All spoilers must be tagged!cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/11386693
Beautiful and emotional!
I really liked this show. I was sceptical at first... I think it's very easy for shows that surround something seemingly inconsequential (such as a high-school club) to severely overplay how much people actually care about these things. Hibike! Euphonium did this very well though, from the onset. I guess it's about managing expectations, and what the audience can expect from the characters by showing what the characters expect from each other. I really liked the set up.
I love how distinct each character is too. They have unique personalities and interests, though a bit cliché (the big silent guy, the bubbly girl, the cold beauty). The main character though was just something else. I really, really liked her! I love how she treats the people around her, it felt very human, I think this was just excellent writing. She's cold sometimes and bursting with emotion in the next scene, but it never feels out of place. We really get to explore how she sees the world and what she values in relationships, as well as how much she's willing to sacrifice in her personal life to achieve her goals. I just love Kumiko.
The animation was very good too. I guess that's to be expected from KyoAni. What I really appreciated, as someone who has played in a band for many years (trumpet), is that they didn't try to make the performances magical. A lot of sports and art anime (Haikyu!!, Blue Lock, Blue Period) depict their subject as sort of nigh-magical, with colours flying everywhere and cool names for special moves. Hibike! Euphonium leans more into realism, it doesn't try to make music seem magical, it just lets the music be magical, if that makes sense. I thought it was beautiful; in a way, it's the animation holding back, but it's just really well done.
The music of course was just fantastic. Don't have much to say on this subject in particular, it's a music anime, it has great music. I will say that I loved how much silence there was. Especially before and after an emotional performance, they just let the notes hang, letting the emotion build. Beautiful, I say!
The one criticism I have is that it's very short. It's only 13 episodes, and there's too many loose ends. I WANT MORE!!! Well, there is more of course but it's in the next season, which I haven't gotten to YET. This show is definitely worth a watch.
What do you think?
Rating: 4/5
This has been on my list to check out for a while. I played the tuba and trombone in band, so I was always euphonium-adjacent. I am glad to hear that the music holds up. There's nothing more frustrating than a music focused anime that doesn't deliver good music (or never let's you actually listen to it because the characters monologue over it). I will definitely be checking it out when I get a chance.