Kono Oto Tomare or Sounds Of Life! or in English “Sounds Of Life!” is one of those anime where you either love it or hate it. The story is very straightforward and easy to follow and it has a simple problem-solution-type story. Personally, I loved both seasons and I really had a great time watching them. It would be great if there was a Sounds Of Life Season 3. It has a lot of different sub-stories and other winding narratives that are included in the story. But what makes Kono Oto Tomare so good? And is a Kono Oto Tomare Season 3 even possible? Keep reading this blog to find out about Kono Oto Tomare Sounds Of Life Season 3.
If you haven’t watched Kono Oto Tomare and aren’t sure if you want to give it a shot, we suggest you read us Is Kono Oto Tomare! Worth Watching? blog. Don’t worry we won’t spoil anything.
The arcs are great and we see a lot of tension, both sexual and agitated, between different characters and it really sets the stakes high from the beginning. We see an epic story from all the character’s points of view and it’s honestly one of my favourite series I’ve watched so far.
It was also incredibly memorable and I’ve watched both seasons twice! Before we talk about Kono Oto Tomare Sounds Of Life Season 3, let’s discuss the general narrative of Anime.
General narrative of Kono Oto Tomare!
The main narrative of Kono Oto Tomare is pretty simple and it revolves around a group of Students and the Koto club they all join in the earlier episodes, run by Takezo Kurata.
Initially, Takezo is the only member of the Koto club for his school, as the other members, according to what we are shown, all graduate when they go on to pursue other educational opportunities.
The club is about to be shut down, when much to Kurata’s surprise, a new member joins, Chika Kudo. Kudo is seen by most of his classmates as “delinquent”, a term that seems to come up a lot in Japanese TV shows and anime. Maybe it’s because I’m from a more Western background, but that phrase is one I hardly ever hear, but maybe that’s just me.
Anyway, Kudo and Takezo realise that if they don’t get more members, the club will be shut down by default. So, they try and get new people to join. One day they enter the practice room and a girl is sitting there.
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Her name is Satowa Hozuki and it turns out that she is a very famous Koto player, she’s also the same age as Kudo and Kurata. She convinces them that she will take them to nationals with her skill alone.
A remark gets her fierce criticism from Kudo, as he doesn’t understand how it would be possible for them to achieve this without other additional members in their club. In the first or second episode, they come across 3 more characters, Saneyasu Adachi, Kota Mizuhara and Michitaka Sakai.
At first, they are reluctant to join the club but Hozuki uses her looks and charm to get them to join, staring directly at them and calling them handsome.
This prompts the 3 others to join the club and from this point on these are our new Koto club members. We focus mainly on Hozuki, Kurata and Kudo during the whole series of Sounds Of Life but the other characters I have just mentioned also get some screen time.
The group then proceed to try out for “nationals” and doesn’t succeed in their first attempt despite their best efforts. The story is really engaging in this type of way and it really did put depth into the characters.
That’s why I think the narrative is great and it really sets the stakes high for the ending of the first season. Hopefully, this will be the same in Sounds Of Life Season 3, we will have to just wait and see, or not.
The Koto Clubs’ intentions
The group keeps trying very hard to achieve qualifying for nationals and they carry on going throughout the series. Hozuki used to be close with her mother until a performance in which she played a different song from the one she was supposed to.
This performance that she gives is called “Tenkyu“, and I think the English translation is “Heavens Cry”. The significance of the performance that she gives is that it was a way of expressing the anger and pain she was suffering at the time.
Hozuki describes it as “throwing a tantrum”. Unfortunately, her mother doesn’t see it that way and this gets her disqualified from the competition and excommunicated from the Koto school she attended at the time.
It’s revealed that this is the reason that she decides to join Kurata’s club, as she can take the club to nationals and win. She sees it as an opportunistic career move, one that will get her back in good standing with her mother and one that will restore her reputation.
These were Hozuki’s original intentions, but later on, in the first series, we see that she really likes playing the Koto with other people, and she makes friends with all of the other members of the club.
Her faith in the Koto and its abilities is restored and this is how the story progresses. They have another performance at the school they go to later in the second season, and this really gives them the motivation they need to qualify for nationals and try to win first place.
It’s really a great story in my opinion and this is why many people were hoping for a second season, despite the last season’s conclusive ending. They will appear in Kono Oto Tomare Sounds Of Life Season 3. We’ll be discussing that later, but first, let’s get to the characters.
Main characters
These characters were the foundations of the 2 seasons we got to see in this anime and there’s no doubt we’ll be seeing them in a season 3 of Kono Oto Tomare.
Takezo Kurata
First, we have Takezo Kurata, who is a student at Tokise High School. He is shy, lacks self-confidence and is generally seen as hard-working in my opinion.
He loves playing the Koto and doesn’t seem to have any other hobbies, not that it’s a bad thing. He has quite an admirable character and there’s not really anything bad I can say about him.
All in all, he’s a great first character to sympathise with and get invested in, much like Kudo and Hozuki, these three are the ones we are rooting for the most. If there is a Kono Oto Tomare Sounds Of Life Season 3 then Takezo will appear for sure.
Chika Kudo
Next, we have Chika Kudo, who is seen as a troublemaker and a bad influence by lots of people at the high school he attends.
His grandfather was a professional Koto maker and he was the one who motivated (after his death) Kudo to start playing the instrument properly.
Kudo has a hard time dealing with his grandfather’s death and after he is deceased he makes a personal promise to himself to pursue the prospect proposed to him by Hozuki and Takezo of going to nationals.
He is a hard worker just like Kurata and he admires Hozuki’s playing and skill as well. He may have romantic feelings towards Hozuki but it’s never really expanded upon in the anime, we’re not sure about the manga. If there is a Kono Oto Tomare Sounds Of Life Season 3, he will appear.
Satowa Hozuki
Last we have Satowa Hozuki, who, like Kurata and Kudo also goes to Tokise high school. She is a hard worker and is exceptionally talented at playing the Koto.
Much like her fellow Koto club members she is invested in reaching the Koto nationals and wants to do this so she can be reunited with her mother and have her reputation as a professional Koto player restored.
She is conventionally attractive and possesses skills that make her seem charming and nice to be around. It’s shown in the anime series that she may have romantic interests in Kudo. She acts differently around him and normally picks fights with him, teasing him on a regular basis.
Sometimes when the two are alone or with the other club members she normally acts shy and stumbles with her words, getting visibly nervous around him.
It’s obvious she has feelings for him and Kudo and Hozuki’s relationship grows as the series progresses. She will certainly be in a potential Kono Oto Tomare Sounds Of Life Season 3.
Sub characters
The sub-characters in Sounds Of Life aren’t really sub-characters in my opinion. Every different character offers their own skills and uses to the club and to each other.
This makes each character valuable and it means we actually can get invested in each one. For example, in the earlier episodes of the second season, Adachi starts to think that his skills aren’t needed in the club, as he keeps messing up in practice.
However, Mr Takinami tells Adachi that he’s very important to the club and the other members. Takinami reveals the reason for this is that his sound harmonises with all the other sounds, so he can link them all together when they play in unison. If Kono Oto Tomare Season 3 becomes a reality, then we can be sure to see these characters again.
I never really had much interest in instruments let alone traditional Japanese instruments such as the Koto. However, Sounds Of Life really made me interested in this type of thing. I would never have the courage to play an instrument in front of hundreds of people in unison with other people.
Kono Oto Tomare Sounds Of Life season 3
Kono Oto Tomare really emphasises this and it shows what Japanese students like the members of the Koto club go through. All the characters in Kono Oto Tomare were memorable, and they all had different skills to offer. Here are some of the ones I liked the most, ranked from the top (most favourite) to bottom (least favourite).
Understanding the end plot
Understanding the end plot is always important when deciding whether or not a new season for a particular anime series is necessary or possible. This applies to most anime, including Kono Oto Tomare.
The end plot of Kono Oto Tomare is quite amazing in my opinion. It also solved a lot of problems that had arisen during the first season. Almost all of these problems and arcs were solved/ended.
We see Hozuki reunited with her mother after they had fallen out, Kudo and Kurata and the rest of the Koto club achieve their goal of going to nationals.
During episodes 11 and 12 we get to see the performances of the other schools that we had seen in the first season. We got to see how the other schools had improved and grown from their individual experiences as opposed to seeing Tokise’s students’ reactions and improvement.
Character depth
Some may argue that this is a cheap way of enforcing character depth as they kind of do it at the last minute, while not showing it during the time that these events were actually occurring. Nevertheless, these little scenes did do a very good job of making you sympathise with the other characters in the other school, as now you could feel for them in this kind of way.
I don’t really agree with how they did it, but it did make each performance that the different schools did a lot more interesting and engaging. This is because I knew what was on the line for each school, particularly what they had gone through.
Hozuki reunited + Kudo talks with Hozuki’s mother
We saw Hozuki reunited with her mother. The two made up and were finally in each other’s arms, despite Hozuki’s mother’s general dislike when she disowned her daughter.
The two are reunited in Episode 13 and it’s quite an emotional scene to watch with the two crying openly in front of everyone.
It’s what we’ve been waiting for, and it solves the first main problem. Kudo meets Hozuki’s mother and the two exchange some compliments on each other. This is something I was not expecting and I didn’t remember it the first time I watched Kono Oto Tomare.
Dōjima & Takinami
We see Miss Dojima and Mr Takinami satisfied with the performance that Tokise gives. These two have kind of been the main driving force behind the club’s success, offering their assistance and guidance to all the club members in their time of need. It was nice to see those two satisfied with Tokise’s performance. Hopefully, if there is a Sounds Of Life Season 3 we will see them again.
Tokise
The main problem that’s solved is the question of whether or not Tokise will go to nationals, and we all know they do. The scene when they announce who is in the first place is also very moving, as it’s what we’ve been wanting for the whole series.
It’s much deserved and it really does make you feel good. It’s a great way end to an epic story. Kudo and basically all the other club members start crying with joy when they realise they’ve won.
Kurata’s old friend
We see one of Kurata’s old Koto club friends Mashiro return and watch their entire performance. She thanks Kurata and says how great she thought his performance was. It’s another problem that is solved and we get to see the two exchanging compliments.
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Acknowledgement of Ms Dōjima
We also see all the Koto club members thank Miss Dojima for her assistance to them when she would help them practise. Miss Dojima is a pretty well-written character in my opinion and her arc was very well done. We see her brother return to see their performance.
The two are kind of reunited after they stop seeing each other, but I’m not really sure what their relationship is. Since her brother stops playing the Koto and she very much disagrees with this. But it’s nice to see them together again. It is likely that this character will reappear in Sounds Of Life Season 3.
Unexpanded relationships
The one relationship that I didn’t really see expanded upon was the one between Hozuki and Kudo. I had previously thought that there was some kind of sexual relationship between the two.
There was a lot of sexual tension between the two, but unfortunately we never really got to see what happened between the two. Maybe this was expanded upon in the manga, however, I didn’t read it so I don’t know.
Tokise Koto Club
Finally, we see the Koto club go to nationals, congratulated by the other schools they had just played against. We also get this kind of weird scene right at the end with Kudo, which I couldn’t really figure out. If anyone knows what I’m talking about, or what it actually is supposed to symbolise, please comment down below.
Final scene
We also get one final scene after the credits of the Koto club starting the practice for their new piece. It’s a great ending and it shows the compassion that each student has for one another. It’s honestly a great and pretty conclusive ending to a great story in my opinion and it’s definitely one of my most favoured anime.
Is Kono Oto Tomare Season 3 Possible?
Well, if you want to know if Sounds Of Life Season 3 is going to happen, or is just another Anime pipe dream, then take a look below at some of the points we’ve listed to give you an idea of whether this Anime will return for a 3rd season.
End credits scene
First, we have to realise the ending of Season 2, which was pretty conclusive in my opinion. If you watched the scene after the credits though you will know that this scene did lead something on. They were making mistakes and expressing their overall feelings about the new piece they had been given.
This is a nostalgia (if you will) play on the earlier episodes from Season 1 when the club members would frequently mess up. However during that time there was a lot more on the line since they had to do a lot of practice in a short amount of time.
Is there room for expansion?
Most people would say that’s probably where the story comes to an end, but does it have to? Think about it, the ending scene right at the end of Episode 13 was pretty self-explanatory, the Koto club are now going to begin their journey to nationals.
So surely the story can still be expanded upon. As we understand it, the original writer of the manga, Amyu, has written more chapters of Kono Oto Tomare.
The content is there
The new manga content for Kono Oto Tomare has been written and we would expect it to be expanded upon in future episodes. We would also like to stress that the time that the two seasons were released was extremely short (less than a year). That’s very short for a new season and it testifies to the status of Kono Oto Tomare.
The success of both seasons
The 2 seasons of the anime Kono Oto Tomare were very successful and sold extremely well, it was licensed to Funimation and they quickly produced a dubbed season, and later a dubbed season 2.
This shows that both seasons and Kono Oto Tomare as a whole are very worthwhile in terms of production. We would expect that a new season would be very worthwhile for the production company in charge of Kono Oto Tomare.
The ending of Kono Oto Tomare!
As far as seeing if the ending of Kono Oto Tomare was conclusive or not, we can not say for certain. On one hand, we saw most of the problems that arose from Season 1 solved and we also saw that the arcs that had mostly started in Season 1 had ended by the end of Season 2. On the other hand, we saw in the end scene after the credits that the whole Koto club were beginning their practice for nationals.
This was pretty leading, and we could say for sure that the ending of Kono Oto Tomare (the anime ending) wasn’t very conclusive. So, could this lead the way for a Kono Oto Tomare Sounds Of Life Season 3?
Since there has been more manga content written then there is always a way that the story can continue and show the Tokise High School Koto Clubs’ journey to nationals.
I really think that the story will be expanded upon even more and this will hopefully be done through the third anime adaption which will be Season 3. In my opinion, a Kono Oto Tomare Sounds Of Life Season 3 is entirely possible and very likely given the success of the first and second seasons.
When Would Kono Oto Tomare Season 3 Air?
To understand Kono Oto Tomare Sounds Of Life Season 3, we need to estimate when would Kono Oto Tomare Sounds Of Life Season 3 will air. Below, I have gone over a number of different factors that have led me (and hopefully you) to a conclusion about when will Kono Oto Tomare Sounds Of Life Season 3 released. So please, check them out below.
The time it took for a second season
Given the time it took for season 2 of Kono Oto Tomare to be produced, we would say that season 3 is not far away at all if it is being produced. We would say that there’s a season 3 being produced right now.
Season 2 of Kono Oto Tomare was aired in the same year (2019) as the first season. This was probably because the production company started production of the second season while the first season was still being made.
Our speculation
It’s only been a year since we last saw the second anime adaptation, so we wouldn’t say that a third season would be coming around anytime soon (this year). We would like to speculate that a season Kono Oto Tomare Sounds Of Life Season 3 would air around 2024.
We would like to say at the beginning, but during the spring or even summer of 2024 is more likely. If a second season doesn’t come around then we would have to say 2024, but this is pretty unlikely.
Final thoughts
Hopefully, we will see Kono Oto Tomare Sounds Of Life Season 3 very soon but we don’t want to get everyone’s hopes up so soon. We do not want any of our readers to rely solely on our information. You should look up other sources and then make a calculated guess on this subject.
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