kub.jerald - 2015-04-12 04:38:58

[Old review is old.]

Sound Of The Sky is one of the more balanced shows that I’ve had the pleasure of viewing, with fine work in storytelling, characterization, sound design, and animation. The resulting anime is an enriching experience that never fails to entertain, even with issues that would easily make me turn away upon first glance.

The anime focuses on a one Sorami Kanata, the newest member of the Helvetian Army’s 1121st Platoon, situated in Clocktower Fortress in the quiet town of Seize. However, rather than joining to become a soldier, Kanata enlists in order to learn how to play the bugle after being inspired by another soldier from a somber childhood memory. On the borderlands of war, Kanata tries her best to fit in with the four other members of the platoon as they live out their everyday lives in Seize, waiting for orders and looking for happiness as conflict looms on the horizon.

The writing effortlessly created memorable scene after memorable scene, gracefully handled and fully committed to conveying the perfect tone, whether it be a gritty war flashback or a simple episode of passing the time waiting for a telephone to ring. Every episodic vignette has a great blend of emotional ambiance and scriptural content. Smaller elements are established beforehand in clever situations of foreshadowing, making certain scenes more effective than if those factors were just skipped over. In contrast with the calming peace of the usual episodes, the show wasn’t afraid to confidently go into darker territory to deal with the harshness of war, character psyche or their questionable actions, or simple exploration of the unique apocalyptic world. Also, props for making everything in the town genuine French instead of opting for the familiar Japanese.

One big gripe in the writing for me would be the finale. While the main cast is being pushed to their limits and undergoing strong developments, the arrival of a shallow evil general followed by awkward CGI animation and forced expository dialogue leading into a rather cheesy climax seemed to take away much of my previous enjoyment. After that scene alone, it’s smooth sailing to a decent ending note.

The main characters are made up of your run of the mill moe blob archetypes, being the innocent Kanata, stern Rio, lighthearted Filicia, tsundere Kureha, and dandere Noel. This is where enjoyment is thrown for most viewers, but despite being copies of the K-On cast, the script treats does them as people before tropes. All of them are written with surprising depth, not as tools to keep an audience coming back to cutesy girls satisfying viewer fantasy. The writing makes it so much easier to tolerate the moe aspects that usually end up being a big red mark on my side, turning a usual detriment into just a small hurdle.

From what I’ve been describing, this premise definitely should not work. A big serious war tone carried by a moe tropes in a quiet old European town. A1-Pictures miraculously pulled this off when they decided to go full on Ghibli with this setup, with a bit of help with Ufotable on backgrounds. A huge focus is made on getting effective emotional content out of whatever tiny things happen to the characters in the sleepy village, instead of using recycled lifeless gags to fill time. Things slow down, life plays out, characters breathe, the atmosphere generated is just as important as the writing, and not a minute is wasted. Much like the script intended, the artists let environments speak volumes with elegant backgrounds in a distinct style that captures the town exquisitely. This is one of the great atmospheric anime, where simply taking in the compositions, designs, colors, and textures of the artwork becomes a huge aspect of the show’s enjoyment. Touches like subtle religious imagery to emphasize themes, or quiet breaks between important developments create an especially calming visual journey.

The shadow of this artistic praise are the pesky moe designs, which look out of place with everything else. Though relatively easy to get used to, but the initial twinge from seeing KyoAni tools in Ufotable environments is rather strong when experienced for the first time. I won’t mention the bad CGI in the finale again (oh wait), but for the rest of the time the 3D bits were handled better than many other shows when they try to toss in some computer generated sprinkles.

The soundtrack also adds a lot to the show, bringing in delightful songs that heighten the already outstanding atmosphere with the effectiveness of a Joe Hisaishi score. On it’s own, this music is dangerously relaxing while still being lively and enjoyable. The OP showcases lovely pieces of Klimt homages featuring the main cast, reminding the audience that our director was the same one in charge of Elfen Lied (how he was able to go from insultingly desperate to gorgeously subtle is beyond me). However, instead of using a somber piece more fitting of a tragedy, Sound Of The Sky opts for a beautiful Kalfina song and creates an opening that I will never skip on my life while watching. The ED gets stuck in my head often, though after 20 minutes of great attention to ambience, it’s very jarring to cut to an overly happy moe fest. But I can just skip it and watch the OP again, or look at some pretty upbeat teasers for the next episode.

More props to sound design for knowing when to shut up and let the quiet do all the talking. This proves to be just as successful as the more striking scenes involving music. The voice acting doesn’t stray far from the rather exaggerated, cutesy deliveries, the sound editing and their performances made them sound as genuine as the script wrote them to be. So unlike other anime, the voices had a bit more impact due to a mixer who knew just what to do.

Sound Of The Sky’s scriptwriting mixed with its production values should land this show up there amongst some of the anime greats. But the drawbacks slow it down a bit too much for me to consider doing so. The ability to get past the entire moe aspect that seems to plague all departments of writing, art, and sound is unable to erase the initial impact when discovering the show or discussing it superficially. Without this aspect and the rushed ending, this show might have been able to go hand in hand with something as great as Haibane Renmei.

But the many times when the actual show pulls us in to show us something exceptional is where the bulk of my love for the anime is directed. I grow invested in these characters, I want to hear these short stories to the end, I want to spend so much time in the beautiful world they made. I love watching every tidbit of interaction from the cast, I love watching tiny waterdrops in a shattered room during a thunderstorm, I love watching the stupid intermission cutscenes with the happy little violin that makes me smile every time. That might be the sign that I’ve gone on enough. I adore the good aspects more than enough to bear K-On lite for them, and that’s worth a recommendation from me.

Sound Of The Sky (2010):
7.8/10

will.silas - 2014-09-14 03:52:53

I PLAY THE TRUMPET IRL SO I FELT A SPECIAL CONNECTION TO THIS. IT SUFFERS FROM A FEW PACING PROBLEMS THAT ARISE FROM THE SOLE FACT THAT THE TEAM BEHIND IT WANTED AND PLANNED ON HAVING ANOTHER SEASON, BUT FOR WHAT IT IS IT'S REALLY GOOD.

alden.jacobi - 2014-01-12 01:26:12

I find when I'm watching a slice of life anime centred around teenage characters, more often than not the story and characters are very bland. I even felt this way whist watching the beginning of Clannad. However, Sound of the Sky is different. With a combination of unique story, setting, music, and characters, it transforms a place where all hope is lost and reminds us that even in the darkest of times, there is always hope.

Story

In a world torn apart by war, there is a small town on the edge of No Man's Land called Seize. And in that town sits the Clocktower Fortress, home of the 1121st Platoon of the Helvetian Army. Now our lead character, Kanata Sorami, who is a 15 year old girl volunteers for the army and joins the 1121st Platoon so she can learn to play the bugle.

While the story is kind of there throughout the series, it takes a back seat in favour of giving this anime more of a slice of life feel. Despite that, each of the stories in each episode is completely unique from any other slice of life, offering tales relating to events that could actually occur in that specific situation. I always applaud anime that can stick to realistic plots even with somewhat unrealistic personalities, something this anime does quite well. The only gripe I have about the story is it's tendency to resolve plots rather quickly. Sure, it does a decent job of explaining how the stories are able to end so quickly but I feel like if they used just a little more time to flush out the stories it would have been better.

Animation

The animation of this show was done by A-1 Pictures whose other works include Sword Art Online and Black Butler. Just like those series this one as well has a subtle brilliance to it's animation. While most of the time the animation is above average and never falters in quality, there are moments when the animation is just phenomenal compared to the rest of the series. This is very prevalent in the last couple of episodes of the anime. The opening of this series is also worthy of mention because it's style is very similar to that of Elfen Lied except done better. For anyone who doesn't know, The opening for Elfen Lied features the main character spliced in several works of art, and Sound of the Sky does something very similar with its main characters.
Elfin Lied Opening

I think that Sound of the Sky did this better because the style and the music fit the themes of the show a lot better than the Elfin Lied one did. Part of this is because of the music.

Sound

First and foremost the song that plays during the opening sequence is done by Yuki Kajiura. If for some reason you don't know her she also orchestrated the music for Madoka Magica, Fate/Zero, and Sword Art Online and she usually does really intense orchestral soundtracks with vocal choirs. But, this particular song has a much lighter tone and no vocal choirs, and it does an excellent job of really introducing you to what the show is all about.

The rest of the show was composed by Michiru Oshima who was also responsible for the music for Fullmetal Alchemist. Majority of this anime's music is very light-hearted orchestral music. Not full out songs but very light and beautiful background music. The music of the series give a certain level of eloquence to it that couldn't be fulfilled by any other style of music.

Being a strictly English speaker, I'm usually unable to identify the difference between qualities of subbed anime. However, Sound of the Sky's sub actually better than a lot of subs I've heard. The voice actors are able to give each character a sense of realism with the imperfections in the human voice like voice cracking. This anime is subbed only.

Characters

One aspect of the characters in this anime that I like but is very rare in other anime, especially slice of life shows, is the fact that every character is completely unique. None of their personalties are a direct copy and paste from a stereotypical anime archetype but rather an extension of those personalities to make them more realistic. This anime isn't about how cute moe girls would react in certain situations but rather how a group of moe girls would actually react in those situations.

However, the characters don't really develop throughout the series save one secondary character. The ending of the series could have been that much better if more characters were properly developed throughout the series.

Enjoyment

Personally, I really enjoyed watching this anime. It had a balance of realism, fantasy, and funny/cute moe moments that felt right for this kind of show. The music for this anime also fit this show perfectly and made certain moments really shine. It's also entertaining to watch all of the members of the 1121st Platoon work together and try to solve the problems presented to them, even more so than most slice of life anime out there.

If I have a gripe about the series it would be the fact that the plots get resolved too quickly. Another gripe I have about the show is its lack of character development, that being said though, the quality of the story didn't diminish as a result. I just think that the story would have been better if there was some growth in the characters.

Overall I give Sound of the Sky an 8.2 out of 10 and a recommendation to buy. This anime is definitely an undiscovered gem and definitely worth the watch.

dabbott - 2013-11-04 17:03:46

SPOILER-FREE™

There are very few anime with as bad a case of mistaken identity as Sound of the Sky, also known as Sora no Woto or, if you’re kind of a jerk, So Ra No Wo To. Honestly most people will take one look at the art and character designs and think one thing:

And this is really a shame because other than a couple of similarities in character design, Sound of the Sky shines on its own with no relation under the surface to our favorite (or least favorite) slice of life. This issue has led to Sound of the Sky’s problem, a nice way to phrase it is to say it’s a hidden gem, a less polite term would be “sold like cold cakes.” Some skipped it thinking it would be moe SoL comedy #284, others were disappointed that it wasn’t just that, the bottom line is it was not and still is not especially popular.

It is a tragedy that preconceptions blinded many people to the merits of Sound of the Sky. However, I wager most people who seriously watch it will be surprised. Sound of the Sky is truly special, there is no anime quite like it.

STORY 9/10

It isn’t easy to pin one of our familiar anime genres to Sound of the Sky. I suppose the term “slice of life” wouldn’t be entirely inaccurate, but it’s not in a high school and the characters aren’t…ok actually they are cute girls. This does not mean Sound of the Sky is not story driven, in fact the plot helps carry the series.

Sound of the Sky is set in a post-apocalyptic world that has been partially rebuilt. It follows the soldiers of the 1121^st platoon in the border town of Seize (Says). Despite being soldiers in a war, a country town like Seize doesn’t see a whole lot of violent action. The story is more focused on the characters and their relationships to their world and each other.

The story is gorgeous: thematic without being pretentious, unrushed without being vacuous and passionate without being melodramatic. The series is deceptively deep with themes ranging from duty to desire, religion, war, hope, despair and love. The most important is finding a place in the world, something almost all the characters struggle with. In the words of the anime:

But due to greatly different attitudes, the characters react to this and other problems in vastly different ways. Some characters choose to resign themselves to the whims of fate and others face it head on. Their world does not want them, or even worse, wants them to fill a role they are very reluctant to do. The characters struggle to find meaning to a meaningless world, and watching them defy nihilism in such a position is marvelous. Although the plot shines, the true beauty of this story is less the plot and more the interactions of different attitudes and worldviews.

The story really picks up in the last few episodes building up to an incredible climax. The ending is both extremely tragic and filled with hope. Sound of the Sky is a little reminiscent of something like Haibane Renmei in the regard that it doesn’t necessarily answer all the questions about the world, but still satisfies. There are a few details intentionally left open, but if anything this adds to the anime.

Finally I want to offer my praise for this anime actually having a conclusion, something growing increasingly scarce. It is not unambiguously happy but the ending was by far my favorite part of the piece.

ANIMATION 7/10

I’m not going to sugarcoat it, Sound of the Sky doesn’t exactly have all the budget in the world. But I don’t mean to say that it’s an ugly anime, quite the contrary: it’s quite striking. Seize and the Time-Trumpeting Fort may not always be rendered in stunning detail, but they always look charming and attractive.

The biggest problem is the character designs. I’m not quite sure what A-1 was thinking when they decided to make them so reminiscent of moe anime, but it was a poor decision to say the least. Most of the anime may be “slice of life” but it hardly could be described simply as “cute girls doing cute things.” The magical story and characters are really quite undercut by this flaw.

SOUND 8/10

As might be expected of an anime called “Sound of the Sky,” the soundtrack is excellent. It contributes greatly to the mood and is punctuated by liberal use of silence that effectively adds to the focus. A recurring motif in the anime is the song Amazing Grace, one of the most beautiful songs ever written. In Sound of the Sky, it represents connection between people and is the focal point of some of the most emotional moments in the anime.

CHARACTERS 10/10

The phrase “I love them, but I don’t like them” is pretty common among parents and marriages with a short future, but I can’t imagine that it is especially popular for describing fictional characters. But when describing my feelings about the characters of Sound of the Sky, I think this phrase is quite appropriate. I really don’t agree with many of the characters, their attitudes or their decisions, but I still found them some of the most compelling characters I have ever seen.

Kanata may look like your typical overly optimistic slice of life protagonist from the outside, and to be honest she does have a pretty chirpy personality. However there is a lot more depth to her than is first apparent. As the story kicks into high gear in the later part of the anime, we see that she is quite capable of acting serious and even rather assertive and aggressive, but not in a way that contrasts her established character.

But the one who really steals the show is Rio. In anime “tragic” is usually a synonym for “edgy.” The tragic hero of anime is more often a Dark Flame Master than an Oedipus. Rio is a tragic character with a backstory that doesn’t strike at all of the ridiculous, and she has a believable reaction. She has to cope world that refuses to give her what she wants, and rather than sprouting superpowers to change that paradigm, she is forced to deal with it. And she deals with it like an adult, I may not agree with her decisions, but they strike me very much as the sort of decisions an actual human being might make. It’s really a sad reflection on anime when that is such an incredible thing.

I could go on about the other characters but I think I’ve made my point: Sound of the Sky has some of the most compelling characters I have ever seen, and while it had a short run time, it fleshed them out beautifully with depth and realism.

ENJOYMENT 9/10

Sound of the Sky does not appeal to everyone, and it doesn’t try to. There is a little action, but it is overshadowed by slice of life and drama. If you’re more the pre-teen melodrama fan then this may be a bit too subtle, and if you only like cute girls doing cute things then you may be put off by the somber tone. It isn’t easy to pin down what kind of person would like Sound of the Sky because I can’t make easy generalizations like “if you liked X you will like this” because there isn’t really a parallel. It’s a true hidden gem that I personally enjoyed and appreciated immensely, but I can’t deny that there are aspects that would turn some people off.

CONCLUSION

Sound of the Sky is one of my favorite animes ever. It is beautiful, powerful and emotional in all the best ways. This anime hits hard and is something I have no reservations calling truly unique.

Amazing Grace! (how sweet the sound)
That sav'd a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind but now I see.

Thro' many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
'Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

PS: There are two specials that fit very well into the series, watch them at the same time.

hfay - 2013-08-03 13:19:23

story and characters

The story of sound of the sky is hard to explain. It's a war story with very little fighting, contains comedic elements without focusing on them and its incredibly moving while never getting depressing. The amazing thing is it can do everything at once without you minding. The only problem i have is this masterpiece is only 13 episodes long not that it felt rushed in anyway i just wish it would last forever. All the characters are lovable and add to the story. All in all i believe this is a story that you just have to see to truly understand and it is impossible to understand it simply by reading a written paragraph (not that the plot is confusing its just hard to explain.)

By the way this is the only only anime thus far that my mother watched in Japanese and stayed awake in (and that's an achievement).

animation

So.....this show is moe and this fact may turn off a lot of people (you moe haters).

the character designs are adorable and the backgrounds are gorgeous works of art. the animation is fluid and the style fits the show very well.

(also the opening's animation is practically a happy go lucky, moe version of elfin lied's opening....I KNOW RIGHT!)

sound

opening- the song is beautiful and uplifting. I only wish i could find the opening on YouTube.

ending- the ending is very generic and moe but that does not make it bad by any means and i remember me and my mother singing along to it at the end of each episode.

the anime also involves many renditions of the song amazing grace and even if you you don't particularly like this song your lying if you say you don't find it powerfully moving.

melvin88 - 2013-07-19 03:19:57

In an industry dominated by strict genres, pandering and iteration, Sound of the Sky not only puts forth the ambition to explore, but manages to follow through with sublime execution and restraint. A beautiful, original, underrated, beautiful, "indie" gem, the question isn't whether Sound of the Sky is a good anime. The question is whether or not you can appreciate Sound of the Sky.

Though it may look it, Sound of the Sky is not K-On! with guns and it's certainly not a hyper-violent war anime staring moe girls. If it sounds as the show has no idea what it wants to be, that could not be further from the truth. Sound of the Sky holds its viewers so close to the heart of the work that it's impossible to forget what you're watching.

During the first episode, you'll be convinced that the characters' personalities were plagiarized straight from K-On! along with their designs in the most shameless of ways, with a dash of Yuki Nagato thrown in for stoic spice. By the third episode, you'll realize you no longer care.

That's because Sound of the Sky quite obviously came about as a work of love. The passion apparent in every background, frame, expression, voice and story could shame most any animation studio. The creators' willingness to do something different, to focus on the human element rather than the plot, to establish a majestic post-apocalyptic world and then never explore it, except when necessary to understand the characters… it simply blows me away. And if you allow it, the series will astound you as well.

You could say that the niche filled by Sound of the Sky is a itch that no one realizes they want scratched. In spirit, the show is utterly unlike everything else available. Slice of life, if you feel safe with genre distinctions, but nothing quite compares. The story revolves around people, young women in this case, dealing with a post-apocalyptic world and the hardships that brings, trying to find solace and happiness from within a bleak situation. It does not include anything more than a flashback or reference to the war and includes very little action.

Instead, Sound of the Sky asks the big questions like "Why are we here?" and "How do you get out of bed in the morning when your world has been destroyed?". Then, through a canvas of everyday life painted high with realism, it slowly and adroitly answers them with a satisfactory, "Depends on the person."

Routine, religion, romance, companionship, diversions, structure, solitude, ignorance. The characters, from war orphans to princesses, from jaded hearts to pure innocents, they all cling to something that they can personally understand, something to help them find direction in a pointless existence. As Oscar Wilde wrote, "I adore simple pleasures. They are the last refuge of the complex."

There you have it. Complex themes and unanswerable ponderings on the meaning of life and the human condition, realized through laundry and errands, glass sculptures and paper lanterns.

I think the show failed commercially because people wanted a story about epic destruction (and those are a dime a dozen in this medium) and got a story about the difficulties of reconstruction and the way humanity adapts to tragedy. It's Planet of the Apes, not Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Indeed, the final episodes suffer for the seemingly forced arrival of The Plot, who puts the lovely reverie of the characters on hold for rougher external conflict.

That being said, it is by far one of my favorite series in recent memory. Touching, beautiful and alternatively dour and inspiring, the characters are wonderful and realistic, the setting; believable and gorgeous. The entire series leaves you wanting more. Highly recommended. Be sure to watch the two OVA's as well.

For: People who have experienced trials or loss and felt the enormous burden of returning to everyday life and learning to cope; fans of scenery porn, quality music, and atmosphere.

Stay away: Action fans of any sort; people with expectations and preconceptions; people who dislike the song "Amazing Grace" (you know who you are).