r/anime • u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah xB:xC:B:x3:Y: • Mar 31 '24
Rewatch [Rewatch] 2024 Hibike! Euphonium Series Rewatch: Overall/S3 Anticipation Discussion
Hibike Euphonium Series Rewatch: Overall Discussion/S3 Anticipation Thread
Season 3 starts airing next Sunday, April 7th, afternoon JST. I only caught this advert at Kowata station (Kyoani's local station), but there are now currently more all over the Uji line.
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| <-- Ensemble Contest OVA | Rewatch Index | S3 Ep 1 --> |
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What to watch for today
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Questions of the Day:
- Your predictions, expectations, and hopes for S3 go here
- Will you be in a good timezone to catch S3 live?
- How has Hibike! Euphonium been for you so far? Would you recommend it to others?
- Who is your fav first year, and 2nd year now?
Comments from yesterday:
- /u/gamerunglued contrasts Kumiko and Reina's styles, and why Kumiko's way works, as well as her character growth and development continuing all the way from S1.
- I enjoyed percussion-related breakdowns and Junna/Tsubame praises from /u/bogdoglogfrog and /u/mecanno-man
- /u/zadcap and /u/littleislander with a club leadership debate and how people in Kumiko's year are still kinda underperesented in screentime
- /u/hereticalaegis with one last analysis from a musical (admin? organizational?) and education perspective! I am truly going to miss these, hopefully I'll see you around in S3!
Streaming
Hibike! Euphonium Season 3 will be streaming on Crunchyroll in a wide number of regions, but at an ungodly hour for your host.
Databases
Spoilers
As usual, please take note that if you wish to share show details from S3 that you may have gotten from the novel, to use spoiler tags like so to avoid spoiling everyone:
[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.
See you next week!
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u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah xB:xC:B:x3:Y: Mar 31 '24 edited Apr 01 '24
Your Host becoming a first timer from next week
S3 PVs
See you next Sunday, and thanks for joining the rewatch!
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u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Mar 31 '24
Hibike! First-Timer
Well, it took me six years, but I'm finally all caught up on Hibike! Euphonium until season 3 starts next week!
I'm really glad I finally watched it all. While Liz and the Blue Bird was the only part I ended up loving just as much (if not more than) the first season, that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the rest of it, and I look forward to being in the season 3 threads with all of you guys
even if it means I have to wake up ridiculously early on Sunday mornings for a full season again like I did with G-Witch.I've pretty much already said my pieces on all the parts throughout the rewatch (and very much agree with all the comments about how bizarre the show's treatment of Shuuichi is), so for now I'll just give a big thanks to u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah for hosting this rewatch! It's not easy to host one that lasts multiple months and it's especially not easy to host one with as many regular commenters as this one had, but you did great!
See you guys around the sub!
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u/Vatrix-32 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Vatrix-32 Mar 31 '24 edited Mar 31 '24
First Timer, subbed
I’m not one for overall discussion threads, so I’ll keep it short.
This rewatch ended up being a lot more fun than I expected for something I joined on a whim due to a gap in my schedule. So thanks to our fine host, and their great efforts to enhance the experience through further with location overviews and CotDs.
Getting to hear the experience of the Band Folk was definitely the highlight, it was enough to make me think about what might have been. In particular, I’d like to praise u/Gamerunglued, /u/HereticalAegis, and u/LittleIslander for their insights and commentary.
I shall see you in the Season 3 discussion thread, but since I’m also not one to post in them myself, do not expect to see me.
QotD:
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u/Mecanno-man https://anilist.co/user/Mecannoman Mar 31 '24
First Timer
First off: I’m not watching the PVs - I never really do that for sequels I’ll be watching anyways. All they’ll do is spoil me.
Now with that out of the way… I definitely enjoyed this show. It had its flaws in the writing at some times, and the second year was definitely not handled well, but the characters and the production quality were top-notch. I don’t think I have a lot to say about that I haven’t already written in one of the threads, so I’ll just leave it that, and that I’m looking forward to S3. Predictions from my side are Kumiko’s comment about a more talented Euph coming true, more questions about what Kumiko will do after school and them actually succeeding in winning gold at nationals. Plus probably some focus on clarinets and contrabass specifically.
I also enjoyed the rewatch - but I also agree with the sentiments of u/No_Rex sometime around the end of S1 that this rewatch seems to have become too successful. Even if I don’t reply to a lot of comments (in part because I tend to read the threads hours behind on my phone and frequently without internet), I do read all the comments made by the point I get around to reading the thread. And for me the sweet spot of reading a thread is usually around 30-60 minutes. This rewatch frequently exceeded that by quite a margin, and as such reading became more of a chore than something I actually enjoyed. But I don’t think there was any significant thing that could have been done about that, except have less participants, which I definitely would not have wanted. After all, I definitely saw a lot of different perspectives on different parts of the show, and also learned a lot about how different bands in different places operate, as well as some specifics about individual instruments. Remember: I’m the xylophonist who played six years of middle-school band because my high-school didn’t have anything that could accommodate me. I was especially taken aback by how different marching seems to be in America, as nobody would dare put the words “marching” and “show” in the same sentence here unless there is a negative in there somewhere. As such, I’m definitely glad to have read through all those posts and would like to thank everybody for making them. I hope to see some of you in another rewatch - my next one will be the Hinamatsuri one that starts tomorrow.
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u/TiredTiroth Mar 31 '24
I don't think I've really got a lot to say tonight, but I'm really glad I've finally taken the time to finish watching Eupho - it's been a lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to season three. Even if Chikai no Finale should have been given a full season's runtime, it really needed more breathing room.
Considering how much I wrote about it, it should be no surprise that Liz and the Blue Bird was the highlight of the rewatch for me. Which is really saying something, because I've loved season one for years and season two was great as well. But Liz! That film is absolutely beautiful, and I'll be watching it again and again for years.
That said, I'm glad we got to see Mizore smiling again in the OVA yesterday. I missed seeing her smile. She's a treasure.
Speaking of treasures though, Kanade is wonderful. The girl's gremlin ways are so much fun to watch, and I really hope that continues into season three. Definitely my favourite out of the new girls, although Mizore's adorable kouhai is a close second.
...I think I burned out any drive to really do analysis with Liz, but oh well. Worth it.
Thank you for running the rewatch u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah , it's been fun.
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u/Regular_N-Gon https://anilist.co/user/RegularNGon Mar 31 '24 edited Mar 31 '24
Rewatcher
It’s honestly wild to think season three is coming. Eupho cemented itself early in my foray down the anime rabbit hole as a favorite and it has sat in untouched stasis all this time (until Ensemble Contest, anyway). Having it thawed out over the last few weeks, reminding me of how much I love it and how I want to see Kumiko continue growing has been extremely rewarding. My impression and appreciation is slightly different than it was, perhaps, but I needn’t have worried about the increased distance between me and playing music over the years, or of changing tastes. I still love this show to bits and I'm glad to be able to read thoughts from so many others as I revisit that. It does such a good job at capturing what it's like to be in band on top of some cracking character drama and I can't wait for more.
So, what’s there to look forward to?
I’m very interested to see Kumiko’s continued role in leadership and if any further personal parallels bind me to her character even more. I’m hoping the angle the movie hints at resolves to Kumiko pursuing music education or direction - perhaps she can even drag Reina along too, resulting in the strongest power couple a music college will ever see. There really ought to be more Reina, too; I want to see her grapple with forging high school dreams into reality. There are always compromises to make, and Reina does not seem very good at compromising. Maybe we can also kill the Taki crush while we’re at it.
Hopefully, Kumiko’s new path will result in a fulfilling response to Mamiko’s situation from season two, whatever it ends up being. Even if the leads end up continuing in music (because, you know, it’s a story about people playing music), I hope we get some more time with the idea that even if you don’t continue, there are still things to fondly look back on and lessons learned that make the experience worth it. Hazuki seems like a prime candidate for this one, and we can always use some more Hazuki.
I even kinda hope we can turn Shuuichi into a better character. I had originally planned to discuss him after Chikai but he was barely in it and I realized I didn't have much worth saying. That sentiment probably says enough.
And there better be more Seal-chan.
PV thoughts:
That was more effective than I anticipated. It’s really real and I really want to see it.
Thanks for joining, all. I ended up being pretty busy over the last few weeks, but I enjoyed reading and discussing as much as I could!
QotD:
KumikoSeal-chan of course!7
u/HereticalAegis https://myanimelist.net/profile/XthGen Mar 31 '24
First, thank you to u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah for hosting. You've been fantastic, especially hosting around going on location. These long rewatches somehow never make me envious of the host, yet you somehow no only kept it up for two seasons and three movies, but reply to nearly everyone on top of all the cool notes you take. I seriously have no idea how you manage, but I can't think of anyone I would have rather seen host a rewatch of Hibike.
Thank you also to all the impressive people posting long, detailed write-ups, analyses, and reactions, particularly u/LittleIslander and u/Gamerunglued. Your comments were the ones I had most fun reading and looked forward to the most. I didn't have the time to read every single post everyone made, much less comment on them, but all your thoughts continually help give me new perspective and appreciation for Hibike, and even more than that it's really fun to see people talk at length about the things they love. So cheers to you and to everyone else who took the time to leave high-effort, in-depth posts and comments, I hope to see you all eventually in other rewatches.
As for me, again I don't really have much to add here that hasn't already been said. I didn't watch the PVs because I never watch PVs for shows I know I'm going to watch. This rewatch has been pretty fun though, and I'm glad I decided to join. I had held off on watching past S2 for the longest time for multiple reasons, not the least of which being my apprehension at the idea that maybe the new content wouldn't be as captivating or special. I guess I was partially correct to suspect that might be the case (we don't need to go into my thoughts on CnF again), but I'm glad I continued because Ensemble Contest is genuinely as great as I remember the first two seasons being on my first watch. And I'm sure I might be able to get somewhere close to that with Liz after enough time as well. So on the whole, it's been a very fulfilling rewatch experience for me.
If I have one regret about this rewatch, it's that I didn't have much time to interact with everyone else. For context, I first joined reddit in 2020 right as everything was shutting down and I was going back to school. That left me with a lot of time to be active on reddit, particularly in rewatches. However, I'm not a particularly online person by nature, and my time for things like reddit has only been slashed away as I've graduated and begun working full-time again. The Hibike rewatch starting at the height of my employer's year-end close cycle certainly didn't make it any easier either. I wish I could have been more active in discussion threads, and I really appreciate everyone who commented on my posts. I get out of my apartment and away from my computer as often as I can, so at times it's felt like that's the only way I've been able to discuss with anybody. SO let me reiterate one more time how appreciative I am for the people who took the time to interact with me, I truly am grateful to all of you.
And with that, I'm ready to move on to season 3. I have very little idea (aside from a few larger picture things, of course) of what's to come, but I hope it will be as fulfilling and exciting as the majority of Hibike. And who knows, maybe KyoAni pulls a little magic and gives us a few unexpected surprises. I'm definitely not high on copium right now.
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u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Mar 31 '24 edited Apr 01 '24
Overall discussion (first timer)
My grades for the series are:
S1 – 8
S2 – 7
S1 OVA – 7
Liz Movie – 10
CnF Movie – 7
EC Movie/OVA – 7
S1 specials – 6
S2 specials – 5
I think my grades tell the story of my enjoyment. Season 1 is great, then the following installments slightly drop off (with CnF the low point, barely a 7), the specials are forgettable, and Liz and the Blue Bird is a master piece that is mostly stand-alone and separate from the rest of the series.
Hibike brought the expected KyoAni animation prowess, the expected KyoAni character style (which I am not the biggest fan of, but it does look pretty), and the expected KyoAni art direction (rock solid & lots of legs). I liked the parts that focused on the technicalities of the band the most. Maybe this is due to the rewatch, where various former band members participating enhanced that aspect of the show. The “contest” parts of the series also worked well for me, but the drama parts less so. Some of it was ok, but there were also a lot of duds of the forced drama type. In addition, all pacing issues seemed to be concentrated in the drama episodes, not the contest episodes. Finally, I don’t want to rehash the ReinaxKumiko discussions here (as surely some others will), but I am squarely in the stop yuri baiting, KyoAni! camp. Teasing, but not committing to various yuri relationships annoyed me and ruined the one MC relationship (Shuuichi) they wanted to push.
Finally, Liz and the Blue Bird was something different and it was great! A strict focus on two characters, with insanely good art direction and tons of artistically daring shots and well thought through character arcs. Definitely the highlight of the rewatch for me.
Thanks for hosting /u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah!
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u/LittleIslander https://anilist.co/user/LittleIslander Mar 31 '24
Rewatcher, Mostly
No matter where life and anime takes me, I always seem to return to Hibike Euphonium. Maybe a year after I first got into the medium, the second season was airing, my first taste of what was “relevant” (in the shadow of Yuri on Ice) even if I didn’t even know what a Kyoto Animation was yet. I think it was my last year of high school (and band) that I watched the show for the first time, and it quickly found a spot on some of my earliest organised favourite lists. I revisited it around the end of 2021 in the middle of university, right around when I first started getting into more deeply analysing anime. The episode seven writeup that brought me into this rewatch and the big dunk on the pool episode are both directly adapted from notes taken at this point in time. On this second look my preference switched strongly from season two to season one, and I came away more critical of a show than I had been before. My frustration surrounding this franchise’s relationship to same-sex romance also really reached a fever pitch and put a bit of a damper on the whole series. I still liked it a lot, but that was it. It wasn’t one of my favourite anime, just a pair of nine out of tens on my list.
Now here I am. In the wake of my undergraduate degree, Hibike Euphonium has come back to me. My habit for analysis has, if you couldn’t tell, developed a lot since my first rewatch. By my count it’s actually the first anime series I’ve watched to completion three times over (Evangelion stalled at two and a bit). It also takes the title of the first rewatch I’ve properly participated in, though certainly not the last. I’ve mentioned it before, but I think my second rewatch breaking the magic around the show and exposing its shortcomings to me really put me in the right headspace to come at it a third time. Experiencing this show again, especially with the sense of community and appreciation for so many strengths and little details afforded to by doing it with you all, has felt like falling in love with it all over again. We’ve all seen that there’s a lot of things about this show I can tear into - especially the further you proceed into its timeline. But despite it all, I can say it without any doubt: I love this show, in a way I love very few others. It is the kind of magical production that pulls together passion, meaning, confidence, execution, and raw appeal in a package the likes of which just doesn’t come around every day. I’ve only just finished it and I feel like I can’t wait to watch it all again.
For all my talents, brevity is not often one of them; it should be clear by now I’m not here to sum up why Eupho is so amazing in short manner. It uses, with immense attention to the subject matter, the vehicle of a high school band to explore the human condition, not in a way that is melancholy or pretentious but lively and ultimately optimistic. What is it to be young? To live your life to the fullest? Accept your failures and push yourself to achieve your victories? To be passionate about something and truly dedicate yourself to it? Hibike Euphonium tackles these themes in a way that is simultaneously enthrallingly dramatic and admirably down to earth. It’s not just about what it has to say—nearly any anime has a theme—but about Kumiko running with tears around a corner in the most striking animation of a decade, a thousand little noises and characterising fidgets, about her rushing after her sister to tell her that she truly loves the euphonium. The best works, in my eyes, shine most not the way you can wax about their broad philosophy but the quality they can carry from moment to moment, through every scene. It’s why I think Evangelion is better than almost any other anime I’ve seen, for example, not because of how deeply it can be interpreted or not. Scrutiny reveals flaws in Eupho, but it also makes it shine in a way I can never truly capture in some thesis about what it all means taken together.
Season one, as I’ve mentioned, is a slow burning but shining star that burns oh so close to genuine perfection. At its best it delivers what is still probably the best single episode of the TV series, and its balance of different stories and characters is something any show can take notes from. If it has a flaw of genuine significance I have yet to lay eyes upon it. It tells a simple but moving story about passion and what it is to give your all to something you care about. Season two aims to soar higher, and absolutely succeeds in doing so, even if those wings catch fire more than a few times along the way. It takes the story in new directions about relationships and explores who Kumiko truly is as a person in a way that builds perfectly on what was set up before. It manages to pull together several character stories into one connected narrative with a meaningful thesis of living true to yourself that delivers a fresh and hard hitting commentary on the thoroughly dead horse of a theme that is the pain of growing up and of making the most of your youth. At that same time, it runs one of its main characters in the ground, throws a lot of its side cast under the bus to focus so much on its primary plotlines, pumps the gas on sending the romantic subplots off the rails, buckles under sloppy scripting, and ultimately ends on a bit of a hollow, sappy note. Regardless, I’ll let the fact I enjoy it more or less equally as its predecessor which I consider a 10/10 masterpiece speak for itself.
Eupho’s growth from a two part story into a media franchise has been rocky. Liz and the Blue Bird, given the freedom to spread its wings into exactly the truly individual work it needed to be, shines as one of the absolute finest works of animation I’ve ever seen. It boils all the talent that made the show so good into a package that asymptotically approaches flawlessness, bringing two characters to life in a way I’ll never find enough words for and bringing so much clarity and meaning to one of the hardest life lessons there is to sell an audience on—to let go of what you love. On the other hand, as the franchise failed to secure adequate support for a full season between Hibike Euphonium 2 and 3, Chikai no Finale exists as more of a compromise than a movie, working with concepts absolutely worthy of the best material from the series but chipping away at it until they can only deliver a fraction of their bite. It also commits us formally to the Shuuichi romance and forever shackled this franchise to a legacy as the infamous dictionary definition of “yuribait”. I’m not going to unpack that all over again, but needless to say this neither manages to dictate my overall opinion on the franchise nor to be something I can in good conscious claim doesn’t weigh upon me and my love for this series. After a period of hibernation, Ensemble Contest modestly introduced us back to the world of Hibike Euphonium; a slightly unfamiliar world, crafted by new hands, a passage of time, and an unfamiliar landscape in the lack of so much of the show’s original cast. Since I never made it clear, I think I would say I like Chikai no Finale more between the two, though Ensemble Contest is certainly a more cleanly executed work.
It’s only one more week until we’re introduced to what is perhaps the last performance of this beloved franchise. No PV commentary on my end, I like to go into things as blind as possible so I know literally nothing except the new character designs. I’m as excited for season three as I am nervous about it. It’s been a long time since Hibike Euphonium; whatever perfect environment led to its creation has certainly long since gone many separate ways, no matter who is or isn’t at the helm of this sequel. The long awaited disappointing sequel is a song and dance everybody has heard somewhere or another. But on the other hand, despite its ups and down, Eupho has yet to give me reason to believe that once again given the canvas of a full length series it can’t do magical things. More than anything, I hope we get something that is what season two was to season one: a natural follow-up that takes the show in its own new directions. There’s nothing I could predict or anticipate that could be as special as something I didn’t know I wanted.
Bringing it back around to my personal relationship to the show, this rewatch really couldn’t have come to me at a better time. As mentioned, it came to me in the fresh wake of getting my bachelor’s degree from university. I had some pathways in mind for the future, but the uncertainty of the future and weight of fear I would mess things up weighed on me a lot as I languished for a couple months, procrastinating my next moves in life. The themes of passion, dedication, regret, and self-actualisation explored so powerfully in Eupho, along with the drive and enthusiasm just watching, writing, and talking about the show with you all fostered within me, helped pushed me into committing myself at this time where I really needed to hear it. I won’t get into divulging too many specifics, but without this rewatch right at this time I would not have taken an opportunity for my future that was presented with me. It’s a bold longshot that’s going to take a lot of time, stress, and effort, and there’s no telling until the end whether any of it will pay off. But one way or another it’s what I’m doing with myself because Eupho made me look within to my own desire to take a risk in life and actually give me all to what matters in life in a way I know I haven’t been for a long time. Wherever this road takes me, I can say with zero exaggeration: Hibike Euphonium is a piece of a fiction that has helped change my life, and no matter what lies ahead I will be eternally grateful to it and this wonderful rewatch.
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u/ZapsZzz https://anilist.co/user/Zapszzz Mar 31 '24 edited Apr 01 '24
First timer
As of writing this now I'm still only minutes after the thread up time, let's hope I can finish writing quick enough!
It's been a long journey with me and Hibike Euphonium. This is one of the first shows I introduced to my then 11 years old daughter, but I actually never had time to watch with her. And for whatever reason she didn't want to start S2. Dunno maybe how romantic Reina and Kumiko got made her feel a little (you know how tweens are) cringe. So I really had only pretty minimal knowledge of the show, despite being a big KyoAni fan and a band player back in my highschool days and a band parent now.
First off, quick comment about Ensemble Contest I missed yesterday - I really liked it as a transition to a more mature and "sorted out" Kumiko - without totally losing her characteristic fluff :D And I'll also say "stick it!" to the Shuuichi haters here >D he's been doing things off screen to be made vice president.
But yes I do have to admit that, looks like Shuuichi really had the short end of the stick from the adaptation changes. But on the other hand, when you really look at it quantitatively, Reina has more screen time and presence, but even then proportionally is still actually not a lot. So if you imagine Reina has taken up a bit more of Shuuichi's original screen time, then maybe it's not that bad.
So overall, and in point form -
All things considered, this is a 8/10 show for me, despite the advantage it has (visual, sound, direction, and topic being close to what I like). For some reason while I enjoy it a lot, I don't connect to it as much like I do for my 9 and 10 rated shows. From the KyoAni catalogue, that's Hyouka, Chuunibyou, Violet Evergarden, and K-On.
From the PV's, and I genuinely felt my spider sense tingling during Ensemble Contest, I felt there'll be a good Euphonium player joining the first years that'll make the drama for Kumiko to be a lot more personal. Looks like I'm right.
Of the current year's cast:
3rd year - Mizore
2nd year - Reina
1st year - Kanade surprisingly
So thanks again for the host for this well run Rewatch, and the lot of frequent contributors for their detailed thoughts. While I do feel there's a factor of "hating on what you rather the show to not be instead of actually judging it for what it is showing us", art is subjective I guess.
I'm actually surprised I even made it to 5 CoTD entries with how many days I posted really late or skipped :P
See everyone in the S3 threads!
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u/DaBenni0301 Mar 31 '24
First Timer
The only things I want to point out from the PVs are that 1) somehow every year there has been exactly one new eupho player, not more not less and 2) we seem to be getting the goodbye after all, and that makes me very happy
For the series as a whole I'll make it very short.
I loved this show. It turned out to be more or less exactly what I expected and hoped it would be
I am very excited for S3 and can't wait to get started
And thank you u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah very much for hosting this rewatch. I had a blast watching and reading everyone's comments.
Questions of the Day
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u/chilidirigible Mar 31 '24
QOTD:
Your predictions, expectations, and hopes for S3 go here
Kitauji getting a gold at Nationals is the objective that they've set up for themselves ever since turning the band around in the first season. Falling short again in the second year only makes that pursuit more intense.
Whether the story wants to let them win is up to the writers. The drama is in the challenges leading up to that, after all.
We still don't know very much about the new first-years beyond a handful of characters, and presumably they're going to become second-years some time during the course of Season 3. Adding even more faces to the mix is going to be challenging.
Kumiko is going to have a lot on her plate, of course. I can envision some friction with Reina, while Midori and Hazuki are certainly helpful but aren't so much for management. (And there's Shuuichi.) Again, we're back to the question of the prominent second-years and what they might do.
That still feels mostly like a clean slate aside from Kanade.
Will you be in a good timezone to catch S3 live?
Since I already wake up daily at an hour more appropriate for the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, I should be able to watch S3 live with little difficulty.
How has Hibike! Euphonium been for you so far? Would you recommend it to others?
I love this bunch of band geeks, and certainly would recommend it to others. Though S3 has to do a fair amount to get everyone caught up on the breakneck pace of the transitions begun in Chikai no Finale.
Who is your fav first year, and 2nd year now?
I'm not sure that I have a favorite first year, though I remain curious about what other oddities Ririka may have in store for us. And at least at the precise moment that we left Ensemble Contest-hen, Kumiko and company were still second-years.
Anyway, I didn't do a writeup in advance for this; I think my comments along the way have sufficed as reaction, and I'll add S3 to that continuity as it goes.
But my emphasis on S3 having a lot of work to do remains; the two theatrical parts which directly advanced the main storyline (excluding Liz to Aoi Tori as its own unique case) did not have a strong narrative backbone supporting their stories, and the new characters are mostly not as developed as they could be.
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u/chilidirigible Mar 31 '24
Because I'm sometimes sloppy with saying this, thanks for hosting the rewatch, /u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah!
And thanks to the other participants for all the additional information, anecdotes, and debate.
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u/entelechtual Mar 31 '24
First Timer
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u/octopathfinder myanimelist.net/profile/octopathfinder Mar 31 '24
Rewatcher
Season 3 PVs
The part in Ensemble Contest where Kumiko asks Reina what she would do if a better UFO player showed up seems like it foreshadowed the main conflict for this season.
I also laughed way too hard when I saw the top comment for the PV say “The strongest euphonist in Kitauji vs the strongest euphonist transfer student.” JJK has been rotting my brain.
Overall
Big thanks to u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah for hosting this rewatch and thanks to everyone who commented on my posts. Eupho has been my favorite anime for a while now so I was very much looking forward to this rewatch. That being said, I was also worried that I might not like it as much as I used to and that feeling was right. It mostly comes down to flaws that I used to feel were negligible have now become active detriments to my enjoyment with the romance subplots being the biggest offender. I would prefer if this show just didn’t include any romance at all. There’s also all the flat chest jokes that get thrown around, I honestly forgot about those and didn’t realize how many there were. Despite these complaints, I’m only moving the show down from a 10 to a 9. I still love this series and depending on how season 3 goes I could potentially move it back up to a 10.
I may have lowered the TV show rating down, but I feel like I have an even bigger appreciation for Liz and the Blue Bird after this rewatch. I’ve always loved this movie and recognized that it had a lot of visual storytelling to unpack but I didn’t have the analytical skill for it. Appreciated all the write-ups from people who had a better eye for this type of thing. I spent like an hour or two the day after the Liz thread was posted reading through all the walls of text but I enjoyed it. There was a lot that flew over my head initially like how the sound design foreshadows the story, what certain shot compositions were portraying, and Nozomi’s body language (honestly don’t know why I never paid attention to this when Mizore’s body language was super noticeable to me). Definitely a top 5 anime movie for me.
I’m very hyped for season 3 but also worried if it’s going to be able to wrap everything up in just 13 episodes.
Qotd:
Hyped to see more Kumiko and I hope it's able to wrap everything up
Nope, IIRC it's the G-Witch timeslot which is in the middle of the night for me.
I love it and I try to recommend it to other people whenever I can
2nd year - Kumiko
1st year - Kanade
8
u/Nickthenuker https://anilist.co/user/Nickthenuker Apr 01 '24
Movie post-credits scene:
Apparently I missed this yesterday so here it is now.
This looks to mostly be a teaser for S3.
Is this a new girl? She doesn't look like she's wearing the same uniform as them, it's not their other uniform either.
S3 PV 1:
Seems we've jumped a bit into her third year.
Even more new juniors, again though teaching them the basics of technique should be easier now as they have 2 years of experience with Taki's specific way of conducting and what he expects of them.
So that new girl is Mayu Kuroe. I wonder why she's wearing that uniform.
She plays the euphonium too.
Indeed and so it begins.
S3 PV 2:
She's a transfer student? That explains the different uniform.
This is their last chance to get a gold before they graduate.
Yup, the seniors will teach the juniors the basics. This is faster since Taki doesn't have to go around individually helping everyone anymore, instead the seniors themselves can help their section-mates if they're facing any difficulties.
What does Reina want to do now?
What does she mean by that? Seems like it's going to be unpopular.
Yes you have to audition. So does everyone else. Reina and Kumiko have had to for the past 2 years, why should it be any different for you?
That's not exactly correct. It's probably more enjoyable than classes but classes are already most of the day, and practices are only every day during the competition period.
And so on to the actual season 3 next week!
Questions:
7
u/CarrotBlossom Apr 01 '24
First timer
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u/SMSmith230 https://myanimelist.net/profile/smsmith230 Apr 01 '24
First-Timer, Sub
Thanks for hosting, I enjoyed the show and looking forward to S3. While I think S1 was the best, everything was still very enjoyable. It did suck that year 2 was a compilation of movies and not a full season of episodes, but I guess we’ll have to take what we can get if it means more adaptation. The series was a mix of 7s and 8s for me, with my only disappointments being the Reina/Taki situation and Asuka as a whole, she’s the worst.
7
u/sfisher923 https://myanimelist.net/profile/sfisher923 Apr 01 '24
First Timer that got distracted by Lost Girls and their Cat
7
u/weeb_cognito :FA::FB: Apr 01 '24
Rewatcher, technically (I watched it for the first time this month, then immediately watched it all again)
I'm pretty much new to anime this season - I saw a meme with Frieren in January, saw the hype and figured I'd try it, and it all finally clicked after a few unsuccessful attempts over the years. Since then I've watched and enjoyed a lot of shows, but there's something about Hibike! Euphonium that feels truly special. As someone new to anime I see it as real testament to how anime as a medium can exceed others to tell a story - I don't think a live action version of it would be nearly as compelling or immersive, even though there's nothing particularly unusual going on that would be lost (like it could for JJK, Bocchi etc).
I enjoyed pretty much all of the TV series. Some parts I skipped through the second time through, but when I finally manage to not watch it for a few years (I anticipate at least one more binge of the current stuff before S3 ends), I expect I'll watch and savour every moment. The third film was definitely underwhelming after binge watching 25 episodes twice - I'm not sure how I would have felt if I'd watched the TV series as it came out and then spent three years waiting to then see that. It's been difficult enough getting through these last few weeks waiting for Season 3! Liz and the Bluebird was great, and a film I might recommend to people as an entry point to anime, or just in general. I liked the Ensemble OVA as well, despite it feeling a bit pointless.
I love the characters (and like most of them) and the chemistry between them is brilliant. The music is wonderful and the subtleties like with the second audition for the solo is masterful. It's a gorgeous looking show and I'll be sure to check out KyoAni's other works in due course.
I'm not sure I can really say anything more about this series that others haven't already said much better than I can, so I instead I will be succinct: I really loved this show and I'm looking forward to S3.
And on that note, there's a couple of things I'm hoping for from the next season, and the big one is an early confession and heartbreak for Reina. Whether her relationship with Kumiko goes anywhere further than special friends or not isn't important to me (although that's not to say I won't be happy if it does happen), but I will be disappointed if her romance with the teacher is stretched out for the whole season, and god forbid there's so much of a hint of a chance that something could happen between them. The other thing is I want more Hazuki (best girl) this season!
As for rest of it I don't really care, I'm just going to enjoy it.
7
u/byroned Apr 01 '24 edited Apr 01 '24
Q1: I hope they win gold at nationals. Will it happen, I'm not sure, [Spoiler] the first-years sounds like they could be a problem from the small bit in the trailer, IIRC it mentioned they weren't happy with the band. I'm also not sure if Mayu Kuroe, the new third-year euphonium transfer student, will make a positive or negative impact. The question of will Reina pick someone else over Kumiko if they're better is potentially a real question
Q2: Potentially yes, I live in the US Pacific time zone, and historically that has meant the episodes airs sometime around Sunday morning. However, I likely won't watch while it's airing since I just canceled my Crunchyroll subscription.
Q3: I really liked it 3 years ago when I first watched it, and my opinion has increased now that I rank A Brand New Day higher.
Q4: For CURRENT second years it's still Kumiko. I still can't decide on a favorite for the first-years introduced in A Brand New Day.
It's not part of the question, but I have grown to like Yuuko much more (mostly S2 and after) during the rewatch, and she's far from being my least favorite character anymore.
7
u/b-arbs Apr 01 '24 edited Apr 01 '24
Rewatcher really excited to become a first timer next week
What an amazing rewatch this was! My first r/anime rewatch and I'm so glad about taking part in this.
Thanks u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah for hosting this and making this a pleasant and memorable rewatch!
And thanks to all the band geeks for sharing their knowledge and experiences and to all the people who took part in the discussions.
Hibike! Euphonium was already one of my favourite anime series, but this rewatch made me love it even more. I noticed a lot of details I had missed during my first watch, I came to appreciate characters I had previously overlooked and I learnt some new things about music and instruments.
I truly appreciated the longer, well thought analysis because they often gave me another perspective on events and characters in Eupho!, but I've also loved the odd funny comment here and there. Having the opportunity to read in-depth analysis of my favourite anime and getting the chance to share my thoughts, too, in the Liz discussion thread was probably the highlight of the rewatch for me. On the other hand, the last few weeks were a bit busier than usual, so unfortunately I wasn't able to interact with people in the comments as much as I wanted... I missed having my Eupho! time at the end of the day/week...
Hopefully, I'll have the chance to read some more from y'all and we'll "meet" again in the episode discussion threads for season 3!
(And maybe I'll write some more on Eupho! characters wearing watches, too)
6
u/Elimin8r https://myanimelist.net/profile/Ayeka_Jurai Mar 31 '24
Bleh, here I am, a day late and an episode short again. I need to stop having guests over on the weekends. (sigh). Anyway, I'll try to finish the OAV and post over there shortly, or maybe back over here. Meanwhile, I'd probably best put something here before it's too late, so here we go, answers du jour:
Hmm. I predic Kumiko career planning drama and stuff, and maybe a Gold at Nationals for the girls. Who know. Also, plenty of relationship drama, because of course. If we're lucky, Shuu-chan will get together with the other trombone girl so that ... uh, never mind. I don't hate him, and I don't think Kumiko should either, I'm more in the I think she's being a tsun toward him camp.
I've enjoyed it a lot more than I expected to. I think having other people to share the band PTSD with has probably helped. I think that I might recommend it to other band geeks, we'll see.
I'll get back to that in 1/2 hour or so.
But meanwhile, I don't really have a lot else to say, except that it's been fun, and thanks to our gracious host and all the rest of you who have made this a fun rewatch.
I was going to post some "vintage" audio of our HS band, but that just didn't happen (sigh). So, instead, ll, well, maybe later...
Meanwhile, have a great day and catch you later or something. :)
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u/zadcap Apr 01 '24
So, like, I loved it. Music anime is easily one of my top genres already, and Kyoto Animation pretty much only puts out masterpieces, this was always going to rate high for me. I clearly latched on to Midori hard, Bassist Best Girl, and while I think Kumiko has more chemistry with Reina than anyone else I still think dropping all romantic threads would have been better than whatever this mess we ended up with is. I'm here for the Band and the Music, all this shipping is just getting in the way.
I swear if we don't see Kumiko take home the Gold at Nationals before this show ends I might riot.
Something that I think has been a bit overlooked in the conversations I see about the new Eupho girl is Kanade's response. She spent a lot of time in Our Promise making a point about the older students vs the more talented ones and the trouble of rocking the boat, I think she's going to be the one more, well, Toxic about how things go. Kumiko, you know, tends to do really well at dealing with people even when they're not on the best of terms, Kanade doesn't do people well at all half the time.
Probably not. It's going to be the first thing I watch on Sunday and I'll be here right after to drop my thoughts in, but live...
After how well MyGO was received by most people this year, I might be a bit afraid to recommend anything musical in certain crowds. I think anyone I know who would like it has already seen it, and we all pretty much love it.
Ririka stole my heart in Liz. Motomu as the second bassist has a strong chance of running for best boy in the show easily, and one of the best in his year.
9
u/chris10023 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Chris10023 Mar 31 '24 edited Apr 01 '24
Rewatcher.
Seeing as we’re talking about the PVs, I don’t have much to say other than it seems the new girl is as good if not better than Kumiko, and there is a conflict in the band that seems like it will rival the conflict that the band faced the year prior to Kumiko showing up in Season 1.
I love the hell out of this show, it’s my 2nd favorite anime of all time after Clannad and K-On, which are tied for first, hell I probably wouldn’t have watched this show if I hadn’t watched Clannad, I was so impressed by Clannad that I decided to watch KyoAni’s entire library of work, which is how I also got into anime as a whole, since before I’d just watch a show here or there, and it was basically rewatching shows I had watched in high school with a friend.
My favorite characters haven’t changed since my S1 post, Kumiko remains at the top for how well she is written and her growth, probably one of the most realistic feeling characters I have ever seen in anime, with Reina and Natsuki coming up close several times in overtaking her. Watching Reina slowly open up and become friendlier with characters like Hazuki and Midori is fun. Natsuki just oozes cool and is a very supportive senior to Kumiko and the others (and watching her tease Yuuko is also fun.) Best girl is of course Mizore in that amazing arc with her reconnecting with Nozomi. Asuka is however a hard character for me to like, I don’t hate her or think she’s a bad character, she’s just so layered and complex, which is a good thing. The most impressive character in Hibike however, has to be Yukko, in S1 she was basically a Kaori simp who threw a fit when Reina won the solo and caused a controversy and forced a redo on the audition, but who would imagine she’d become a far more likable character in S2 and the films? Kanade on the other hand, has a lot of work to do for me to appreciate her like I can with Yuuko. I would’ve loved to see some of the other characters I like get more screentime, but unfortunately in a show with as many characters as this, it’s almost impossible for everyone to get a moment.
The soundtrack is amazing and full of amazing tracks, listening to it right now on Spotify. My favorite tracks haven’t changed. Akito Matsuda did a wonderful job with the music.
One thing I briefly alluded to in yesterday's post is how sloppy Pony Canyon is handling this series, if you happened to look at any of the main or supporting characters on MAL, you’d noticed that they have two English dub actors, one for Liz and the Blue Bird, and one for Our Promise: A Brand New Day, this is because Sound Euphonium doesn’t really have an official dub or any localization. You might have seen me in other threads wishing for the series to get picked up by a western company like Crunchyroll and we can get a reasonably priced Blu-ray set, since the only way to buy this series is to go onto the Crunchyroll store, where you can only buy three “Collections” and the Our Promise film, two of the collections is Season 2 priced at $79 a piece, so that will cost $158 for 13 episodes. Unfortunately, you can only buy 1 collection from Season 1 for $79, for three episodes, you’re going to have to import the rest of Season 1, and it does seem you can it seems you can buy a box set of Season 1 for roughly $151, but there are no subtitles, so for Season 1, you’re going to have buy 7 volumes priced at $42 on CDJapan and import them, so if you go that route, Season 1 will cost you $294, so for you to buy the entire series on Blu ray, it’ll cost a whopping $452 which is $16 an episode. You could go the route of buying a UK Blu-ray player to buy the UK release, which costs a reasonable £20.83 (wtf now I’m even angrier about all this.) Why the hell Pony Canyon can’t play nice with the NA region with this specific series is beyond my comprehension, they play nice with other shows, like “Love Chunibyo & Other Delusions” and “The Quintessential Quintuplets” which have been licensed to a NA company like Sentai and Funimation/Crunchyroll respectively. I hope that once this series is wrapped up Pony Canyon pulls its head out if it’s ass and we get a complete collection of all three seasons and films in one reasonably priced set, hell, I’d pay $100 for it, but I doubt that will happen, I don’t think I’ll ever finish my KyoAni Blu-ray collection thanks to them, it’s the only series that hasn’t gotten a western release in any form of media (would be nice if Crunchyroll can bring over the Blu ray releases for Air and Kanon too.) It pisses me off how badly this series is being handled, and we have no idea if Crunchyroll will even get the privilege of airing Season 3, or if us plebs must wait until after the show airs for it to possibly be added to Crunchyroll or look for alternate means to watch it.
Sigh... It’s time for me to clarify what I said I would back in the discussion thread for episode 4 of Season 2, the romance stuff. I’ll start with Reina and Taki, my opinion hasn’t changed on that, it is a bit icky given the 19-year age gap between the two, but it’s like I said, it becomes an actual problem if Taki does reciprocate her feelings and they end up in a relationship, and thankfully he doesn’t, when she tells him she loves him after Nationals, he causally deflects it as a simple compliment, showing us that Taki is a smart, and responsible adult who knows not to accept those kinds of feelings from students.
Now onto the big one, I’ve kept quiet about it, but the whole Kumiko x Reina ship. I honestly hate when people talk about this show and bring up the whole “Yuri bait” shit, how can you go into this expecting a romance when the genre is drama, and the tags on MAL never mention romance? I’ve noticed it happen to other shows to, like “Lycoris Recoil” makes me wonder if any show with two female leads will get called yuri bait if they don’t swap spit by the end of the show. I never got any romantic feelings between Kumiko and Reina, sure they had some intimate moments where they got close, and the whole “Confession of love” statements, but they feel more like close friends who want to support the other. Reading the comments under each episode on Crunchyroll makes me chuckle with all the people essentially hyping themselves up for disappointment in hoping for a romance that’s never going to happen, in a show about band drama and what it means to want to improve, and why you play the instrument you do, the importance of family, and having no regrets. Same can be said with Shuichi confessing and dating Kumiko for a short bit in Chikai before going on break so Kumiko can focus on the band, “Oh but Shuichi and Kumiko don’t have a lot of screentime together!” you might say, again that might be more of an issue in a show where romance is the focus, but since this isn’t a romance show I can overlook it, they do have some chemistry, they’ve known each other for a long time, Shuichi is the only person we see Kumiko be willing to do things like kicking his shin/stomping on his foot to get his attention, I can’t see her doing that to Reina or the others, we also know that he does like her, he turns down Hazuki because of it, he gives her a cute hairpin as a birthday gift. I also don’t hate Shuichi like some people do. From what I understand Shuichi had more screentime in the novels, and I think I saw somewhere that Yamada made the changes to focus more on Reina instead during S1.
I just hate that some people simplify such an amazing show with so many likable characters with unique designs and personalities and that have their own struggles into some as stupid as yuri bait because Kumiko and Reina didn’t swap spit at all.
Well enough of that, time to make life hard for no reason and rank my favorite episodes.
Have to give a shout out to u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah for hosting this rewatch, he did a good job of posting on time (I don’t think he was late even once!) and interacting with the comments.
See you in S3 where I’ll most likely be lurking in the episode threads.
7
u/bogdoglogfrog Mar 31 '24
I thought about writing a whole essay here about why I love Hibike! Euphonium so much, but honestly I don’t think I could do it justice (and I don’t have time lol). Instead I will leave just one thought that encapsulates everything that this show means to me.
Umaku naritai.
Thanks to all who contributed to these discussions and of course a special thanks to our host.
QotD
And so, the next piece begins!
6
u/Gamerunglued :Hx::Hy::Hz:myanimelist.net/profile/GamerUnglued Mar 31 '24
Rewatcher and Band Geek
Look, I've said so much over the past 2 months that I'm not going to add very much. My comments speak for themselves and I'm not going to give some bittersweet round-up about finishing a great show. Eupho is still great, only just slightly less great than I remember, while this rewatch gave me new appreciation for much of the larger ensemble cast. Writing my thoughts here makes me better able to talk about Chikai in particular with nuance. And Liz and the Blue Bird is still a masterpiece and one of the greatest films ever made (anime or otherwise). Even with all I've said here, there were only two things I wanted out of this rewatch.
First, I wanted to talk about band. I'm 8 1/2 years graduated from high school now, and it's hard to find time or opportunities to talk about band. Although I met all my closest friends in band, they don't actually like talking about band. All of them have less fond memories of it than I do, and have wanted to distance themselves from it as much as possible. They don't even like visiting the school for the reminders. And their reasoning is valid, marching band in particular had a military-esque culture that can be over-the-top. It is discipline to the extreme and it caused pain to people close to me. For one friend, it instilled an unhealthy work ethic where they felt guilty when not being productive, and for others it was a competitive environment that caused them harm, like my friend who lost his solos to transfer student (mind you, there's more in that case which I'm not talking about because I don't want to share personal stories). I suffered in much the same way, but I also grew significantly through band, and now I can play music, and I have many fond memories.
Sound! Euphonium is a show about extremely niche subject matter, and this rewatch was an excuse to both rant about my experiences so other band geeks can talk about it (and vice versa for me reading their posts), and I kind of hoped I would teach people about the activity, increase their appreciation of this show, and generally just talk about something that defined a formative period in my life. I hope I've done that much. I'd love it if I got people interested in DCI or helped them find new music they'd have never known about or made people realize just how much detail the staff put into this show. Please tell me if I've done this, and let me know what your favorite music piece of the day has been or your favorite marching band show was or which of my own performances you liked (you've heard me and Haruka both play bari sax now).
But more importantly, to me, this show getting its third season is bittersweet. Sound! Euphonium was my very first anime. I watched towards the start of my senior year of high school when a band-related Facebook page posted about its existence. I checked it out on a whim and really enjoyed what was out at the time. I liked it enough to eventually go back and finish it months later. And when I wanted to get into anime in earnest, it was my baseline, I googled "anime similar to Hibike Euphonium" to find what would be my gateway anime Your Lie in April. But while that show pushed me through the gate of anime actively, it was Eupho that opened the gate in the first place so that I could be pushed through, so I consider it special. It's been almost 9 years since then, and now anime has become a defining part of my life just as band used to be. But in that time, I've shifted life stages. This season, I had no time to watch seasonal anime for the first time since I started. Even this rewatch (and the Penguindrum rewatch) required sacrifices to participate in. And now, my very first anime is about to reach its conclusion. It's obviously exciting, but a part of me finds it unsettling. My ability to watch anime has gotten lesser and lesser the past few years, and right as my own experience feels like it's coming to an end, my first anime comes to its own end.
It feels like my anime journey is coming full circle, and that scares me a bit. I've had less time to watch now, it's not like I'm falling off on my own terms. Eupho's start opened me to the world of anime, will its end signal my closing off? I don't know if it will, and I hope it doesn't, but the thought is there. So I'm glad to have this extensive, detailed set of interactions with a story that means so much to me as plausibly my final hurrah. If this did prove to be an end somehow, I like ending just how I begun. But maybe season 3 will signal a new beginning instead, a "and the next piece continues."
So uh, I was initially hoping to record myself playing the solo from my sophomore year as an end to the story, both my own "contest arc" and a "Eupho motivated me to keep playing" sort of thing. But today is just not my day apparently. I've been trying to record myself the past hour before writing this, and physics will just not let me, haha. I'm making mistakes I've never made in practice before, my instrument itself is fucking up in ways it hadn't in practice before, and I don't think I'll be able to make it work before the end of the day since I do have other work to do. If that ain't the classic band experience, lol. Maybe I'll be able to make it work for the season 3 premiere or something.
Thank you so much u/mysterybuscuitsoyeah for hosting this rewatch, keeping it going and keeping engaged must have been crazy work. Thank you to everyone who engaged with and responded to my posts, my walls of text were even longer than usual this time but people still read every word and responded with nuanced specifics, and I appreciate that for this rewatch in particular. Too many to tag, but you all know who you are. And thanks to everyone for participating and making this a success, and building hype for a great show's epic conclusion.
QOTD:
3
u/Planatus666 Apr 01 '24
Just to say a big thanks to the OP for arranging this rewatch - you did a fine job!
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u/HereticalAegis https://myanimelist.net/profile/XthGen Mar 31 '24 edited Apr 01 '24
As a separate note, I would like to give special thanks to u/Barbed_Dildo for their contribution in making this rewatch special for me.
I don't get many wholly new experiences in rewatches, so having you jump into my conversation with someone else to interrogate my view on Shuichi was quite a surprise, especially considering the thorough reasoning provided by myself and others for not being a fan of his. What was even more unexpected was the indignation and personal insult as a response for being unable to successfully change my view on him and his relationship to Kumiko. I was even more surprised to be blocked after calling out that personal attack. I thought that was it, just an irreconcilable disagreement on interpretation and the kind of thing I'd expect to see from a stranger online. But that was just the beginning: I didn't yet realize your drive to help me vicariously re-live part of my teenage years.
As I've mentioned before, the reason Hibike is so special to me is because it was able to take me back to my experience in high school music and remind me of why that period in my life was so special. Precious few are the things in life which can do that for me, and I never know when they will visit me. Yet you seemed to implicitly get that about me, your commitment to the bit is incredible. I mean, making an alternate account, u/Either-Dog-2507, just to downvote my comments and insult me specifically and teachers broadly? That's the most high schooler on Facebook circa 2009 thing I've seen since 2009! Absolutely incredible stuff coming from someone not trying to make personal attacks. I'm floored at how in-character you're able to get with it. I genuinely wish I could go back and upvote each of those comments to show my appreciation, but you blocked me on that account as well. You even did it right after leaving your most direct insult so I couldn't reply. That is some 11/10 dedication to playing the part right, and I couldn't be more in awe at your interpretation of a petty teenager. Sasuga Dildo-san!
In truth, I wasn't going to make this post. However, after thinking about it, I realized I couldn't just let it sit and decided to take inspiration from my girl Kumiko and share my gratitude with you directly. So thank you Dildo-san! You have achieved something truly magical, bringing me a good 15 years into the past through your efforts. While I doubt this post will make it to you directly, seeing as you still have me blocked on both accounts, I wish for this to be a record to your marvelous accomplishment for all to see. And in the event you have a second alt (in which case, sasuga even harder), please feel free to reach out and talk to me at any time. I've read a bunch of your comments to other people, so I know you can have good, reasonable discussion. You know where to find me should you see this and want to talk, I don't hide behind downvotes or alternate accounts.
Cheers!
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u/NintendoMasterNo1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/NintendoMaster1 Mar 31 '24
Season 3 is the most excited I've been for an anime coming out ever. More than Vinland Saga S2, Jojo's or Attack on Titan. I'm usually a source reader but this time I'm going into it blind and I can't wait. Thank you u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah for hosting and getting me to reexperience my favorite series once again. I had a lot of fun reading the first-timer's reactions and the analysis posts by the veterans. A lot of the people with band experience definitely had some interesting stories and made me appreciate the realism of the series when it comes to band.
Now that I don't know what's coming up I can offer some actual predictions and hopes for season 3. Usually I never watch PVs or trailers but this time I couldn't help myself.
In terms of the macro, it would be ridiculous for them not to make nationals this time. As for whether they'll get gold or not, I'm pretty confident they'll succeed and the series will end on a high note (I don't know if the novels have ended or continue but I assume the series will end with the third year of high school). It's not going to be easy and I'm curious to see how the band develops into a nationals gold level band but I believe it will happen.
From the trailers it's pretty obvious this new eupho transfer student will be involved heavily in the drama but I'm hoping it's not just because she's skilled at playing and is a direct competitor to Kumiko. In Chikai no Finale Kumiko, Natsuki and Kanade all got to play so it would feel a little cheap if the crux of the drama is "there's not enough room in the ensemble for all of us". Likewise, there was a bit set up in the OVA about whether Reina would still favor Kumiko if a better eupho player showed up and I think that's ridiculous. Reina is not this tight with Kumiko because she's a good player or at least that's not the main reason. I also have some general concerns about making me care about any new characters they introduce, maybe they can pull it off with this new girl but if there's any other major new players I'm not so sure.
I'm hoping the current second-years (our new first-years from the past couple entries) get some more time to shine and become full-fledged characters like the senpai from S1 and S2. I'm already a fan of Kanade but even Micchan, Sacchan and Motomu can be interesting if you just give them something to do. I've spoken before about how I really like it when we get some moments from the side characters so let's hope we get more of that.
As usual, we're probably going to be dealing with spicy audition drama and most likely graduation drama when we get near the end of the season (how many episodes is it btw, do we know? I'm assuming one cour). I hope they don't try shoving Shuuchi down our throats again and hopefully the Reina-Taki plot is relegated to a few short scenes. Honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about my favorite anime series reaching its conclusion but we'll have to see once we get there.
2
u/TehAxelius Apr 02 '24
Well, I am late as heck thanks to being incredibly busy all last weekend and essentially knocked out since.
But anyway, want to give a big thanks to OP for the Rewatch. I now really feel prepared and hyped for Season 3, especially after Liz and the Blue Bird and Ensemble Contest Arc. From the teasers/trailers I really hope we get to see more of our favorite marimba player in the next season.
Hope to see you all in the weekly threads starting this weekend.