The manga is written and illustrated by Marimo Ragawa. The series was serialized in Kodansha's Monthly Shōnen Magazine from December 5, 2009,[6][7] to August 5, 2022.[8] Kodansha has compiled its chapters into individual tankōbon volumes. The first volume was published on October 15, 2010.[9] As of December 16, 2021, twenty-nine volumes have been released.[10] An omnibus edition with the first three volumes released in Japan on March 17, 2021.[11]
Kodansha USA has licensed the manga for digital release in North America.[12]
An anime television series adaptation was announced in the September issue of Monthly Shōnen Magazine on August 6, 2020.[1] The series is animated by Shin-Ei Animation and directed by Hiroaki Akagi, with Kan'ichi Katō handling series composition, and Jiro Mashima designing the characters. The Yoshida Brothers will supervise the tsugaru-jamisen music in the anime. The two opening theme songs "Blizzard" and "Ginsekai" (Silver World) was performed by Burnout Syndromes, while the ending theme song "Kono Yume ga Sameru Made" (Until I Wake From Dreaming) was performed by Miliyah Kato and the Yoshida Brothers.[5] The series aired from April 3 to June 19, 2021, on the Animeism programming block on MBS, TBS, and BS-TBS.[2][5]Crunchyroll streamed the series outside of Southeast Asia.[65] Mighty Media has licensed the series in Southeast Asian territories.[66]
Shortly after the death of his grandfather Matsugorō Sawamura, who was an accomplished shamisen player, Setsu Sawamura leaves Aomori and moves to Tokyo having lost his passion for the shamisen. He bumps into the aspiring actress Yuna Tachiki, and after collapsing in the streets of Roppongi, he is taken to her apartment. The next day they hang out with her friend Taketo, a guitar player for a rock band. That night, Setsu plays the shamisen in the park and recalls that he stopped playing the shamisen because of his grandfather's dying wish. On the next day right before Taketo's concert, Taketo takes his anger out on Setsu, causing the attendees to become restless due to the delay in the start of his concert. Needing time for Taketo to calm down, Setsu performs the shamisen in an impromptu opening act performance, which goes viral. At the start of spring, Yuna moves out and reveals to Setsu that she was unhappy with her talent agency and left it to pursue a better career opportunity.
2
"Apple Blossoms" Transliteration: "Ringo no Hana" (Japanese: 林檎の花)
Kyoung Soon Park
Kan'ichi Katō
April 10, 2021 (2021-04-10)
Setsu's mother Umeko Sawamura drags an unconscious Setsu to his new home inside a boarding house. After Setsu wakes up, he performs the shamisen with Umeko singing, attracting an audience. However, the performance ends with Setsu accidentally breaking one of the strings and despite that, he won the approval of the neighborhood that permits him to practice his shamisen at home. The next day, Setsu begins school at Umezono Academy and makes a friend in Shuri Maeda, who is also very interested in the shamisen and also found a broken shamisen left in the music prep room. After school, Setsu is given a new shamisen case by his older brother Wakana, who is supportive of his decision to move to Tokyo. The two then perform at a local park and Setsu feels his close bond with Wakana while playing. Afterwards, Wakana gives his blessing to Setsu while preparing to return to Aomori.
Shuri is then caught listening to Matsugoro's improvisation shamisen song Shungyou, leading Setsu to ask her about how she came to know that song. Shuri reveals that her grandmother first met Matsugoro back when she was a kid having evacuated to the countryside, and that she formed the Tsugaru Shamisen Appreciation Club hoping to find someone who understands the meaning of that song. However, with the song being improvised and changing with each performance, Setsu tells Shuri to give up on it. This response prompts Shuri's friends Yui Yamazoto and Kaito Yaguchi to join, with Keiko Koyabu becoming the club's advisor. Koyabu reveals that the broken shamisen found in the clubroom belonged to school alum Kousuke Ogata, known by his stage name Kamiki Seiryuu. To ask about the shamisen, the club attends one of his concerts and asks him afterwards. Seiryuu's response that he does not care about it being played again angers Setsu, and in response Seiryuu asks Setsu to play for him with Setsu giving a substandard performance. Setsu becomes lost in thought, but is convinced to play for Shuri's grandmother.
4
"Spring Dawn" Transliteration: "Haru no Akatsuki" (Japanese: 春の暁)
Masamune Hirata
Aki Itami
April 24, 2021 (2021-04-24)
Having accepted Shuri's request to perform Shungyou, Setsu scrambles to learn how to play that song, but comes to realize that he is incapable of playing it. However, Wakana tells Setsu that because Shuri and her grandmother do not realize the song's difficulty that he should focus on performing his own version. As he practices his song, he realizes the skill gap between himself and Matsugoro, but understands the importance of making the song his own. At the performance, he plays his modified version of Shungyou for Shuri's grandmother, and she reflects on the time when she first met Matsugoro when she evacuated to the countryside at age six. Despite being able to easily tell that this version is not the same version she remembers, she expresses her appreciation and explains the qualities that she remembers from meeting Matsugoro and how it was crafted into his performance, while Setsu responds by explaining why that is a difficult song to master. This performance inspires Shuri to keep the club going. Meanwhile, Umeko arranges to have Setsu enter the Matsugorou Cup, a high school shamisen competition.
Rai Nagamori, who is experienced with a different style of shamisen, joins the club as they are set to enter the Matsugorou Cup as a team. Setsu becomes the club's teacher, but frustrated by the club's inability to produce a decent sound, as well as his unwillingness to lower his standards for them, Setsu quits the role. Setsu returns home and is greeted by Umeko, who is pressuring Setsu to enter the individual competition of the Matsugorou Cup causing him to get in an heated argument. The next day, Setsu apologizes to Shuri, and Koyabu brings in Seiryuu to teach the club and give them advice. Setsu performs the song the club intends to play for the competition, Shinbushi, and Seiryuu joins in, demonstrating their abilities to play in harmony with each other. Despite not getting any advice, the club has a better understanding of how to match each other as Setsu managed to match Seiryuu's simplistic performance. Sometime later, the club is able to play in sync for the first time.
Hiroshi Odawara, the owner of a traditional Japanese instrument show, brings the club to Aomori for training camp over summer break. Shuri falls into a slump and with Setsu reminded about his own worries having returned to his hometown, he feels disinterested in helping her out. That night, Rai tells Setsu about how Kaito used to play soccer, but he retired after suffering a serious knee injury, and his father saw this as an opportunity to get him to study to become a lawyer like his father. The next day, Odawara brings the club out to the Tsugaru Strait and explain the history of the Tsugaru shamisen. Afterwards, Wakana drops by asking Setsu if he is entering the individual competition or not and responds with uncertainty. Wakana then explains that the most important part about playing the shamisen is the audience. Later that day, Setsu practices the shamisen by himself as he decides to enter the competition, and Shuri listens in on it inspiring her to keep on trying. On the day before returning to Tokyo, the club performs Shinbushi without any mistakes, and that night they attend the Nebuta festival.
The team competition for the Matsugorou Cup begins and among the participants is Mai Tanuma, who is Setsu's childhood friend, Yui's friend on social media, younger sister of the prodigy Souichi Tanuma, and daughter of the accomplished shamisen performer Kamiki Ryuugen. Mai gets upset when she finds out that Setsu is competing, but is unable to participate in the individual competition. Setsu walks out of the concert venue intending to skip the opening ceremony and meets Souichi, while at the venue Mai meets Yui in person for the first time. After the opening ceremony in which Umeko puts on a stage show, the competition begins. Setsu returns to the venue as Kai scolds him for walking out causing his teammates to worry. After some teams perform, the team from Osaka led by Kaji Takaomi performs. The Osaka team performs with perfect technique and synchronization that wows the audience.
As the Umezono shamisen club continues to wait, Yui tells Shuri that she intends to quit playing the shamisen after the competition. Meanwhile, the team from Fukuoka led by Ushio Arakawa performs, and despite the unorthodox nature of the performance, the crowd is wowed by the energy channeled into the performance. Shuri's nervousness reaches its peak and turns to Yui for support, while Yui tries to keep the club focused by acting tough. Mai's team then goes on stage and performs flawlessly with their modernized style, performing as if they were responding to a challenge. After trying to keep each other relaxed in the backstage area, the club goes on stage to perform.
The Umezono shamisen club performs and after a rough start due to Setsu's play overwhelming the others, the club's sound becomes more harmonized as the song progresses, winning the approval of the crowd with their energetic performance. While the judges evaluate the performances, Mai, Kaji, and Ushio see Setsu and complements him on his team's performance. The results are then announced with Umezono finishing third, with Mai's team finishes second and Kaji's team wins in a tightly contested evaluation, while Umezono wins the judge's special award for showing the most potential in their performance.
10
"Wind From the Mountains" Transliteration: "Yamaoroshi" (Japanese: 山颪)
Hiromichi Matano
Hiroko Fukuda
June 5, 2021 (2021-06-05)
The individual competition for the Matsugorou Cup begins, and Ryuugen has come from Aomori to assess Setsu's abilities, adding more pressure for Setsu to perform. As Setsu prepares, he is informed that Souichi and Mai are both adopted and are not blood-related. Meanwhile, Umeko and Ryuugen have a heated conversation as Ryuugen wants Setsu to inherit the Kamiki school much to Umeko's disapproval. Ushio performs and despite poor posture and an unconventional playing style, the crowd feeds off his energy. Kaji then performs and after a strong start, a string on his shamisen snaps.
Despite a broken string, Kaji continues playing managing to delight the crowd with his improvisation using only two strings. Afterwards, the competition goes on a lunch break. Outside the venue, Souichi is approached by Seiryuu asking who he is interested in, and Souichi answers saying that he is interested in nobody. Elsewhere, Setsu is approached by Umeko, who explains that the purpose of the competition is for Setsu to revive Matsugorou's sound and make it known to the world. Setsu becomes conflicted between playing like his grandfather for Umeko and playing his own stil as requested by his teammates and competitors. Setsu goes on stage and starts off playing Matsugorou's style with lukewarm reception from the audience. Midway through the performance, he changes back to his usual playing style to the delight of the audience.
12
"Those Snow White Notes" Transliteration: "Mashiro no Oto" (Japanese: ましろのおと)
Yoshiyuki Shirahata
Kan'ichi Katō
June 19, 2021 (2021-06-19)
Setsu shows off his playing style after a change mid-performance, resulting in a huge ovation from the crowd. After a few more performances, Souichi goes on stage and performs his song flawlessly also generating a huge ovation. After the judges evaluate the performances, Setsu finishes in third while Souichi wins the competition. At the awards ceremony, Umeko presents Setsu with his trophy and drops it just before she hands it to him, breaking it, while telling him that she is disappointed with his decision not to play Matsugorou's style. As criticism continues to pile on from Ryuugen and Seiryuu, Setsu leaves the competition feeling dejected. Setsu goes on to skip the next several days of school afterwards as he reflects and debates on the playing style he wants to pursue.
