BigDumbOhFace

I found out about this anime after looking at the upcoming Spring 2015 lineup.  I'm not sure what compelled me to watch this but I sure did.  It was probably because it looked pretty nice and the story got me.

Story

There's like a whole bunch going on here with the plot.  Kumiko Oumae has just entered high school and reluctantly joins the school's Concert Band.  She has been playing euphonium for the past 7 years of her life.  This included time at her middle school's band but didn't really take it seriously as others especially this one girl, Kousaka Reina, who is actually in the same school and joins the band as her.  In a larger view there is a lot of internal turmoil within the band from the previous year.  They all try to fix all of this and make their choice to make nationals come true.

It was a lot more serious than I thought it would be.  I was joking that this whole plot is basically that "Band Geeks" episode of Spongebob.  It at times got pretty heavy.  Also didn't expect that there would end up being some light yuri all up in this.  That got pretty hot and heavy too.  They also hinted a straight romance but it really didn't manifest into anything.  The reason why it's an 8 for me is that the ending was pretty bland.  Nothing special really happened instead of basic ending.  Not much of a climactic ending but it just finished.  There wasn't really much punch to it.

Animation

It's weird to think that an anime about music would have one of the best animation I've ever seen from a weekly anime.  I mean that attention to detail all around was just amazing.  Everything was given such time and effort from small things like the instruments and water to larger scenery shots and pans.  The scene that solidified me thinking this is one of the most beautifully animated shows was this one scene towards the end which had Kumiko running.  It was so dynamic and so fluid.  I'm wondering how big was the budget on this show.  It's sad that I can only give it a 10 because it's worth way more than that.

Sound

Although the animation was pretty much my most favorite part of this show, the sounds didn't lack behind as well.  First, the instruments sounded pretty clean.  The music was also pretty nice to listen to.  It's something really different to me.  I first started with K-On! and then Your Lie in April.  It's nice to get a wide variety.  One of the things I loved the most was Taki's voice.  It was like Morgan Freeman.  However, his dialogue was mostly insults.  So imagine getting your feelings torn to shreds with the soft beautiful voice of Morgan Freeman.

Characters

It's easily the second best thing about this anime.  Although there was a whole lot of characters, the show did a good job in only establishing a few characters worth your acknowledgement.  What I loved was the chemistry the main rotation had.  They all played off each other pretty well.  I also loved, as I previously mentioned, how passive aggressive Taki was.  He said, "Please don't waste my time," with pretty much the sweetest smile and softest voice possible.  However, they did focus primarily on Kumiko's development.  They just revealed others' background a bit which I cannot count as development.

Overall

It surprised me with how good it is.  I seriously didn't expect it to be that beautiful which really took me by surprise.  If you're into some drama here you go.  It's also got you covered for some light yet heavy (sorry if it doesn't make sense) yuri.