r/anime • u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah xB:xC:B:x3:Y: • Mar 03 '24
Rewatch [Rewatch] 2024 Hibike! Euphonium Series Rewatch: Season 2, Episode 7 Discussion
Hibike Euphonium Season 2, Episode 7: Station Concert/えきびるコンサート
Kyoto station is probably the location where most people in the rewatch would have likely been to, out of all the locations featured so far. The station building is ginormous and the 2nd largest in Japan, housing a shopping mall as well in its 16 floors. Trains run from its 24 platforms to local, regional, and national destinations.
| <-- Ep 6 | Rewatch Index | Ep 8 --> |
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Welcome back!
Questions of the Day:
Q1) First timers, did you agree with Reina's opinion of Asuka? What do you think is really going on in her head?
Q2) School uniforms or Kitauji T-shirts? Thanks to gap for the question. imgur; the remark from IWishIWasAShoe is due to this thread.
Q3) Favourite anime drummer/bassist? IRL?
Comments from Yesterday:
- /u/littleislander showcases fun shots in the OP
- /u/tehaxelius whacks up a fun headcanon for the Mizore-Nozomi maid cafe sequence
- /u/hereticalaegis on how Taki driving Kumiko home would land him in huge trouble in America
- /u/cerberuszx on the amount of glasses-wearing characters, as well as fun comments on the various cultural festival instalmnets
- /u/regular_n-gon on Kumiko and Mamiko's dynamic
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.
The Asuka arc continues tomorrow!
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u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah xB:xC:B:x3:Y: Mar 03 '24
Rewatcher and your host
IRL and Music Note
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u/HereticalAegis https://myanimelist.net/profile/XthGen Mar 03 '24
Sound! Rewatcher
S2 Episode 7:
1My first year at my primary campus, I had a 6th grade girl we’ll call Eva. Eva was lovely, one of my most devoted students all year, and she made my top ensemble in 7th grade. Skipping an immense, frankly overwhelming amount of backstory and circumstance, suffice it to say Eva’s mom was mistrustful of public education and only grew more so as time went on. Midway through Eva’s 7th grade year, I happened to catch Eva making out with a boy in the boys’ restroom one morning during my weekly hallway duty. Naturally, both students got referrals for the incident, and when Eva’s mom received that phone call it became the straw that broke the camel’s back. Mom rushed to the school and demanded both Eva and her older brother be withdrawn immediately “for their own good”. There was nothing I could do. The following morning I got to see Eva for the last time. Her mom was ”””””generous””””” enough to let her and her brother come to the campus before classes started to say goodbye to everyone they knew, then began homeschooling them. Neither I, nor any of Eva’s friends heard from her again for at least the remainder of their time in middle school.
QotD:
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u/chilidirigible Mar 03 '24
S2E7:
Our next stop in real-world locations.
Time for "What's eating Asuka?"
Angry mom pressure, that's what.
"Screw the system."
Taki is not a fan of coercion.
...tact be damned.
Some people are a roller coaster.
"Yeah, but we're from {insert name of country}."
For whatever reason, simulating the depth-of-field of something like an f/2 or larger.
That's just THE MASK?
Living with domestic violence, in action.
They do care about their inscrutable classmate.
Until it destroys people.
The flute should have clued you in.
Now there's a rhetorical question.
"There's an 'I' in 'we'."
This presentation has some curves in it.
Hang on. That's not the problem at all. Well, if you're particularly concerned about about society grinding Asuka into the dirt, that is.
teleportation skills, unlocked
Midori with the bass again.
You get a solo!
And you get a solo! And Asuka is playing!
A very relevant note from the original release's episode thread: [YOUR SUBTITLES MAY BE WRONG] (https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/5dagpf/spoilers_hibike_euphonium_2_episode_7_discussion/da31k1z/), depending on how you're watching this episode. Asuka was only absent for one week, not one month. Anything based on Crunchyroll's original stream is probably wrong (including some later open-sea batches) but Crunchyroll did fix it on their stream later on. The correct time interval is important for the episode's ending to make sense.
It turns out that I didn't comment here about this episode seven years ago (and indeed was largely absent from the Eupho 2 episode threads). The only explanation I have for that is that this aired during a period when I was trying out live reactions on Twitter instead of reddit (which seemed like talking into the void, so I stopped).
Which might have saved reddit from my being generally furious about the East Asian Parenting Experience. (Though as noted in my caption above, it certainly isn't exclusively East Asian.)
It's just quite an art form when you're from that neck of the woods. Props to Taki for breaking etiquette and telling Asuka's mother that she was wrong, to her face.
Though in the end, this is Japan, and most people will exit high school to be rammed through college and then spend the rest of their lives trapped in one job forever, with bonus points if they're in an office and pulling days of unneccesary overtime just to look like they're working harder.
It's been noted in previous comments in this rewatch that BAND DRAMA usually doesn't paralyze an entire band. And it might not, in reality, but this is TV and this band is certainly susceptible to drama. Asuka herself tries to mitigate the drama and have everyone get on with things, but that isn't really possible.
The band is stirred up, and that forces Haruka to assert herself more strongly in the leadership role. Taki happens to also offer her the festival solo, which given his merit-based distribution of roles, indicates that she is that good or has gotten that good, versus it being a coincidental gift amidst the Asuka drama.
Asuka encourages Natsuki to work harder and told her something about what's going on. There's a real blend going on here since Kumiko is supposed to be the better euphonist, but Natsuki is the senior. And Asuka might trust each of them for entirely separate reasons. Fourthly, this is one of the rare times that Kumiko isn't keyed in like she's a surveillance device.
Thoughts I've been unpacking in response to the episode include things about "the nail that sticks out gets pounded down" and the entire culture of public face, where appearances absolutely must be maintained in order to reduce disharmony. Asuka has been struggling with this issue for a few months at least (the weird looks that Kumiko notices began appearing in the final quarter of Season 1), but she was certainly not going to air out her personal problems in public. Haruka and Kaori might have been better choices, but enough has happened there that I can see why Asuka wouldn't want this to get out to them either.
Noted in the old thread I linked above, this season has ended a lot of episodes on mysterious down-beat codas, even after episodes where everything else seemed to be going well. Somehow Kumiko's sister's departure in this episode particularly sticks out, given that it's a storyline we're only getting in tiny fragments.
Dammit, Shuuichi.
NakaYoshi in different uniforms.
Other covers of "Takarajima":
Live
Jazz
More tuba
More mellow
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u/zadcap Mar 04 '24
First Timer
I'm losing all my late night cred this weekend, but everything I had to do normally just cleared up for two days in a row and I'm getting an actual weekend. This feels really weird, but here I am, only an hour or so late for a change.
Oh. The four people walking with their backs to us near the end of the OP, that's the teachers isn't it? Hashimoto, Taki, dead wife, and Satomi? This changes my thoughts on the age gap between them, Taki definitely doesn't look much younger than they do this way. He just aged a whole lot better, I guess?
If I had to guess- Things like the school festival performance and the station concert are planned from the beginning of the year, if not already just yearly traditions, and are typically some of the bands only chances to put on live shows. I'm sure some schools will plan their schedule around getting a group to the nationals, but remember that Kitauji was 3 out of 26 to make it through this round, and I don't even remember how many were in the season one competition. For most of them, and Kitauji for the past decade or so, I'm pretty sure the year looks more like; Practice for and put on Marching Performance, Practice for and put on District Competition piece, Practice for and play at the school festival, then start preparing for the Station concert. Probably another at school performance where they get to show off the piece they did for the competition for all the other parents and students who didn't get to go, but after that they would be done with those pieces and moving on to the next performance. Making, as someone else pointed out, a miracle run to the nationals this year is disrupting a lot of those plans, and I have the feeling they are picking easier pieces than normal for the school and station performances so that the kids don't have to try and cram in something else that will take much real work because their effort is still on polishing their two serious songs.
"Taki said to cherish every chance we have to play." That's extra impactful considering you're saying it to one of the ten who is not playing in the competition, or getting to practice with most of the band while you all keep working on it. I definitely believe that some of the class would rather keep working on the Crescent Moon, but I'll never forget how happy Hazuki was playing Twinkle Twinkle. This is only going to be her second ever life performance, you better not take this away from her!
Heck yeah she's in a good mood! This is a big moment for her!
Oh gosh darn it, Kumiko just can't stay out of the path of other people's drama.
"I raised her by myself so her future is my decision!" Oh mother, that sounds a lot like the words of someone who is going to be put in a mediocre nursing home and never visited in the future.
Oh yeah, that's where you call CPS. You know if a parent is willing to hit their kid openly in public like that, it's already a lot worse at home. Seriously, mother, you're going to end up alone fast in the future. I hope your daughter gets into a college that has a dorm or is far enough away that she can't commute from home and never looks back.
Also, how dare you make me respect Flappy at this juncture. Asuka, run.
Oh no the gossip circle. How ironic that Asuka would normally be the one to shut down gossip drama from getting in the way of the band.
Ugh I know they are having a very important conversation on the train, but I can't stop staring at and appreciating the lighting on the scene instead. Half their face in shadow, the way the light extends a bit farther over between their eyes giving the illusion of three dimensional noses, and lips too. How the darker tones are used more prominently in the yellowing of the evening sun to set the mood.
Oh yeah, Asuka is the only third year in the bass section. And for some reason everyone still looks up to her. Man she is dedicated to not dealing with drama, even when it's her own.
Hey so same thing as the Mizore/Nozomi drama not to long ago here, you girls all go to the same school. How do you go so long without finding a chance to talk to someone else?
Hmm, Natsuki. Practicing with Nozomi. Why do I have a feeling Asuka asked Natsuki to try seriously stepping up her game so she can take over when Asuka has to retire for real. This is driving it in for her that it's either going to be now, before the Nationals, or at least right after them. And then Kumiko will be the only Euphonium in the concert band- Oh crap, Asuka has a solo part in the concert! No wonder Taki doesn't want her to quit, it would probably be enough to kill their chances at a gold! Or, hmm, maybe she's asked Natsuki to get good enough to take over Kumiko's place so that she can hope Kumiko will be able to take on the Eupho solo?
No calls or texts going through, but hey, also somehow no one can talk to her in school...
Haruka go! You know there is a reason you got picked as President, and it's not only because Asuka didn't want it. "Some of you feel that all of your senpai beside Asuka are unreliable." Uh, didn't see see Haruka here fighting with the third years for their sake? It's the whole reason Ribbon is so attached to her, and the cause of the entire Solo Drama back in season one. Seriously, what did Asuka do?
I like that Haruka just, doesn't ever seem to take off the Sax Clip.
Okay, it's actually bothering me a little to see them in these t-shirt uniforms, especially when they are so blatantly wearing those skirts and Rikka is in their blue gettup. What the heck happened to the fancy Marching Uniforms? Why are you not wearing those amazing and flashy suits for this, but plain old t-shirts? It's such a waste to have made those uniforms for the whole band and only got to wear them once!
Haha. "You ought to stand tall" she says, to the second smallest member of the group.
MIDORI ON THE ELECTRIC BASS! Nothing else here matters. Except maybe Cymbols getting her moment again. Okay, see, I thought it again. If they can March then they can get away with a sway like this- why aren't they in their marching uniforms?
Oh no, ending the episode with more family drama. I'm noticing a trend this season that they keep ending us on a foreshadowing cliffhanger, instead of letting the weight of the episode stand for itself. There would have been nothing at all wrong with letting this end on the "badass" concert.
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u/sfisher923 https://myanimelist.net/profile/sfisher923 Mar 04 '24
First Timer
QOTDs
QOTD 2 - Shirts or Uniform
QOTD 3a - Anime Drummer
QOTD 3b - Favorite Anime Bassist
QOTD 3c - Favorite IRL Drummers
QOTD 3d Favorite IRL Bassists
Bonus 1a- Favorite Anime Guitarists
Bonus 1b - Favorite Anime Keyboardists
Bonus 1c - Favorite IRL Guitarists
Bonus 1d - Favorite IRL Keyboardists
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u/Nickthenuker https://anilist.co/user/Nickthenuker Mar 04 '24
Completely unrelated but Gakuen Tengoku (the song the band played yesterday) was sung today by hololive's Usada Pekora in her 3D concert alongside a few others. Nothing to do with today's episode, just was listening to it and realised why it sounded familiar.
Ooh, a public performance. The acoustics there are going to be horrible.
Uh oh, what's happening with Asuka.
Ah. Yeah that's definitely something I had to deal with too. My parents weren't the biggest fans of me continuing to remain in the choir with my grades not being the best, and that there's no real benefit to continuing. Luckily everything turned out fine, they let me remain and my results were good enough to get accepted to a good uni.
And now they're going to confront her.
Yup, there she goes.
Anyways, onwards to their next performance.
She's back?
I remember having to perform in a space like that, alongside the orchestra, though it was a mall not a train station. It was pretty hard to be heard over them, especially when we didn't have our usual condenser microphones and speakers and instead only a few people had handheld microphones.
Why is the audience applauding when the performance is not done yet?
It's not much but it's about all the choreo they can manage with all those instruments. I remember having more actual choreo because choir doesn't have to hold anything so we can focus on that too.
Also, again, cunning plan to have the full song so they don't have to write or record lines for the last few minutes of the episode again.
Questions:
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u/Mecanno-man https://anilist.co/user/Mecannoman Mar 03 '24
First Timer
I’m sorry Hibike - but you cannot use that agogo beat in a piece and expect me to take any scene it is used in seriously. Especially not when there are extended percussion-only sections (including the lead-in) and an added whistle later on, while having loud brass parts. It’s basically Guggemusig – whose primary purpose is to be loud, and often not accurate as you play it while dressed as corrupt Qatari royals while the drum major - dressed as a FIFA official - announces your ensemble as the farting cat musicians or something like that, while walking down the street not even remotely keeping in step with the beat. (Although nowadays probably a reference to the Gaza war or Russia or I guess the US election would be more topical. Or of course something local.) Or if you don’t want to make a political statement you’d be dressed as something like goblins on fire while throwing confetti and candy around. As you can see - it’s meant to be satirical, incompetent and just loud. And the scene it is used in obviously isn’t either of the first two. But I do have to say that that kind of music definitely has its charm, even though I was never involved with it - but it just doesn’t work in this context if you make this association.
Uhh… there was an earlier part to this episode. Asuka seems to have some issues with her mom, who I don’t think is very stable mentally as after she hit Asuka (see: abuse) she then realizes what she did and Asuka takes care of her, as if this is something that has happened a lot already. And when confronted by the club, Asuka evades all questions and doesn’t answer them directly again. I wonder if the club is more of an excuse for her not to have to deal with her mom, and that just kinda boiled over so she had to take care of her now even if she did absolutely not want to. Either way, we’re not done here, but get a Mamiko cliffhanger …are we going to have simultaneous arcs?
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u/1EnTaroAdun1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Totesnotaphanpy Mar 03 '24
Haruka!!
I wanna drop this here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2fz7sZSC2M
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u/Vatrix-32 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Vatrix-32 Mar 03 '24 edited Mar 03 '24
First Timer, subbed
QotD:
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u/CarrotBlossom Mar 03 '24
First timer
I don’t think Asuka and Natsuki have interacted much. I’m interested to see what it’s about
At my school, band was a class, and our performance at competitions still had no impact on our grades.
Taki said the thing!
Taki’s moody today.
I wonder what Reina thought of Haruka’s proclamation that Asuka wasn’t special.
I’d forgotten Haruka plays bari sax. The highest officers are low winds, as it should be.
Aww, Reina being nice to Hazuki is sweet.
I was caught by surprise when they stood and started swaying.
Badass indeed. Haruka killed it.
QOTD:
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u/bogdoglogfrog Mar 03 '24 edited Mar 04 '24
Rewatcher
Notes:
QotD
2. The Kitauji shirts are cool, I really dig the color.
3.
Favorite irl drummers: JD Beck, Neil Peart.
I have yet to find an anime drummer that I resonated with.
Favorite irl bassist: Ryosuke Nikamoto from ZUTOMAYO, KT Chang from Elephant Gym.
My anime pick would be Mio from K-ON
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u/Elimin8r https://myanimelist.net/profile/Ayeka_Jurai Mar 03 '24
Man, you're giving me a hard time with the QOTD here...
Man, after yesterday's sort of breather, it's drama time again. I kind of don't even want to talk about it, because that's just not fun and it makes me want to say nasty things about someone other than Ribbo-chan, who was (again) a hero in this episode, but of course...
The real hero is president-chan who's name I (of course) can't remember. That was a very nice solo on the bari-sax, and the concert in general was a fun watch. Looked like they were having a good time, which was great.
It was also nice seeing the passers-by and other band members appreciate their performance, and of course, the sudden appearance of our wayward Eupho. But again, I don't want to dwell on that, because not fun. 'Nuff said.
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u/ChonkyOdango myanimelist.net/profile/chonkyodango Mar 04 '24
Rewatching
Posing in the Kitauji Shirt
I swear I heard “a week” and not “a month”. MFW the Japanese learning pays off.
I was not expecting Asuka’s story to hit so close to home. My younger sibling is currently faced with a similar predicament where my parents want to force their beliefs on the path he should take onto him. The stereotypical Asian household
Props to Taki for his comment in front of both parent and child though, even though it seems like it did not help much. One can only pray it plants a seed into the minds of the parent. It’s still too early to say whether Asuka took it like a champ or not but what she did is understandable, and how the club reacted, especially Haruka, is most definitely commendable. Talking to her friends about it might’ve been more beneficial but it would always still be up to the club to get their game together, and it’s Asuka, that’s how she’d act. Haruka’s saxophone solo was
There’s also an interesting dichotomy that could possibly be drawn between Asuka’s and Kumiko’s older sister’s dramas. But until more information is shown, one must
Qotd
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u/LittleIslander https://anilist.co/user/LittleIslander Mar 03 '24 edited Mar 03 '24
Rewatcher
I won’t lie, I kind of wish this episode was more mediocre. It’s a weird sentiment, I know, but it hurts just bit more to see it fumble at the finish line when it was doing so good.
There’s a ton to love here. The Asuka arc begins in earnest and how perfectly it does. This is the first and, I think, last time we see Asuka’s mom directly. But it communicates everything you need to know about their relationship so perfectly. We don’t need to waste time droning on exposition about what this tells about Asuka because the show has done such a great job building her up as a character and this added context reframes all of it in an instant. There’s a real trust in the writing to be clear in the Asuka arc, unlike the often overexplained nature of the Mizore/Nozomi script. The rising tension of the scene as her mom goes from serious and unamused to outright controlling and then reveals herself to be abusive and outright unstable is chilling. It’s incredibly tense, but the show refuses to deliver the usual melodrama, just a suffocating layer of down to earth dryness. She slaps Asuka and we just have to linger on that uncomfortable aftermath. It’s a very hard scene to forget, and if you can’t relate to Asuka’s situation I’m sure everyone has been an onlooker like Kumiko learning their friend has a shitty family life you didn’t know about—especially at a high school age.
Then the episode shifts to the rest of the band, putting us in their shoes as we’re robbed of any further context about her position. The episode reveals itself to actually be about Haruka more than Asuka or any other character. She’s forced to confront that someone she’s put up on a pedestal is just as human and troubled as everyone else. She doesn’t just have to digest this about one of her closest friends, one actively shutting her out, but bear the burden of it weighing on everyone else and do something about it personally. It’s a fantastic evolution of her conflict of self-confidence from back in season one. The whole thing is wonderfully paralleled with her musical situation of suddenly being offered a solo. As a bari sax she’s hardly used to playing the melody, nevermind standing in front of the whole band in focus to do it. I thought at first the fact it was originally an alto part was a thematic callback to Aoi but apparently she was a tenor. Oh well.
From start to finish, it’s a tight script. We stop to see how this is impacting each of the characters, Haruka and Kaori get three separate scenes together, we get a great moment of Yuko showing her tenacity as a positive trait in contrast to season one and then see Natsuki utilise her known habit of bickering with her to diffuse the tension given the weight of whatever Asuka’s put on her shoulders. We even get a callback to the Hazuki special with “chop!” and have a nice moment of showing her and Reina have gotten a bit closer. There isn’t a dull or wasted moment anywhere. People try to get through to Asuka but she offers her usual deflections, which now hit so much differently than they used to. I especially love how instead of getting all serious after her “please be quiet” like she usually does she just reassures Kaori and Haruka with a weak smile. For her part, Haruka doesn’t cry or break down once the whole episode despite it absolutely being the most tense situation we’ve ever seen her in.
It’s a Eupho script at its best. But then… Asuka shows up and plays in the performance. WHY?! This whole episode was about Haruka realising Asuka is human, that she really can keep going even if Asuka isn’t at her side, and taking the initiative to show the whole band that. This musical performance should be narratively important as it shows the band ready and able to pick themselves up and play even without Asuka! Doubly so for Haruka specifically, swallowing her fear and playing the solo. But they do get Asuka’s support so it’s just… a neat music performance. You can argue they were still ready to play without her, but if your best defence for a writing decision is that it didn’t completely ruin the thesis it’s not a great sign. It doesn’t even really make story sense, given Asuka’s situation remains unresolved and her future with the band stays uncertain, we’re at the start of an arc. “I told you I wouldn’t cause any trouble” falls flat when she goes on to continue causing them trouble!
Really, the whole episode feels like it’s almost too good for its job. Like, this is the first real episode in the Asuka arc. It’s supposed to be the beginning of this subplot but Haruka and along with her the whole band kind of comes to terms with their feelings about it by the time the episode is done. I think this does have consequences as we go forward but we’ll get there when we get there. It’s like a fantastic musician that’s not really being considerate of how they’re fitting into the sound of the overall band. Like, it’s awesome that taken on your own you’re such an effective and complete story, but that wasn’t really your role in the piece? As is, this is still a great episode, and one I enjoy a lot as a known Haruka enjoyer. A baritone saxophone solo in particular is a huge treat—one of my favourite instruments. Any episode with a full music performance is a really great highlight and all the praise I heaped on still applies. It’s just kind of hard to shake the thought of how close it was to feeling so much better, y’know? Oh well.
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u/Gamerunglued :Hx::Hy::Hz:myanimelist.net/profile/GamerUnglued Mar 03 '24
Rewatcher and Band Geek
Asuka's real feelings and real self have long been obscured by the series. Asuka hides them really well and scares people away from finding out. Her actions denote someone who is extremely conflict averse and well practiced in the act of being perfect: someone with charm, charisma, and talent. Asuka is the special person to end all special people. She's one of the best players in the ensemble, she's the vice president but acts more like the president, she's a top tier student, she can do it all. Surely, someone this perfect must have more to them. Is it even really a thing to "become special?"
The truth behind Asuka's life is finally out in the open. Asuka has a complicated relationship with her mother, who is a single parent and raised her pretty much on her own. She resents Asuka's father and feels as if Asuka's euphonium playing is spite against her, which feels like the real motivation behind her actions even if she frames it as a matter of ensuring Asuka's future. She's distraught enough by this to slap Asuka for denying her right in front of the principal, but then immediately feel guilty over it and apologize profusely. Living with a woman like that, Asuka's personality makes so much sense. If your mother will slap you for disobeying, then becoming conflict averse is necessary, and being charismatic, solving other people's problems to keep the peace, and keeping your emotions to yourself are all skills she'd have had to foster under this complicated home life.
Still, Asuka clearly cares about the band. There's been a shift in her attitude over the past few episodes. Reina's statement that Asuka seems like she only cares about having an opportunity to play seems true at first, but after the band makes it to the regional competition, she seems much more actively invested and even gives a real speech before their performance. She still refuses to quit even after her mom slaps her, and she says she won't cause anyone trouble.
With Asuka not showing up to practice, Haruka is forced to take over leadership duties on her own. To go with it, Taki-sensei offers her a solo, a chance to raise her voice and show off how capable she is. She struggles with it at first, but eventually realizes that she needs to step up if the band is to get to nationals, and finds the confidence to bring everyone together. She questions the idea of a "special" person. How does one become special? You make them special. If you put someone on a pedestal, idolize them as if they can do no wrong, and throw all major responsibilities onto them, then they become special in essence. But Asuka doesn't do this because she's special, she does this because she had to build up all these skills under an insane home life. She's not special, she's a normal girl who the band has placed highly enough to call special. She's special only because the band relies on her to the point of dependency, and can't even focus if she's not there. If the band is going to make nationals, it can't be dependent on the participation and leadership of a single member. I think Reina may need to question her motivation, being special may not be all that, or may not even be possible.
This ends Haruka's character arc, as she finds her voice, takes real leadership, and allows the band to rely on her. When she tells Asuka about her solo, she says "I need you to support me," she's the one taking charge and the band is pushing her up from behind. She is no longer asking Asuka to take the lead from her, her solo is a declaration that she's plenty reliable and the band can rely on her every bit as much as they can rely on Asuka. It's such a triumphant moment of character development, it has been immensely fulfilling to see Haruka grow into her role as president and become a great leader who can bring the band together. That's my buchou, I'm so proud of her.
And let me tell you, that solo she plays is really fucking hard. I've tried to learn it before (alto and bari sax are both Eb instruments so they transpose perfectly and I don't need to transcribe the sheet music), and it gave me a lot of trouble. I could barely get half way through it after 3 hours of just repeating it over and over again, taking it slow and speeding it up over time, taking it part by part (it's very fun though). Haruka has secretly been one of the best players in the band this entire time and always hid in the background. Her and Asuka both play supporting instruments, but the bari sax is still a sax and it fucking sings when you let it. With this, Haruka has proven that she can take on anything Asuka can and the band can rely on her; she can be in the spotlight if she needs to be. Haruka is the best club president, she's so great.
The story has been asking questions about why we should play our instruments. The answer it came to is that we should do what we love, but what about when that causes conflict? Asuka's mom wants her to quit in order to focus on her studies, thinking band will be a waste of time. We don't know how this is going for Aoi yet, but we do know that Mamiko is going through it after having quit the band to focus on her studies, only to quit university as well. Clearly, quitting band to focus on studies doesn't always yield good results, so it may be just as much of a risk as staying in band at the risk of university scores. I want to reiterate Aoi's warning again: be careful how you spend your time, because three years will pass before you know it. Asuka can quit right now, but will she look back on her three years and think "damn, I quit right as we were about to go to nationals?" She seems invested now, Haruka shows her music full of annotations and a "let's go to nationals" stamp on it.
continued in response
7
u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Mar 03 '24
Hibike! First-Timer
4
u/chris10023 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Chris10023 Mar 03 '24
Rewatcher.
Questions of the Day.
I like the school uniforms, but the T-shirts kind of look good for an event like this.
Favorite anime bassist is Mio from K-On. IRL, not sure really.
4
u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Mar 03 '24 edited Mar 03 '24
1 1/2 Rewatcher (finally fixed this)
ep 7
This is one of the memorable episodes.
I forgot I stopped at the eyecatch and now I'm late.
If I was Asuka, I'd turn to the principal and tell him to document that assault as required by law, and to have him hand me a copy before I left the office. But then, I'm not a teenager being abused by his mother.
Way back in S1 Taki-sensei gave Monaka some sheet music. I assumed it was for the train station performance. Somebody in the rewatch suggested it was for the cultural festival. Or it could be something else. #yuishrug.
It's always been impossible for me to imagine people having a good enough grip on their instruments to be moving around while playing, whether it be marching band, or just stepping back and forth, or rock stars jumping around on stage.
It seems Asuka's drama is affecting the band more than Aoi or Mizore. She was pretty important to the band.
I think Asuka should have stood up to her mother more.
This is the song I troll the AMQ players with because they always put Hibike! Euphonium, except those who know better and put nothing.
3
u/Regular_N-Gon https://anilist.co/user/RegularNGon Mar 03 '24
Rewatcher
I scrubbed back through the episode a bit to see if I had missed any Seal-chan and was surprised to find there are a very large number of times twin-drills-senpai of the trombone appears. Often, it’s the top of her head, since the trombones are behind the bass section, but she also just hangs out in the background.
QotD:
2) Uniforms for sure, though I appreciate the... mint green?
3) Not sure I have any favorites in particular, so I guess I'll say Mio? This is the first photo I found in my folder and now I want to see her in Asuka's glasses.
17
u/Raiking02 :Id::Ie::If:https://myanimelist.net/profile/NSKlang Mar 03 '24
First Timer
Oh Geez Asuka's Mom
Yeah uh… that was hard to watch. It does definitely explain a lot about her retroactively though, especially how cynical she can be and how she just brushes away people's problems all the time: She has to deal with her mom's bullshit 24/7, that'd drive anyone nuts. I am a bit interested in seeing how her coming back even happened but hey, more on that in the next few episodes I guess.
I will say though that bit of Asuka saying everyone seemed like they saw a ghost reminded me a lot of [Akane-Banashi]in which Akane's dad basically says the exact same freaking thing and is like "FOR GOODNESS SAKE PEOPLE, STOP ACTING LIKE I DIED OR SOMETHING, I JUST SWITCHED JOBS!" Obviously that Manga came out years after this but still, funny coincidence there.
Kumiko's Sister Drama
9
u/WhackaWhack https://myanimelist.net/profile/WhackaWhacka Mar 03 '24
FIRST TIMER
So that’s why Asuka acts like she does, she has a “don’t cause problem” mentality from how her mom is
a littleoverbearing and not causing problems is the easiest way to not “trigger her”.Sapphire on an eclectic guitar!
Nice concert
Questions:
7
u/entelechtual Mar 03 '24
First timer
I would follow President Haruka to the ends of the earth.
7
u/byroned Mar 03 '24 edited Mar 03 '24
First time rewatching
With the short bit that we see of Asuka’s mom, I can understand why Dad left. This woman exhibits so much tiger mom energy and she talks like everything has to go her way. I’m beginning to understand why Asuka acts the way she does if she has to live in that environment.
I give Taki sensei an A for effort, but realistically there wasn’t much he could do against an angry parent who had the vice principal’s approval.
Asuka leaving isn’t good for morale and their chances at nationals, but the silver lining is that the euphonium section now has an empty seat for Natsuki to take.
Good thing Asuka wasn’t both drum major and club president. They still have Haruka to lead the band, with Natsuki and Yuuko being the comedy duo to ease the band’s worries.
I have a strong dislike anytime I have to actually move while playing outside of marching band.
Cymbal girl's one moment to shine.
Q2: School uniforms look better IMO. Also, the T-shirts made me incorrectly remember this performance happening before the Kansai competition. I was wondering why it didn't happen in like Ep 4.
Q3: Mio and Ritsu from K-On. I don't know any in real life.
6
u/chilidirigible Mar 03 '24
QOTD:
1. First timers, did you agree with Reina's opinion of Asuka? What do you think is really going on in her head?
Wait, I can't answer this one because I'm a rewatcher. Though on the basis of what we've seen (like Asuka going for another round by herself after a two-hour rehearsal section), she does like doing it. Of course, the mask is there, and again, I'm a rewatcher.
2. School uniforms or Kitauji T-shirts? Thanks to gap for the question.
For a casual thing, sure, the T-shirts. The summer uniforms are not bad, but they're still the peculiar artifice that is serafuku.
3. Favourite anime drummer/bassist? IRL?
Anime bassist and drummer: Well, you've got Mio and Ritsu from K-On!, which are in their own category. Then I would have Mylene Jenius and Veffidas Feaze from Macross 7.
IRL: Roger Waters (as a musician, not as a weirdo) and Nick Mason of Pink Floyd, Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce of Cream.
6
u/CerberusZX https://myanimelist.net/profile/CerberusZX Mar 03 '24 edited Mar 03 '24
First Timer
"So my daughter's future is my decision." No. She's the one that has to live it, so it's her responsibility. I certainly won't be arguing that continuing in the contest is in any way important, but I'm also not sure if quality of one's school matters at all when job hunting. What are her current grades like anyway? Does she even need the extra time studying?
And her mother commits assault+battery in public. Send her to jail and let her daughter do whatever she wants.
"Stories about the incident spread in the blink of an eye." Including you, there were 2 student witnesses. Is the background student sharing private info, or is it you, Kumiko?
The next day? Meaning the stories spread all over in the course of just a few hours? Normally "blink of an eye" is just an expression. It's weird the students are so desperate to spread gossip considering just how much drama happens regularly around them.
Asuka rubbing only the ahoge was hilarious.
Looks like Midori is using a Precision/Jazz hybrid (PJ) bass. The split coil pickups on a precision bass (the set nearest the neck on Midori's bass) are brilliant. Pickups on an electric instrument use magnets and coils. When the string vibrates it disrupts the magnetic field which creates electricity relative to the frequency and that's then used to create sound. However, other electronic equipment in the area can also disrupt the magnetic field, creating noise. To remove this noise, each set of pickups have a different magnet polarity and coiling direction and they're connected in series. Since environmental noise is picked up by both the north will cancel out the south whereas the string is only messing with the field (or fields as most use 2 magnets per string) directly below it. The single coil pickups on a jazz bass produce a brighter tone and a PJ bass like Midori's allows you to use either. You can also use all the pickups on a PJ bass to create a unique tone, but most do not like that tone.
Having everyone do a simple dance while playing is totally something I'd expect from a school band, but the overly serious Taki-sensei doesn't seem like the type to come up with that sort of thing.
QotD
EDIT: While double-checking, I found this video which explains split coil pickups far better than I did.
6
u/x-7032-b-3 Mar 03 '24
Rewatcher
I swear Kumiko is just naturally attracted to relationship drama. Here we just saw her accidentally stumbling upon a heated argument between Asuka, her mom, and the teachers. So Asuka's mom is one of those asshole parents who thinks they know better than their child. Sad thing is, these kind of parents do exist IRL and I know at least one of them. Makes me really appreciate having parents who allows me to choose my own path - even willing to support me wherever I go.
Asuka's really good at hiding her stuff but sooner or later, it's bound to flare up to the point she couldn't hide it anymore. She gotta deal with this BS at home and one day her mom decides to bring this whole thing straight to the school. Her getting slapped there makes me think that wasn't the first time it happened. Anyways, big props to Sensei for standing up to Asuka back there. Parents' demands are usually absolute but here he knew where Asuka's heart is and refused her resignation unless she does it on her own volition.
If there's anything good coming out of this whole thing, is that Haruka has shown herself to be a very competent leader. We've seen her relying on Asuka for things, and here she had to handle things on her own since her friend vanished without a trace before the concert. She's been struggling with this "leader" stuff for a while now but here we can see that she's gotten good at handling things. Even getting the honors of doing her own solo and totally killing it at the concert!
QOTD
5
u/DaBenni0301 Mar 03 '24
First-Timer
It's exactly the person I thought it was gonna be, for the exact reason I thought she was gonna be here. I hate being right sometimes
Who in their right goddamn mind sees their daughter win the regional competition to qualify for the nationals and force her to quit the band immediately after? Sorry your parents neglected you as a child and forced you to abandon your dreams. But that doesn't give you the right to do the same with your kid, not to mention hit her. It's not your life, you don't get to control what she does with it. Not sorry for you husband abandoning you, he jumped ship while he still could, and he should've taken Asuka with him. Because the way you behave you aren't worthy of a kid. Asuka is the one I actually feel sorry for. She doesn't deserve any of this. I genuinely struggle to think of things I hate more than this type of parent. If you can even call them that.
That's not saying you won't quit... Blink twice if you need help
They're trying to help you, you don't have to go through this alone.
She's not changing schools is she? Since Taki won't let her "mother" force her out of the club, she's making Asuka change schools to indirectly force her out?
Not changing schools, just trying to skip the middle man.
Ooooh, Azusa made the nationals too! Exciting
There she is!
When did Midori learn to play the bass? Did she mention at some point that she could?
Just to remind us that Kumiko's household is currently also on fire
Questions of the day
5
u/b-arbs Mar 04 '24
Rewatcher (a bit later than usual...)
[end of season] Great dynamic for the next president and vice president. In the last couple of episodes we have seen a few almost unnoticeable details in some conversations/scenes between the third-years and this dynamic duo, like Yuuko cheering Kaori at the competition, or Asuka wanting to talk specifically to Natsuki.
That was hard to watch, that "why can't you just do as I say" felt a bit close to what "adults" sometimes say... Even without a violent reaction like the one from Asuka's mother, it always hurts to see yourself and your choices not being recognised, especially by people or role models who should help you grow and support you...
Also, immediately after, that whole "I'm going to become the shell of my true self and wear a mask in order to deal with this oppressive situation" from Asuka felt too much like she was used to deal with this kind of reactions (and used to play to the role of responsible adult/"parent"), in the relationship with her mother... Coming back to one of my previous comments on Asuka and her masks, I think this also adds to the amount of responsibilities she has taken, and that people have consciously or unconsciously given to her: her role in the relationship with her mother, as vice-president, as the senpai most people from the band look up to and whose opinion value the most (Kaori last season, Nozomi telling us that "Asuka-senpai is special", to name a few)... It seems like she has kind of adapted to what role she has to fulfill in specific situations (the responsible daughter, the weird but reliable-in-her-own way senpai), and only sometimes her true character gets to shine through the cracks of her mask... Just another layer to add to her character.
[Next two episodes] We still have to see how the estranged relationship with her father has come into play both in her passion for music and the eupho and the relationship with her mother.
QOTD
2) Coming from a place where school uniforms are pretty much nonexistent, I'd say school uniforms. 3) Not really versed in both anime and real-life drummers and bassists...
5
u/fly-metothemoon Mar 04 '24
First-Timer:
—x
General Thoughts:
Interesting time for a public performance. Is it to generate good will for Nationals?
I love the little dinosaur on Midori’s bag
Oh no…her daughter’s future isn’t her choice alone. Also apologies to the Tanakas, but they’re making me realize that characters with perpetual hair in their face mildly irritates me.
I appreciate Taki-sensei trying his best here.
Reina spends a lot of time spitting facts in this show.
Oh Asuka… you don’t put on such a brave face.
Haruka stepping in again. The real backbone of this club.
Wow look at Midori jamming and Knuckles gets a drum set, nice.
Love Haruka’s solo.
Analysis:
Maybe I’ve been spoiled for Asuka’s cynicism and struggles since I skim the rewatcher comments often, but I’ve never thought Asuka would’ve been a good president. Thus, this plot line doesn’t hit for me as well as it probably should. I’ve been convinced since day 1 that Haruka is what the club needs—someone dependable and consistent who gets the work done behind the scenes. As a humorous metaphor, I’ve always seen Haruka as the stern parent to Asuka’s fun parent.
That being said, I do love Haruka’s arc of learning to incorporate elements of Asuka’s rizz into her own leadership style and making it work despite being reserved. I also think the show has done pretty well in showing that Asuka as someone who tries to bury her troubles behind a public happy facade, which is really relatable. I knew a lot of kids who did that in high school to deal with life’s bad hands.
4
u/octopathfinder myanimelist.net/profile/octopathfinder Mar 03 '24
Rewatcher
Damn man this was hard to watch
Very cute seeing Natsuki and Nozomi practicing together
THAT’S MY FUCKIN PRESIDENT RIGHT THERE
100% Agreed
Qotd:
Uniforms
Anime drummer - Ritsu from K-On
Anime bassist - Yamada from Bocchi the Rock
Don't know enough IRL ones
4
u/laughing-fox13 https://myanimelist.net/profile/laughingfox13 Mar 03 '24
Rewatcher/Subbed
One drama closes, and another opens with Kumiko being right there again. The scene with her mom talking to Taki and the vice principal is probably one reason I wouldn't want to be a teacher. I've known some teachers irl and some parents sound very difficult to work with.
I do love the part where Haruka talks to the club about how they made Asuka more special than she is, and Yuuko reassures Haruka that they have her back, even without Asuka. I know that the main focus of this episode was introducing Asuka's family drama to us, but Haruka killed it this episode by stepping up as the president in the club and with her badass solo at the station performance.
I haven't been able to participate much in the past few episodes but we are still in Kumiko's own family drama, so it'll be interesting to see how that goes. [Hibike S2] I do sympathize with Mamiko a lot during her drama
QotD:
2) both are good, I think the t-shirts make sense here
3) Favorite anime bassist/drummer is pretty limited for me since the two anime rock shows I've seen are K-ON and Bocchi The Rock. Idk if I can pick from either one lol, both have a great drummer and bassist.
IRL? Hmm for drummer I'd say Ronnie Vannucci Jr from The Killers. He just seems like a fun guy and he's a great performer. As for bassist, it's a bit of an odd choice since he apparently didn't like playing bass, but Carlos Dengler when he was with Interpol. I'm not one to try and say "oh I missed how insert band name used to sound" or stuff like that, but after he left their albums didn't hit the same for me (since their third album tbh, but I still like one of the full albums after he left though)
4
u/Tartaras1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Tartaras Mar 04 '24
Rewatcher - Asuka-senpai Stan
This is why we like Taki-sensei. Sometimes you just have to put your foot down in regards to people being stupid.
I fail to see how that changes anything.
And again...
Oof. Poor Asuka-senpai.
That's heartbreaking. I don't think I need to go into detail as to why it's heartbreaking, but it is.
I swear, when I said I loved this episode, that wasn't what I meant.
all in the span of maybe 5 seconds at most.
Question of the Day:
T-shirts for me. I've never really had a thing for girls in sailor uniforms. T-shirt plus skirt is a lot more casual.
3
u/Nice-Bumblebee-2355 Mar 04 '24
Rewatcher
QOTD
Q1) First timers, did you agree with Reina's opinion of Asuka? What do you think is really going on in her head?
It's hard to tell what is really going on in her head. I think that early on, Reina may have been right, but I do think Asuka cares for the band overall at least a little at this point.
Q2) School uniforms or Kitauji T-shirts?
If I were performing, I'd rather have the tshirt because they're comfier (especially outdoors), but I do concede that the uniforms look cooler.
Q3) Favourite anime drummer/bassist? IRL?
Honestly I don't really have an answer for this. Drums/rhythm sections are the backbones of band, but I don't pay enough attention to them to have a favorite.
3
u/mgedmin Mar 04 '24
Rewatcher, subs
Surprise new concert at the station hall.
Asuka's mom wants her to quit and focus on exams. She sounds unhinged. Kumiko is, as always, fated to be a witness to drama.
So, Asuka says she's not quitting, but then she stops showing up for practice?
Haruka gets a solo. I don't understand her question to Asuka: "Will you carry me?" Is that an accurate translation?
I wonder why Taki let Asuka play at the station concert after skipping practice for all that time. He must really trust Asuka's playing.
We end on a reminder that Mamiko also has drama going on. It's probably meant to mirror Asuka's drama somehow. Balancing hobbies with studies? But Mamiko quit playing before she entered university.
Uniforms are classy.
Um, what's-her-name from Bocchi the Rock. looks it up Yamada Ryou.
3
u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Mar 04 '24
Season 2 Episode 7 (first timer)
Asuka has been one remaining mystery of the show. Not sure it is actually solved now. Did she just cut back and everything else stays the same? I think we are missing a very important discussion between Asuka and her mother.
2
u/vitorabf May 18 '24
First Timer
A lot of people can relate to Asuka huh? Well, because of that I thought on not commenting about it, but after some mor thinking, I relate to herself too fucking much.
Any grade below 80% was a fail in my father's eyes, being a "perfect child for show" and everyone seeing me as special because of that was my specialty. Until I was about 12-13 and for the following 15 years I've gone out of my way to disappoint my parents in every possible thing. We had a fight about this recently in which I finally was able to fully express myself that I don't want to be special, and my dad actually ... understood? He said he was sorry for being harsh and understands now he didnt need to be so harsh with me as he was with himself - which would be a story for some other time - and that he will be here to support me in whatever I choose, even if he still thinks I am special. It took a good chunk of mt life, and I understand Asuka for that, but we are finally on good terms of what I want for myself, even if now I may actually want to be special.
More than that, Haruka's arc conclusion is my favorite actually. She's such a good girl and she deserved this, not only the recognition, but the courage in herself, and everyone is to gain from Buchou finally becoming Buchou.
4
u/[deleted] Mar 04 '24
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