THAT JUDGE IS SUCH AN ASS! Ahem and that’ll do it for my main takeaway from these past two episodes…
I’m seriously enjoying this show as it progresses. The appealing visuals are definitely a big part of that but I also feel like I can finally hear the differences in the songs between the emotionally fulfilling music and the stick to the sheet music. This is new for me, people. Either I’ve grown as a person or this show is doing a superb job of differentiating the sounds. Now, maybe a lot of you can always tell in these cases, but I’m about as dense as a harem protagonist when it comes to this stuff so cut me some slack.
It was pretty clear from the get-go that Kai was going to lose by some sort of BS technicality. What I totally didn’t expect though was Takako’s revenge plan. And that it would actually succeed too! She didn’t receive an official placement but even getting the honorary award is like the first crack in the archaic suit of armor that apparently is the piano competition scoring system. Who knew it was so misguided and just… awful. ‘Ugh, guys like him come around once in a decade. They muck up the whole system. Let’s just shut it down now.’ God, I know this really happens outside TV and that just makes it 10x worse. This brings me to my next point. I have no words to describe those judges. 5 out of 10 of them gave Kai a zero because they couldn’t even comprehend his ingeniousness. Then there was also that one judge that gave him a 0 to intentionally suppress him. The same guy who had the gall to give Takako an honorary award later on. Excuuuuuuse me, Mr. Wild Card. Don’t think I’m gonna like you because you pulled a 180 halfway though!
In my last post I believe I mentioned a sense of anxiety towards the show getting the visuals right. Boy, I guess I really didn’t have anything to worry about.
Ah, good ol’ Wendy, pulling through at the last minute. I have to admit, Takako is really growing on me. I guess I failed to realize how relevant she’d become to the plot or something. Generally, I view characters like her as a nuisance that distract from the important junk but that whole ‘tearing down the piano competition one judging criteria at a time’, fiery vengeance she brought to the finals really changed my view on her.
On the other hand, Amamiya dealing with his conflicting emotions towards Kai is so frustrating to watch. Hearing Amamiya’s inner dialogue when he talks to Kai drives me nuts! I completely sympathize with the bittersweet feeling of having to leave Kai behind vs. being free of his overwhelming talent. It’s the type of thought no one wants to think but they just can’t help it. When they talk though, Amamiya constantly thought about how he’d already lost and how great Kai is and I really just want him to say it out loud. I get it though. So far Amamiya appears to be the last of the group to realize that his biggest enemy is himself. Right now, he views Kai (and probably Takako) as threats on his path to #1. As the competitions get bigger and fiercer, I am certainly looking forward to how that plays out.
Like I was saying before though, I was holding a hope in the back of my head in the latter part of episode 5. I was really counting on Amamiya telling Ajino to definitely make sure Kai makes it to the world stage. Alas, he did not. We were rewarded in another way though. Ajino’s hesitation in telling Amamiya the truth about his future talent left me in suspense. When he finally says that he does, in fact, have the potential to inspire people the way Kai did I was beyond happy. While he’ll no doubt have a difficult time trying to express himself, as a sheet nerd, Amamiya’s future is bright. The moment he is able to legitimately appreciate his own music will be a fantastic moment indeed.
Now that Amamiya is leaving to go back to his old hometown, I wonder where the show will go. Perhaps a montage and a time-skip? That would certainly be exciting. At the same time, watching them grow gradually and learn about themselves sounds equally fun. The competition bug is eating away at Kai and it’s only a matter of time before he returns to Ajino. If the show continues to keep up what’s it been putting out, then I have no qualms with wherever it decides to take us.
Also, something, something, CG animation, something, something, terrible. I’m OK with it as it is, but I recently read one review that wasn’t the biggest fan. Oh, well. Can’t win ’em all.