This April, La Corda D'Oro: Blue Sky has been released! The best part is that it doesn't have connections to the first installment aside from taking place in the same school.
I just finished watching the first episode and there were more positive feelings than negative. I wrote about the manga adaption here if anyone is interested.
As with the manga adaption, the anime keeps the show dynamic with the various old and new relationships between the protagonist, Kanade, and her harem members.
The episode begins by showing Kanade as a young prodigy and fast forward a couple of years, we see her getting a note about reaching her limit. We don't know who sent it to her but in the manga, we have a better sense of who did.
Then the beautiful opening begins, foreshadowing allies and rivals, who she's most likely to end up with and my personal favourite clip:
I know which my OTP is going to be ;)
Every time I see this version, I can't help but compare it to the first. The feel was much more la-de-dah whereas this one focuses on a protagonist who seems to have lost her true passion for the violin and her self-confidence.
The song itself, Wings to Fly, is much more dramatic as well!
Moving on, we are introduced to Kyoya, who has an obvious crush on Kanade and is slightly possessive, and both are on their way to listen to Ritsu's performance. He is Kyoya's older brother and Kanade's cherished friend. She loves it when he plays.
In the concert, we are introduced to the majority of characters. Each of a line or two and the presidents of the music/orchestra clubs are featured (Ritsu, Togane, Myouga) and of course, Myouga is the one who stands outs since he knows Kanade is in the audience, zoning in on her.
Sei, sitting in the audience, wonders who he is taking his anger out on. Then after the concert, an announcement is about an a competition among three schools. This gets people excited as the prize is sponsorship and support from them for further studies abroad.
Following the concert, the two meet Ritsu, who has created a distance between himself and Kanade. It turns out he had left the both of them at their smaller town to learn how to better play the violin. He called them to his concert so they can better themselves as musicians.
It also turns out he shipped their belongings to the dorms so they could switch schools...
Funny.
Kanade eventually decides to stay - Kyoya's tense relation with his brother is touched on - and Kyoya doesn't want to leave her behind, especially with Sakaki constantly hitting on her.
The episode ends with the announcement of Kyoya and Kanade being entered in the competition! The other members don't like that very much.
All in all, it was a decent first episode. The major characters have been introduced with the minor ones most likely being flushed out in the second or third episodes. The anime really pushes the obvious crush Kyoya has for her and they have a pretty clip in the opening:
It seems like the series will focus on her development much more than Hino's. I liked the OVA of the first series as it did focus much more on developing Hino's character. The downside to the series is the lazy animation of characters not in the spot light.
When Sakaki speaks to Kanade, poor Kyoya's has been neglected. It's a minor thing right now so here's hoping none of that continues...
Looking forward to next week's episode!
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