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TheTacticianMusician

  • Tennessee, USA
  • Joined Nov 17, 2013
  • 28 / M

Sound! Euphonium

Aug 28, 2016

Here we go! Finally, a show where I actually know what I'm talking about!

As a "Tactician Musician", I can rarely say that I've seen a good representation of what a high school band class is like in any form of media. If anyone has seen the movie Drumline with Nick Cannon and was actually IN drumline or just concert band class in general, you'd know that the movie, and many others like it, are extremely exaggerated examples of what band class is like. I'll admit that the exaggeration can sometimes enhance the experience... if it's a comedy. However, when the media takes itself seriously, like Drumline with Nick Cannon does, it can just come off as goofy when it's so obviously exaggerated. But after pointing this out, where does Sound! Euphonium lie within the scope of "Band Geek" portrayals?

Before I answer that, I'll say I think this is one of the best slice-of-life anime I've seen in a long time, and while "band camp" isn't really the most original setup for a story, it's also not really something that's been done countless times either, unlike some other genres that you literally just associate with anime. In fact, I can't look at a show or movie about "Band Geeks" and say, "Wow, this is straight outta anime." In fact, it's more of the opposite. It's like Kyoto Animation looked at some classic American tropes and said "This is a good idea, but it seems to miss the mark, we can do this way better," and for the most part, they succeeded. I will say that if there wasn't a second season, I wouldn't have considered the show nearly as good as I do, now. I started this review right before the second season was announced, and would have called it a glass half empty anime. Thankfully, not only did they come through, they managed to turn this into one of the best slice-of-life anime I've ever seen. So let's start with the easy stuff.

What kind of Story is this? (29.75)

Get ready for the most original setting to ever be featured in any Japanese media... a high school.

Yeah, that's a pretty obvious setting, considering the kind of story this is. It's literally about a high school concert band, so we can let that slide just for this anime. Anyway, Kumiko Oumae, our protagonist is a freshman in highschool, and with her being a Euphonium player, wants to join said concert band. She along with many other characters join the school band and from then on, the story basically consists of just things you'd expect a school band to participate in. Band rehersals, sectionals, chair placement, parade marching, highschool band competitions, etc. Funily enough, it all sorta happens in that order, too.

With that description, you'd think the show would be pretty boring, and if that's all that happened, then yes I would agree, but obviously there's more to it than that. I mean this is Kyoto Animation we're talking about. If there's a Kyoto Anime without some heavy-hitting and emotional drama, hell might have frozen over... (or something might have happened to Kyoto... too soon...? I'll stop...)

Well, Sound! Euphonim is no different. The most important parts of the show are definitely the character-drivin parts. The writing in the show is excellent. For the most part, it's very wholesome. The setting sort of rotates between four different locations, and each setting tends to carry a specific tone with it.

  • First, you have the full classroom where all the band members and the conductor are present. These scenes are generally more serious as the conductor, Mr Noboru Taki, takes the band's activities seriously, often singling out characters for underperforming during a rehearsal.
  • After these scenes, you usually see what us band geeks call "sectionals". This is when the band members form into groups of their instrument types (woodwinds, trumpets, low brass, percussion, etc.). These scenes generally focus on Kumiko and a few other characters who play Euphonuim, Tuba, Trombone, and Contrabass. Here you generally get more light-hearted dialogue, and the occasional comedic moment.
  • Then, eventually it goes from band to personal drama. Class is dismissed and you see the characters interact outside of the band room, occasionally talking about the band or practiciang their instrument on their own.
  • Finally, the most uncommon setting, but usually the one with the most pay-off, and sometimes even suspense... the performances. These usually comprise each arc, being the "final boss" of each arc and usually end with a sense of triumph or defeat... or some other emotion in between the two.

Nothing else really happens outside of these four main settings. There are a couple episodes that can be looked at as fillers... like you'd be wrong to think that this being a show about "band geeks" means there is no need for a beach episode. But even that doesn't stray too far from the usual cycle. Now you might think that this cycle of settings can lead to things getting repetitive... and you may be right. But here's the thing... it's a show about a concert band class, and more importantly, it's a show about gradual improvement, so of course there will be a bit of repetition in the scenes. If you've ever been in a band class, you know.

But obviously this repetitious formula isn't what holds the show afloat. If that was all, all the show would be is acurate... but what really makes the show so brilliant...

...Is the Characters. (30.8)

Specifically the character cast and the interactions among everyone. Almost all of the major characters are very complex, but none of them are too exaggerated. Of course there are plenty of little moments that could only really exist in anime, but those are sparse enough that they don't take away from the engagement. There's even complexity in many of the side characters. Hell, even the teacher gets quite a bit of depth to him, that you don't see often in other anime taking place in school. There's really no character that doesn't work. So let's look at a few of these characters in detail.

Kumiko Oumae

Kumiko has to be up there as one of my favorite female protagonists in anime. It's weird, cause I think I see most people look at her as a bit of an asshole... and if you look at her at face-value, I can see why you'd think that. She's rather blunt whenever she talks. Often saying things that offend some of the characters, most likely without realizing what she said was offensive.

The easiest example of this is in one of the first scenes, and a common flashback scene, where in a middle school competition she participated in with Reina Kousaka, they end up NOT winning in the competition, and instead of crying or seeming disappointed in the loss, she says to a sad Reina, "did you really think we would win?" or something like that... but it wasn't as if she was bullying Reina. It's more like she has a pessimistic (or realist) outlook on her actions.

That's how I look at Kumiko specifically. A realist with a bit of naivete, sometimes spitting hard facts that don't care about your feelings.... take that how you may. But the bluntness isn't always as hard reality checks. Often times it can lead to some savage moments. And actually it eventually leads to some of her more emotional moments where she'll just yell out what happens to be on her mind at times, which in turn leads to some of the other characters' as well as her own development. I'd even say she might be one of the best-handled slice-of-life protagonists in general, just for that reason... with her actions benefiting not only her development, but the rest of the cast.

I'll also applaud her for not being generic. I used to make the comment in my older reviews, that just because a protagonist is female, means she can't be generic. This is obviously not true. Of course, most generic protagonists happen to be male, but it all comes down to the writing, and there are plenty of female characters out there that can fall into that category. In Oumae's case, her quiet nature is something you would find in many generic protagonists, but that trait instantly vanishes once you see what she's really like. I would put her up there with Mai from My-Hime as one of my favorite female protagonists.

 

Reina Kousaka

Now we get to some of the supporting cast, starting with Reina, whom they seem to set up as the second most important character in the anime, although I don't think I'd go that far. She is even less of a talker than Oumae, although she does get plenty of screen time. Her character is that of a Freshman trumpet player who takes the band quite a bit more seriously than the majority of the class. She also happens to be quite the prodigy at the trumpet, which does eventually lead to some of the more dramatic scenes. It also doesn't help that she carries an aura of superiority around her, which isn't completely unwarranted.

There are a couple scenes that involve "chair placements", which for non-band geeks, is basically a personified tier list... separating the best players of a particular instrument from the... not as good players, which generally results in the higher-ranking players getting to play the harder or lead parts, or even a solo of a musical piece, while the lower-ranking players will play the less difficult, or back-up parts of the same piece.

That definition was necessary because of what happens with Reina's ranking in said "chair placement", and how the other trumpet players in the class react to that ranking. I'm sure you can put the pieces together, but to keep it spoiler-free, I'll say it leads to some drama, and it's not even overly dramatic. The thing is, as someone who was in a high school band class, there were actually several people I knew who sort of fell into the same category as Reina. I fact, I think it's safe to say that most school band classes have at least one person that fits her description.

Aside from the plot description I gave about Reina, I also just think she's a good character. At face value, she comes off as the stoic girl... however unlike most stoic characters, she actually has a complex personality, and displays plenty of emotion. She's just the quiet kid, which isn't uncommon. She is a person of few words, so when she actually says words, you're like "Woah! She talked!" I enjoy characters like this when done right, and Reina is just that.

Mr Noboru Taki 

First of all, I'd like to thank this anime for actually writing a teacher character well. There are not many anime I've seen where a teacher is actually shown doing teacher things, where the teacher things he does actually matter in context with the story. I actually really like this guy. Taki is the school's band director / conductor, and he is portrayed as pretty strict but understanding. As stated earlier, and aimilar to Reina, he takes the band more seriously than the majority of the class, but it's not necessarily his fault for that. In the beginning of the school year, he asks the class if they are interested in participating in a national competition, and most of the class agrees to participate. This of course leads Taki to get into serious mode, and attempt to train the students up to be competitive in said competition.

I like Taki because he is portrayed well as a serious teacher willing to point out his students' mistakes and work with them to help better themselves. There's nothing abnormal about it, as any good band director would do just that. I mean, he doesn't throw drum sticks or knock a music stand over for a rehearsal sounding exceptionally bad (which I may have experienced once or twice during my time as a band geek), but he definitely comes off as a teacher whose patience you don't want to test, and that's a good thing in my opinion.

On a side note, I'd like to point out that this anime is very few make characters... out at least few that actually get a decent amount of screen time. Including Taki, I think there are really only 3 male characters that would count among the main cast. I point this out because I find it impressive for an anime with such a disparity in the number of females to male characters, to not only... not be a harem anime, which I feel like a lesser studio would have done something like that... but to also have virtually zero fan service. In fact, I still can't remember any scene where fan service would have been present. Granted, Kyoto Animation isn't really known for being littered with "ecchi" anime, but they also don't have a perfect track record in either category. Still, this anime is pretty clean as far as I remember. 

EDIT: Well now, as I just remembered some of the things that happen in Season 2... It turns out that the anime is not 100% clean, which I never claimed in the first place, but there's still no real fan service. There's kind of a random romantic subplot in the last couple episodes that I remember felt either out of place or just forced, which might explain why my score for the story is a bit lower than all the other scores. Still, the fact that I hardly even remembered it makes me reluctant to deduct points from the anime anymore than just a minor nitpick.

Honorable Mentions

Moving on, I did want to take a moment to talk about some of the other characters that I think deserve a shout-out. Starting with Katou and Sapphire, who I assume the anime appoints as the comic relief characters. While I wouldn't call them that personally, as this anime never really tries to be too funny, I do still get where they're going with it. Both characters play the biggest instruments in the band, with Sapphire playing the String Bass and Katou playing the Tuba. Especially with Katou, I do sort of find it funny that the smallest person in the class is playing the biggest instrument.

How's the Atmosphere? (29.5)

8.5/10 story
9.9/10 animation
9.8/10 sound
8.8/10 characters
9/10 overall

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