Hibike! Euphonium 3 – 05 – We’ll Be All Right

As Kumiko’s third year progresses, the adults are starting to stir. Whether it’s her dad or her teacher, Kumiko tenses up, expecting to be harshly scolded for her utter lack of plans or goals for The Future.

She’s surprised when rather than scold her, her father simply communicates to her that he won’t force her to get into something. She can choose what she wants to—she just has to choose.

Like many if not most young people near the end of in high school, Kumiko fears the unknown—the uncertainty beyond the structures of school, band, and the Nationals that have defined her existence thus far.

Change can be scary, but it invariably results in new possibilities. Kitauji lost the Nationals with their existing system of having one audition for all big competitions (prefectural, regional, national). Shuuichi, demonstrating that he’s gotten more comfortable with his VP role and supporting Kumiko, suggests the Seira method of having three auditions: one for each competition.

Reina and Kumiko agree that this will keep those chosen in the first audition from getting complacent, while giving those not chosen the chance to improve and secure a spot in the second or third auditions. It’s a change, and it comes as a bit of a surprise to the club when it’s announced, but it looks like it could yield positive results.

The one most concerned with the audition system is Kuroe Mayu, who makes a big deal out of not wanting to take anyone’s spot (knowing full well she’s at worst a match for Kumiko’s euph skills). There’s also the upcoming Agata Festival.

Shuuichi invites Motomu to give the kid some more social interaction, but when Mayu suddenly invites Kumiko, Kumiko declines, saying she has “plans with other friends” when in that moment she has no such plans. Still, they play the soli meant for euph and trumpet with Mayu playing the trumpet part on her euph to expected near-perfection.

Speaking of plans, Kumiko is only able to forget about her career plans so long when her meeting with Michie-sensei arrives. But like her dad, her teacher doesn’t scold her. In fact, she questions Kumiko’s assertion she’s “passive” when Kumiko says she doesn’t want to decide on something without having any goals. She only warns her not to let indecision breed laziness.

With everyone asking everyone else to the Agata Festival (Kumiko also has to turn down the first-year basses) we learn that one reason Kumiko declined everyone else could’ve been because she was keeping herself available for Reina’s sake. Sure enough, Reina asks if Kumiko wants to come over to her house on the night of the festival.

Kumiko agrees without hesitation, and they meet up wearing their weekend best, having put thought into their clothes and hair for one another. After a delicious dinner, they hang out in Reina’s pristine room and chat about the future. Reina asks Kumiko what would be wrong with her going to music school, but Kumiko still isn’t sure.

Then Reina turns on her fancy stereo and plays the piece they’ll be performing: the soli of euph and trumpet. While the piece has an epic air about it, what with its four movements representing the seasons, there’s a fundamental clarity and simplicity to the piece. The soli in particular gives the sense of winter coming, but the pleasant light of autumn remains.

Reina switches the music off and asks if Kumiko will play the soli with her in the studio, saying if she can play with Mayu, she can play with her. In the studio, Kumiko remarks how good Mayu is, but Reina likes Kumiko’s playing better.

As they play the soulful, forward and backward-looking soli, the warm and soft euph playing beneath the crisp, bright trumpet, we see embers of the festival popping in the night air, as their friends and bandmates enjoy the festival together.

Just like their friends must feel a little melancholy at the end of the festival, the piece probably ends too soon for both of them. That’s why when the two go on an evening walk together, Reina asks if Kumiko will come to her place again and Kumiko is happy to. It’s as crystal clear as the river beside them that they have the most fun when they’re together.

Reina also asks if Kumiko truly won’t pursue music school, and it’s revealed why she’s been so persistent: she’s scared they’ll stop seeing each other after high school if they don’t have a practical reason to do so. It’s a sweetness and vulnerability that belies her strict drum major persona at school, but that’s the point: it’s a Kousaka Reina that’s only for Kumiko.

Kumiko playfully laughs at Reina’s worries, while acknowledging that there’s a possibility things could turn out as she says. However, she believes far more strongly that they’ll be all right. When Reina asks why, Kumiko asks Reina if she thinks they have something special together. “Of course I do,” Reina replies, and that’s why Kumiko knows they’ll be all right.

Whatever the future holds for them, there’s no reason Kumiko and Reina can’t keep holding hands in it. After a couple portraits of secondary characters, it was time for Hibike to return to its dazzlingly magnetic core couple, and in this it did not disappoint. Bravo to Kurosawa Tomoyo and Ansai Chika for more stellar voice performances, and to the KyoAni team for pulling out all the stops to bring them to life.

Hibike! Euphonium 3 – 04 – The Band She’d Imagined

The first years are humming along nicely now and the skies are clear for the imminent Sunrise Festival, but for one dark cloud hanging over Tsukinaga Motomu. Even Midori, just about the only classmate he’ll talk to, isn’t sure what it’s about (and doesn’t want to pry), but as he snaps at an underclassman for saying “Tsukinaga” out loud, it’s safe to imagine it’s something family-related.

Just before Kitauji is about to march in the festival, Motomu is approached by his relative, who asks why he hasn’t spoken to his grandfather, the director of the Ryusei Boy’s High concert band. But Motomu won’t be pressured into unwanted contact, and storms away.

The SunFes goes by without a hitch, and Reina shows she can be a good cop too by praising a first-year who improved. But Motomu’s state of mind could affect future performances, so it’s President Kumiko’s job to investigate.

She and Midori end up speaking to Motomu’s relative, who isn’t sure exactly what Motomu’s deal is, but does provide them with two crucial bits of information: Ryusei’s band director, who led them to National Gold last year, is his gramps, and his big sister died three years ago.

Taki-sensei tells Kumiko (and only Kumiko) that Motomu’s gramps reached out to Kitauji about transferring him to Ryusei. Midori also reports to her that she tried to get Motomu to open up about what’s bothering him, but he told her he didn’t want to trouble her any further.

They didn’t have to go to the trouble of animating the complex light of a turning car reflecting off Motomu and Kimiko, but they did, and I love that

It’s Motomu himself who approaches Kumiko at the train station that evening (and gives her her second jump scare in as many minutes). Just as she did with Sally, Kumiko is there to hear him out. He tells her the story of how his sister, who was his musical inspiration, suffered at Ryusei due to the fact she was the director’s granddaughter.

He never goes so far as to blame his gramps for putting his sister in a situation where she eventually became ill and passed away, but suffice it to say he couldn’t see the concert band she imagined at Ryusei, so he went to Kitauji to try to find it for himself. In Midori, he found someone who reminded him of his sister and provided fresh optimism and inspiration.

After Kumiko and Motomu part ways for the night, Kumiko shoots her own big sister Mamiko a couple of texts just to make sure she’s okay. It’s a sign she acknowledges how lucky she is her big sister is still alive, and how the fact Motomu’s isn’t left such a big hole in his life.

Kumiko tells Motomu she wants to make sure everyone is playing at their best so that they’ll give their greatest performance of their three years there. Also, one’s state of mind determines how their performance will sound, so it’s important to trust one’s bandmates, or president, and not carry too much emotional burden on their own.

In a fitting ending, Motomu seems ready to tell Midori everything he told Kumiko, but Midori simply asks if he wants to play something together. So they play an etude for two contrabasses as the credits roll. Instead of talking, there’s an earnest dialogue between their basses, swaying between dissonance and harmony, leading and following. Listening to the two basses from the roof, Kumiko can probably hear that Motomu will be all right.

 

Hibike! Euphonium 3 – 03 – The Shrine of Sally

When Kousaka declared the concert band would be going for Gold, that meant she would be taking no prisoners when it came to preparing for that goal, starting with SunFes, which is now only a few days away. She stops the marching formation to point out individual first-years who are coming up short, and does not provide a shoulder for them to cry on … and cry they do.

This creates friction that weighs on the first-years’ de facto leader Yoshii Sari, AKA Sally-chan. From her morning where she prays at a shrine with a sigh, to her reaction to Reina’s strict criticism of her more fragile peers, she simply doesn’t look like she’s having a good time.

Kumiko finds herself so busy presiding over the club that she doesn’t have time to think too much about her future, despite having some paperwork to fill out to that effect as part of her responsibilities as a third-year. Reina says she’d like to see her get into musical education.

During their brief morning visit to the teacher’s lounge Kumiko sees all of the stuff on Taki-sensei’s desk and thinks out loud how being an adult must be rough. He admits there are times he thinks he’s an overgrown kid. Reina would prefer Kumiko not waste her crush’s time on psychoanalysis.

Sally looks like she might be ready to finally say something to Kumiko, but Suzume gets to her first. Her first question is whether Kumiko and Shuu are dating, because rumors among first-years are running wild. Once Kumiko declares they aren’t, Suzume moves on to the real reason she wanted to meet with her: she believes the first-years are close to a boycott, or rather a mass resignation.

Suzume’s warning seems to have teeth when one day four first-years don’t come to school. Mayu, AKA “Mama”, whom Midori described as a pretty jellyfish, delivers the second of two stings this week (the first flaunting to Kumiko how her marching outfit shirt is too tight): Why not just let those who are falling behind quit, so that those who want to stay can focus on the performance?

That’s a convenient option, but not one Kumiko is willing to entertain; certainly not as a default or first resort. As she declares in the band notes she Reina and Shuu share: they’re not Kitauji unless they’re all together. She decides to make a pilgrimage to Sally’s home, which happens to be on the grounds of a shrine, and finds Suzume, Yayoi, and Kaho there, the latter two in shrine maiden outfits.

Sally stayed home sick, possibly brought on by stress, but is recovering fever. Her friends didn’t skip school because they’re quitting the club, but to be there for their friend. Suzume in particular knows things are weighing on Sally and the best solution is for Kumiko, the president, to speak to her one-on-one.

Confirming the vibe of her previous interactions, Sally admits that there’s some tension between her and Reina, though she makes clear she doesn’t hate or despise her. It’s just she doesn’t like how Reina’s strict instruction is making her fellow first years feel. Both she and Kumiko are leaders who had that leadership thrust upon them organically simply due to who they are.

This makes Kumiko, who is also pretty emotionally intelligent and empathetic, well-positioned to get Sally to open up. And really, that’s all Sally needs: to be heard, and to be told that if she or anyone else ever has something weighing on them, they can always, always bring it to Kumiko.

Separating advanced members from newbies was always an option, but not the option for Kumiko. She feels it’s her job as president to bring everyone’s hopes and wishes together. It may be messy sometimes, but through that mess comes understanding and growth. It’s a moving scene filled with gorgeous light, subtle facial and hand expressions, and some truly terrific voice acting from Kurosawa Tomoyo and relative newbie Sayuma Emiri.

Suzume reveals herself to be far more than the bamboo shoot bun-wearing goofball she appears to be, and the next day, with SunFes right around the corner, Sally greets Kumiko and Reina with a smile and hearty good morning, having arrived at the practice room early. Now that she’s bought back in thanks to Kumiko showing that she’ll be there for her and the first years, the threat of them quitting has passed.

I love how Kumiko was able to resolve this issue in the way she did, which is her way: through openness, honesty, and dialogue. She didn’t go to Reina and tell her to ease up on the newbies. She knows, just as Sally does, that Reina has to be hard on everyone if they want to make Gold. I hope that through her success this week Kumiko has shown herself that she has what it takes to be a leader, as Reina told her—both in the club now, and in a future that’s closer than she thinks.

Hibike! Euphonium 3 – 02 – The New Kitauji Trinity

President Kumiko suddenly finds herself with a new euphonium ace (or at least her equal) in Kuroe Mayu, formerly of Seira High. Unlike Kanade, she doesn’t seem the conniving type and genuinely doesn’t want to rock the boat. But she also transferred to Kitauji because they have a shot at winning.

Kumiko now understands just how much stuff previous presidents had to keep track of. Gig requests, school events, competition practice, camp planning. She, Reina, and Shuu are also summoned to Taki-sensei, who gives them a choice of three pieces to play for their selection piece.

Kumiko is weary of being the one to make such a choice, but on the train, Shuu assures her that the fact it is her choice means Taki-sensei must trust her. After Kumiko heads home, Reina waits outside the Konbini and confronts him about putting pressure on Kumiko, which he acknowledges after some thought.

She urges him to “stop being weird” and support her, for the two of them are the only ones she can whine to and ask for help. This isn’t just Reina standing up for her girl, though it is that: it’s identifying that Shuu isn’t quite where he needs to be mentally in this new regime, but now is the time to shape up. Things must be solid at the top if they’re going have a chance at Gold.

She’s also right that even though she’s gotten better since her first year, Kumiko still struggles with self-trust and self-confidence. Tsubame’s extremely extra little sister Suzume corners her and almost runs roughshod over her, protesting Tsubame’s inclusion in the color guard.

It turns out Suzume was mistaken and Tsubame asked to be in the guard for her final year. Kumiko knows she has the authority, but still isn’t comfortable using it if it makes others uncomfortable, because she then starts to question who is actually correct in the equation.

Reina, whom I’m just going to come out and say has become Kumiko’s best friend and more, won’t let her twist in the wind, or in this case wallow alone on a damp bench under the cloudy sky.

Stop worrying about stupid competitions and just SMOOCH already!

She gently takes Kumiko’s earbud out of her ear and puts it in her own, connecting the two, and hears one of the three pieces they must choose. It relies on a great deal of expression, the second piece on technical precision, and the third piece, “Hitotose no Uta”, requires both.

When Kumiko voices her doubts about her fitness for the presidency, using her poor showing with the Kamaya sisters as an example. That was an easily-resolved issue, but what if it wasn’t? Reina gets her out of that mind space by declaring that both she and Shuu already have a piece in mind, covering the title on her phone with her hand and asking Kumiko what she thinks it should be.

Kumiko tells Reina how she’s imagined the band playing her choice, which starts with a clarinet. Reina pushes play on the piece she and Shuu chose, and sure enough, a clarinet it is. “Hitotose no Uta for Concert Band” blows away the clouds and paints both Kumiko’s realization and Reina’s wry yet caring smile in the sun’s golden radiance. Then Kumiko places her hand on Reina’s as they listen, along with us, through a montage of gorgeous vistas.

Wouldn’t YOU go to war for her?

This is why Kumiko is president, and should be president. No previous band administration could pull this piece off. Only she, Reina, and Shuu can. Taki-sensei looks pleased they picked the most challenging piece, because that’s what this is all about: pushing themselves beyond simply “good” and aiming for the top without reservation.

Drum Major Reina delivers a stirring motivational speech to the band, getting them on board and fired up for the mission, and we are officially on the road to the Nationals. The leadership team is united in their belief in their ability and in their support for one another. Now all that’s left is for the band to practice its ass off, extinguish any brush fires or dramas along the way, and bring home the Gold.

Hibike! Euphonium 3 – 01 – The Last Dance

It’s been eight years—and I mean eight years to the freakin’ day—since I first watched and wrote about Hibike! Euphonium. It comes as no surprise for a top-flite operation like KyoAni that it hasn’t missed a beat in all those years. After an introductory episode that kicks off Kumiko’s third year and introduces us to some new band members, it’s clear this is seiyu Kurosawa Tomoyo’s—show.

Change is the one constant in the universe, and Kumiko, who wasn’t sure she’d even join the band when she first arrived at Kitauji, is now the president, supported by Reina and Shuuichi. Unfortunately I never got around to watching the movies, meaning I missed her and Shuu confessing, dating, almost kissing, then breaking up so Kumiko can focus on band. D’oh!

Oh well, at least they’re not that awkward here, as Kumiko left open the possibility of getting back together when she’s done band. The first three minutes in particular are a perfect reintroduction to the look, vibe, and above all sound of the show. Kumiko wakes up with a band rehearsal playing in her earbuds. Her dad says to her mom that she really should be quitting band at some point to focus on her future.

It nails home the fact that it’s Last Dance time for Kumiko and the third years. The task falls to the third years to market the concert band and recruit first years and other interested potential members. As usual, the trumpet is the most popular group, while the bass attracts a bunch of colorful weirdoes (Speaking of, the movies also introduced her cute and quirkily confident fellow Eupher, underclassman Hisaishi Kanade, voiced by Amamiya Sora).

Kumiko may still struggle with her confidence and communication skills, but there’s no doubt she’s a lot better at it now than as a first year. There’s an added level of maturity to all of the third years, including Hazuki and Sapphire, who are all tasked with teaching first years, most of whom have limited to no experience playing their instruments.

The concert band swells to ninety members, but as Reina points out more than once, it’s not quantity but quality that matters. The difference between season one and this one is that Kumiko has caught up to Reina’s mentality of Real Gold or Bust. She makes clear to Reina that the frustration that churns deep inside her won’t be quelled unless they claim First Place at Nationals. Their bond has never been closer, by the way, exemplified by the symmetry of their playful bumping into each other in the hall.

Throughout this episode, Kumiko also hears an unfamiliar but unmistakably skilled Euphonium on the air. It’s not her senpai Asuka, but someone mysterious. After Kumiko gets through her first big speech as president to the newly convened band and gets them to unanimously vote to go for Gold, she hears the sound again and rushes to the roof to find its source: Kuroe Mayu, voiced by another titan in Tomatsu Haruka. Her different uni suggests she’s a transfer student.

The stage is set and the stakes have never been higher. While I feel a little FOMO about skipping the movies, this premiere warmly welcomed me back like the second season ended last week instead of in 2017. KyoAni also demonstrates a high degree of restraint and elegance in its production, in contrast to the almost try-hard glitzy kitchen-sink nature of Jellyfish. In short, it makes it look easy, which makes it easy to be totally engrossed. Let’s Go Band!

Hibike! Euphonium 2 – 13 (Fin)

WE’RE SO SCREWED

As expected, the final Hibike! Euphonium 2 of the season is an epilogue; it even has ‘epilogue’ in the episode title. The third years are given a proper sendoff with lovely musical performances accompanied by montages of both this season and the last.

Yoko and Natsuki take up the mantle of new president and vice president, and the former can hear the loss of the third years.

Really nice lighting effects in this scene

So can Taki-sensei, who acknowledges that every year school bands essentially take a big step back due to the outgoing talent. That experience must be replaced with the remaining members plus the rawer talent of incoming first years.

The same band that made it to the Nationals no longer exists. The one that intends to make it back will be an entirely new one: new leadership, new composition, new style.

Since Kumiko and Reina are first-years, they have not one but two more years to achieve their goal of National Gold. And they seem as optimistic and determined as ever to get there, despite their bronze finish this year and the loss of so much talent.

Their problems going forward are the same problems all school bands face, and secondary problems — such as Yoko and Natsuki clashing — are sure to crop up.

The key (no pun intended), I suppose, is to avoid really big dustups such as the ones that took place before Kumiko and Reina arrived at Kitauji; the kind of conflicts that actually hindered the band’s performance, and the wounds of which have now all but faded.

And so we get a nice, long, heartfelt goodbye as all the seniors play for their juniors, then vice versa. There’s a commencement ceremony, where the goodbye hugs and wishes continue. And throughout this epilogue, Kumiko is sad and upset, all because Asuka is leaving.

Ah, so THAT’S where the show’s title comes from. HUH!

She runs all over the school grounds, increasingly desperate to find her. As usual, Asuka is trying to avoid “these kind of things”, but Kumiko won’t let her escape her, or her true feelings. Kumiko thinks she might have hated Asuka at first – but now all she feels is love. Romantic love? Perhaps it hews close to that, just as you could read her feelings towards Reina on top of that mountain last season.

But whatever specific kind of love it is, she’s got it, when she didn’t have it before. Asuka is someone she let into her life and personality, while continuing to hold back from Shuu (poor Shuu). Asuka is someone leaving, whom she doesn’t want to go. She has eyes for no third-year but Asuka.

And now she’s the chief euph, and her bandmates even remark how she sounds like Asuka. Like Mamiko, Asuka has helped shape and progress Kumiko’s musical development and identity. I’m unsure if there will be a Euph 3, but there’s plenty of great material to continue with.

Hibike! Euphonium 2 – 12

Shuu Sighting! Shuu Sighting! Kumiko and Shuu can’t sleep the night before the Nationals, and end up having drinks together by the vending machine. As always, they talk about mundane things. Shuu gives Kumiko a belated birthday present: a cute hairpin. Scene.

It’s these two in a nutshell. Here, in the middle of the night, the two are able to at least have a moment. It’s not a bit dramatic moment or anything, just a cordial acknowledgement of their history together, without any kind of indication either one of them know what to do from there. Sometimes I think the show revels in always teasing these two.

Oh yeah, the Nationals! Kitauji fails to win Gold. They fail to win Silver, too. They end up with Bronze. Bronze, after all that! I guess they aimed too high, huh? Ah well, like the band, I had carried unreasonably high expectations, and while it stings to seem them essentially crash and burn, they didn’t do badly for a group so young, and the second and first years aren’t out of opportunities. Just getting to the Nationals was a goal they successfully achieved, and that’s nothing to sniff at.

When Taki-sensei is awarded on stage, the band doesn’t have a cheer arranged. Enter Reina, who yells out “I LOVE YOU!”, which Taki and everyone else hears, but not necessarily as a confession. Later, when Taki thanks Reina and expresses his worry no one in the band liked him, she piles on the praise, then makes it clear she “really does like him” – to which Taki is flattered, and walks away without a formal response. Hang in there, Reina!

In better news, Asuka’s father, and judge in the competition, heard her, and through Taki-sensei, compliments her play as “beautiful” and is glad she kept at it. Frankly, I’m not sure why he couldn’t tell his daughter in person, but it seems to be enough for Asuka, who has to embrace Kumiko before completely breaking down with happiness.

And finally, after a lot of looking around and chasing, Kumiko tracks down Mamiko, who did attend after all, to tell her she loves the Euph and loves concert band because of her, and she loves her. Mamiko yells back that she loves her too, and that’s the ep.

It was a bit odd not to hear any music, but it was always going to be hard to replicate the atmosphere of previous performances without seeming repetitive. Similarly, the Nationals didn’t feel any more “special” than the Regionals this time or last. It ends up being kind of a bronze episode (if a 9 is Silver and a 10 is Gold).

It felt more like an episode full of loose ends being tied up. That made for some enjoyable moments, but they felt isolated and disjointed. Still, the feels were felt on numerous occasions; oddly enough no more so than when Mizore fist-bumped Kumiko and looked so pleased about it.

Hibike! Euphonium 2 – 11

All we needed was the slightest look from Reina to know, with relative confidence what was amiss and why: Thanks to Hashimoto, Reina learns that Kumiko knew about Taki’s wife before she did, and she’s angry Kumiko never told her.

Whether Kumiko was busy with Asuka and the other girls, and was going to eventually tell Reina, we’ll never know. But we do know that Kumiko hesitated as long as she did because she didn’t want to hurt Reina.

During Reina’s suitably elaborate procedure for confronting Kumiko – by going to the summit of the mountain that seems to accentuate Reina’s beauty – Reina yells at the top of her lungs, asks Kumiko why, and gets the answer she already knew.

Reina turns out not to be that mad at Kumiko after all, but at herself: at the weakness she exhibits upon hearing this news; the fact she didn’t know. Her armor has cracked just as the Nationals approach, and while she can say she’s going to “forget about it” until they’re over, it’s likely she’s not 100% sure she can follow through.

Kumiko, for her part, tells her she’s still rooting for her, making sure Reina hears that Taki isn’t married anymore, even if it’s hard both to say and hear. She’s almost making up for not telling her to begin with.

It’s another wonderful scene between the two friends, and a very welcome one after Reina’s presence had dwindled in recent eps. Both the animation and the voice performances soar.

In a quick flashback, we see a young Reina first lay eyes on Taki and fall for him right then and there. She quickly finds how hard it is to follow through, having an elaborate, warm daydream in which Taki compliments her playing and gives her a piece just for her to play.

She’s ripped from her reverie by the real Taki-sensei calling her playing “weak.” She needs to get it together. But how?

Reina finds a way. While delivering the practice room key back to Taki at the end of the day with Kumiko, Reina asks him about his wife. Not about where she went to school or who she knew, but what she was like.

Taki opens up to her, and confirms what Reina had suspected, but wasn’t ready to face until now, when her playing is being effected by the doubt. There is not doubt; Taki still loves his wife, and he very likely became their director for his wife’s sake. He wants to go to the Nationals and win Gold for her sake.

And so, we see both Reina and Taki at their most vulnerable and emotional this week. I guess Christmas came early!

Having gotten all the answers and confirmations she needed for the time being, Reina returns to normal, and starts playing the way she and everyone else have come to expect. Niiyama gives her the location of Taki’s wife’s grave, where takes Kumiko and prays.

That flashback was the beginning of Reina wishing time would move faster for her, so she could catch up to Taki. But now she has another goal to set her sights on, something that she wouldn’t have been able to accomplish if she was his age: She’s going to help Taki win Gold.

Hibike! Euphonium 2 – 10

It’s no coincidence Mamiko spends most of a scene scrubbing a pot she burned trying to make dinner. Mamiko wants to make up, not just with her parents, but with her sister as well. She’s scrubbing all the grease and grime that had amassed so that a new pot of soup can be made – a fresh start, without forgetting about what was said or what choices she made in the past.

As Kumiko volunteers to cook in her stead as she scrubs (she’s clearly the better cook of the two), Mamiko lays it all out candidly: how she thought going along with whatever her parents wanted was the adult thing to do, even though she wasn’t an adult at the time; how she resented Kumiko for being able to have fun with band; how she now regrets the choices she made, but is now ready to live her own life, hoping to avoid similar mistakes in the future.

Kumiko always assumed her folks let her do as she pleased because they’d given up on her, because she had no promise. Mamiko doesn’t believe that; she just felt, as many older kids do, that her parents were taking a different approach with the younger kid; it’s what parents do. And before going to her room for a nap, Mamiko tells Kumiko to live her life too: be a kid when she’s a kid and an adult when she’s an adult; don’t be left with any regrets; learn from your suddenly awesome big sis.

While other friend-reconciling or concert-heavy episodes packed emotional and at times visceral punches, this may be my favorite episode of Euph2, because it’s the most personal one for Kumiko. She reacts to Mamiko’s news of leaving home with a stoic face, but on the train the next day, she suddenly bursts into tears. She is sad her sister is going, even if it’s what her sister wants…and probably needs.

The episode brilliantly presents Mamiko as a parallel to Asuka, a connection I never really though about, but which makes perfect sense. I love how it’s Kumiko’s sister who provides a timely assist in terms of giving her a usable angle to go after an exceedingly stubborn Asuka.

Asuka is doing almost exactly what Mamiko did at her age, and while Kumiko didn’t do anything about that at the time – indeed, she didn’t even know what was going on, except that her sister was drifting away – she’ll be damned if she’s going to stand by and let Asuka go through with it unchallenged.

Challenge her Kumiko does, and Asuka, at least initially, is ready. She peppers Kumiko’s assertions with doubts like an expert debater. She keeps the focus on Kumiko’s argument rather than her problem, and even gets personal with Kumiko in a not-very-nice way, regarding her typical method of dealing with people.

She questions how someone like Kumiko, who herself tries to avoid hurting or getting hurt; who is “wishy washy” and keeps a safe distance; can expect people to tell her what they really feel, not just about Asuka coming back, but about anything.

 

Kumiko is disheartened and temporarily stopped in her tracks, but the power of Mamiko’s words ring in her head and mix with Asuka’s euphonium, and Kumiko gets her second wind. Her voice rises in intensisty, tears stream from her cheeks as she confronts the heart of the matter.

She knows Asuka wants her father to hear her at the Nationals, and so does Kumiko herself. And she reminds Asuka that neither of them are adults yet, just high schoolers; and pretending to know everything and think “sucking it up and dealing” is the best course just isn’t right.

Kumiko delivers an argument even Asuka didn’t quite expect, and moreso, delivers it with an honest passion Asuka can’t help but admire. Kumiko hurt her here, and let herself get hurt in return. The little blush on Asuka’s face is proof that that matters.

Of course, Kumiko didn’t know if it would work when Asuka is suddenly called away. So when Asuka shows up the next day for band practice, Kumiko is gobsmacked. Many other band members tear up at her return.

And why? Well, Asuka proved she actually is special, at least when it comes to academics, scoring high enough in mock exams to have ammunition against her mom’s assertion she can’t succeed if she stays in band. Asuka takes her place beside Kumiko, and they prepare to practice.

Asuka isn’t the only one Kumiko is surprised to see: Reina is also there. With everything that’s been going on with Mamiko and Asuka, Kumiko admits she’s kinda let Reina fall by the wayside.

By the look of Reina, I’d guess she’s either pissed off at the lack of Kumiko’s attention (doubtful) or has put the pieces together regarding Taki-sensei and his late wife, knows Kumiko knows, and is angry she didn’t tell her.

It’s almost as if the show intentionally made Reina and Kumiko such wonderful BFFs to this point so that when they hit a bump in the road, which seems to be the case here, it would have that much more impact. Of course, I’m just theorizing at some point. Gotta hear the next piece.

Hibike! Euphonium 2 – 09

Kumiko isn’t able to wallow in helplessness over solving her family’s problems for long: her band-mates have a new project for her! Why are Natsuki, Nozomi, Mizore and Kaori all going to her? Why else: Kumiko has proven to have a knack for stealthily helping people with their issues. She can act as coy as she likes: the results of her work are clear for all to see, and this week she’s celebrated for it whether she likes it or not.

“You’ve always done well.” “There’s something about you.” “You see through people.” “You act like you don’t notice things, but you do…and when it matters most, you always have the right words.” All meant as praise, all of it well-earned. There’s no pretending she isn’t something she is. Kumiko facilitates. She connects. She breaks through to the heart of matters, often forcefully if need be. And she inspires the likes of Reina to want to just as forcefully “peel off” her mask.

Reina has a lot of choice moments this week, not only when she’s so lovingly and earnestly describing Kumiko, to getting adorably flustered when Taki-sensei rises and shines before her eyes. But she also sees the photo on Taki’s desk, of him with another woman. As talkative as Reina was with Kumiko before seeing that photo, the silence on the train ride home afterwards is deafening.

Kumiko can’t help Reina on this right now, she’s faced with her toughest challenge yet: Tanaka Asuka. Fortunately for her, Asuka wants to talk, perhaps because she too has witnessed what Kumiko can do. The close-ups of Asuka when Kaori ties her shoe then walks off are downright scary, while the tension in the early parts of Kumiko’s visit to her home is palpable.

But when it comes down to it, Kumiko isn’t there to be tutored, and Asuka isn’t there to tutor her. Instead, Asuka finally opens up to Kumiko, telling her how Masakazu Shindo “was” her father before he and her mom divorced when she was two. She tells her how her determination to make the nationals was borne out of a “selfish” desire to get her father to hear her play. How she hates her mother, but can’t do anything about it.

It’s here where we see Kumiko, who had entered this mission utterly lacking any semblance of confidence or certainty, goes into, well, shall we say “Euphonium Mode”? She sees through Asuka’s misdirection. She notices her feints and her subtle leadings. And she even has the right words to say at the right time…not because she knows what to say in this situation, but because it’s what she truly believes.

We know from her inner monologue, she wants to hear Asuka play. And so Asuka plays us out, during the end credits. And Kumiko demonstrates another ability we know she’s getting pretty good at: bringing out genuine smiles. The fight to get Asuka back is far from over, but it’s off to a promising start.

Hibike! Euphonium 2 – 08

That ominous cold close of Mamiko leaving the Oumae household was a taste of what was to come this week, with Kumiko getting so caught up in family unrest it literally makes her sick. That being said, she isn’t all that involved in said unrest, merely a witness, and not a happy one at that. Her sister Mamiko, who inspired her to get into music, now wants to become…a beautician.

Her Dad warns Mamiko that if she quits college, she’ll be cast out and cut off. Mamiko blames her folks for making her quit trombone (which, to Kumiko’s shock, she never wanted to quit), but Pops only accepts partial responsibility; to him, the blame rests on Mamiko for not being more forceful about what she wanted to do.

Back at school, Asuka returns to practice, but just as quickly stops coming again after inviting Kumiko to her place to help study for exams, which would be a first. Kumiko quickly becomes quite ill, making the band two euphs down, while Taki informs the band that if Asuka can’t show up for practice, Natsuki will take her place at the Nationals. It’s kind of unsettling how quickly Asuka disappears from this episode halfway in.

Kumiko is sent home by her friends, and after an odd encounter with the third-year Aoi, she ends up in bed, waking up to find Reina quietly sitting by her bed, waiting to spring into action and take care of her. Reina has taken a bit of back seat to others of late (though she hasn’t become as obscure as Shuuichi), so it’s nice to see her here, and to see how far these two have come in their friendship.

Reina even gets to witness Kumiko getting fed up at her sister when she barges in to turn off a euph CD. Kumiko doesn’t hold her tongue, and lets Mamiko have it regarding her earlier assertion she never wanted to give trombone up. Mamiko retreats, telling her little sister she’ll “never understand how she feels.” Yikes.

But that’s not where things are left. Mamiko runs into Shuuichi in the lobby on her way out (Shuuichi, whose mother heard Mamiko was quitting college). Shuu’s voice proves crucial in getting Mamiko to introspect, and that night, Mamiko comes back in Kumiko’s room – not to complain or fight, but to ask for a recording of her Kumiko’s music.

There’s been a rift between these two sisters for a long time, not helped by their frustratingly implacable father who only seems to know how to sow and escalate rancor in the household. Maybe they can reconnect through music?

Hibike! Euphonium 2 – 07

As BSG’s President Roslin said, “Alright…Next Crisis!” Kumiko may be dealing with a widening rift between her and her sister, but that takes a backseat to a more pressing issue that affects the entire band. It’s also the reason we’ve gotten so many close-ups of Asuka’s sadface: her mom is making her resign.

Taki-sensei refuses, but after her mom slaps her (an incident Kumiko happens to witness), the mother and daughter go home, and Asuka returns to school bright and cheery like nothing happened, she just plain stops showing up to band practice.

The sudden loss of Asuka, and all the swirling rumors about it, instantly, negatively affects the band’s performance in practice on the eve of a very public performance at a big train station. Taki is not pleased with this, and basically peaces out and leaves President Haruka to deal with it (which is the right move to make, rather than continue trying to focus a clearly rattled band).

Haruka steps up to the plate (well, the lectern), and performs admirably, telling the band, essentially, that all this time they’ve built up Asuka as someone “special” and irreplaceable; but that’s not really the case. And now it’s up to them to support her for once, by bearing down and putting on a show they, and she, can be proud of, in hopes she comes back. That’s all they can do.

The day of the station gig, sure enough, Asuka is there with a bright smile, ready to see what the band can do in her absence. Haruka wrests control of a massive, unwieldy baritone sax and belts out a badass solo. Taki suggested the solo to “shake things up”, and it worked: the performance boosts the president’s and band’s confidence as the Nationals draw nearer.

Asuka’s future with the band is still unclear, but the band will survive. As for Mamiko, there’s something very foreboding about the episode ending with her putting on her shoes and walking out the door of her family’s home.

Hibike! Euphonium 2 – 06

Still basking in the glow of the band’s great victory and progression to the October Nationals, the girls relax a little at Kita High’s cultural festival. Kumiko, Hazuki and Midori try their hand at a maid cafe (so passe), and on her break Kumiko and Reina hang out a bit; all the while with Kumiko wondering whether to tell Reina what she knows about Taki-sensei.

The festival also marks a rare appearance by Shuuichi, whom I sometimes forget exists. He’s kind of a weird but novel male romantic interest in that regard: he’s almost never on Kumiko’s mind, and she makes the same exact annoyed noise whenever she spots him, yet she still relies on him to help her get through the haunted house. Shuuichi has something to say to Kumiko, but the poor bastard is blocked by Reina dressed as a pretty scary ghost.

Throughout the festival, Kumiko seems almost restless, and sure enough the “nonchalance” ends when a typhoon arrives, and she and the others get back into their routines, preparing for the run-up to some serious Nationals prep. But when Kumiko gets home, the colorful fun of her school’s festival is replaced by desaturated colors, a lack of eye contact, and an older sister who looks to her like a hypocrite now that she’s threatening to quit college.

Kumiko, so quick to do what she can to help her friends (without getting too directly involved, mind you) is far less comfortable with her own personal problems, whether it’s whatever the hell is going on with Shuuichi (ahem, nothin’) or her family strife, her go-to move is to separate herself from the situation.

That leads to her ending up in Taki’s awesome Citroen Ami 8, as he offers her a ride home when her umbrella breaks. All of a sudden, Kumiko is up close and personal with a problem not her own: the Reina and Taki situation. And everything she sees and hears in this scene indicates Taki doesn’t seem ready to love anyone else anytime soon; after all, he still buys Italian Whites and wears his ring on the anniversary of his wife’s death. A

s lovely and mature as Reina is, I just don’t see it, and while I’m glad this didn’t descend in to a farce of Reina (or Shuuichi) spotting Kumiko being dropped off by Taki, it’s looking like Reina is setting herself up for heartbreak, whether or not Kumiko tells her anything.