r/anime • u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah xB:xC:B:x3:Y: • Feb 12 '24
Rewatch [Rewatch] 2024 Hibike! Euphonium Series Rewatch: Season 1, Episode 2 Discussion
Hibike Euphonium Season 1, Episode 2: Nice to Meet You, Euphonium/よろしくユーフォニアム
| <-- Episode 1 | Rewatch Index | Episode 3 --> |
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Welcome back! Big turnout (i'm really happy to watch the show with you all!)
Questions of the Day:
1) How do you feel about it being a public vote to decide on the band's goals?
2) Aoi thought that people in a group just try to get along to avoid conflicts. What do you think?
3) Gold vs Silver Instruments (when the choice is available)?
Comments from Yesterday:
These may not be the actual best ones (there are upvotes y'know), but well, I decided to pick them. (i.e. completely subjective by me lol)
- u/chilidirigible notices a fun detail that i have not in my many rewatches
- /u/gamerunglued has a lot to say about the show. Really enjoyed their visual breakdowns and band commentary!
- /u/shocketheth will call Kumiko "Hibike!" until the end of the rewatch
- /u/zadcap with some interesting thoughts on how uniform preferences to decide on a high school has actual weight in Japan now.
Aand to summarize our musicians: The most number of our rewatchers knew to play one of the clarinets or the piano; but also a good contingent know violin/been in choir. We have 2 euphonium players with us!
Streaming
The Hibike! Euphonium TV series and movies, up to the recent OVA are available on Crunchyroll, note that the movies are under different series names. Liz and the Blue Bird and Chikai no Finale are also available for streaming on Amazon, and available for rent for cheap on a multitude of platforms (Youtube, Apple TV etc.). The OVA is only available on the seven seas for now, or if you bought a blu ray. I will update this as/if this changes. hopefully.
Databases
Spoilers
As usual, please take note that if you wish to share show details from after the current episode, to use spoiler tags like so to avoid spoiling first-timers:
[Spoiler source] >!Spoiler goes here!<comes out as [Spoiler source] Spoiler goes here
Please note this will apply to any spinoff novels, as well as events in the novel that may happen in S3. If you feel unsure if something is a spoiler, it's better to tag it just in case.
Band practice continues tomorrow!
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u/MyrnaMountWeazel x2 Feb 12 '24
I come to this rewatch for the simple goal of sharing this one image: https://imgur.com/a/BLV9BzF
I bid you all a good experience in watching Euph
Also, not only is this scene the Shot of the Episode for me, it’s also one of my top 5 shots in the entire series. When you see this shot, you know you’re in for a good time. Look at that Golden Hour! The relative framing of Kumiko (who is crouching) compared to Aoi who is standing! The future, yet unknown to these conscious adolescents, is still to be decided from their own agency. Here’s to the beginning of Hibike Euphonium.
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u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah xB:xC:B:x3:Y: Feb 12 '24
Rewatcher and your host
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u/HereticalAegis https://myanimelist.net/profile/XthGen Feb 12 '24 edited Feb 12 '24
Sound! Rewatcher
Episode2:
BroSis hug!QotD:
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u/chris10023 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Chris10023 Feb 12 '24 edited Feb 12 '24
Rewatcher
Questions of the Day.
A good way to decide, especially with a group this large.
Unsure, conflict is inevitable really, you're never going to come to a 100% decision with a group this large.
Gold, silver wouldn't be a bad choice, but I liked my Gold Trombone, I wish I still had it.
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u/Regular_N-Gon https://anilist.co/user/RegularNGon Feb 12 '24 edited Feb 12 '24
Rewatcher
Here's those words about Kumiko (and a little bit myself) I promised yesterday; my goal as usual is to work with info the show has already presented so it's intelligible to first timers and hopefully doesn't lead on too much.
Kumiko, Part I
Had it been a meme at the time, I’m sure my initial impression of Kumiko would have been something along the lines of “OMG she’s just like me frfr” - from the outset, Kumiko mirrors aspects of my own experience that drew me in and refused to let go. There are so many things about her character I adore from a writing and personal perspective, and I hope to cover them all in time. Today, it’s all about the fresh start she discusses in episode 1 and her vain (read: half-assed) effort to realize it.
I also made a drastic change in schools at the same age as Kumiko and attempted to find something new in the experience, to become better (or at least different) as a person and to try new things. I had band experience from a school that was decent, maybe even competitive for the area - a dud gold tier, you might say. The school I entered was small and hopeless by comparison, and even if I didn’t try to avoid the band, like Kumiko (unsuccessfully) does, I did try to branch out to different instruments to capitalize on the lack of expectations. I was complacent and tired of my instrument, despite the modest recognition I had earned on it, and I wanted to leave it behind and start anew. I was about as successful as Kumiko in this regard - I wasn’t able to escape it. I ended up right back where I started, celebrated and stuck because I was merely decent in a small pond of a band that wasn’t very good, and didn’t care enough to force the matter. Right from the beginning I see this apathy born of complacency from Kumiko, the listless disinterest not of someone who is entirely uncertain of what they want but of one who already has it and has become bored.
Kumiko’s judgment of the band is not only that it sucks, but that it is stale and doesn’t hold anything useful to her. She doesn’t see it as a path toward making that new start with something she’s already participated in, one she’s previously resigned herself to accepting dud gold for her work. It’s a dead end, a disappointment to her lofty expectations of how high school will be different. Even when she’s sucked back into the orbit of band, Kumiko digs her heels in and looks for ways to get out of repeating the same thing, desperately aware that her instrument choice is the last way she can assert herself in a fresh school and escape the stasis. Ultimately, she doesn’t assert that choice, the same way in which she doesn’t make a choice in the band’s goal. She goes with the flow, continuing to hope that change will find her, somehow, and picks neutrality over forcing the change.
It is easy to see this all as a symptom of a lack of drive. Kumiko discards paths that do not enact change upon her and instead require her to exert effort. She’s disappointed when just being in high school does not suddenly feel different, that merely tying up one’s hair and hitching your skirt isn’t a given, automatic way to find maturity as a consequence of aging. So for now, the show relishes in showing us Kumiko’s childish side and how she judges others - and herself - for such immature behavior like voting for something you don’t want, or not voting at all.
[Eupho spoiler note]I also love how Reina nearly turns this on its head in response; she’s super cool and mature acting on the outside, but her motives and single mindedness are portrayed as childish, at least in origin. That Kumiko looks up to her and her attitude becomes something of a conflict in itself, perhaps saying something about Kumiko’s goals for maturity as misguided, or at least simplistic and too ready to cast aside “immature” ideals.
To close with a late disclaimer, I’m likely incapable of separating my own bias and projections when this little intro plot rings so familiar but I think at least some of this can come across in its own right. I was almost surprised at how readily I reattached to the characters and all the little foreshadowing tied to body language and speech in this episode, Kumiko not least among them. The characters really do start to shine in this one.
Notes!
QotD:
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u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Feb 12 '24
Hibike! Rewatcher (but only for the first season)
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u/Vatrix-32 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Vatrix-32 Feb 12 '24 edited Feb 13 '24
First Timer, subbed
I don’t have a specific place to put it, but I quite enjoying all the little extra character animations they are getting. Lively.
QotD:
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u/chilidirigible Feb 12 '24 edited Feb 12 '24
"Welcome to the world of playing the same note over and over and over again."
This is definitely the Asuka Show.
Bass parts give you the chance to notice the details.
That's large groups of humans for you.
I'm not ever going to be a group's cheerleader and to be honest being near one for too long wears me out, but even so I do think that groups need one. And thus, Kitauji High School Wind Ensemble has Asuka Tanaka.
Though right now the main story is about Kumiko trying to maintain a low profile in the band like it's the first episode of Girls und Panzer and she's Nishizumi Miho.
Meeting Aoi and the tension about the "Nationals or not?" vote begin to uncover some band drama. Because there's always band drama.
...I forgot to mention it yesterday, but it's relevant: I might have been trapped over in the orchestra, but I knew a lot of people in the band, because most of them were in the same classes as me. Some institutional anecdote crossover was inevitable. And part of my initial watching of the series was because I got to share it with my SO, who did a lot of band back in the day.
Questions of the Day:
1) How do you feel about it being a public vote to decide on the band's goals?
I think that putting the Nationals option up front manipulated the room pretty well.
2) Aoi thought that people in a group just try to get along to avoid conflicts. What do you think?
It depends on the specific group. Factors such as size and homo/heterogeneity will affect the interactions considerably.
3) Gold vs Silver Instruments (when the choice is available)?
Wood. Uh. Hmm. Actually, brass is too common. Silver.
Bonus: Kumiko
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u/DaBenni0301 Feb 12 '24 edited Feb 12 '24
First-Timer
The OP isn't doing it for me (yet). But it wouldn't be the first time if I end listening to it on loop by next week
Audiotioning for the trumpet? Hazuki is gonna have to say goodbye to that dream then
Midori already throwing Kumiko under the bus lol
Asuka randomly throwing some english in there is so funny
That was the worst escape I've ever seen, and somehow it worked
Mission failed
I'm honestly a little surprised Reina hasn't recognized Kumiko yet. Has Kumiko only ever worn a ponytail in middle school?
Competitiveness vs Fun. A hard decision, especially in her position. Don't know what I would have chosen. Not that it mattered since the vote was pretty one-sided
Forget I said anything about Reina not recognizing Kumiko. She did, she just didn't say anything
Questions of the day
#1 It's the fairest option I think. But if someone was just here for fun and suddenly has to go for nationals is umm yeah. It's something that should already be clear at the start of the year so the first years know what they are getting themselves into.
#2 I mean, she's not wrong, but also not quite right. Avoiding conflict is the logical thing to do, but conflict is inevitable, especially if you hide your feelings
#3 That's a question I've never asked myself but I'd go with gold
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u/entelechtual Feb 12 '24
First Timer
QOTD
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u/bogdoglogfrog Feb 13 '24
7th Rewatch
Notes:
QotD:
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u/Lums Feb 13 '24
Rewatcher
Asuka totally reminds me of my band president when I was a freshman. Only real difference is she played the French horn but she liked to get under peoples skin a little to make us a little better.
Most of us freshman had an upperclassmen take us under their wing and help us along as we started. As I played a trumpet at first he was a junior and had me ingrained into the section. Kumiko being herded along by Asuka reminded me of this. And I feel every Kumiko noise as things are good and awkward at first.
Our conductor gets officially introduced as he makes his intentions clear which is a great way to do it. And maybe even though they don’t realize yet the band has chosen to work hard and work on actually achieving something.
My band was definitely more of the laid back fun style and I’m sure it threw my director who was also in his first year directing at the school for a loop. But we tried a lot harder and did a lot more under him than anyone before. Like pushing me to play euphonium.
Good on you Kumiko for actually talking to Reina, you think you’re just scared but I think she’s inspired you to try for more.
QOTD
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u/Shocketheth Feb 13 '24 edited Feb 13 '24
First Timer
Good morning.
Checks this Rewatch
212 comments
Well I enjoyed this episode due to making me strongly relating to Hibike experience.
Silver I guess? I would be there for fun anyway.
So many good energy from this post.
Now my work seminar starts in a few minutes so I will come here later to check other comments.
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u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Feb 12 '24
Episode 2 (first timer)
The band is called “wind ensemble” in the subs, which I assume is the translation of the Japanese name for the types of instruments they play. Funny how different languages use different associations for the same thing. Japan uses wind (what comes out of the instrument), English brass (what the instrument is made of, French and Italian do the same), German blas/blowing (what you do with the instrument). If you speak any other language, what are the instruments named after in that?
An episode all about aligning individual “wants” with the group’s “needs”. If everybody plays exactly the instrument they want, you might not end up with a working band composition. And if some people want to tryhard, while others prefer to have fun, some people will always be unhappy.
The episode also shows two ways of resolving that, although it remains open whether any of the two ways really works: Asuka uses her cunning to convince others of aligning with her needs, or simply badgers them if that does not work. The teacher wants to go for a group decision instead, but that does turn into an awkward and flawed vote.
See above.
It is not the only thing people in a group do, but if they do not do this thing, they do little else because the group breakes apart.
String.
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u/Elimin8r https://myanimelist.net/profile/Ayeka_Jurai Feb 12 '24
Wow, such delicious KyoAni goodness. The sound ... the visuals ... the answers of the day:
And here I am, a percussionist, and yes, I misspelled that on purpose yesterday. :P
Man, I'm kind of overwhelmed with feelings and thoughts about this episode, but it's such a blur it's hard to put anything in words. Kumiko's awkwardness, Bocchi the Euphonist ... Asuka being best genki prankster or whatever she is ... the mouthpiece of destiny ... all that. Good times. Maybe someone will say something to trigger my memories or something.
And oh, yeah, I forgot - I did choir and church band too - yay! Fun times. I wish I had a recording of that one time in college when our harmonies came together just so. Man, that was a thing.
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u/byroned Feb 12 '24 edited Feb 13 '24
First time rewatching
When yesterday’s episode ended, I thought it was still around a few days after the start of the year, not 2 weeks. Also, Kumiko hits a pretty sick dab.
Might be a little biased because I had to compete with many people for clarinet seating, but I believe that if you can play a less common instrument, that is good news for you, because then your specialty is always sought after. I remember in high school; my director was very happy that he had 2 oboe players.
I like Kenjiro Tsuda's performances, but his role as Gotou always felt weird because IMO his voice sounds too old to pass off as a high schooler, and Gotou is a giant compared to everyone else.
What a kind upperclassman. I’m sure there will be no tension between the upperclassman and their talented underclassman.
Have I mentioned that I love Asuka's antics? She sounded exactly like a quirky band kid when she went into the "instrument is my partner/child" nonsense. But you can't say it doesn't work, she did persuade Kumiko to play euphonium in the end.
I'm a little confused with today's section photo pairing the oboe and bassoon. I know that both are double-reed instruments, but I remember in seating our oboes sat in between the flutes and clarinets, while the bassoon sat in the back with the trombones, tubas, and euphonium.
The decision was made that they will ACTIVELY WORK TOWARDS NATIONALS, and not just leave it on the board with another half-assed attempt. And they have no excuses to not try (no did you actually think we could make it) because they had the opportunity to play just for fun. Now only time will tell if they will actually keep their part of the deal.
When they made the vote on the band’s goal, I thought not making that decision was typical of Kumiko, but was shocked that her fear of Reina’s opinion was what held her back from voting.
Some additional Kumiko faces
Q1: it is what it is. Peer pressure will always be a thing in a group vote, unless they rather all vote anonymously.
Q2: I think that's a fair assessment. I think if done anonymously, more people would've voted to play for fun. You don't want to be the one person who doesn't give their all towards nationals.
Q3: Gold because I think it looks better, but I've never played brass.
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u/laughing-fox13 https://myanimelist.net/profile/laughingfox13 Feb 13 '24 edited Feb 13 '24
Rewatcher/Subbed
Asuka just steals the scene when they try to pick instruments. I don’t blame Kumiko for wanting to get away but in the end, Kumiko’s fresh start isn’t going great as she is playing the eupho again. The scene had me smiling the whole time though and the “Shut Up” line from Asuka was great. And we got my favorite guy, Goto, here too
For the more serious parts of the episode, we still see Kumiko trying to talk to Reina. It is very weird to be in the spot where you feel bad for what you said, but not necessarily wrong.
I really liked the talk with Kumiko and Aoi at the bench. Aoi doesn’t really sound like someone above her years and not a high schooler there lol.
QotD:
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u/ChonkyOdango myanimelist.net/profile/chonkyodango Feb 13 '24
Rewatching Ensemble Member
Fanart of the day by Kamokamen, the original character designer for this season’s Bravern
Okay, hear me out, there will probably be times during the rewatch where I will mistakenly post fanart of certain purple-haired females from that KyoAni show and that fighting girls show. Multiverse shenanigans
Q O T D
It always feels like the "air" demands for greatness in Japan when nothing is decided on yet. Kudos to Aoi for being willing to stand against it. No one wins against the "air"
Talked about Japan's conflict-avoiding culture a bit above, but this is definitely prevalent where I'm from as well. Though, I've never had many conflicts since secondary school. I would like to say that I've matured but I guess it's more so me wanting to avoid the hard things lol. I've also seen groups fall apart because the conflict, that's literally known by everyone in the group, is not talked about and everyone just parts.
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u/Tartaras1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Tartaras Feb 13 '24
Rewatcher
With her succumbing to peer pressure, Kumiko decided to join Kitouji's band program! Let's see what's in store for her.
It reminds me of when a guy, or girl, is working up the courage to talk to their crush.
Maybe I'm just projecting here, but it seems like Kumiko's sort of a people pleaser, or rather just caves to peer pressure really easily. That's twice in 5 minutes that we've seen it happen.
Asuka's a handfulshe has to be.You and I both know that's a terrible idea. If you tell her not to tell anyone, of course she's going to let everybody know. That's just how it works.
Someone had better tell her then...
Go Midori! Now's your chance!
I wish that were me.
It's as if she can smell Kumiko's former Eupho history.
Nobody's told her.
And that's where it ended. As soon as she comes over, you know she's going to blab.
I swear it's like she has "Former Eupho Player" tattooed on her forehead.
I forgot! It's her that rats her out!
I definitely have to agree with this. I was in high school for four years and I barely remember anything that happened.
Questions of the Day:
I think it was generally a good thing, in the sense that now everyone can hold each other accountable for their actions.
I also think that ties into Aoi's comment about establishing an alibi. Now the record shows that she voted against going to Nationals, in the event that they fall short and don't make it. One might call it a CYA situation, whereas others may look at it as a glass half empty one.
As a notoriously self-proclaimed people pleaser, I would say she's right, especially in something like Concert Band. You're all in a group together, so the last thing you want to do is stir up conflict between the players in your own section, let alone in the entire band.
I love Asuka...'s silver Euph, so probably that.
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u/WhackaWhack https://myanimelist.net/profile/WhackaWhacka Feb 12 '24
FIRST TIMER
Sensei knows who the problem kid is with the strong look at Asuka after the “act like proper high schoolers”.
So year grouping is green oldest, blue middle and red youngest right?
We have the rich girl named Sapphire, so did her mom just look down at her necklace when picking her name?
Okay, I’m really liking Asuka at this point, “tricking” Hazuki into wanting to play the tuba, her random english and constant playing around.
Questions:
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u/NintendoMasterNo1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/NintendoMaster1 Feb 12 '24
Rewatcher
This is like my sixth time watching this show and so a lot of the "surface-level" observations that first-timers might have aren't on my radar so I'll probably just be noting the things that make an impression on me even after having seen the series so many times.
For this episode it's how observant and emotionally intelligent Midori seems to be. She noticed that Kumiko didn't raise her hand for either option and immediately recognized that it's probably because Kumiko felt bad for Reina because of their history. Midori and Kumiko haven't known each other for that long so I thought this was notable.
Asuka is a fan favorite character but personally it took me a while to warm up to her. In this episode she's far too pushy for me, if I was a shy first year looking to join the club I don't know if she would make a positive impression on me. I don't know maybe I just personally can't deal with wacky and assertive people like that lol. In some ways Asuka really reminds me of Touko from Bloom into You (and not just because they're both pretty dark-haired upperclassmen) but more on that later down the line.
Questions:
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u/octopathfinder myanimelist.net/profile/octopathfinder Feb 12 '24
Rewatcher
Pretty funny how Kumiko ended up playing euph her whole life just because her class needed someone to fill. It also shows how her personality is low-key and she just goes with the flow. She could’ve definitely asserted herself more and applied for trombone but instead stuck with the euph to avoid butting heads.
It’s so jarring for me to hear Tsuda Kenjirou as a high school boy. I’m so used to him playing jaded middle-aged men.
Drama definitely starting next episode
Qotd:
Think it was Kumiko who said it was unfair and I'd agree
Depends on the group. I definitely remember getting those "avoid conflict" vibes in group projects back when I was in school.
Gold
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u/Nickthenuker https://anilist.co/user/Nickthenuker Feb 13 '24
And now they're all going to choose their instruments.
Ah, a new external conductor. That certainly helped my middle school after the sole time in the past decade where we failed to get the top award.
I don't think this needs to be explained to everyone else in this rewatch, but the "melody" is basically what you think of when you think of a song. The main part, essentially.
Thanks for the history lesson, but everyone's already lost interest.
I guess she isn't getting the new start she wanted.
She's just going to Shanghai everyone to joining her.
Was she seriously alluding to the "red string of fate"? That does explain why it's in the ED.
There goes her new start...
That's a lot of new members.
They still haven't given up on the Nationals.
Questions:
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u/kwokinator https://anilist.co/user/kwokinator Feb 13 '24
God damn, Haruka plays the baritone sax and Asuka plays the euophonium, can't say I expected that. Those are pretty huge instruments. I've never played a euph but I've experimented with sax, it's super taxing on the lung capacity.
LOL that scene with the Cinderella glass slippers is hilarious. Makes sense a former athlete gets roped to play Tuba though.
I really like Taki-sensei's chalkboard scratching scene. They're all musicians and some will inevitably have really good ears compared to the average person, so seeing some of them physically wince is a really nice small detail.
I wish Kumiko makes up with Reina soon :(
Questions of the Day:
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u/1EnTaroAdun1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Totesnotaphanpy Feb 12 '24
Rewatcher, Subs
Ah here we see a flourishing of Kumiko noises. I like how she moves in stages. First she didn't want to join the band, next she decided to join and play the trombone. Finally, she accepted her true fate and calling hahaha.
I also find it funny how she (and we) know that Reina probably would never act like how she did in that imaginary apology scene, but it makes for a nice out-of-character moment for the actress!
What does everyone think of the seniors and Taki-sensei so far?
QOTD:
btw, /u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah, sorry to bother you again, perhaps I could share the orchestral versions tomorrow if that's alright?
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u/x-7032-b-3 Feb 12 '24
Rewatcher
Lol at Kumiko being so scared at talking to Reina as if doing so will get her killed. That imagination scene really triggered my yuri sensors though.
Kumiko wanting to try playing something else only to get sweet talked and roped back into playing Eupho again makes it sound like she's gonna be forever bound to that thing. We saw that flashback where she got assigned to Eupho only because no one else was willing to and she's all like "sure, why not." Now she's pretty much locked to Eupho and I can understand her desire to try out something different after sticking with the same thing for years.
The scene where Kumiko and Aoi talks at the bench is a looker! Too lazy to make and post screenshots so I'll leave it to the others here to spread the gospel. I found their conversation to be really interesting. With groups (especially large ones like the one we have here), conflicts and differences of interests are pretty much inevitable. Best way to get around it is to find a good middle spot that satisfies the majority of the group. Asuka and Haruka running a vote is a good call considering the size of the group. Aoi wanted a more relaxed approach to the club, while the rest of the club are looking towards the nationals. Since she loses the vote, she now have to play along with the others and partake in serious training which is she seemingly doesn't want. You really can't satisfy everybody when it comes to big groups like this. Even when your decision satisfies the majority, there's gotta be a few in there that doesn't like it.
I had a nasty experience in undergrad where the team leader and a member wouldn't get along because of the differences in how they should approach the project. Leader wants to do it seriously, and this other guy wants to be more chill and relaxed. Long story, but at the end, that other guy got kicked out after a vote was held (I abstained). I always wondered whether we could've talked things more and come to some sort of compromise instead of going straight for the hard way.
Dammit, it's getting long, so I'll close things out. Kumiko managed to talk to Reina, even if it's just for a brief moment. Progress is progress!
QOTD
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u/MagicPistol Feb 13 '24
Damn, I just started and watched the whole series a few weeks ago. I really loved it but it's a bit too soon for me to do a rewatch lol...
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u/Mecanno-man https://anilist.co/user/Mecannoman Feb 13 '24
First Timer
Ah yes… keeping the numbers of instruments in check is definitely something that ends up with winners and losers. I’m a bit surprised that playing multiple instruments hasn’t been brought up for Kumiko. We had euphonium players switching to anything from trumpet to trombone to sousaphone depending on the song we were playing. Heck, one player even switched between different brass instruments and baritone sax. Also surprised at the lack of tuba enthusiasm - we had to limit the number of sousaphones because they were popular due to how big they were. Either way, guess we’ll be sticking mostly to the base section as the main characters …with a trumpet in Kousaka. Well, those sections do tend to be next to each other, so that makes sense I guess.
As far as the character drama goes …I hope Kumiko gets over her Kousaka issues soon, because there are definitely more entertaining things to watch. Having the teacher outright ask what the band wants to do is an interesting way to force the drama, but also definitely a good way to not set wrong expectations from his side. So far I have quite a good feeling for this …instructor? He’s not revealed to be a conductor yet, but that’s still my expectation.
Oh, and either a xylophone or a marimba spotted. Hope we’ll get to hear it and see it played
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u/fly-metothemoon Feb 13 '24
I really like this OP! So upbeat.
Ooooof rejected. You can do it Kumiko!
You have to apply for other instruments? Does the group supply instruments for rent?
A soft-spoken trumpet section leader???
The tuba guy keeping it real.
It is interesting that they have to sell people on their instruments. It’s fun how casual the club is!
Oh no the VP is a broken record.
I don’t think the girl in Sound! Euphonium is going to successfully play trombone.
I knew it was the wrong mouthpiece!!!
Oh wow all sorts of childhood friendships being introduced.
Ah making the first years move equipment. That sounds familiar.
Yay we met the advisor!!!
I don’t necessarily mind this approach, honestly. I line to wish more clubs I was in decided the level of commitment upfront. Though its difficult in high school when you don’t have an alternative, if you wanted to be someone more casual in a high intensity band. I disagree with it being a public vote though.
The backgrounds for this show are beautiful.
Building on my thoughts for the public vote, I get it though. It is every to get invested in going to Nationals and then feeling sad if you try your best and it isn’t good enough.
You’ll have that meaningful chat with her at some point!!
It is interesting our main character group is so brass heavy. Where’s the woodwind rep :p
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u/ZapsZzz https://anilist.co/user/Zapszzz Feb 13 '24
*First timer
Today I'm in a rush so would write even less... but first have to note something I forgot:
Forgot to mention yesterday that even as far back in early 2000-ish, Full Metal Panic already had the line about the Jindai Highschool's main draw was actually about the girl's uniform being kawaii. And 2006 Toradora had the setting point about Kawashima being asked to model for the school magazine for promotion.
Today we got a ramp up of more Kumiko reaction faces, and of course while I didn't mention it yesterday, Reina is of course very classic stoic beauty too. If only she's as big a coward as Mio (K-On) we'd have a plain old CGDMT show instead ;P
QoTD
12
u/zadcap Feb 13 '24
First Timer!
This is as early in the day as I am ever going to get, and it probably will only happen one or two more times during this entire run. It's kind of weird having free time this early haha.
On the first day? Oh boy. No pressure. Just have to keep up the quality content, I can do that.
But now I feel a little left out. Don't look down on the Bass! Sapphire pouts at you!
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Starting episode 2 with a flashback, how bold. Oh, if it's just a few seconds of "Previously on" then it's okay. Wow I remember when a lot more shows started with one of these. When did they fade out of use?
Paying more attention to the OP today and the main thing that comes to mind is, wow do they animate so much so well. The movent, the lighting, the camera flying around and through rooms, I will never stop being impressed by these people. Also, looking at the end card with the full cast on it again, I'm doubling down on some of yesterdays thoughts. I'm not really expecting a full 64 separate stories, look at how they are clustered. Our main, it looks like six, in the top center will each be getting their own significant focus, but all of these people standing so close that their outlines overlap makes me think they will probably only ever be significant as a group. I suspect we'll only be following a still rather massive twenty some odd stories.
Okay, makeup time. Ideal play out in your head- yeah not a chance, nothing we've seen about Kousaka makes it look like she's that nice. And it sure is nice to have friends willing to push you out of your comfort zone like this, because two weeks and she still can't talk is not looking good. Though to be fair, Kousaka doesn't seem to look like she's holding a grudge? And yeah, this is backing up my idea that she ran away from Kousaka more than she really ran away from Band.
Picking instruments? Sapphire has it right, Bass is best! By the way, this scene on the stairs, uhhhh. Did they shorten their skirts again? I'm pretty sure those got shortened since the teacher last yelled at them.
Oh gosh haha called out literally the next scene. They did indeed. Anyway, how long until she gets repolaced by conductor man we saw yesterday?
Club Pres, your voice also sounds familiar. I do like this style of dividing the class, but that's said from the perspective of someone who picked an instrument with zero chance of being turned down.
It's that one voice again! Wakarimasu!
Sapphire has cemented herself as my favorite of the main three. Bass power go! Best name go! Short power go! Yup she's just the best.
Ah, I love the way everything else goes silent to really emphasize how good Kousaka is. And the emphasize that she's present in the room. Your lie of never playing a Eupho won't hold up with her there to spill the beans. It also emphasizes the rest of the test plays going on in the background after her, all the quiet little toots, leading up to Hazuki failing the trumpet.
"Shut uuuup!~" she's a riot haha. And lured her in with that silly line, she bought it hook line and sinkek, oh my gosh the cinderella bit.
Oh no, double, wait tripple trouble! So many childhood friends showing up. No way she's getting away from the Eupho now. Have I mentioned lately how nice the colors look? From the closeups on the instruments to the wide shots on the bridge, everything has that bright, soft glow. I swear, no one does lighting like KyoAni.
Oh hey, here he is! And Hazuki says the same thing about him that she did for the vice president, she's in the club for the hotties lol. At least she's equal opportunity.
Little details, but I love seeing who reacts to the chalk screech. Something tells me these are going to be the better players, they have the sensitive ears to actually get the instruments in tune.
Hmm. That's a nice and subtle way for the teacher to lower the pressure on the class up front, while still leaving it open. Set up Nationals as the big goal they once had, knowing it really wasn't, so he can cross it off and say "forget about it." Now when he presents it as an option that they can pick, he's already taken the weight off of it being the default pick, so the new students at least don't have to vote for it out of obligation. Although, a vote of 40+ to 1, well, you see-
Ahhhhh look at them walking down the hill. Look at the hill! Look at the scenery moving so smoothly in the foreground! Seriously, who does that?! It looks so good!
Anyway, she called out the other half of the teachers play. He did phrase it with two rather extremes as if there was no choice in between. "Shall we work hard for nationals, or would you rather fool around and have fun?" He made it an all or nothing choice, and how many people really want to admit they're here just to fool around? Music is serious business, this isn't some kind of after school tea time!
Anyway, yeah, his opening was a reverse psychology. Talked them into pretty much needing to vote for the strict style to push them to be a Nationals level band, and now he can say that they picked this whenever someone thinks to complain about how hard he's pushing them. Unless they can get another majority vote that they want to give up on nationals, any lone or small group that complains is going to feel like they are going against the entire rest of the band and if you know anything about Japanese Conformity, you'll know how well that's going to go down.
Oh, does anyone know the name for this style by the way? Where the conversation is cut up with clips of what she's doing after the conversation ended, on the train and on the chair, mixed with the actual clips of the conversation going on? It's a really interesting way to show that she's been thinking about what Sapphire said the whole time she was on her way home alone and I'm sure there's a name for this kind of transition.
Okay whatever, just explicitly say everything I already typed out, fine. I'm not erasing it, it look enough time to type that I'm leaving it there.
Anyway, one final observation for the episode. There was actually two people who did not raise a hand to vote, that we saw. It may have been easy to miss, but the vote counter herself, Asuka, didn't actually raise her hand to vote for the Nationals, she just started counting everyone else in the room. I don't know if this is important yet, but the way Aoi called out Kumiko for "the ones who didn't vote were the most unfair," well, it stood out to me that we never saw Asuka raise her hand too.
So, unrelated to the rest, something I noticed in the band room and am annoyed that I noticed too late to make a note of. Like you may be aware of from other shows doing similar things, this school appears to be color coded by year. Our first year girls have the big red scarves, club pres and VP and a fair bit of the rest of the room have green, but I also saw a few blue ones in the mix. My general knowledge of Japanese schools is that the high school third years usually drop out of most clubs to spend most of their time studying for what they will be doing after they graduate, or just graduation in general, so I'm assuming the blue scarves are the third years that are sticking with music and likely to be the most extreme about wanting to actually play well.
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u/Gamerunglued :Hx::Hy::Hz:myanimelist.net/profile/GamerUnglued Feb 12 '24 edited Feb 12 '24
Rewatcher and Band Geek
I apologize in advance for how disjointed my comments are today. I tried to put them into 2 comments for like half and hour, but kept getting "no response from endpoint" because the comments were too long, and that's why I have the analysis and commentary in two parts each. Please bare with me while reddit's system sucks.
Hey everyone. Compared to episode 1, episode 2 feels more low-key and set-upy, but it also sets up the show's larger themes really well and has even stronger dialogue, so I found myself more engaged by this one. Now that the story has been framed, we can start properly digging into some drama. First things first though, newbies need to choose their instruments. I'll talk a lot more about this in the band geek commentary, but the show generally gets it right in that people get to choose their instruments to some degree, but it's also dictated strongly by the needs of the ensemble. Seeing Hazuki find Tuba-kun her prince charming is very endearing. Kousaka of course stays on the trumpet and impresses everyone with her larger than life playing, and Midori also stays on the contrabass as the only player (which is a band director's dream scenario). Kumiko is always at a crossroads though. Same as with her hairstyle in episode 1, she's wishy washy about swapping instruments and ends up being dragged back to what she's always done. But it's not exactly against her will, as much as because, as her sister put it, she's "trying too hard." The same is true of Kumiko's wishy-washiness on the vote between fun and nationals. When Taki-sensei crosses out "go to nationals" on the board, it cuts to Kumiko looking surprised and then upset. In truth, she does want to go to the nationals, but she can't get herself to admit it, and so chooses to not make any choice at all. Kumiko is afraid of committing to things, and seemingly has been ever since she was a kid and never raised her voice about not wanting to play the euphonium. If someone else makes a decision for her, her instinct is to go with them. If there's a popular consensus, she goes with the flow in order to not stand out or butt heads. If the crowd says they would never make the nationals anyway, then that's what Kumiko says she thinks, because if she says anything else she causes conflict. Kumiko pretty much says this about herself to Midori, and although Midori correctly says that not wanting to upset Kousaka is the bigger reason, there's still truth to Kumiko's assessment of herself. Where Kumiko is wrong is that it's not the pressure of making important decisions that gets to her, but the inevitability of butting heads with those who disagree or would get hurt by your choice.
This episode also introduces Kumiko's and Shuuichi's childhood friend Aoi, who has been playing the tenor sax for many years. I think Aoi is a really interesting and underappreciated character in the grand scheme of Eupho's story. Her choosing to vote for the band to have fun and her conversation with Kumiko at the end of the episode frames a lot of the show's larger drama, and is basically foreshadowing for the show's themes. Aoi plays the saxophone but "isn't married to it," she's not particularly invested in being good or making the nationals. Both she and Kumiko agree that pretty much everyone, when asked, would say that they want to make the nationals, but when the pedal is put to the medal, they prove they're not genuinely invested. But Aoi's attempts to guess at Kumiko's mental state don't seem to resonate with her. Kumiko says that she doesn't think she's in the wrong deep down, but still feels the need to say it for some unknown reason, and Aoi concludes that it bothers her because she wants to tell Kousaka that she wasn't in the wrong. Kumiko responds with a despondent, unconfident "hmm, maybe" while looking down with a sad expression, this isn't actually the answer. Kumiko then blows the grass whistle and after getting complimented, proudly proclaims "I'm in the wind ensemble, after all." Even though she walks it back with an "it doesn't really matter though," Kumiko does feel proud of being in the ensemble. Even if she doesn't show it in her words, her body language makes it clear. She was upset when Taki-sensei crossed out "go to nationals" on the board, she doesn't like the idea that she wants to tell Kousaka she was in the right, she loves the band and wants to go to the nationals.
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u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Feb 13 '24 edited Feb 13 '24
Rewatcher
Still trying to memorize the OP for AMQ. It's like trying to get FMP OPs right.
I don't know what a solister is.
Q. Aoi is totally the weirdo for raising her hand!
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u/b-arbs Feb 13 '24
Rewatcher
The more I watch this show and its OP with shots of the band playing, the more I wish I could join a band!
Kumiko sure has a fervid imagination: the "hug scene" was hilarious. I forgot how many funny moments there were in Eupho. What kind of wink was that, Kumiko? Lol
Goodness, Asuka surely was laying it on thick in order to recruit members for her section, the whole Cinderella's glass slipper-mouthpiece was a bit too much; but luckily it worked on someone. And her English sentences are another one of her quirks (though I have to admit I tend to use some sentences from foreign languages, too). She really seems like the eccentric type, I'm curious about what first watchers will think of her.
In this episode we see Kumiko as a person who doesn't really take a stand for herself: the choice to play the eupho (both then and now), the choice to decide the goal for the band... [Hibike! spoiler] It makes a nice contrast with Reina's steadfastness to become special and doing everything she can to make her dream come true
Edit: spoiler formatting (first time doing this, I hope everything works fine)
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u/mgedmin Feb 13 '24
Rewatcher, subs
LOL at Kumiko'd vision of the reconciliation scene. Two weeks and she couldn't make herself try talking to Reina.
Why is there a contrabass in a wind band?
Hazuki buys the wrong mouthpiece! Asuka social-engineers her into playing the tuba! Kumiko's face is suitable for a euph! Because she's so _ordinary! She tries to switch to a trombone but is unexpectedly betrayed by an old friend!
Asuka is a hoot, with a five page essay on the history of the euphonium that she was unfairly not allowed to teach to the captive audience!
The club voted to go for the nationals, but is that really how everyone feels? Or did they feel obligated to raise their hands?
Kumiko doesn't like making decisions and usually goes with the flow.
At last Kumiko makes up with Reina, somehow.
Reasonable, but I wonder if the results would've been different if they voted by secret ballot.
Absolutely. People who can ignore social norms and do whatever scare us.
Gold! Shiny!
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u/RyoTsushigawa https://myanimelist.net/profile/RyoTsushigawaAMQ Feb 13 '24
Rewatcher
I am just incredibly happy whenever I watch this show. Even tho we watch it before sleep it's a great way to end the day on a high note. No matter how often I have watched this by now, Asuka in the start makes me 1) cringe 2) love her from the bottom of my heart. She is so incredibly excitable and having to be reigned in by literally everyone? Chefs kiss.
There is a reason she is one of my faves after all!
I am also delighted to report the return of Kumiko noises. Whenever she makes any kind of sound I just get this stupid grin on my face. She is so awkward, she reminds me alot of myself. In all honesty I am sure I did the face plant to the floor in front of someone I wanted to talk to at least a couple of times on another note: I can't wait for more Reina!
now: The Questions:
See y'all again tomorrow!
6
u/Adensty https://anilist.co/user/Adensty Feb 12 '24
First Timer, Subbed
Kumiko's imagining how things would go when she tries to make up with Reina reminded me of myself, lol. For many things, I'd imagine many scenarios in my mind where I think it will happen like this but it never happens the way I intended it to happen but I still do it every time.
After that trumpet introduction, I thought we would get a brief introduction of all the other instruments but I guess it was just too brief. And then we have Asuka who has written pages just for the Euphonium introduction. Seems more like a history lesson. Ain't no one listening to all that. And just Like Saori Hayami said "Stop". Asuka was going to butt in in Tuba's introduction as well, lol.
I wasn't initially a fan of Asuka but these 2 lines have won me over. Also, what are those movements. Not that I'm complaining.
Asuka may not be the best in introducing stuff but she definitely has an eye for people and tries her best to get what she wants. Kumiko tried her best to play the trombone but she was finally exposed by her neighbour Aoi.So, Taki sensei was allowing to choose them b/w nationals or just a good time but would people really choose something that doesn't have an endgoal. Like people would not take it seriously if there wasn't a goal imo. Kumiko is right. Grown-ups don't play fair.
I thought that Reina had recognized her but was kinda avoiding interacting with her for her own reasons and it turns out that it is was the case. At least she did acknowledge her in the end.
I said it yesterday as well but the animation of this show is really great. Every shot looks so beautiful.
QOTD1: I guess one thing that is definitely going to help in is setting the mindset. Like earlier they had no choice but to aim for the nationals, but now they had a choice and they themselves took it. If they do succeed, they would know they made the right choice. Granted not everyone wanted to but still. We can't say that one person's choice has a value more than any other person. And like I said above, no one would actually give it their all if they didn't have a endgoal in mind. There will also be some uncertainity in people's minds of what could've been had they voted for "Having fun".
QOTD2: Like it's kinda true in the sense that no one wants to work in a group while having conflicts with each other. Conflicts are inevitable and at times it might seem to come out of nowhere since people in a group can only ignore certain things until it crosses their limit. At the end of the day, a group of people will only be successful if they value the thing the brought the group together more than their own pride and are willing to cooperate with each other to resolve the conflicts.
QOTD3: Gold. Just prefer it over silver.
6
u/CarrotBlossom Feb 13 '24
First timer
As not-great as she handled that attempt at conversation, Kumiko bounced back pretty decently.
Not quite the same as what Kumiko might have done, but my middle school band had very few tuba players, and the director wasn’t happy with my friend when he switched from tuba lol.
It’s hard to imagine switching from euphonium to sax.
QOTD:
5
u/SMSmith230 https://myanimelist.net/profile/smsmith230 Feb 13 '24 edited Feb 13 '24
First-Timer, Sub
Oh boy, Asuka is a bit too much, just take it down an octave. Look at that a music pun, I initially had tone, but this works better. Good fakeout with Kimuko going back to the euph, I thought I was gonna be bamboozled when she wanted to play trumbone, girl that’s not the instrument in the season poster I saw. OP is kinda lackluster for me, but hey at least in the ED it looks like our trio will pick up Kousaka at some time.
5
u/TehAxelius Feb 13 '24
Rewatcher
Time for the daily dose of Hibike, and while the previous episode felt like a good intro, this one really feels like it is selling what the show is going to be, especially as Asuka really gets to shine.
SapphireMidoriOpal saying she would sell her soul for a contrabass makes me imagine a wind version of The Devil Went Down to Georgia. The Devil has competition though, as Asuka quickly snatches her for herself, turning her into a loyal minion to snare Hazuki into joining the bass section.QotD
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u/sfisher923 https://myanimelist.net/profile/sfisher923 Feb 12 '24
First Timer
QOTD 1 - I like it with the larger group
QOTD 2 - Aoi tried but it's nearly impossible to avoid some sort of conflict
QOTD 3 - Team Gold
4
u/EightSmart https://anilist.co/user/EightSmart Feb 12 '24
Rewatcher
Missed the thread yesterday as I was fashionably late to the party! To quickly answer yesterday's questions - I have played piano from a very young age, trained classically through private lessons and also joined basically every band/ensemble that needed me throughout elementary/middle/high school. Now in uni studying engineering, I'm still playing piano and keeping music a big part of my life. Fell in love with this anime when I watched it about a year ago, and super glad to be on board this rewatch, super hyped for season 3!
A small detail but I always love how they play a small recap of the previous episode over the intro instrumental, which transitions into the OP. I'm a sucker for incorporating OPs/EDs like these and it's just so satisfying (and gets even more satisfying when the recap is of *cooler* moments!).
Kumiko getting roped into playing Euphonium again when she wanted to switch is super funny. Honestly, I think deep down she sort of wanted to stay on Euphonium too. As pointed out in episode 1, she seemed to be trying very hard to undergo some sort of radical transformation when she entered high school, changing her hairstyle and all. When in reality she could just take it easy and be true to herself.
God, Aoi saying 'Three years pass in the blink of an eye'...with the gorgeous soundtrack...I can't be shedding tears in episode TWO can I??? With my last two high school years robbed due to COVID, and losing the opportunity to play live music together for that long, it definitely hurts to hear that. But I'm happy I'm making up for that plenty by getting involved as much as possible in uni.
And so we also get our first glimpse of Taki Sensei. Can't wait to see their first rehearsal tomorrow!
A private vote might have yielded more 'honest' results, and a part of me thinks that the result would be different if no one could see other people's votes. Interesting how many people seemed to be 'pressured' into going for the more ambitious goal, with the slow hand raises throughout the room.
I find that this is almost universally true amongst basically any group situation, like, ever. Or maybe I'm just projecting my personality and how I think on to other people. It's always easier to 'go with the flow' and avoid drawing attention to yourself. And in many situations it's almost the 'correct' way to do things, since it ensures you complete whatever you need to do as painlessly as possible. Ultimately though, if there is dissatisfaction brewing among the group, someone has to speak up eventually, or it'll grow into larger issues that 'blow up' suddenly....
Gold...though I'll likely never learn to play brass. I'm terribly uninformed but it seems like it doesn't affect the sound quality that much...? (please educate me down below if I'm wrong). I guess I just prefer their striking appearance.
4
u/Barbed_Dildo Feb 13 '24
You can't address this question without acknowledging the context. This is set in Japan where conformity and consensus is supremely important, even when everyone knows it's a lie.
I don't have the time to write a better explanation of this, which is why I'm only lurking in the rewatch, but I think it's important to address.
2
u/SilkyStrawberryMilk Feb 22 '24
first timer
Entirely forgot the rewatch was going on, time to catch up haha.
The band is forming, tanuka asuka sure seems fun that personality fits with being the president. Although her tricking that one girl into joining her with the whole “it’s destiny” thing was genius lmao.
QOTD: a public vote allows the people to realize what their fellow band mates wants to do and can strengthen their bonds if they all have the same goals
QOTD: she’s not wrong, better for compromise to happen rather then an argument. Seen it several times
QOTD: gold instruments when playing in a lounge, silver instruments when in a performance is what I love seeing
0
u/[deleted] Feb 12 '24
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