Welcome to another general discussion thread! Feel free to use this thread to talk about things you have watched recently, questions you have, or recommendations you want to give!
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Past Seasons
Following season 1 and 2 from the week before, I binged the rest of Sound! Euphonium: Our Promise: A Brand New Day, Liz and the Blue Bird, Special Edition - Ensemble Contest and season 3.
The developments in season 3 are well within my expectations e.g.
Sound! Euphonium spoiler
the climax / finale is Kitauji getting National gold, Kumiko becomes a music teacher upon graduating and Mayu took the euphonium soli role from Kumiko.
Though I certainly did not expect
Sound! Euphonium spoiler
the double whammy when it comes to the euphonium soli.
I thought Mayu would either get the role right at the last audition, or get it at the Kansai audition before losing the spot back to Kumiko at the Nationals audition.
Even if the plot is predictable, the execution is so good that it doesn’t matter.
Also, I can finally empatise with Char from Gundam: Kumiko could have been a mother to me.
Jokes aside, various characters were raving about how Mayu seemed motherly, but I felt Kumiko has been the mother figure for the club - since season 1 - with how well she handled the club’s interpersonal issues.
She showed exceptional emotional maturity for a high schooler. I would love to have her as my teacher / manager / team lead.
There’s this saying that “the hardest problems are people problems” (source 1, source 2). I speak from experience in tech, but have realised that it applies to all fields: tech, anime-production, sports, music, etc.
I can’t emphasise enough just how much of a genius Kumiko is at solving people problems. Kitauji’s concert band is very fortunate to have her leading them.
Side note: I did not expect their marching costume to expose the tummies of guys. Talk about equality.
Long story short, this anime is a masterpiece. If you are into good story and well-written characters, this is the anime for you. (The animation, art and music are nothing to scoff at either). 10 / 10
P.S. I don’t watch a lot of music anime. Now that I’ve watched Sound! Euphonium, music shot up the ranks to become my highest rated genre on AniList (85.5%).
Glad that you enjoyed Sound Euphonium. Most of the drama felt 8/10 to me. Big exceptions, S3 and Liz and the Blue Bird.
Liz and the Blue Bird is a technical masterpiece and really loved how they used silence to maximum effect on the scenes. It has the best art style, and I could also relate to Mizore and Nozomi’s relationship too based on past experience.
S3 felt rushed and wished it’s a 24-episode series, but the way it ended—though predictable—hit all the right spots. I thought KyoAni wouldn’t have the guts to diverge from the LN in that way (iykyk), but who am I kidding, it’s KyoAni. I’m glad they did that.
Thinking of my current experience, I related a lot to Kumiko’s situation. Yes, if I was in Kumiko’s position at that exact moment, I would have done what Kumiko did. She is the perfect bucho to bring Kitauji the National gold.