Sound Direction & OST - Thoughts & Impressions
The third component that really makes Soro No Woto strong in terms of it's production values would have to be it's sound direction led by Katsunori Shimizu. Being something of Moe comedy, Soro No Woto as I've touched upon earlier is quite biased & subjective in terms of it's film grammar, which also of course applies to it's sound direction as well. As it's a very common practice for the film to segway on alot of it's musical scores to set the tone, to gel shots together, and somehow create a fluid sense of momentum shot to shot with the music's generally offering uplifting & sonorous vibes. To that effect I also have to give a nod to the amount of atmosphere & ambience that's included from shot to shot, as each scene is often keenly depicted with it's own "room/outdoor" tone even when transitioning from cut to cut. As the sense of spatiality and the binaural mastering relative to the placement of the camera to it's subjects was depicted quite accurately.As you'll find even the trumpet's sound resonating in mountain outdoors was excellently well depicted really giving you a true sense of the actual scale of the outdoor scene's depicted in the shot. In that with Katsunori's department with Mutsuhiro Nishimura on sound effects and sound engineer Norio Nishizawa, really made for keenly depicted and very sound rich environments. Whether it'd be the ambience of a crowd, or more acute effects such as the resonance of glassware, shot for shot and scene for scene Katsunori's department without question made sure that all of the necessary sound information regarding the actual effects, the acoustics of the given environment/materials and the spatiality of the recording was all distinctly well fleshed out along side serving the functional purpose of working in concert with the visual component and flow of the shot - Whether it'd be cueing the right score at just the right moment, or having a keen awareness of the cut and the edit.
Without a doubt Sora No Woto will receive the highest marks for it's SFX department - I mean really, just take a close listen yourself, it's really quite wonderful stuff.
OST | Too Good ? Maybe
The really funny thing about Sora No Woto is that the soundtrack is absolutely spectacular for a relatively small project, in fact maybe a little Too Good.. Wait A minute!! what could I possibly mean by "Too Good"? Well.. You see Sora No Woto has an absolutely dazzling and lush soundtrack, with so much of a more broader emotional palette regarding it's context that it seemingly makes the actual text or story pale in comparison. It's a soundtrack worthy of standing beside some of the most well known and iconic works from those such as Joe Hisaishi or perhaps Yoko Kanno, in that the music invokes so much wonder & atmosphere famous in Miyazaki's Ghibli films. The problem here really lies in the fact that the text/screenplay really was not able to live up the vast wellspring of emotional context that the music clearly has in spades, and in comparison the actual result comes off as somewhat bland and lighthearted, and as you can imagine not really in a good way either. |
| Michiru Oshima [Music Composer] |
Learning from what I've done with the Kara No Kyoukai review and just how ridiculously long that was, despite very much liking Soro No Woto's OST, I've decided to put off an extensive analyses until I get to putting up a video review, where It'd be much easier for the reader and myself (or the viewer in that case) to correlate opinions on how the music actually sounds with an actual example. However I do still feel quite compelled to showcase some of my favourite tracks and the reasons why I liked them, though in a less extensive and technical manner as previously done before.Some of the most recognizable pieces within the series would really have to it's broken chord arrangements or arpeggio done on nylon classical guitars, in that right from the start the first track that plays is "Un Lumière Envoùtante". This track in particular is deferential and lonely, though it's somewhat progressive with quick bursts of grace notes, though it's a very measured and controlled performance, whilst having a transient nature that shifts both it's dynamics and general tone of successive notes quite rapidly. It's used in the first monochrome scene with Kanata curiously popping her head out of the war torn house, with the only thing in colour being an officer in uniform and her gorgeously blonde hair. This of course is succeeded by her suddenly playing Amazing Grace in the pastures of the outdoors - A very beautiful and resonant track.
Though it's not just as simple as that as there's also more compelling tracks such as "Le Pont De Pierre" that provoke mystery and wonder, in what can only seem like when you imagine it the perfect accompaniment to a night time adventure in the outdoors. Really defined by the instrumentation of the track with the brush kit and light snare hits alongside the progressive repeated motifs on the broken chords of the guitar progression, and of course later on introducing the harmony of a stringed accompaniment.
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| Sora No Woto [Original Soundtrack] |
Another more confrontational "Night time Track" if you will is next over dubbed "Ce-Jour-Là", with a pattern of repeated dissonant phrases from the lower stringed section coupled with quick bursts from a gritty sax makes for just an absolutely marvellous counterpoint composition. And of course the more recognizable guitar melody and harmony accompaniment from the track "Relique Abandonée" , that's a very lax and melancholic track used in episode 5 right at the end when the sun is just about to set, accompanying the barren landscape and strenuous day Kanata's squad had hiking up in the mountain outdoors.The finale of course "Servante De Feu" is a beautiful resolving piece which seemingly is the culmination of all the context given prior sung with a vocalist in french. Invoking that same night time wonder and anxiousness with a broken chord progression once again on the classical guitar and ukelele along side the stringed harmony. Though it progressively becomes more resolved and optimistic, with an absolutely majestic combination of rich and lush vocals with deep but subtle drum hits, and of course an absolutely sexy saxophone solo.
In all for such a standard and relatively short series, the music is undoubtedly a first class experience. Revealing so much of what could have been for the comparatively speaking sub par screenplay.
Addendum
In all Sora No Woto is a pretty comedic and subliminal watch, along side having very strong production values. However though, I do feel that the story is somewhat a tad too compressed and over idealistic, really not living up to the potential and emotional context shown in the OST. As I also feel that when such themes are touched upon, it's only half heartedly, where the people managing the series such as Hiryuki Yoshino & Mamoru Kanbe could've used their time more wisely by focussing on building more character story and development, as opposed to the typical moe slice of life episodes. However it can be a pretty touching series as well, as the story still makes an attempt at an overarching narrative when transitioning from it's more episodic slice of life episodes, touching upon the after math of war and how these girls begin to pick up the pieces, and somewhere along the lines find friendship and happiness. When the threat of war once again looming over the nation, they slowly realize that the peaceful life they've salvaged, is something they now cherish and are willing to protect.
After more careful consideration Sora No Woto will be retired from Q's WoF, however since I still have a good time going back and watching the series even now, It'll still qualify as "Stuff We Like" and will be shifted to that page instead. It's a wonderful and adventurous watch that's really quite easy to digest with it's more lighthearted comedic relief and subliminal moments, and if you're a fan of the slice of life genre and covet the similar sense of wonder that you can find in Ghibli films, I definitely recommend it, as it's quite a decent watch.
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Article Contents - Comments Section
- Plot | Narrative & Character Aspects
- Production Aspects [Cinematography | Animation | Art Direction]
- Voice Actor Choreography | Sound Effects
- Original Soundtrack & Addendum
