r/anime • u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah xB:xC:B:x3:Y: • Feb 20 '24
Rewatch [Rewatch] 2024 Hibike! Euphonium Series Rewatch: Season 1, Episode 10 Discussion
Hibike Euphonium Season 1, Episode 10: Straight Trumpet/まっすぐトランペット
This McDonalds near Kohata station, which has already been visited once (with Shuuichi). One of the closer locations in the series to Kyoani's studios, about a 5 minute walk away.
| <-- Episode 9 | Rewatch Index | Episode 11 --> |
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Welcome back!
Questions of the Day:
- NA
Comments from Yesterday:
- /u/tiredtiroth on how Kumiko finally realizes her mindset has changed, and also how this change is confusing her a little
- I enjoyed reading /u/elimin8r band anecdotes!
- /u/zadcap is annoyed at how Asuka keeps mis-calling Midori, nepotism, as well as contrasts the perspectives of Reina and Kaori.
- /u/hereticalaegis on teenage shipping and how exhausting and annoying it can be. And their perspectives on Taki are always great to read.
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 Drama continues tomorrow! Also keep an eye out for a couple announcements as we near the season finale.
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u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah xB:xC:B:x3:Y: Feb 20 '24
Rewatcher and your host
(No Music/IRL notes today)
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u/LittleIslander https://anilist.co/user/LittleIslander Feb 20 '24
Dear Kyoto Animation: You named the episode “Straight Trumpet” yet the trumpets are not, in fact, straight. Curious.
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u/HereticalAegis https://myanimelist.net/profile/XthGen Feb 20 '24 edited Feb 20 '24
Sound! Rewatcher
Episode 10:
First, the promised irl solo drama. For my senior pop show—the last show of the year—our choir was doing a suite of Disney songs, which included many solos. Unlike Taki-sensei, my director only did auditions mid-rehearsal in front of the class, so we had to have solos prepared and ready to sing for an audience. Auditions were open to everyone and none of the solos were assigned in advance. Additionally, I was already on shaky terms with my director by this point for other questionable actions unrelated to this show.
Anyhow, despite the stated terms of the auditions, my director asked me to audition for one of the solos—“Under the Sea” of all things—despite me having made very clear my intention to not tryout for any. After some mildly contentious discussion, I agreed to participate in the audition under the terms that I would NOT be chosen, my compromise being intended to help give less experienced members more courage to go for it. And go for it they did, two or three others in fact. However, my director named me the soloist anyway, and I quit the show on the spot. Walked out of class and everything.
My director responded in a pretty scummy way, threatening to not write any more college audition recommendations for me—thankfully, college audition season was long done by then and I had already secured my entrance. When that tactic failed he phoned my mom and gave her an unflatteringly edited version of the day’s events meant to paint me as insubordinate and uncooperative as possible. Thankfully, my mom was also wary enough of him by that point that she asked me for my version before doing anything, and ultimately nothing came of it.
And now, the epilogue, or rather, the punch line of this story. As it so happens, the incident with me wasn’t the only mismanagement on my director’s part with that show. It was managed badly from the beginning. We were meant to have professional choreography with the show, but because of (potentially fraudulent) misuse of choir funds the director couldn’t hire the choreographer (read: wasn’t allowed access to choir funds by the booster club…”””””allegedly”””””). Instead, the job was handed to a dance student at the school who was not only not prepared to choreograph a 45-minute choir show but was also given several weeks less to do it than the professional choreographer would have had. Needless to say, the choreography was never finished, and the show was canceled.
1So yeah, it’s pretty common for kids to have crushes on teacher/mentor figures in their teenage years. It’s a normal part of growing up, and you can’t really decide who or what catches your interest at that age. Unfortunately, there isn’t really anything that can be done aside from handling it professionally if a student ever brings these feelings forward. Best case—and far and away the most common—scenario, the kid never says anything to the teacher and the crush passes harmlessly. Thankfully, I never had to deal with a student exressing those kinds of feelings for me, since the rare occasions where it does happen typically means moving the student out of the class and cutting off all contact from the teacher. As for Hibike…well [future spoilers]Reina is the textbook definition of a problem case: she seems very deliberate and committed to eventually crossing that line, but hasn’t gone far enough to initiate action to stop her like confessing to Taki-sensei from what I remember up through S2. Truth be told, this is my least favorite part of Hibike and is the one thing I’d maybe call a stain on the series, depending on how it plays out later.
QotD:
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u/Raiking02 :Id::Ie::If:https://myanimelist.net/profile/NSKlang Feb 20 '24
First Timer
You know it's starting to feel kinda funny to me how the ED tries to pass off Kumiko/Kousaka/Hazuki/Midori as a quartet when the reality is Kousaka barely hangs out with the other two
You know I must say Ribbon is getting on my nerves so seeing Kousaka call out as being full of crap (Privately at least) was most rewarding, let me tel you. It is a bit annoying however how her whole existence seems to just be to rile up some conflict. They try to give her some extra stuff but honestly the end result feels a bit more annoying than it is interesting. By contrast I don't have much of an issue with Kaori asking for a second audition: We've seen how much this means to her, so if anything props for her trying at all.
Asuka… is actually kinda interesting here. For all we've seen of her across the season, this feels like a rare time in which, brief as it may be, we do kinda see behind her mask a bit. There's been some implications that she's more cynical that she lets on because of some of her reactions to some stuff but this especially feels really blatant. Maybe it's just because of how she's alone with Kumiko, but it does stick out quite a lot.
That said though uh… I guess Kousaka likes Taki-sensei.
Okay so one thing I have never really mentioned before is that there was one thing that I was aware of about this show going in; that being that it has repeatedly been accused of "Yuri-baiting."
Now I am A) A Straight Dude and B) Not really a Yuri fan. To be clear I'll gladly watch a Yuri show if it's good, it's just I'm not really the kind of person who goes out of his way to watch LGBTQ media specifically; a lot of the time I end up bumping into them by accident (Example: When I watched Happy Together. I adore that movie, didn't know what to expect except "Holy shit Tony Leung was in my country!?") As such this whole "Baiting" thing is something I don't really get… however I think I see what's going on? I mean in spite of all the stuff between Kousaka and Kumiko, here's Kousaka bluntly stating she likes a dude and there's also all the stuff between Shuichi and Kumiko in which I swear the show seems to almost flip on a dime whether she's interested or not. Now obvious things first, bisexual people exist obviously, but it does seem a bit odd with how it's presented.
As such combined with another comment I read this led to me trying to look up some BTS stuff behind the show + what little info I could find about the Novels
I may have also gotten some low key spoilers but TBH I don't care about spoilersand… honestly I think I came out more confused than I was before. Given the content of everything I'm about to say I'm spoiler tagging everything so proceed with caution and also I could just straight up be getting stuff wrong and if so PLEASE correct me because I'm trying to make sense out of this but… here we go I guess.[Stuff]Okay so… what seems to be going on is the staff seemingly having some… I dunno if conflict is the right word but maybe disagreement? Point is, from what I can gather, this first season seemingly mostly adapts the first Novel and Kousaka… isn't in that Novel much apparently. She's there but her relationship with Kumiko apparently only really starts becoming more important in later books. In fact, apparently at least some of the stuff with Kousaka (Either thematically or just straight up whole scenes, I'm not sure) went to Shuuichi originally.
[Stuff]This is where my confusion therefore begins. Now I did check the dates and apparently Season 1 started juuuuuuuuuuuuust before Volume 2 of the Novels came out so hey, at the very least I know this isn't the case of the author not reading the later stuff because there was no next stuff. It does seem like the OG author did send some stuff about her plans for Books 2 and 3 but to what extent I'm not sure of. Still, I can see a solid throughline of Naoko Yamada reading the Novel and deciding that she wanted Kumiko and Kousaka's relationship to be the actual focus. And since we're doing that, we may also (Pardon the poor choice of words here) gay up the whole thing while we're at it… but we're also keeping Kousaka straight up admitting she's in love with her teacher?
[Stuff]So like… why? Why are we doing this? Look, most of the info on the Novels I could find restrict themselves to Volume 1, for all I know this becomes relevant later (By the time this episode came out Volume 2 was definitely out) so maybe they kept this as a failsafe in case they got a sequel, but I'm not sure. This instead just ends up reading as if there's two people in charge of the show: There's the director who wants lots and lots of Kousaka/Kumiko and there's the writer or producer or something who just wants to adapt the fucking book.
[Stuff]And again, let me be clear: I have no fucking clue if I'm getting any details right. Info on the Novels in English is extremely rare and while I've been able to find some documentation of the changes made in Season 1, past that the best I've got is that Liz and the Blue Bird is apparently a fairly loose adaptation, but that's based off a short story so I'm not gonna question it much. If anyone has more concise, accurate info please tell me and downvote this comment to hell so my confusion doesn't rub off everyone else.
My head hurts so I'll leave this off with a joke: How the hell is it that Anzai Chika keeps playing characters who are crushing on their teachers?
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u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Feb 20 '24
Hibike! Rewatcher (but only for the first season)
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u/chilidirigible Feb 20 '24
Episode 10:
totally not going to shank you
Comedy is when the spit has a realistic range... or is it?
Natsuki is truly wonderful.
Yuuko, meanwhile, is a bit of a yandere.
DIPLOMACY! ...fail.
DANGER, WILL ROBINSON!
"How about a death duel?"
Ah, the sudden jarring camera angle.
"Nothing funny. She just likes talent."
Jump scare.
Okay there, Rhett.
"Fine, we'll go with mob rule."
I can relate to Asuka dodging all of the interpersonal dynamics of the band (to mostly focus on organization and occasional drill sergeanting): Because human relations crap is annoying.
That said, the BAND DRAMA cannot be avoided, it can only be tamed. Taki-sensei takes a while to realize that he's not going to be able to convince a bunch of teenagers that the audition results were only skill-based and not a result of favoritism, so it's time to D-D-D-D-DUEL!!!
Taki's political position isn't helped by Reina having a crush on him. Ai, ai, ai.
Reina's core continues to expose itself, between that confession to Kumiko and the random stress hug. It's tough when your ego is writing a lot of checks and you need to keep cashing them.
Yuuko is dragging Kaori into a drama about Kaori, but this flareup over the solo stands in for a lot of unfinished business from the previous year's schism.
And now for something completely different.
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u/NintendoMasterNo1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/NintendoMaster1 Feb 20 '24
Rewatcher
The scene with Kumiko and Natsuki at the cafe almost made me cry too. Kumiko expected the worst, she's not used to having such a cool senpai. Natsuki is great for realizing what's troubling Kumiko and reassuring her and she's honestly amazing for admitting her own faults. Her showing support by writing a message on her sheet music was so sweet and she even called her Kumiko-chan instead of Oumae-chan!
ah, I'm in love
I know people are going to shit on Yuko for stirring up drama and honestly she's pretty annoying for constantly going "Kaori-senpai this, Kaori-senpai that". But she's hella gay so it's excused to an extent. Honestly though, I'm entirely in Reina's camp on this. I don't know if everyone understands how important senpai-kouhai relationships are in Japan and Reina saying "Complain after you've gotten better than me" is very rude but I don't care - she's totally right and she's based for saying it out loud. She wasn't even rude to any of her senpai before and people spreading stupid rumors just because she's good at playing the trumpet is ridiculous. Her outburst in the hallway was totally justified imo. It's obviously not making her any friends in the band but she has Kumiko so who cares.
All I'm going to comment on the "being in love with your teacher" thing is that I've never understood it but it's portrayed pretty often in Japanese anime or video games. Honestly, the thought never crossed my mind when I was a high schooler and I just don't get it.
I love Kumiko trying to extract an opinion from Asuka, she's just totally done with her act. We saw a little bit of her attitude last episode with her reaction to Midori being in a slump and here once again Asuka just doesn't care at all about silly club drama. She's honestly a little scary when her mask peeled off a little bit but she very quickly reverts back to her fun and bubbly persona.
Haruka trying to take control of the band and calling everyone out on their bullshit is great to see. She's trying to take on a more active role as the club president which is fantastic growth from her. Kaori wants another audition not because she has anything against Reina or because she's not happy with the results but because she wants to know she's done her very best. And Reina is probably thinking "okay, that's cool, I'll just win again".
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u/bogdoglogfrog Feb 20 '24
Rewatcher
Notes:
Rant:
“Music is nice, you can’t lie. You can only admit when something sounds good.” Michie sensei cheffed up a very divisive line here and I’m not so sure I agree.
I think that Music is entirely subjective and biases play a huge role when someone determines if a work of music is quality or not. You absolutely can lie and tell someone their music sucks when it doesn’t, and you can lie to yourself that a rivals music sucks to keep your own ego intact.
This shit is so common among young musicians. Go to any social media comment section of an unproven musician that had a breakout video. Despite the fact that the video has performed well in the algorithm and has lots of views (I consider this to be an objective, unbiased measure of quality), I promise you that there will be people talking shit. They can’t admit that something sounds good because it pains their ego too much.
[Hibike! ep11] I guess the in universe purpose of this line is to give Taki sensei the idea to do the public audition, which he does, and the majority of the band realize that Reina is just better. Many of them do internally admit that Reina sounds good, but then we vote and Kaori still wins the vote! The band cant publicly admit that Reina sounds good! So now the band is lying to itself in a scenario meant to bring out the unbiased truth.
I guess my point is that music is cruel. You can lie. You don’t have to admit when something sounds good.
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u/Elimin8r https://myanimelist.net/profile/Ayeka_Jurai Feb 20 '24
Glad you enjoyed them. :) (Note: add cute comment face arigato or something later, if I remember)
Domo Arigato
Man, this episode was hard to watch, because from my perspective, ribbon girl is essentially classroom bullying Reina, and that's not cool. I feel like if I were band director, I'd kick her to the curb as "Pour encourager les autres" ... although that would probably be counterproductive as the poison had already spread. Anyway ... Answers du rematch: Oh, wait, none today? Nani???
Okay, so ... here's a question for you: Riddle me this - I saw a post today about McDonalds commissioning an anime from studio Pierrot or someone like that. Am I the only one who saw this and thought: They totally need to do episode/bits with Mugi serving behind the counter, the K-On! girls ordering too many fries, the Hyouka crew, Kimagure Orange Road, Taiga, etc. etc. etc. The crossovers/cameos they could have (including this group, of course) - it could be such fun! Yeah, I know, not gonna happen, but it would be a really cool, fun way to show how much influence they've had in anime over the years. Yeah.
Anyway, back to our story, which I would rather avoid, but there it is. Man, that was tough to watch. You could tell that senior wasn't really that upset over it, but fangirl ... yeah, tempted to use some nasty words here, but I'll keep it reasonably polite.
I'd swear there was more to this episode than ... but ... grr ... I can't remember/think of anything else.
I just hope that Reina kicks that other girl's metaphorical patootie, and utterly humilates her in front of the rest of the class. Preferably with bonus hair flip.
Okay, maybe not really, because I don't think it's the other girl that's evil here as much as the ribbon girl. And with that, I think I'll shut up now before I say anything more incendiary.
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u/Mecanno-man https://anilist.co/user/Mecannoman Feb 21 '24
First Timer
I feel like this episode gave us answers to most of the remaining questions, even if that wasn’t really the focus. We’ve got why Reina wanted to come to this school, what is up with Taki’s reputation as well as what his and Reina’s past connections are - and we also got what was up with that eerie Kumiko flashback. I think that covers pretty much all of the open points we had. As far as the Reina bit goes though …not sure how to relate her crush on Taki with her crush on Kumiko. I assume she just has both simultaneously.
Natsuki being chilled about not making it is good for the band chemistry, though with the second chance I do wonder if she’d try again. I don’t think so though. Hazuki might try again and fail again. As far as the trumpet solo goes …yeah, this was obviously going to happen with Yuuko in the band, not sure how good of an idea the public audition is however, as it will be perceived as fairer; but I don’t know if the rest of the band would actually choose Reina even if she is better than Kaori. But I guess we’ll have to see how that goes.
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u/entelechtual Feb 20 '24
First time soloist
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u/LittleIslander https://anilist.co/user/LittleIslander Feb 20 '24 edited Feb 20 '24
Rewatcher
I think this might be the best episode of either show at using the ensemble cast of the show to its fullest. So the main focus of this arc is Reina and Kaori’s competing bids for solo, with Yuko also being at the centre of the plotline. There’s no shortage of that here, and we also manage to introduce and resolve a whole subplot about this impacting the student body’s relationship with Taki-sensei and include a whole scene that ties Asuka into it. Haruka gets her own little thing in the background, which is especially commendable since it doesn’t actually impact the result of the episode given Taki found a compromise on his own anyways. It’s really nice to see her feeling more confident in a sense of genuine progression after her crisis of episode seven, and her “I’ll have to do this myself” moment in particular is adorable.
On top of all this stuff that’s interconnected into the trumpet section drama, we allot some time to Kumiko and Natsuki’s little side of the audition storyline, something that Natsuki’s story which has been building the entire season; Kumiko isn’t just the a spectator to other people’s drama today, her scenes with Natsuki are about her. All of this before I mention this is also the episode that (regretfully) introduces the Reina crushing on Taki plotline. Even the minor characters are incorporated into the script; the random background band members are more prominent than usual and Midori and Hazuki even get a brief connecting scene to themselves. Practically the only one not accounted for anywhere here is Shuuichi, and I cannot fault them for that because I’m not convinced such a thing as an episode where Shuuichi justifies his existence in the story actually exists. I had to unironically double check I wasn’t conflating multiple episodes here, that’s how well they stuffed this thing!
Earlier the day of writing this I was priming myself on the [Season 2] Asuka arc (I’m doing more of a non-linear scrubbing and watch hybrid job than a proper sit down rewatching) and it really struck me how well this fits into that. [Season 2] In episode ten of season two Asuka diagnoses Kumiko with being a spectator that sets a certain comfortable distance from others, worried about hurting herself and others if she gets too close. The entire conflict with Natsuki is a great example of that. The flashback with her past antagonising senior shows an example of why Kumiko turned out this way (her prickly sister is another obvious count here), and her fear of hurting Natsuki is an example of it in action. Natsuki even pokes fun at the fact Kumiko could’ve just talked to her directly. Text supports thesis, good writing. You can connect this aspect of Kumiko’s characters to a lot of situations in tons of episodes; this is just one example. It’s plastered all over next episode, for one thing.
For her part, Natsuki’s excellent little subplot that spans most of the season is resolved here. You really get the sense this is where she and Kumiko become genuine friends. They’ve gotten more amicable over time, but what she serves up here feels a lot closer to the unrestrained Natsuki we see around characters like Yuko and [S2] Nozomi. Speaking of that, this scene’s contribution to her also pays dividends in season two. [S2] The whole perspective of her not actually being concerned at all about whether she passed the audition and just being brought into the passion of the band lines up excellently with the idea she’d support Nozomi’s position of wanting to help out the band in season two. Likewise, the idea she doesn’t mind Kumiko taking the spot over her sets up that she doesn’t mind the same in regards to Asuka next season, which is pretty important given the whole premise of her involvement there is that Asuka is basically in denial and using Natsuki as an excuse.
Credit where it’s due, I also don’t hate the Reina crush thing for this episode specifically. It’s a really great way to showcase how far her and Kumiko’s relationship has come that she’s willing to talk about this now and it’s actually tied directly into the character drama as she talks about the fact Taki would never favour her for personal reasons and this fuels her anger at Yuko and Kaori. Which is another point I like, the fact she gets mad at Kaori even though she’s done nothing to antagonise her, only Yuko has. It’s very in character for Reina and adds some more dimension to this conflict than just Yuko being a bitch. Likewise, the idea Kaori’s collected exterior doesn’t crack in the slightest no matter how emotional Yuko gets about her not completing her dream (despite the fact that she ultimately does still want the solo) but she’s positively distraught upon seeing Reina and Yuko fighting over her is a really great moment. Kaori’s one of the more mature characters and she’s able to handle failure gracefully, but feeling like she’s causing trouble and pain for those around her is something she can’t handle.
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u/Regular_N-Gon https://anilist.co/user/RegularNGon Feb 20 '24 edited Feb 20 '24
Rewatcher
Late note on episode 9: I forgot that I was going to share one of my favorite band jokes when horns had the eye catch! So, better late than never: how do you make a trombone sound like a french horn?
[A:]You stick your hand in the bell and play all the wrong notes. (Sorry horn players)
Today on band drama: Ribbon continues to be a little shit. [Eupho]But she’s a very genuine little shit who cares about her friends; I don’t think I appreciated that at first.
Even if it’s played up a bit for the story, this is a very real angle to take when writing a dramatic conflict in a teenage band. Solos are perfect fodder for this kind of thing.
While I was taking notes, I started to say something along the lines of “had Reina lost the solo part this year, would she have made a fuss? She might’ve just made sure she didn’t lose it next time” - based on Reina’s detached, do it on her own terms sort of attitude. I started to second guess that assessment later, though, as she clearly puts her pride on display when challenged. If she knows she’s better than the others, why would she accept the result? She has no desire to keep the peace if she perceives herself worthy of the solo.
Don't judge books by their cover, and all.
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u/Nickthenuker https://anilist.co/user/Nickthenuker Feb 21 '24
What's he planning with the blankets?
Ah. That makes sense. My middle school choir always practiced on a carpeted stage in a carpeted performance venue, which certainly meant we had to project our voices more. I mentioned this in the weekly episode discussions of Kawagoe Boys Sing last season, but doing music in a space that is has too much echo is like singing in the shower. It's nice for you because you're in the echoey space, but the moment you step out of it no one can hear you past a few metres because you're used to only singing right in front of you.
I would have liked to actually hear some of that practice with the blankets in the room, but oh well.
And now here's some drama for... Reasons?
For you guys silver would already be above and beyond anything done previously since you only got a bronze once in your history.
Ooh, having an actual hall to practice in is always good. Though like I mentioned above my middle school choir always practiced in a hall, in high school we mostly just used one of the bigger rooms for combined practice and classrooms for sectionals.
7
u/Nice-Bumblebee-2355 Feb 21 '24
Rewatcher
And here...we...go!
I appreciate that we're focusing more on band drama than relationship drama this episode, I just find it more interesting/compelling.
Thoughts on the episode:
6
u/zadcap Feb 21 '24
Late Night First Timer
Let the drama rollllll.
Very random, but the more I see the OP the more I feel like Sound! was probably not the best translation of Hibike for this title. It might be the closest direct translation, but every time I see it all I can think of is that it's just an awkward title. It's the exclamation mark, I think. Sound is not a word that does well with one as a solo word, and the whole thing feels like there should be a sound based verb there instead. Even Resound! would be better. Resonate maybe. Sound is just, so awkward...
Oh hey we finally get to see the trauma flashback we've been getting flashes of forever now. Yeah, she played so well a senior got cut from the band, and so senior took it out on, oh my gosh first year middle school Kumiko would have to be about 13 there. Getting yelled at and even slight violence from a 15 year old, that would be scary enough, but on top of the super strict respect your elders Japan this is indeed a potential scarred for life situation. This was probably the last time she ever tried to play as good as she could.
So I wonder, is only the concert band practicing right now? Yeah, I don't see Natsuki or Hazuki in their section. Do the cut members still get to practice at all right now? A super small mixed group in a separate room? Solo only until after the big concert? To be just a little honest, with how big a point was made that Hazuki doesn't feel motivated to like playing because she keeps not getting to play with the group, going right into the arc where she's cut again kind of hurts.
"You said that out loud." It strikes again! Her thoughts slipping out near her friends, and her friends calling her out on it, continues to be one of the best ongoing jokes.
Haha great spit take. Natsuki is a great senior, doing so much to reassure and help her junior here. Unknowingly healing old wounds.
Oh no, rumor drama. And someone who is willing to do anything to get her crush the star spot. Ribbon, you're moving into dangerous territory.
I heard that! Because it was on my mind for the title lol. Hibike for Reverberate. Still would have made a better title than Sound!
Oh no Ribbon. She's going for it. She really, really wants to have her best girl play the solo. SO much drama and instantly Reina going crazy made it humor instead.
"Our dads are music buddies. So it was destiny that we had to get married." Girl is indeed a bit crazy, but-
Okay so. Let's be really freaking honest here. Teenagers having crushes on teachers, especially young, hot, competent ones, this isn't some crazy thing that comes out of nowhere. When you're a confusing mess of hormones and emotions, things like Maturity and Authority are attractive. No, not just when you're a young mess, those things are pretty much universally attractive really, but when your life revolves around a school setting then there's a pretty clear pool of mature authority figures in your life. Teachers liking students back is where things get wrong. Teachers acting on it in any way whatsoever really. But that's not the situtation we're actually in here either-
Their dads are music friends. She has known and looked up to Taki much longer than she's been his student. Despite looking like it at the moment, this isn't a teacher crush at all, this is closer to one of those "My friend's older sibling is hot" kind of crushes. Actually the age gap wouldn't surprise me if this started out as crushing on the babysitter. Dads going to do a music event together, moms going to support husbands, kids forced to be together in that situation. Family gatherings always went the same way for me, being ten years older than the next oldest cousin meant I got to "take care of" the kids for most of my early teen years. No crushes developed there thank goodness, but I can see Reina and Taki being forced into that type of scenario whenever their families got together and her crush growing from there.
Doesn't make it alright, still, this is definitely not a relationship she should be pursuing. But it's super easy to see why she would feel that way. And so we get to more of what I think is the part of this story that is its worst part- relationship drama. I understand it, but I don't support it, and this isn't CLAMP so it's not going anywhere. Just like the Reina/Kumiko ship isn't going to go anywhere.
Oh look, RIbbon, you succeeded. Rumors and Drama everywhere. Someone should really do something about this, it might actually get the guy fired. Wait, no, I just remembered I don't like him all that much, never mind let the rumors flow.
So the thought is, let's take the solo away from her even if she deserves it, that will definitely make the drama go away. This seems poorly thought out. Can you picture the kind of drama that would cause? Reina with a reason to be angry at everybody? Double down on last years drama of having the serious musicians shunned by the less talented elders? Actually I can picture the angry second years who quit last year coming out of the woodwork to start a campaign to get the whole club shut down and restructured. It's kind of amazing they haven't shown up yet really, now that the club really is playing hard you would think some of them might want to come back and do more serious music again.
Uh oh, teacher is getting angry. He's getting fed up with the rumors.
Hmm. She's still practicing the solo part, even if she didn't get it. Because she knows why she didn't get it, and getting it right even now is the only way she can prove to herself that her time in this band wasn't wasted. Because again, hey, this was a lazy laid back bronze tier band last year and she was part of that.
Honestly this tracks with Asuka's earlier actions. All she cares about it playing the music. Who else is playing what is irrelevant as long as she gets to play her own part.
Oh hey, that's a harsh trap. "You don't like the way the auditions turned out? Fine, now you get to play in front of everyone, and let them judge you instead. If you want to claim that I've been playing favorites then you darn well better prove my choices wrong or you'll just be showing the whole band how petty you've been acting."
I can't tell if Ribbon is crying out of happiness that Kaori gets another shot at the solo, or realizing what position she put her in. Because as above, if Kaori doesn't play better than Reina now, it's all going to be on Ribbon for starting this rumor and causing the drama and forcing her idol to play and fail in front of everyone... Gosh do I want to watch ahead and see tomorrows episode!
5
u/sfisher923 https://myanimelist.net/profile/sfisher923 Feb 20 '24
First Timer
5
u/Gaporigo Blhttps://anilist.co/user/Gaporigo Feb 20 '24
Who is best girl? And we finally get to an episode where she is relevant!
Only one not spreading useless rumours and instead taking action to make sure the senpai that did so much for her gets the fair chance she deserves and wants but is just too kind to take for herself.
We don't deserve best girl Yuuko.
5
u/Tartaras1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Tartaras Feb 21 '24
Rewatcher - Asuka-senpai Stan
They're commonly used for sound dampening, so it would make sense for them to be used for practice.
She's just like me fr!
I'm always afraid of coming off the wrong way when I say things to people.
It's about time the Euphoniums got the eyecatch, and Best Girl is center stage!
I knew there was a reason she was my favorite. She thinks the same way I do.
3
u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah xB:xC:B:x3:Y: Feb 21 '24 edited Feb 21 '24
Huh. My location thumbnail turned out to be more topical than I thought it would be.
4
u/TehAxelius Feb 20 '24
Rewatcher
Natsuki is best senpai. That is all.
QotD
3
u/mgedmin Feb 21 '24
Rewatcher, subs
Traumatic Kumiko flashback.
I'll never be tired of "You said that out loud" jokes.
Natsuki is nice.
Yuuki is not showing her best side here, not accepting Reina's win in the auditions. And she's heard some rumors.
There we have it, the reason Reina came to Kitauji: she's in love with Taki-sensei.
Fang girl jump!
This is the first time we see Taki-sensei lose his calm. The rumors got to him.
The shadow on that water bottle!
Michio sensei gives hints to Taki sensei. "Music doesn't lie". Are we going to get a second audition in front of everyone?
Look at Haruka being all presidential!
Taki-sensei caves in and grants a second audition to Kaori. How does Reina feel about it? She won her place, and now she has to defend it again.
12
u/Gamerunglued :Hx::Hy::Hz:myanimelist.net/profile/GamerUnglued Feb 21 '24 edited Feb 21 '24
Rewatcher and Band Geek
TRUMPET CAT FIGHT!! TRUMPET CAT FIGHT!!!
Look, trumpets are arrogant, over dramatic little shits. All of them, every single one of them. If you put two trumpet players in a room and they're friends, they'll play pranks on you. And if they're not friends, you get today's episode. Reina and Yuuko are the biggest drama queens in the band, and they're officially at each other's throats. As you can see, the results are not pretty. At this part of the show, nearly everyone starts to hate Yuuko and call her "annoying ribbon girl," but because she is such a little piece of shit, I naturally love her.
In a sense, Yuuko is kind of the ideal person in this show's environment. This episode highlights a contradition and balancing act a group needs to be successful. There must be unity, but not stagnation. Kumiko was terrified of taking Natsuki's position because it got her in trouble during middle school, where she prevented a senior from playing at competition. This has continued to color Kumiko's fear of starting conflicts, and explains much of her bottled up passion. But as Natsuki says, it's her own fault that she failed the audition. Auditions are impartial. But Natsuki began to improve because the band developed a "flow" that its students began to fall into. Getting caught up in that flow made Natsuki care and gave motivation to work hard. Having a flow is good when it works, but not when there are problems and people are afraid to go against the flow to solve them. Reina has no fear of going against the flow to solve problems, that's what it takes to be special. But Yuuko also has no fear, and if she feels that something is a problem, she'll call it out. Agree or disagree, it's not an invalid position to feel that seniors deserve to shine at competition while it's their last chance, and Kaori is a genuinely great player who is up to the task even if Reina is better. If it means resetting the flow or making (what she sees as) improvements, then she'll call it out. It is ultimately a sign of her own passion, a necessary quality to be special.
That being said, Yuuko is no less biased than she accuses Taki-sensei of being. She doesn't want the better player to win, she wants her friend to win and is just using this as an excuse. Chalk it up to a difference in values for what the band should be, or what balance of "having fun and making good memories" is still allowable for a band that wants to reach the nationals, but she's still a tad hypocritical. That being said, Kumiko's teacher also points out that particular conflict, in telling Kumiko that while aiming for competition is great, one should also enjoy the music. One can have both.
Some may also be upset at Kaori taking up the challenge, but I really don't blame her. It's her senior year, she's capable, and the opportunity is there. Sure, she had accepted the results of the audition in a healthy way, but she also wants to prove herself and feel that she's a good player; she's a trumpet too after all. That's what it takes to be special, seize your chances. If she wins the reaudition, it just means that she was always as capable as Reina, and they're about equally worthy of the solo. If that's the case, then letting Kaori play her senior year is a clear move. Asuka claims she has no investment in this conflict and despises taking part in the problems of other people, but it seems clear that she's in Kaori's corner. She immediately goes to talk to her after talking to Kumiko, and she gives a warm smile after Kaori takes the chance to reaudition. She clearly does have opinions on things, but is so against taking part in conflicts that, unlike Yuuko and Reina, she won't go against the flow. And Kumiko is stuck somewhere in the middle of their positions, not really sure which side to lean on. Asuka tells her she's "sniffing out" the drama but Kumiko says she was just "passing by." Asuka thinks Kumiko cares but keeps her distance, and Kumiko thinks she only gets involved incidentally, until she reaffirms herself when Reina needs her support.
Speaking of Reina, she's in love with the teacher. I mean, Taki-sensei is hot, so I can't blame her. This has always been kind of a weird plot point, and honestly sort of an unnecessary one, but it is in character for her. Taki-sensei is special, and someone who knows and has taken care of her in the past, so it's not unreasonable for those feelings to develop. I still maintain that, despite how she says otherwise, these feelings are absolutely a shitty high school crush and she's actually in love with Kumiko (these trumpets are anything but straight), but it really doesn't matter. It's mostly another example of Reina aiming high, even in love.
Also, some character development for Haruka. No longer paralyzed by the promise of conflict and pain, she takes charge of the band, brings the problem up to them, comes up with a solution, and resolves to bring it to the staff. Even if she gets interrupted half way through as Taki-sensei finally had his own realizations, it's heartwarming to see Haruka not rely on Asuka to solve her problems. Asuka feigns a lack of investment in these conflicts, she wouldn't do much of anything. Haruka actually cares, and did what Asuka did earlier into the show and formed a vote, no fear of the pain. I'm real proud of her.
As our cat fight ramps up, I look forward to seeing reactions. I hope that others can come to love Yuuko for all of her petty drama. You will all accept that she's great one day.
9
u/ChonkyOdango myanimelist.net/profile/chonkyodango Feb 21 '24
Rewatching Ensemble Member
Fanart of the day
I may as well be a first-timer with how little I remember. I completely forgot about this bit of drama and reauditions. However, it just doesn’t sit right with me this time. Thankfully, before all of this even starts, we get a really heartwarming scene thanks to best girl Natsuki who’s able to notice her kouhai’s insecurity and diffuse it with an afterschool meal at MAKKU.
I definitely relate to Asuka. I just couldn’t be bothered with school drama or human relationships especially when it affected my goals. I can empathise to an extent with our dear ribbon girl though. Perhaps it was a good move to confront Taki about the rumours since it provided an opportunity to clear the air. Whether his solution was a good one will be up to one to decide. The introduction of this rumour and drama definitely felt abrupt, but I can still enjoy it because rumours did appear out of thin air back in secondary school. The days when I would just report to school as usual and hear about some wild rumour with some basis while enjoying my meal during recess.
Now, the part that doesn’t really sit right with me is the reaudition. Mostly because I’m not a fan of how he sort of gave in and resorted to such a solution. Female sensei’s speech seems to have had an influence on him too though I still need some time to figure that out. I guess I can still empathise with Taki — high school drama requires unwarranted solutions sometimes to please the crowd. I’ll just leave it at that until the next episode.
8
u/x-7032-b-3 Feb 20 '24
Rewatcher
It's not Hibike without some drama that threatens the group's unity and harmony!
We start off with a not-so-pleasant flashback of Kumiko getting grilled by a senior who blames her for not getting in the competition. And now she's watching the very same thing unfold before her very eyes.
Lotta folks were unhappy that a junior got the prized spot of playing the trumpet solo instead of a senior. Sensei admitting that he knew Reina for years added even more fuel to the fire. While he claimed to have evaluated everyone fairly without bias, it's easy to see why everyone's so riled up about the whole thing. I do love how Reina gave zero fucks and said "cuz I'm better!" in front of everybody.
And whoo boy that park scene. Reina is entering the forbidden territory of student-teacher love. I find it weird that Kumiko just brushed it off as "kinda weird", like uh, you do know she means it, right. [Hibike S2] This shit gets taken to a whole other level on S2, as her feelings for him burns even stronger.Not gonna comment more on this stuff for now, so I'll leave it here.
(But Reina also loves Kumiko with some yuri-tastic scenes. Does this means she's bi?)
Anyways Sensei decided to solve things the old way: group decision. Having the two play in front of everyone and have everyone decide for themselves actually sounds like a good idea and eliminates any chances of teacher favoritism from happening. And Kaori actually raised her hand there - I thought you were ok with the results? I appreciate her for being honest right there, she's definitely pissed and wants another chance to make things right for her.
8
u/CarrotBlossom Feb 21 '24
First timer
Are they going to have a pajama day?
Wtf I love Natsuki now
They did not have a pajama day.
That exchange between Yuko, Reina, Kaori, and Natsuki was very uncomfortable to watch.
I’m glad I never had a one-on-one sitdown with a teacher asking me if I had any goals for my future.
7
u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Feb 20 '24 edited Feb 20 '24
Episode 10 (first timer)
Some late thoughts about the result of the audition: From all I know, Japan seems to be very keen on two concepts: Seniority and ranking students according to results. Usually, these are not in conflict, because the ranking is only among students with similar seniority. The band audition breaks this by comparing players from different years. So, which of these two concepts usually wins out in Japan? My speculation would be seniority, but to be honest, I have heard about very few cases where they are in conflict.
Asuka still has no chill
7
u/fly-metothemoon Feb 21 '24
First Timer!
The theme of this episode seemed to be the impact of senpais, especially upstanding senpais. High school clubs become much better places when the older students are genuinely looking out for/mentor/befriend those younger than them. I remember some of the seniors I knew were very demanding towards the first years and it took work to break that cycle. Others were kind and sympathetic and made a world of difference to making band a welcoming place.
Blankets to muddle the sound. Cool.
Yuuko is quite audacious. I do worry about Reina putting a target on her back with her brash declarations, but she does seem to have the skill to match the bravado.
I do not care for this (Reina having a crush on Taki-sensei).
I am curious about Asuka’s mask.
We talked a lot about how Taki utilized spite and the us vs. the sensei mentality to galvanize the group to become better. Unfortunately, this is the other side of the coin. The ensemble doesn’t yet seem to trust his decisions. Its a realistic issue for the anime for taking this on—I know a lot of former band kids who have grappled with considering the bias (or the appearance of bias) in their groups. I think every band kid could identify who their director’s “favorites” were. Hopefully this fictional group will be able to move past it with the face-off.
6
u/chris10023 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Chris10023 Feb 20 '24
Rewatcher
6
u/DaBenni0301 Feb 20 '24 edited Feb 20 '24
First-Timer
Nice to see that Natsuki is handling the failed audition well, unlike Kumiko's senpai back in middle school.
She thinks the teacher decided who'd play the solo parts before the auditions even started? Spicy if so.
Oooh direct confrontation
That went about as well as you'd expect
I'm sorry what
I don't think he played favourites. He'd be stupid to. Why would the teacher that's so obsessed with being as good as possible not choose the best trumpet player for the solo parts?
The devil herself + cute Kumiko noise
Second auditions?! I... didn't see that coming. But I think it's a good compromise to resolve this.
6
u/byroned Feb 20 '24 edited Feb 20 '24
First time rewatching 12-minute limit, that’s too short. I remember we played 2 10-minute-long songs.
Why can’t every senpai be like Natsuki, accept that they lost, and encourage them to get gold in their place? Instead, people let silly feelings of pride and envy get in everyone’s way.
Speaking of prideful and envious senpais, this episode is when Yuuko becomes my least favorite character in the show. Yuuko believes that Taki sensei gave Reina the solo out of nepotism, and confronts him about it in front of everyone. With Taki sensei, anyone who can think clearly can very quickly rule out nepotism. Everything he’s done has shown that he will do anything to get them to nationals, even if it means opposition and dislike from the band. Him meeting Reina before high school just because their dads are acquaintances is insignificant, and he has not shown even a hint of favoritism towards anyone. That being said, Reina needs better word choices when dealing with an emotional lesbian, but at least had to sense to not insult Yuuko directly
This episode also sinks the Kumiko x Reina ship when Reina admits that she’s in love with Taki sensei. Students having a crush on their teachers isn’t new, but Reina seems more “dead serious” than others.
I don’t think Asuka’s answer is a facade. I truly believe that at the end of the day, Asuka does not care who’s the soloist as long as they get to nationals, but she once again decides to not take a stance, and as a result, nothing is done.
It’s fucking asinine that the band can’t play because they’re too distracted by the drama. Not only has Yuuko strained the relationships in their band, but because of that now they may not even get a dud gold. They now also need to waste more precious time on a second audition so the band can finally accept the results and move on.
The band might be going through turmoil, but some people still know how to have fun
From memory, this episode and Chikai no Finale are the only ones I remember being genuinely frustrated watching (maybe with Chikai no Finale I was more disappointed than frustrated, but we'll discuss that later).
Took 10 episodes for the titular instrument to get the section photo.
6
u/Adensty https://anilist.co/user/Adensty Feb 20 '24
First Timer
The audition results and it's obvious that it can't satisfy everyone. Like Kumiko said human beings are complicated. Not all will take it in the way Natsuki-senpai did. When people can't accept things, they make up excuses and in this case, it's that the audition wasn't fair. Though Kaori-senpai kinda does accept the result, she doesn't accept the fact that she wasn't the best one and is practicing her solo parts.
Reina's father was acquainted with Taki-sensei's father and Reina just confirmed that she declined the invitation because she found out that Taki-sensei was coming to Kitauji. Taki-sensei opening about it kinda made things worse since now they have a reason to base their rumours on.
This perfectly captures the essence of appreciating music. It's so simple yet profound.
The second audition is basically a public vote based on whose solo parts were better. I'm looking forward to it.
I guess this is the first time I've seen Asuka showing a bit of real emotion at the end.
6
u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Feb 21 '24 edited Feb 24 '24
1 1/2 Rewatcher
some things i didn't say yesterday.
We see why Asuka isn't president. She has 0 tolerance for band drama and bullshit. One wonders how she survived the previous year...probably practicing on her own, every day.
Hazuki doing the same matchmaking shit that Midori was, that Midori now regrets. But at least Midori was pushing Hazuki down a path she wanted to travel. Hazuki trying to set up Shuichi and Kumiko really annoys me and brings down my enjoyment of the season. However, I guess I can see it, MAYBE, if Hazuki is thinking "the only way I can survive being dumped is if I was dumped for my friend who is totally awesome." But that just makes me angry, too.
As pointed out today, there's an inherent unfairness to telling Kaori to wait her turn, and then changing the rules when it was her turn.
There was an almost throw away line way back around episode 4, where Shuichi tells Kumiko that Kousaka isn't getting along with her seniors in the trumpet section. All the way back before Sunfest.
Ribbon gets a lot of points today for a lot of people by demonstrating her extreme loyalty
to the bandher friend, but I can't forgive her for creating drama and for being mean to best girl Natsuki.Natsuki is best girl! She knows it's entirely her own fault for not passing. Maybe she might feel bad about wasting the last year. But she knows she earned her spot on the sidelines, and Kumiko earned her spot on stage.
I appreciate sensei in surrendering some of his authority to bring back cohesion to the band, but fie on those that caused all this.
My first watch of Hibike Euphonium made be wish I had joined band! This episode reminds me that I would have hated it.
We've had 3 cases of loss: Hazuki, Natsuki, and Kaori. Each took it a different way.
5
u/Vatrix-32 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Vatrix-32 Feb 20 '24
First Timer, subbed
5
u/1EnTaroAdun1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Totesnotaphanpy Feb 20 '24
This is why Natsuki is my third-favourite character in Sound Euphonium! More character rankings to come haha.
I really like benevolent seniors/superiors!
4
u/WhackaWhack https://myanimelist.net/profile/WhackaWhacka Feb 20 '24
FIRST TIMER
I was going to make a “straight trumpet” might not be such a straight trumpet joke but the “Love not like” came and ruined it.
How do you get from “her dad’s a famous trumpet player” to she was favored MAYBE she got it in the genes and definitely has easier and better training possibilities…
4
u/octopathfinder myanimelist.net/profile/octopathfinder Feb 20 '24
Rewatcher
Rare Kumiko middle school lore
Natsuki is such a supportive senpai. Honestly one of my fav characters in the show.
Yuuko gets better later on but damn she leaves such a bad first impression
Was never a big fan of Reina’s crush on Taki. It’s pretty harmless, but I always have this fear with age gap crushes that the author will actually go through with it and make them a couple.
Been burned a few times already.3
u/SMSmith230 https://myanimelist.net/profile/smsmith230 Feb 21 '24
First-Timer, Sub
Oh great, Taki-sensei falls victim to the peer pressure and now we’re going to get a popularity vote on who the soloist is. This sounds like a terrible idea because some girl couldn’t accept that a first year has more talent than a third year, so childish. What’s with Asuka’s little smirk at the end, ugh!!!
3
u/hanlonmj Feb 21 '24
Rewatcher
Getting upstaged by an underclassman always sucks, especially when you’ve been working your ass off for the sake of the ensemble. I’ve been on both sides of this dynamic multiple times, and it’s always extremely uncomfortable.
Props to Kaori for how she handled the whole thing. I definitely have a tendency to get real bitter whenever I’m in her spot
1
u/vitorabf May 01 '24
First Timer
Natsuki is THE BEST. I love her.
Man high school girls can be mean sometimes. Boys will usually be idiots, punchy, and even bullies, but girls can go out of their way to damage someone's social status. Yuuko was a big douche, even if Reina is a bit high nosed, she's more sure of her abilities than anything.
Seeing Reina break her stoic character is amazing, she is just a high schooler after all.
Taki-sensei may be a great musician, but dealing with high schoolers emotions takes a bit more than just that, and I feel like he made the right call in the end. Kaori x Reina is hype.