Kono Oto Tomare!: Sounds of Life - S01

The Tokise High School Koto Club has bravely made it through their broken and out-of-sync performance at the Kanto Region Traditional Japanese Music Festival. Club members Chika Kudou, Satowa Houzuki, Takezou Kurata, Hiro Kurusu, Kouta Mizuhara, Saneyasu Adachi, and Michitaka Sakai are crushed to hear the bad results of their performance. Even so, the group sees what they could become and eagerly agrees to work together to sharpen their skills, fix their flaws, and play at a higher level so they can succeed in the national qualifiers in winter. With help from their club advisor Suzuka Takinami, who is now willing to assist, their goal slowly becomes reachable as they start to understand the basics of good music and improve their koto playing, with the idea of performing more often to gain what they lack most: experience. But as they work toward nationals, the koto club members run into problems that get in the way of their focus and progress. Not only do other powerhouse schools and musicians still pose a threat, but high school matters like new romance and seniors who will soon graduate also start to test the limits of this determined group of teenagers and the future of the koto club.