Series Synopsis
In her last year of middle school, Kumiko Oumae’s (voiced by Tomoyo Kurosawa) band club did incredibly well at the Kansai Regional preliminary championships. Unfortunately, their hard work was not enough to move on to the national stage. Although perhaps a little disappointed, the results were not unexpected for Kumiko and thus she wasn’t bothered by it.
The same was not true for fellow band member, Reina Kousaka (voiced by Chika Anzai) who had true aspirations for reaching nationals. This dedicated mindset simply didn’t make sense to Kumiko, and due to her habit of accidently vocalizing her inner thoughts, she ends up upsetting Reina with her indifferent attitude.
Now in high school, Kumiko is looking to make a new start. Yet despite her resistance, she ends up joining the band club once again and continues with her chosen instrument, the euphonium. Despite having some truly talented musicians, the band club has no drive to achieve anything of note. Therefore, Kumiko is surprised to learn that Reina chose to attend such an uninspired school.
However, this year is proving to be different. The band has gotten a new advisor, Noboru Taki (voiced by Takahiro Sakurai). On the first day, he asks the club what they truly want to do; have fun
and make great memories with friends or try for nationals. Seemingly out of obligation, the band decides that they want to give nationals a shot; not thinking anything would ever come of it. Unbeknownst to them, Noboru has every intention of fulfilling that promise.
Practices become grueling and the laid back attitude plaguing the group is no longer tolerated. This forces many, including Kumiko, to remember what it was that got them playing in the first place and what it is they really want to get out of it.
Series Positives
I don’t want to and I really shouldn’t, but how can I avoid it. A school band anime, how can I not mention the likes of K-On or even Love Live for that matter?
Both of those, each with their flaws, were pretty good. I could, and will, say the same for Hibike Euphonium, but this is the best of the three; by like a huge margin.
Visually, this show, paired with its music, is incredibly beautiful and a treat to watch. Then you add both of those elements with a story and characters that are worth a damn, you get an amazingly enjoyable series.
Practice
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| Kumiko |
Each one of these show have a point, some stronger than others, that center around an upcoming performance. Therefore, each respective group has to get ready. In K-On, After School Tea Time were always going to do good, there was never any threat of failure. In Love Live, you could see Muse improving themselves. However in Hibike there’s no question, these kids worked there asses off
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| Reina |
You see this group’s struggle. You see their plight, both amongst themselves and within themselves. You see their frustration and you understand their pain. Never before did they appreciate the sense of a collective goal. The idea of nationals, the idea of greatness, it was just that, an idea, a dream, something truly talented people did. This was never something a normal person could achieve.
Then comes along someone, in this case Noboru who is an awesome teacher by the way, and says that’s bull s@#$. It didn’t happen from the get go, it didn’t happen at the same time, but for those who heard that message, it clicked. We can do this, I can do this.
This is what I wanted in K-On. This is what Love Live tried to do. And this is what Hibike Euphonium knocked out of the park. It was amazing to see that confidence be built, to see that confidence stand.
I have wanted to see this for so long and now to finally have it is almost unbelievable.
Episode 13
I loved this final episode so much.
This is how you payoff build up. The entire series has been moving to this point. Everything was resting on this. I never felt this kind of dread in K-On and I occasionally saw glimpses of it in Love Live. Biting my nails, edge of my seat, this kind of intensity is what makes doing this so fun.
I won’t say what happened. But what I will say is while watching, I felt the show could go either way, and both are justified.
If the band was successful, good, perfect, excellent. They put everything into that performance. They earned that win. It would only be right for them to get it and move on.
If the band failed, that would blow, that would hurt, that would suck. But it would be a chance for the kids to say f@#$ it. We had it, we can do this, we are going to get this.
Of course by this point in the series I was totally invested. I wanted them to win, I believed that they could. However, there is never any indication which direction is going to be the ultimate result. It’s this kind of not knowing when storytelling is at its best.
Romance
One more, quick thing before I go into the negatives. I want to talk about the romance in this show, and how it is restrained. One of Kumiko’s friends, Hazuki Katou (voiced by Ayaka Asai), gets a crush on an old friend of Kumiko’s, Shuichi Tsukamoto (voiced by Haruki Ishiya).
Basic anime standard is that the main girl is going to fall for the only male character of note. That would have been bull s@#$ and I love this show even more for not doing it.
Kumiko never showed any interest in Shuichi, in fact she didn’t even really like all that much. Therefore, had the two gotten together, and crushed Hazuki’s chances, that would have been cruel.
Although Kumiko is the lead, that doesn’t mean a romance has to happen if it doesn’t have to happen. Props toward Hibike for realizing that.
Series Negatives
Hibike Euphonium is one of those series where its negatives are very well counterbalanced by its positives. Yes there are things that are not quite right, but what is right is so good that you don’t really care about the bad stuff.
I’m going to still talk about the bad stuff because that is what I do.
Many Pasts
As is the nature of a large school band, there are going to be many characters to interact with. Hibike doesn’t shy away from this and has a big cast. However, most members of the band have some sort of past that isn’t all that bright. That opens up the show to an unfortunate setback. There are many motivations to go around, and frankly there isn’t enough time to cover them all.
To get around some of issue, the story uses a catch all explanation. Apparently there was a bad falling out the year before with many members. Therefore, the entire band is still reeling from the animosity. Hibike does a horrible job of clarifying this.
Another problem that comes up on occasion is when someone’s past just comes out of nowhere. For instance, Kumiko was at the receiving end of a senior bad member’s bitter jealousy back in middle school. This is a problem suddenly because a similar situation seems to be forming. Then once it’s resolved, it’s never brought up again and no more details are given. What the whole point of it was, I don’t know?
This is a problem that can be fixed in future installments, but for the time being it remains a little annoying.
Final Thoughts
This is usually the time when I would complain and wish that this series would get another season. I don’t have to do that because I already know that future installments are on the way. In fact, as of me writing this review, a film for Hibike Euphonium is out in theaters in Japan and a second season is planned for later this year.
That’s exciting because this is a series that I want to continue. I want to see how far this band and these characters will go. Hibike does an amazing job of bringing you into the events of the story and portraying exactly what it is these kids are going through.
This is the kind of show that I have been waiting to see since first watching K-On way back when. Therefore I believe this is one that is worth checking out.
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Others in the Hibiki Euphonium Series
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