Those Snow White Notes

Those Snow White Notes, known in Japanese as Mashiro no Oto, was produced by Shin-Ei Animation and premiered in 2021. The series is based on the manga by Marimo Ragawa, which began serialization in 2009, and follows the story of Setsu Sawamura, a young man who travels to Tokyo to find his unique sound after the passing of his grandfather, a master of the traditional Japanese instrument known as the tsugaru-jamisen.

The animation studio sought to capture the intense, percussive energy of the tsugaru-jamisen, a challenging task given the instrument's complex musical style. While the series received moderate attention for its focus on the intersection of traditional folk music and modern urban life, the visual direction was noted for its attempt to convey the emotional resonance of the music through stylized performance sequences.