@kaarme I’m not a music aficionado by any means, but I agree with purplelibraryguy that hearing the music IRL can be a disappointing when they build it up so much. Its not that I actually hear the music as I’m reading, but everyone in the manga is seeing galaxies, crying, watching rain from a clear sky, etc as they play, and it’s just normal music to me. Although I enjoy the KOT CD, I did have that “this is it?” feeling when I first listened. The author has done such a great job painting the koto alive that I had unrealistic expectations of how it would sound. It’s reality colliding with imagination ? I have the same initial reaction when eating something I read about in a food-centric manga, and when live actions are made from anime. You settle down quickly and accept it, but there is a small disconnect. It’s like how interesting shogi looks in a manga, but is (IMO) completely boring to watch IRL. With music-centric anime you can’t really gloss over that.
That being said, I’m so excited to watch the anime! I love every bit of this manga and want to see it come to life.