a music competition and explores the effect music can have on one’s life and the people around them. If you have an interest in classical music and don’t mind somewhat simplistic characters, I would encourage you to give it a try.

STORY:
This show is about a music competition, and centers around Hino Kahoko, who was named as a competitor despite having no knowledge or experience in playing the violin. It’s a character-driven story, and focuses on the interactions between Kahoko and the other participants, and explores what music means to each of them. It spans the course of the entire music competition, and I like how the four main events serve as major turning points in the story and the characters’ development. It’s a simple and somewhat predictable plot, but the use of music and the structure of a competition makes it an enjoyable and relaxing ride.

CHARACTERS:
The characters all seem to fit into a stereotype, which makes their behavior somewhat predictable and lacking in complexity. But all of the characters are likable (though some more than others) and they all have a decent amount of character development (though again, usually predictable). All of this character development centers around Kahoko and her genuine love for music. It’s fun to watch how much of an effect Kahoko has on her fellow competitors and her classmates, and especially the effect this music competition has had on herself.

One thing to note is that this is a reverse harem, so most of the guys develop some kind of crush on Kahoko. But these feelings don’t lead to an actual romance, and merely serve to influence each character’s behavior. I have no complaints about the lack of concrete romance, and prefer to have it open-ended given that it’s a reverse harem (and I’d rather not see the show choose one pairing and leave everyone else disappointed). All the guys care about Kahoko in their own way which I found sweet, and I was satisfied with the way the show handled it.

SOUND:
Since this show is centered around classical music, you’ll get to listen to a variety of short pieces throughout the series. Each song fits the scene, and it’s one of the show’s strength (since there aren’t a whole lot of anime about classical music).

ART:
It looks decent, and I have no major complaints about the animation.

ENJOYMENT:
I found this show sweet and relaxing, and I enjoyed the competitive spirit and the focus on classical music. It’s a simple story and doesn’t have anything unique or complex to offer, but it does a good job for what it is. Its biggest flaw is its simplistic characters and predictable plot, but the abundance of music is what made this show enjoyable for me.

gwen.wilderman - 2013-05-18 10:39:35

In the wake of finishing "Nodame Cantabile Finale", the latest series of a superb franchise that blew me away and got me into classical music, I found myself wanting to watch more anime about classical music. And that's why I decided to check out "La Corda D'Oro: Primo Lasso". I went into it fully expecting a poor man's "Nodame Cantabile" - such classics don't just grow on trees after all - but still, I couldn't help feeling disappointed even though I got exactly what I was expecting."La Corda D'Oro: Primo Lasso" (to be abbreviated as "La Corda" for the remainder of this review) tells the story of a normal girl Hino Kahoko coming into possession of a magical violin and taking part in the concours, the school's premier music competition, where she has to compete against a bunch of other students, most of whome study music.There's not much to complain about the presentation of "La Corda". All the character designs are pleasing to the eye, and a sense of beauty and elegance often shines through particularly when a character is performing. But you can guess where the priority of this show lies from the opening credits featuring shoulder up portraits of all the main characters - none of them appear to be wearing anything! Not that it's a fiery, passionate tale about complicated love triangles or anything like that, but it does come off as an anime that's more concerned about superficial imagery than solid substance.And from the very first episode, "La Corda" does little to help you shake off that impression. Aside from its almost non-existent attempt at preserving story integrity by sweeping the concour selection process under the carpet, it soon becomes clear that the show is very much a reverse harem as Hino is quickly surrounded by more bishounens than you can shake a stick at. There's the Proudly Aloof Bishounen, the Mysterious Prince Bishounen, the Playful Bishounen etc - all the most common bishounen architypes in shoujo are here, and then some. They are, of course, her fellow students and competitors in the concours and, together with Hino, they make up the selection of characters featured in the portraits in the opening credits. The only person from the concours who isn't featured in those portraits is, unsurprisingly, the Other Girl in the competition. Because as everyone knows, in a reverse harem, the Other Girl is, of course, unimportant.The main problem is that most of these bishies have totally flat personalities. Proudly Aloof Bishounen is like Chiaki from "Nodame Cantabile", except without any depth and taken to unbelivable extremes. Dopey Bishounen's characteristic dopeyness is also excessive - he can't even talk in a normal voice. Yes, we know he's not supposed to be quite "with it", but does it have to be so obnoxiously obvious?? And no, I don't find his dopeyness to be particularly amusing.Fortunately, not all the characters are like this. Surrounded by the other princely bishies, Tsuchiura is refreshingly down to earth - as shown by the fact that I was unable to think of a nickname that shelves his personality into a stereotypical mould. Best of all, Hino herself is a good main character. Unlike most of the others, she actually plays a very genuine "ordinary girl" role. She'd never played the violin before, and her understandable anxiety and reservation for entering the concours with her magical violin, along with her gradual change of attitude towards music and in particular the violin are all aspects that are smoothly handled for the most part. Hino's involvement in a competition that's mostly reserved for specialised music students also means that she does have to cross some tall barriers to gain acceptance, and her refreshing "outsider's" approach to music as a non-music student goes some way towards breaking down the elistist attitude prevalent amongst the music students.Having said that, I do have largely mixed feelings for the musical aspects of "La Corda", and it's especially interesting to compare this with "Nodame Cantabile". Firstly, it has to be said that there are no shortage of variety in the pieces performed in "La Corda". Beyond the standard selection of great composers such as Chopin, Beethoven etc that are covered by "Nodame Cantabile", "La Corda" also features quite a number of lesser known composers such as Boccherini, Reger, Vitali etc. It's a selection that I, as a casual listener to classical music, am largely unfamiliar with, and it's a selection that far exceeds the variety and perhaps even the quantity of music on offer in "Nodame Cantabile". Whether this is because the characters of "La Corda" focuses on the solo performances of so many different instruments while "Nodame Cantabile" is mostly involved with either orchestral symphonies or piano (both of which have a staggering number of well known pieces), it's hard to say. And along with those bits of trivia at the end of each episode, "La Corda" certainly gives the impression of having a broad knowledge of classical music. In addition, like "Nodame Cantabile", the music played in "La Corda" is also tailored to suit the story line (as in, if it's supposed to be a bad performance, you'll be able to hear from the music, although the tailoring isn't quite on the same scale as "Nodame Cantabile").On the other hand, I have no problem in saying that I enjoyed the music of "Nodame Cantabile" far more than the music of "La Corda". Is this because the music in "La Corda" is simply not as good? Perhaps, but I feel there's a lot more to it than just the quality of the music...The thing about "Nodame Cantabile" is that it simply comes off as far more passionate about its music. Everything about the show revolves around the music - it is woven seamlessly, inseparably into the very fabric of the show itself, with the story, the atmosphere and the music all complementing each other. And during the performances, the characters are often reflecting on the music itself. This means that it's easy to get affected by the show's infectious enthusiasm, and I found myself enjoying every performance, even when the music being played is not to my taste. In constrast, "La Corda" is too often caught up in its reverse harem aspects, with the incessant posturing of the sparkling bishounens and various love polygons ("love triangles doesn't even come close to discribing it) proving to be a constant distraction. During the performances, the characters seem more concerned with their respective love interests than with the music they're playing. In addition, its philosophy towards music also seems to subtly change to suit the latest story arc. The result is that, despite certain similarities between the messages that "La Corda" and "Nodame Cantabile" are trying to get across, the former's attempts are sometimes undermined as it seems far less sincere in its attitude towards music. Also, "La Corda"'s music production feels mostly like a separate entity, isolated and often forced to stand by themselves, as though the people who worked in that area were working largely independently from the script writers and the storyboard (with the notable exception of the aforementioned tailoring of music). So while "Nodame Cantabile" seems to be capable to getting people interested in classical music, I have a hard time imagining "La Corda" to be capable of the same feat.To its credit, the last third of the "La Corda" improves significantly. Most of the one dimensional characters develop some kind of depth to become 1.5 dimensional. Hino, who was by far the best character to begin with, goes through even more development. In particular, the way she chooses to deal with her final obstacle is surprisingly and admirably direct. If I have any complaints, it would be how unbelivably fast she manages to improve on an instrument as difficult to play as the violin - it usually takes people ages just to produce a sound that's not harsh! But minor gripes aside, the show really takes off and proceeds to pull out all the stops in the final concours. Here, the story, the atmosphere and the selection of music are finally all pulling in one direction. The performance of Bach's cello prelude that radiated a sonorous beauty, the performance of Lizst's "La Campanella" that grew from a delicate beginning to a tempestuous climax, and a dignified, graceful performance of Schubert's "Ave Maria" are just some of the highlights that bring a sense of elation, satisfaction and closure to a colourful final proceedings. For "La Corda", this is a rare occasion on which it manages to emulate the kind of magic that "Nodame Cantabile" produces with such casual regularity. After the final episode, some may feel the omission of a certain detail to be a bit of a cop out, but I'm of the opinion that the omission actually has the effect of highlighting what they DID show - Hino's courage and love of violin - to be the things that truly matter.Thanks to the last third of the series gaining a focus, "La Corda" just about qualifies as a "good" anime rather than an "okay" one. Just like Tsuchiura is accused of being half hearted in his pursuit of music and football, for the majority of the series "La Corda" also seems guilty of half heartedly going for a lot of things. It playfully toys with the idea of romance but does not go anywhere with it; it tries to do some character development, but is hampered by its reverse harem elements and overly stereotypical characters it shackled itself with in the beginning; it seems to want to give off the impression of being serious about music while at the same time rarely displaying an inclination for exploring the subject past the surface. The result is that it's well beaten in all areas by "Nodame Cantabile" and ends up as little more than a genre specific show with an appeal that is unlikely to extend beyond its targetted audience. But while all of this may sound like very harsh criticism for a series I'm labelling as "good", it's more to do with me being spoilt by "Nodame Cantabile" than anything else. Would I be scrutinising this show - in particular its musical aspects - so closely if it isn't for "Nodame Cantabile"? I doubt it. It's not so much that "La Corda" doesn't measure up as the fact that "Nodame Cantabile" set the standards far too high, and it's a tall ask for any similar anime to compete without coming off looking a lot worse. At the end of the day, "La Corda" is by no means a poor series - it's simply a poor man's "Nodame Cantabile". And that, to be fair, is nothing to be ashamed of.