Kiniro no Corda: Primo Passo and Secondo Passo

Kiniro no Corda: Primo Passo

Seiso Academy has two branches; the general education section and music section. Hino Kahoko belongs to the former, but her encounter with a musical fairy named Lili near the school's entrance forced her to mingle with students from both branches of the school. Even without any musical talent or knowledge, she has to join the school's annual musical competition just because she can see the fairy. Lili grants her a magical violin which allows her to play (even if she doesn't know how) as long as she believes she can.

In this 25-episode series, Kahoko has to compete with music geniuses Tsukimori Len (violin), the only other general education student Tsuchiura Ryotaro (piano), Yunoki Azuma (flute), Shimizu Keiichi (cello), Hihara Kazuki (trumpet), and the other girl in the competition Fuyuumi Shoko (clarinet).

Kahoko (red hair) with the other contestants and Kanazawa Hiroto (white coat), who's in-charge of the competition
From left: Tsukimori, Fuyuumi, Hihara, Hino, Shimizu, Yunoki, Kanazawa sensei, Tsuchiura

A mix of comedy, romance, and most importantly music, you can hardly stop halfway through the series once you start to like the characters. I enjoyed most of the performances and if you're into classical music as well, you won't be disappointed with Kiniro no Corda. Even those with few background on the classics but love music in general will also enjoy this.

Romance is a big part of the series but not exactly the point of the story. It's exciting seeing how Kanoko progresses, all the while trying to hide her secret from everyone. Everything happened so fast for her at the start of the competition and it's not until later in the series when all the guilt, shame, and hesitation will surface. That buildup alone of the stress of constant struggle to be worthy of the opportunity to compete with those who have real talent makes Kanoko a lot better than most female protagonists of anime based on otome games. There is more focus on how the characters struggle to make better music than flirting. The only drawback perhaps are the typical character types surrounding Kahoko, but that is to be expected of course.

Rating: 9 out of 10

***

Kiniro no Corda: Secondo Passo

This second installment is a follow-through of the events after the annual musical competition at Seiso. In the last episode of Primo Passo, it was not stated who won the competition. The school decided to hold a final show to decide who gets first place.

Kahoko was not among those picked but her skill with the violin has greatly improved. New characters will be introduced in this 2-episode special. One guy caught Kahoko's attention in particular. Transfer student Kaji Aoi claims to have been inspired by Kahoko, despite her claims that she is not worthy of that admiration.

There's no clear ending (as expected) and this is pretty much just an introduction of new characters in the series. 

Rating: 8 out of 10