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Reaction Paper

To: Sr. Jayson Yanguas

From: Czad Fered Gilhang
 Me and my classmates attended the “Anime 2. A Concert on Themes of Anime Movies
and Series on Journeys of Self-Discovery and Bravery” by the University of the Philippines -
Diliman Campus on November 8, 2019. From the name of the theme itself, the concert was all
about Anime. There were a lot of cosplayers surrounding the concert hall. The concert started at
6:15 PM. Unfortunately, me and my classmate were late, and we weren’t able to watch the first 2
pieces. The time we arrive, there was a short break, so we were lucky to enter the concert hall
without interruption. The first performers that I saw when I arrived in the concert hall were the
GuiGuild (Guitar Guild), formed only on February of 2013 composed of mostly guitar
concentration and minor students and extension students from other colleges of Up Diliman like
Architecture and Physics. They performed Chichi wa Motemote from the anime Voltes V and
Tank! from the anime Cowboy Bebop. The next performers were the JMEG Chorale, composed
of mostly students from the Music Education Department, and they sang One More Time, One
More Chance from the anime movie 5 Centimeters per Second and We Are! From the anime One
Piece. The next performer was Thristan Mendoza, a renowned child-prodigy and won many
awards through the years, such as first prize in the 2013 National Music Competition for Young
Artisis (Marimba Category C) with the distinction of being the only winner with a disability in
the history of this local competition. He played Akatsuki no Kuruma and Reason from the anime
Gundam. The next performers were the UP Rondalla. which composes of banduria, octavina,
laud, guitar, and bass instruments. They performed Genki no Shawaa from the anime Yu-Gi-Oh
Duel Monsters. The next performers were the Cuerdas Comparsa, which is a newly formed
musical ensemble of the Music Education department composed of bowed string concentration
and minor students from the College of Music. They performed Moonlight Densetsu from the
anime Sailor Moon, and Kirameki from the anime Your Lie on April. The next performers were
the UP Tugtugan Musika Asyatika (UP TUGMA), which is the premiere organization of Asian
music student-performers in the country, affliated with the UP College of Music Department of
Musicology. They performed the main theme of the anime Naruto. The last performance of the
concert was Cha-La Head-Cha-La from the anime Dragonball Z and was performed by all of the
performers.

The common chord progression on Japanese Pop Songs is I III vi, but the most liked
progression I V vi IV. The latter progression can be heard on the Naruto Main Theme. The other
songs have their own unique progressions. The conductor from the JMEG Chorale did some
signs that I cannot see from our conductors. His conducting was clear and easy to understand,
where you will sing your part, when you will stop, and what will happen next. As for the UP
TUGMA, there was acting from the start which all caught our attentions. Then some time later
they started to play, starting from one perfomer from the stage, and then the others came, in
costume.
 The performers on the GuiGuild have their notes played accurately, intonation wise, but
the rhythm of the other performers was a bit off. It can be heard in the concert hall that they are
not in sync with the others. But still, they managed to wow us when they played Tank! because
of the rhythm of it.

The chorale was amazing except for the soloists. The soloists cannot reach the notes that
are high that is needed for the song, and cannot pronounce Japanese words correctly. But even
still with these negative comments, it didn’t stop me from being emotional. When I heard the
theme song from the anime 5 Centimeters per Second, it made me remember about the movie
while listening to the song, and it made me cry. For We Are!, the chorale hyped the audience
because of the upbeats of the song which ended with us singing along.

As for the marimba player, Thristan's marimba playing was beautiful. He was blending
with the accompanying strings and percussion, both in volume and rhythm. Me and my
classmates were amazed by his skills on playing the marimba, especially when it was a solo part
for him. I was also lucky to have a picture with him.

As for the UP Rondalla, it was more better than the GuiGuild, most likely because they
are more experienced than the performers on the GuiGuild. The sound was obviously better and
they were in sync.

As for the Cuerdas Comparsa, the 1st seat violin sound horrible, she didn't get the notes
accurately, and her it's obvious that the bow is lacking on rosin. Because of the ugly sound, it is
hard to appreciate both of the theme songs.

As for the UP TUGMA, there was acting from the start which all caught our attentions.
Then some time later they started to play, starting from one perfomer from the stage, and then
the others came, in costume. It was so beautiful listening to Asian instruments, and it feels like
I'm from the anime itself.

And as for the final performance, they all song with hype and enjoyment, which led us to
sing along. They were all singing on unison, so there were not much mistakes that can be
criticized.

Here are some of this pictures that took place on the event: