Hibike! Euphonium

Sound Euphonium is an anime with an amazing amount of talent attached to it. The production studio is Kyoto Animation, which has produced no small number of stellar works since its inception. Its animation director Tatsuya Ishihara happened to direct not only The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, but the masterpiece Clannad: After Story, after having already directed the original Clannad series, which itself was very good. The most important part of having directed After Story is that it shows clearly that Ishihara knows how to craft amazing stories and life-changing experiences that happen to be rooted in surprising realism. Clannad: After Story is an excellent example of a story whose characters felt like they lived and breathed in a believable world. Just read the 10/10 reviews for it yourself. If you take away the pseudo-fantastical elements, the second half of After Story works wonderfully as a realistic character drama. Its ability to tell a story about interpersonal relationships and how they are able to serve a greater theme is one of the reasons why Sound Euphonium was lucky to get an incredible director like Tatsuya Ishihara. In order to rightfully understand why Sound Euphonium works so well, you needn’t look further than its two primary characters - Kumiko Oumae and Reina Kousaka. “Did you really think we could make the nationals?” Kumiko Oumae is one of the most complex main characters I have ever seen in an anime, full stop. The layers upon layers upon layers of depth surrounding her are remarkable. Though it is not difficult to see how cynics could think otherwise, as not much of her character's creation is ever acknowledged out loud. In fact, Reina is the one person in the entire main cast to realize that there’s more to her than her outward appearance shows. On the very surface, she seems like any normal high school freshman. She’s cheerful, happy and does most of the things others would on first impression regard as "normal". However there is a hidden apathy to be found within her. While she has a welcoming exterior, it's shown that she cannot bring herself to care about most things and that actually, she is really cold and distant at heart. She has many contrary opinions in her mind that most people do not know about, despite her tendency to unconsciously say her thoughts out loud. It is her apathy that causes Reina to become attracted to her though, and people never realise this until around the 8th episode. Kumiko’s coldness is shown clearly in the first episode, where she is not afraid to admit she never thought her middle school band had a realistic chance to compete at nationals, which seems to upset Reina a lot. When she hears Kitauji’s concert band play for the first time, she notices that they play quite awfully. Her insensitivity plays a huge role in shaping who she is. Another one of Kumiko’s defining features once again involves her apathy, this time manifesting as peer-pressure. Whenever anyone suggests what Kumiko should do, she tends to do it, but this is not because of an unwilling Kumiko doing something she does not wish to do. In fact, Kumiko finds comfort in what others tell her what to and not to do since it is far easier than doing what she believes is right. She feels she should not apologize to Reina for being insensitive as she believes she was completely correct and in the right by saying it, but she does so anyway because of her newfound friends. In a similar way, Kumiko did not wish to play in Kitauji’s concert band but was persuaded instead by her friends. Kumiko had not enjoyed the concert band for a while and just wanted to leave it all behind her, but she found it easier to simply do what others suggested. She even lets Asuka talk her into playing the euphonium despite her wanting to play the trombone. At any of these moments, Kumiko fails to put up much of a fight, instead going with the flow and not striking out on her own. Like I said earlier, Kumiko’s coldness comes up in a bunch of different ways. Another one of these is how she treats her relationships with other people. When Midori or Hazuki do or say something that she sees as stupid, Kumiko makes a mental note that she does believes what they are doing is stupid, although she never reveals this to them. Her apathy can also clearly be seen with Shuichi, her childhood friend. Despite knowing each other for a long time, Kumiko does not seem to care about him at all. They happen to both be in concert band with Shuichi even having a crush on Kumiko, but her apathy engulfs their relationship. When Hazuki questions Kumiko on if she likes him, she shuts her down immediately, saying that any attraction she has to him is preposterous. She says she sees nothing there and simply does not want to talk to him. Kumiko also seems eager getting Hazuki to go out with Shuichi, if only to get him off her back. It is also important to address a adverse effect of Kumiko’s apathy: her large disregard for music. Kumiko is a talented musician, but it is obvious that Kumiko does not realize that, or if she does, she does not care for it. Kumiko is the type of person who chooses her high school based on what their school uniforms look like and does not care much about her grades. She is adrift in her own perception about life. This is obvious in almost every scene early on in the show where she is wallowing by herself in her room. This may seem like a list of reasons why Kumiko Oumae is a terrible person, one who cannot bring herself to care about anything. And you would be correct in that presumption. As Reina even says at one point, “You sure are an awful person.” However, Kumiko does begin to mellow out as the story progresses. A large part of that (some would say the only reason why she changes the way she is) is because of Reina Kousaka. “I want to become special. I don’t want to be the same as the others.” Reina Kousaka starts off as a mysterious yet prominent figure. She is aloof and distant, she does not seem to want to socialize with anyone. In fact, her only interest seems to only be in joining Kitauji’s concert band. This is not without a good reason because, as it turns out, Reina is the most skilled trumpet player in the entire band. This does not put people into her good graces because when it came time to choose between just a good trumpet player and Reina, she ends up one-upping those senior to her. Reina’s mysteriousness is on screen through much of the series. In that amount of time, we learn only a few things about her. The most important thing is something we learn in the first minute of the first episode - she loves music and is passionate about it. Music is not just something she does for fun, it is something she has based her life around. Her passion for music extends to every corner of her life, including what school she decided to go to. Kitauji was not traditionally a musically-inclined school, but their new teacher Taki is the son of a famous band conductor. Reina’s and Taki’s parents knew each other, and so Reina knew Taki. Her belief and passion in Taki fuels her decision to go to Kitauji, and is one of the many decisions in her life that is affected greatly by her love of music. Not to be outdone, Reina’s main character trait happens to be her drive to be truly special. Reina wants to be different from everyone else, she wants to be the one that stands out from the crowd. It does not matter whether someone is older than her or whether they’ve been doing it longer, she wants to win. She does this, not by cheating or trying to win over people (like Yuko in the band), but by proving herself to be the best all the time. To Reina, those that are best get the reward. This may seem obvious and you may find it bizarre that I’m noting a trait most musicians have or at least should have. But it is important to place this aspect of Reina under the lens of Japanese culture. In Japan seniority is king and Kitauji has a seniority system…

Who knew that English class would actually help me in a Japanese anime? There is so much subtle character development going on that people who usually watch shallow fighting anime (like me) would think that this sucked. At first, I only watched this for the art. Yes, it was so amazing that I couldn't watch any anime e.g. Fullmetal Alchemist during the same week, because of the clear overpowering art of this one. 10/10 The story was decent at first; it was pretty generic (some people using teamwork to get a goal). But then, I felt as if I was missing something. I rewatched it, and noticed how all of the character development going on. It was like putting my head under water in a coral reef for the first time. Hint: watch how Kumiko's physical spacing with particular people change over time. It's actually important to the story. And yes, KyoAni has worked to that extent on bringing the story into the animation. 10/10 Music is really catchy, especially the op and the ending. I even have the op band version as my ringtone. The band songs they played are also really good. (did you know that they were made specifically for the anime?) 10/10 Characters are basically the story. This show is way more about the characters than the plot. It's the characters, in fact, which are the plot. And each one of them is developed very well, even the useless-ish Midori. Reina and Kumiko are by far, the best though. 10/10 Verdict: WATCH IT! If you have never seen anime, WATCH IT! If you have seen anime, WATCH IT! The only people who I do not recommend to watch are those who aren't too interested in literature which requires thinking e.g. Hunger Games, Sword Art Online don't require too much thinking

Kyoto Animation is back again to tailor to a new clique -- concert band. This time around, they have decided to shelf the swim-club fans of Free, the writers (And detectives?) of Hyouka, and the people that hang out at amusement parks way too much of Amagi Brilliant Park. Industry and KyoAni veteran, Tatsuya Ishihara, is back once again to direct this teen music drama. This show stays relatively inside the "Safe zone" for Ishihara and doesn't really bring out anything he hasn't already done before. (But that is to be expected when you have directed almost everything a studio has produced in the last fifteen years). I basically watch Kyoto Animation productions out of obligation at this point. They become such a phenomenon so quickly and become virtually impossible to go a season without. But just because I watch them out of obligation doesn't mean I don't enjoy them -- in fact, most of the time they come out within my top 5 for the season. So when Sound! Euphonium was announced, I chalked it down and waited to see what the industry-giants had for us this time. Sound! Euphonium gives us a glimpse into the lives of a few high-school band members, but focuses mainly on Kumiko Oumae, a first-year euphonium player -- an instrument so bizarre that auto-correct doesn't even recognize it. When Oumae joins the band at Kitauji High, she has no idea what she is getting into. That's all made clear relatively quickly though, when Noboru Taki steps in as the band's new instructor. Briefly after his introduction, he gives the band an ultimatum of some sort. They can either continue playing for fun, which is what they've been doing for years, or they could aim to improve themselves and try-out for the national competition. And after a vote which was not nearly as close as I expected it to be, the band decided it was time to step up to a challenge for the first time. Kumiko, being relatively indifferent toward which direction the band would go in, starts to question her decision on joining the band in the first place after she sees Reina Kousaka, one of the girls she was in band with just a year prior. So now, in addition to the band practicing every day, we have the pre-existing kinship between Oumae and Kousaka that needs time to flourish and repair. And I say repair because the two had an altercation at the end of last year in which Oumae essentially consoled Kousaka and said it was okay that they didn't achieve a gold rating (Which would advance them to Nationals). Kousaka, being the fiery, motivated character she is, backlashed at Kumiko, telling her that Nationals basically meant everything to her. The two then go on to form one of the more interesting relationships of the season as they tend to their emotional wounds and learn more and more about one another, growing closer every episode. My issue, as far as characters and relationships go, was that there wasn't ever enough time to care about the relationships apart from Kumiko and Reina. I don't know if that can be accredited to the fact that theirs simply out-shined the others, or if the others were just not good to begin with. We start to see these subplots that appear important for an episode or two, but then just wind up vanishing in less than an hour in total. For example, there is this whole thing with Hazuki (A new-friend of Kumiko's and novice tuba player) confessing her feelings to Kumiko's childhood friend Shuuichi (Who never really becomes important at all) that just seems out of place. It feels more like filler than actual plot or character development. Even the moments where the band was practicing were more emotionally-fueled than those occasions of unimportant romance or slightly-confused friendships. I'm not going to sit here and nitpick each one, but I will tell you that the only one that deserves your time would be the whole Oumae X Kousaka thing. Oh, and Midori X Contrabass -- but that's another story. Sound! Euphonium is an example of how pacing can really diminish a series as a whole. For the first six episodes, I honestly did not care about anything in this show. There were all of these elements that seemed great when looked at individually, but none of them seemed to fit together. In a way though, this could be linked to the series in general. None of the band members seemed to mesh with one another at first. They needed time to grow closer and improve before becoming this high-school super-band. Even though this was probably not done intentionally, it's still an interesting theory and makes those unimportant and boring parts of the show feel more like much needed exposition. I just wish the whole thing could have been as good as the final arc -- which was probably the strongest of the season. And that's saying a lot considering it was up against shows like the newest seasons of Fate/Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works and My Teenage Romantic Comedy SNAFU. Before the wrap-up, there is one more important thing to note, that being pre-conceived hype for a series before it actually airs. For anything KyoAni makes, there is going to be mass-hysteria. The studio has become synonymous with works of art and very rarely lets anyone down. Notice how I didn't say "Never" lets anyone down. Sound! Euphonium is an example of how that is possible. Not everyone was happy with it, that's the honest truth. The season starts off incredibly slow and incredibly uninteresting. It was devoid of everything that makes KyoAni shows great until halfway through its course. It teaches us to not over-hype a series -- because something may appear great on the outside, but when you actually delve into it, there is a chance it might not be the final product that was expected. That mass-hype can really ruin a show for you if you aren't careful. Sound! Euphonium is a light-hearted an enjoyable show once it gets past the first few episodes. The overall sound and production quality are stellar, but that is to be expected considering the studio that created it. The relationships apart from Kumiko and Reina are not necessary, but can still be enjoyed by the right crowd. The ending arc is one of the best of the year (So far) and even got me a little teary-eyed at points. Those last few episodes really create a memorable experience. It's the ride to those episodes that can really spoil the fun. If you were in concert band in high school, there is no doubt in my mind that you will absolutely adore this show. If you weren't though, there really isn't a strong reason for you to watch it.

(Heads up, this is a bit of a long one, but I felt the show really justified this discussion) An unexpected delight, that’s how I would summarise this anime. Time and time again, Kyoto Animation have shown themselves to be one of the greatest animating studios in Japan, but despite this I still go into shows like this expecting a moeblob. Boy was I wrong. Even for a Kyoto Animation show, Hibike Euphonium has set itself apart from their lineup through creativity and its sheer attention to detail. Let’s see how exactly it does just that. Hibike Euphonium is the story of a group of girls in the school brass band, all working together to try to reach the nationals competition. So let me ask you something: Have you ever been in a band? If you have, you will really appreciate just how well replicated the band atmosphere is in Euphonium. For those not familiar though with being in a band, let me give you an idea. Bands are stressful, unpleasant environments. You can never work too hard, and you’ll still never quite perfect the piece you’re playing. But at the same time, there’s a thrill in gradually building up little sections of the performance, and tying them all together to perform the piece to the best of your collective abilities. So if you’re worried then that this brass band setting isn’t really going to make for exciting anime, think again. Euphonium has all the joys and tension of a sports anime, but at the same time never exacerbates the band setting, and never tries to portray something that shouldn’t really be there. It’s realistic but at the same time damn exciting. Onwards then to the meat of the show, the characters and the story. There’s a lot to be said about what Kyoto Animation has managed to do with these characters, because on the face of it, they’re all not really that exciting. Adorable beyond words, I grant you that. But exciting? Not so much. Fans of the K-On style characters will find themselves right at home here, but you may find yourself disappointed with the more simple character archetypes that make up the cast. There’s Kumiko, our determined and slightly sullen protagonist, accompanied by the exceedingly rambunctious Hazuki and the queen-of-all-things moe Midori (I couldn’t care less that Midori is almost a carbon copy of Yui, because she is most lovable little button this side of the 2D world). Simple on their own, but together these characters have a lovely chemistry that makes the show just so pleasant to watch. One very interesting character though is the slightly mysterious ice queen Reina. She mostly remains unexplored for the bulk of the anime, but proves herself to be a truly intriguing character towards the end of the anime (no doubt you’ve seen already if you’ve done any research on this show, but her relationship with Kumiko is a source of great ambiguity…) Apart from that though she’s also by far the most skilled musician in the band, and since she’s only a first year this provides some of the friction between band members that occupies much of the story. Moving on to the story, it’s really not too different to the classic sports anime formula: New kid on the block becomes part of a group, and together they work their way towards trying to win a competition, in this case the school brass band national finals. What is original though is just how well it works in the school band setting, just as well as in a sports anime, if not better. The large size of the band means there’s inevitably in-fighting and drama aplenty (due in part to Reina as mentioned). Curveballs such as auditions and potential love interests amongst the band members provide the story material for individual episodes. But the overarching storyline is the band preparing for the competition in which they are undoubtedly the underdogs. You can really feel all the stress and tension in each character as they desperately prepare, and their actual performance itself in the final episode is a real crescendo if there ever was one. So if the actual performance is the crescendo, then there must be some pretty good music right? Absolutely. The budget for this anime must have been phenomenal, because the quality of music performance in this anime is something straight out of a national orchestra. It’s very well produced, and even if this sort of music isn’t your thing you’ll surely appreciate the obvious effort that has gone into making the music sound amazing. I’m even tempted to say it’s better than any school band could ever be able to perform (bit of a mistake there Kyoto Ani eh?). Finally, I’ll talk about the one piece of this Kyoto Ani show we all knew was going to be good: the animation. Needless to say they’ve done it again with Hibike Euphonium, as it’s really a fantastic showcase for the studio's talent. The locations, taken from real life Kyoto, are all beautifully replicated and full of detail. The instruments as well are works of art, especially when played because the music is perfectly synced to the animation of the instruments being used. My favourite little detail though has to be the individual music sheets. Each music book we see has these wonderful little annotations, such as particular sections to look out for, or small notes of encouragement, making them feel so personal they could easily have been real. I’m waxing lyrical about this show because I think it’s a fine example of what anime is really capable of. It’s about larger than life characters such as Kumiko and Midori, who are appealing for being just so lovable, and are placed in an exciting and original setting that is full of drama and superbly animated. Before you are tempted to dismiss it as ‘another Kyoto Ani moeblog’, please for the love of all that is anime watch this show for yourself, I know you’ll change your mind.

Ok, so there are quite a few reviews on Hibike! Euphonium which are quite long, so I wanted to make my review pretty short and concise. With as little additional, unnecessary information as possible. Don't get discouraged by its length, majority of it is just spacing. Note, this anime is extremely nostalgic if you have a long experience in being in school concert bands. For me, I could really relate to some of the experiences and events that happen. I'll start with a quick plot summary as to not spoil too much of the story, which for me had quite a few twists. Plot Summary Main Character Kumiko joins a not musically known high-school to avoid accidentally meeting up with Reina, a girl who she had disagreements with at her old school. So there is no surprise when Reina is actually at Kumiko's chosen school and they both join the high school's concert band. From then the characters go through the usual highschool events, love, disagreements with other characters, etc, etc. I won't rate the story as to not give any hints that could spoil it. But I will comment this. On a deeper level, the story is about the main character discovering and reawakening her love for music. But again, that's my personal opinion, so take it for what you may. Art: Outstanding KyoAni styled art. All characters look vivid and great. Nothing much to say here, just watch the anime and see. Obviously if you dislike KyoAni's art style then you'll rate this lower. Rating: 10/10 Sound: KyoAni usually gives all of its works a great soundtrack and Hibike! Euphonium is no exception. Both opening and endings sound excellent and don't deviate from the theme of high school concert music. Rating: 10/10 Characters: I might have to go on a tangent here and write more than usual. Main Cast: Kumiko: The main character, whole show revolves around her high school band experience and how it changes her. Reina: The catalyst to Kumiko's change in perception towards music and actually trying hard and being 'special'. Slight Yuri love interest but KyoAni won't let the ship set sail. Midori and Hazuki, at times I feel that certain supporting characters have more impact than these two. But I guess they help and encourage Kumiko down her journey. Hazuki is new to music while Midori is a veteran at the contrabass Cello/Double Bass. Secondary Supporting: Asuka: While Asuka doesn't directly have impact on major events in the show, she does subtly affect Kumiko by being a fellow euphonium player and a senpai. Aoi: For me, Aoi represents a future Kumiko who didn't meet up and reconcile with Reina, etc. She would lose her fuel and drive and quit playing. Hence her role in the show was to show Kumiko a possibility of the future. Natsuki: Her role is quite similar to that of Aoi but in Natsuki's case she revives her desire and love for music, however it is too late for her. Kaori: Slight antagonist along with supporting character Yuuko. Contests Reina for soloist position. Again, she helps reignite Kumiko's desire to be special through her own desire. Haruka: The captain of band, she plays minor roles in the majority of important events. With notable mentions to Taki-Sensei, who is basically the catalyst for all events in the show. Overall + Personal Enjoyment. 9.5-10 A solid anime from KyoAni with no major flaws. Definitely one to put in your list to watch if you're a KyoAni slice of life fan. P.S: 2nd Review, hope I did ok.

Ever read a story where the main character used to be an ugly/nerd/fat etc. person and was bullied by everyone but then as time passes they dedicated themselves into becoming a better person until they succeed and made bullies regret their actions? Those stories pretty much summarized my feelings towards Hibike! Euphonium. I actually dropped Hibike and made fun of how trash the show was with my friends in the past. But a MAL friend of mine gave me the courage to re-watch the show and told me not to judge the show in spite of the fact that I have only watched a few episode. Coming back to Hibike! Euphonium is like receiving a hug from a person you love whilst a beautiful music is played in the background. I felt as if countless of bombs filled with happiness, excitement and entertainment exploded inside my entire body continuously like a bombardment as I continued watching the show and shed tears of joy, get goosebumps, scream like an excited autistic kid and smile with the feeling of satisfaction. The show offered me everything it had and I gracefully took it all with a deep feeling of remorse for saying bad things towards the show in the past. This show had everything I desired and it shattered my distorted image of music anime into pieces with ease. Hibike! Euphonium is a fantastic show about a school band trying their best to become qualified for the national band competition. Full of excitement and thrills, despite the fact that the synopsis sounds plain. The anime offers me the most precious gift of all humanity that I desire for a very long time.. SHOUJO AI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Damn fucking right. Shoujo Ai my mans. Woohoo! As a Shoujo Ai fan, seeing an anime that is not Shoujo Ai but offers hints and teases of Shoujo Ai really made me feel enlightened as if my life has become completed. I've finished all the Shoujo Ai anime that are good already so I had no choice but to switch to manga. And honestly, it was less fun. Seeing Shoujo Ai again, even if a little, in an anime really made me feel so happy that I could probably even cry for the whole day. Damn FUCKING right. I'm so glad that there's some Shoujo Ai in this anime. I'm so damn FUCKING glad. Holy fucking shit. THE MUSICS ARE ALSO GOD FUCKING DAMN AMAZING THAT I NEVER SKIPPED THE OPENING AND ENDING. NEVER. Seriously, they are too good. This is the FIRST anime I watched and never ONCE skipped the OP nor the ED because they're both too amazing and catchy ( In the past I actually talked about how the musics make me ears hurt to my friends, but then after watching this show I came to a realization that I was wrong all along ). This anime is too fucking good. I don't even know what to write anymore because this anime is just too good that its indescribable. If this anime was Shoujo Ai. I would've died in the middle of watching this show already. Thank god I'm alive to write this review. xD. Alright, jokes aside. I recommend this to everyone. Don't fucking ignore it. You must watch this show. Try it, and don't just up like me in the past just because the first few episodes are boring! That's all. Thank you for reading my weird-ass review. Over.

The main character has no role in the show whatsoever. Their purpose is literally just to play as a voyeur to the mostly boring drama of band schoolmates. Most of these issues include multiple episodes of drama from both sides of the party, and then a final episode when both parties have a single conversation that instantly resolves the issue. At least the show does a decent job developing these characters through these incidents, using the main character as a foil to rehash everything up until that point. Art is standard. Sound is slightly better than average, seeing as it's a show about music. There are some nice pieces thrown in there. So if you enjoy endless drivel and random lesbian girls love between main characters, then this is the show for you.

tl;dr: Do you want to watch movie-quality animation for 13 episodes? I'd recommend you at least give this anime a try. I originally gave this show an 8 when I initially watched it, but after a re-watch with the Blu-ray version and the subtitles off, my personal enjoyment of this show rose enough to get a 10 from me. There were just too many details that I missed staring at the bottom of the screen. I thought the story was solid, but probably a bit slow-paced for people not into slice of life shows. I'm not a big critic of either story,characters, or sound however, and I think other people probably have a more nuanced opinion that's more worth your time, so I won't waste time talking too much about those aspects. What I really like are visuals, and KyoAni did such a good job here with it that it elevated the other areas enough for me to rank this as a 10. The best way to describe Hibike! is "lifelike." It feels like this show has twice the amount of frames of other shows. Hair will bounce with movement and settle on surfaces. Characters will turn their head and blink at appropriate moments in their speech. As much as they can, KyoAni tries to have the characters doing something, be it walking between places, cleaning an instrument, or fiddling with something or other. This amount of movement is so consistent that, when characters don't move, it becomes a potent storytelling choice. The entire ensemble being motionless while tuning, for example, doesn't feel lazy, but rather feels like they are listening as hard as they can. Most of the time though, when things aren't moving, KyoAni cuts the camera. The courage with which KyoAni cuts the camera, and the angles with which they take, is amazing. Overhead shots, close-ups on fingers playing instruments, far shots of the whole ensemble with half of them reacting to something; I felt like I could see every little thing happening in a scene. Another word that comes to mind with Hibike! is "detailed." Every background is placed in a location that is heavily referenced and grounded in real life. All the rooms are filled with small living details that signify that someone lives there, such as water bottles left under chairs or chalk stains on the floor below the boards. When they're outside, there's always some sort of movement to make the scene come alive, be it wind-blown petals or river water reflecting the city life. In regards to the characters, the hair always has a ridiculous amount of strands, and the clothing folds go far beyond the "necessary" amount to convey softness. And, every single ensemble member has a unique design, even if they have no lines in the show. While effort like this can sometimes end up over-detailing, in Hibike!'s case, it really does help establish that this is a "real" world, that moved before the show, and will continue to move after it. Finally, the effects and lighting really make this show look like a movie instead of a TV season. The best way I can describe it is "cinematic." There's a consistent use of depth of field, blurring out different distances to the camera, such that there isn't a single scene that lacks depth in Hibike!. Most, if not all, scenes are set in a deliberately color-keyed environment, and the range is breathtaking; from vibrant, orange sunsets, to cloudy, greenish days, to cool, blue nights. If things are bright, they blow out things properly, adding a glow to everything they touch and revealing dust motes in the air. But a fair criticism of the show is KyoAni's tendency for "style over substance," and it's something that I too felt when I watched the show for the first time. However, when I watched without being glued to subtitles, I began to pick up on all of the character acting that KyoAni lovingly scattered all over this thing. How do the characters feel at any point? Watch them. They'll nod according to what's being said, or look hastily away as someone enters the room, or shoot glances at someone else. They'll play with their hair, kick their feet, or suddenly begin to walk faster. Yes, sometimes the characters say what they're feeling, but more often than not, they SHOW you, to the point where the dramatic points evoked an emotional response from me despite not understanding half of it. And this is why I think the animation elevates this to a 10 for me; the animation IS the story. Frankly, this level of visual quality isn't even present in half the movies I watch, and KyoAni does it for a whole season. It might not be something you'd be willing to watch with no subtitles, sure. But if you get this in that crisp Blu-Ray quality and don't read the subtitles so much, this is a treat for anyone that loves visuals as much as I do.

I've never written a review before so I may not have the best insight but nevertheless it'll be an honest and pure opinion! I actually watched Liz to Aoi Tori before starting this which is what piqued my curiosity regarding the original anime. I'm so happy that I made the choice to just sit down and give it a chance. I loved everything about the anime series. Story-wise it's nothing earth-shattering. It's your typical high-school club / life drama but by no means does this mean it's bad. It's just all so relatable and it really pulls you into the life of all the wonderful characters. It makes you care about what they're all going through at this point in their life and you want to know what happens next. Speaking of characters - the cast is amazing. There are a lot, makes sense since the story revolves around a high school band, but each one serves a purpose and are all so likeable. Kyoani really went all out to make sure you could spot and notice every single member of the band, sitting with the appropriate band members, interacting with everybody else. It was just an awesome thing to see. You'll fall in love with more than a handful of them, not just the main characters. And of course the art and sound? Do I need to say more? It's beautiful. The amount of detail into the art, characters, environs is what you expect from Kyoani and this one definitely delivers. It's all so well realized and makes you feel like you're actually there. Voice acting is top notch, the cast did a remarkable job bringing everybody to life. Interaction between characters actually felt like genuine high-school conversations and the emotion is all there. And the music? What good is an anime about a high school band if the instruments and music itself was subpar? Thankfully, again this was done extremely well. It's all done beautifully and makes you want to pick up an instrument and just play. I think it's pretty obvious but this is one of my favourite animes of all time. Because everything just fits together so well. It made me want to go back to high school and just play musical instruments with my friends again. Give it a chance, I promise you'll fall in love with the world, the story, the characters, the music and everything else in between. ... And the next piece begins!

If you're going to consider skipping this anime because you heard these statements from people such as: "This anime is another moe" "This anime is a crappy slice of life" "This anime is K-On 2.0" "This anime is a K-On rip-off" I'm warning you right now. DO NOT listen to the people who are making one of the statements above. The anime is nowhere near the statements that are made abo-...Hey, what the hell are you doing here? Get out of my room! Help!. "I am now writing the review" says jc9623, typing while putting jc9622 in his closet. Story: (8/10) The story starts off with Kumiko, a girl who was in the concert band club in middle school, visits her high school's concert band club as a first year. This is another one of those anime that has a basic simple story except that this is one of the anime that has a simple story that turned out to be good. The show focuses on characters struggling and trying to achieve their goal, their relationships, and some drama. I felt like the drama and emotional part was unnecessary. As a current member of a Concert Band (Percussionist), I find the drama that was inserted hilarious. The fact that they feel sad or they cry because they're not in sync with the whole band. The fact that they feel sad because they can't play some bars right. The fact that one of the girls was crying because her "senpai" did not get to play the solo. I find them hilarious. Other than the unnecessary drama, the story is great. For a 12 episode series, I'm quite surprised that they decided to set the story pacing to slow. I'm not saying it's bad.. They actually managed to make it work. The ending however, felt like a cliffhanger to me. Art/Animation: (10/10) The anime had an outstanding animation which shouldn't come as a surprise since this is year 2015. The details on buildings, roads, and even the instruments are spot on. The lighting is very well done and the character design is also very well done. Although, what bothered me a little is literally every single character's cheek has a shiny red blush and their tears don't look like tears at all. Sound: (10/10) This is an anime that focuses on music (mainly concert band music) and it needs to have a great or outstanding soundtrack. They didn't fail on the soundtrack, thank god. The concert band pieces were very well done and it also had an "attention to details". I can literally hear the mistakes and mess-ups these band members make before the teacher tells them to stop and tells them their mistakes. The opening soundtrack called "Dream Solister" is one of the best OP soundtracks I've heard. The instruments on the background along with the singer's beautiful voice, my god I'm in heaven. I don't know about the ED soundtrack since I just skip it every episode. Characters: (8/10) There is a lot of characters in the series. I think there's over 55 of them? I thought the anime would just focus on the main characters and throw aside the remaining supporting characters but they didn't. There wasn't a lot of focus on the supporting characters but it was enough for me to actually understand them and probably like them. The show did give the main characters a great character development. Mostly Kumiko and Kousaka. You'll see a major change between Kumiko and Kousaka by the time you start watching this series and by the time you have finished watching this series. There is one character that I like and that is Asuka. There is something about her that made her one of my favourite characters. Is it her glasses? Her personality? The way she jokes around? Or maybe the fact that she also uses another language (mostly English) to make her a little bit cooler. I guess I'll never know and you won't too. Enjoyment: (9/10) By the time I started watching this anime, I knew I would enjoy it. By the time I finished the anime, I did enjoy it and I wanted more! I will watch the anime again if it comes out in English Dub. Overall: (9/10) Overall, the anime is a great slice of life anime and fun to watch. It didn't get a masterpiece from me because of the unnecessary drama. They need to learn that drama will not work on a musical anime genre because it just turns out to be so cheesy. This was also one of my negatives in K-On. It just didn't work. I'm also glad that there isn't a lot of fanservice considering that this is an all-girls(mostly) cast. Pros: -Great Story -Outstanding Animation -Outstanding Soundtrack -Attention to details for both Animation and Soundtrack -Great Characters -Great Character Development -Supporting characters weren't ignored Cons: -Cheesy Drama moments

All my reviews are spoiler free aimed towards people who haven't seen the show. Hibike! Euphonium, thank you Based KyoAni for this spectacular anime. Story: Kumiko Oumae and her band mates eagerly await the results of their Junior High prefectural competition. Although getting a Gold, they were not selected to represent their perfecture in the national comp. Kumiko is happy to do as well as they did, her bandmate Reina Kousaka on the other hand, is nearly a wreck with disappointment. Immediately the tone is set for what is sure to be a winding emotional road for not only Kumiko, but everyone that she meets along first year at Kitauji High School. Kumiko chose Kitauji because it was the only school who had the cute sailor uniforms she loves so much, that and the fact that she didn't know anybody that was enrolling. This was her chance to start fresh, leave whatever stress and regrets she had behind her, and make a new path in the direction she wants to go. Upon hearing the concert band for new students on the first day of class, Kumiko states and I quote, "they suck". Hazuki Katou introduces herself to Kumiko and quickly befriends her and another girl by the name of Midori. After some banter and discovering Midori played in band as did Kumiko and Hazuki had intentions to join, they decide to listen in on the practice. When who just so happens to walk into the band room after them? Why Kumiko's old bandmate Reina Kousaka of course. According to Kumiko she was an exceptional trumpet player and could have chosen a school with a much better rep and history of a strong concert band. So.... why here? Why waste that talent knowing this school had a poor performing concert band? Story cont: Kumiko decides against joining the concert band at first, she was supposed to turn a new leaf, but after seeing the excitement of Hazuki who is a newbie and Midori who loves the contrabass, she's figures, why not, at least it could be fun. She can even act like she never played euph and try a new instrument. This years concert band is getting a new instructor, Taki Noboru. Not much is know about Taki-sensei, except this is first year as a school instructor. He asks the students to set their own goals, "Do you want to make your goal for the year going to nationals? Or would you rather make good memories? Either is acceptable, but your decision will affect how I will instruct this band." As if not really understanding the seriousness of their decision, the students elect to aim for nationals. The unconventional and harsh lessons cause the students to become disgruntled. Can Taki-sensei turn this failing concert band into a ensemble to be recognized? Or will the previous turmoil that caused the low body count and lack of discipline in the second and third years prove to be a loss cause? Characters: Kumiko has long record with the euph. She has a bad habit of saying what she thinks out loud without any hesitation, which more than often puts her in awkward situations. Reina takes her playing very seriously, as is shown with her talent at the trumpet. She's rather cold and isn't very personable with her peers. Her reasons for enrollment at Kitauji are unknown. Hazuki is very energetic and a newbie in band. She struggles learning the in's and out's of picking up an instrument. Shuuichi is a childhood friend of Kumiko's, he gets caught up in a triangle/unrequited love. Asuka is an eccentric and charismatic girl. Her attitude and leadership qualities make her popular among the other members, but her charade makes her personal thoughts hard to read. Haruka is the band president, she's rather shy and anxious. She feels like she was pushed into being the pres doesn't have everyone's respect because Asuka turned it down. And struggles with the pressure to keep things together. Kaori is a popular third year trumpet player. Reina's skill as as first year causes friction between Kaori's struggle for her own acceptance, as well as a second year who despises Reina because of this. Aoi is another friend of Kumiko's. A third year who struggles to balance her studies and band. Her actions shake up not only Kumiko but Haruka as well. And there's more! Each student feels pressure and fatigue of trying their best to find themselves while achieving a unlikely goal together. Animation:Stunning! Everything was gorgeous. The character design, the shine of the instruments, the reflection of the lake, the glow of the street lights, the cherry blossoms blowing in the breeze, movements of the characters, and position of scenes, then there was the performances! It was a joy at every minute just to view. KyoAni at it's best!! Sound:Fantastic. Not only did we get some sweet Jap Ska from the Kitauji Quartet. But the choice of songs during the scenes were wonderful as well. Then their was the pieces played in the ensemble. Jacques Offenbach - Orpheus in the Underworld Overture, RYDEEN - YMO, Antonin Dvorak - New World Symphony, Sato, Kunihiro - Walk down the Spring Path March, a wonderful original piece for the anime by Akito Matsuda called Crescent Moon Dance that was incredible among some others. Enjoyment:Very much enjoyed this. So much good foreshadowing, with bits and pieces given in flashbacks that portray a great deal depth into Kumiko's thoughts without really spelling them out. The relationship and interactions between various characters were always interesting and believable. A decent amount of comedy, some romance that wasn't really cheesy, and drama that wasn't forced or exaggerated on. I love all the story that's here. Every character has depth and there are so many little clues about their lives hidden in fine detail. I thought this show was pure brilliance. KyoAni way to bust out of your funk with this gem! 9/10

It's made by kyo-ani, so obviously the animation quality is some of the best I've ever seen in a tv-format anime. The show is mostly well done story-wise, but it some parts left a bad taste in my mouth. Also, the yuri-bait sucks, I think every one watching the show wanted you know who and also you know who to get together, and there was too much focus on the teacher and his relationships. The show dragged on at times, this was the first show I ever had to complete in chunks, watching different animes before I competed the next few episodes because of how boring it mostly was. Honestly I was going to give this a 7, but I can only really say not so good things about this show so I see no reason to give it that high of a rating. If you are an anime fan you probably won't like this, if you are a straight up drama fan you probably will. I can definitely see why it is rated high, but it's not my cup of tea (even though I love most slice of life animes) so do with that information what you will.

I don't know what's with KyoAni lately, but they keep undershooting my expectations. KnK had shitty writing, Free2 was riddled with melodrama and both it and Chuuni overstayed their welcome, Amagi Brilliant Park was the fanservicey kind of nonsense I'd expect JC Staff to pick up, and Hibike Euphonium was kinda boring, despite not having bad writing and production. It was really great at first, but then it never picked up the pace. I know I said I wished K-On had more actual music, but applying this to orchestral music here didn't really do anything for me. Each time show dealt with actual music and practice I just wanted it to skip to the character development, conflict and drama instead, or even random comedy gags. Didn't think I'd see the day when I'd call the music in KyoAni show mediocre. I don't hate orchestral, nor do I particularly like it, but I do love modern orchestral. And this wasn't modern at all, and I feel it would have benefited from it. As far as the actual story goes, there's nothing to talk about, as it's LN based and suffers from being underdeveloped and unfinished. We met some characters, learned about their relationships, there was some ship tease, some drama, half of which was okay, half of it meh, then there was a lot of practicing and a concert finale and... that's it really, nothing touching, nothing memorable, nothing engaging or compelling, at least to me. There wasn't enough conflict, and what conflict there was most often felt petty. I suppose it was a story about trying really hard, but that theme has been so overdone by shounens that I'm kinda tired of it, and Euphonium doesn't really make a compelling case for it. It's just okay regardless of how I look at it. The highlight of the show is that it had some characters that were really really great, namely Kumiko, Reina and Asuka, which pretty much carried the show. I also loved the way Noboru was portrayed, but I can't help feeling his character wasn't explored enough to realize its potential. Kumiko-Reina relationship was by far my favorite part of Euphonium, so not having any of that really resolved by the end felt rather disheartening. Overall, an okay show is not what I would expect from KyoAni.

"I want to improve." At first, I had no idea what Hibike! Euphonium (aka Sound! Euphonium) was going to be. I thought it would be another generic clubroom comedy with instruments and music taking the back seat. But I was wrong. At its core, Hibike is about working together to achieve greatness, but also about finding yourself and what you want to achieve. This is Hibike! Euphonium, an anime about a high school concert band and its struggle to become the best in Japan. Now, let us begin the review. Story (8): The story begins with our main character Kumiko transitioning into high school, wanting to start over without having to worry about band like she did in middle school. However, when her new friends decide to join the school band (which sucks, by the way), she lets herself be dragged along, only to find that things there are much worse than she ever could have imagined. Everyone says they want to be the best concert band in Japan, but actually, they just want to have fun and make good memories. Which isn't bad in itself, but no one wants to commit to either choice. Like Kumiko, they want someone to decide their lives for them, so they go with the flow instead of making things happen for themselves. One thing that stands out to me about Hibike's story is that it addresses a common problem in band: apathy. Usually, you have stronger players who are genuinely interested in making great music and practice hard every day, but you also have players who kind of sit back and don't put much effort in at all. I think many people know what it's like to have a team with someone who doesn't pull their weight. Hibike is a relatable and refreshing take on concert band, being unique in that I can't name another anime that deals with concert band as well as this one. Art (10): Do I even need to say anything here? The animation is by Kyoto Animation and the backgrounds are gorgeous. The character designs are cute, but not in a way that feels cheap and forced. Another thing worth mentioning is that all the background characters are animated and have as much life to them as the main cast. Sound (10): What I find amazing about the sound is that an experienced instrumentalist can pick out the different sounds/strengths/weaknesses of a particular piece. I play the trumpet, and I really enjoy being able to see the fingerings, listen to the tone, and hear the instrument along with a band. The effort required to put together so many music samples paid off, making the band seem more real and more alive. Character (9): Considering how many characters there are, you would expect Hibike to neglect a lot of them and push them to the side, but this season gives you just enough information to care about them and want more. For the sake of time, I'll just say that Kumiko's transformation into a passionate, talented euphonium player feels believable and well earned. The other players also have significant development, with notable examples being Natsuki and Haruka. The only problem? I need mooore. In particular, I'm very curious as to why Asuka behaves the way she does. Enjoyment/Overall (9): If you read all the way here, I'll say that Hibike is definitely worthy of a 10 right now, but I will revise the review once a second season arrives (it better). Also, Kumiko and Reina better be a thing. But that's my opinion. Anyway, I fully recommend trying this series and I had a lot of fun with it! For anyone interested in watching/re-watching the series, here's a game: follow one "background" character in the band for the whole anime. I loved seeing the drill-haired trombone player (with the sass) and the lipstick-wearing saxophone player (gotta adjust my skirt).

I went into this expecting a show about music. Instead, what I got was some high school drama. While this adds realism to the experiences of the characters, I didn't feel that we had learned enough about the drive (or lack thereof) of the characters themselves -- aside from Kumiko - to care. I was longing for a reason each character we focused on was there, to learn more about them. While this does portray a high school band, and generally speaking a lot of band members in high school who don't find that passion or drive end up dropping out of it, the annoying (or downright bullshit) drama outweighed the actual character development. That said, however, I don't agree with some people's ideas that Kyoto Animation did a "wash-rinse-repeat" of "K-On!;" the story here seems more grounded, and focuses different thematic elements than just a few club members bonding and how those relationships change them over time. Instead, this group of bandmates are working towards the goal of nationals -- something that "brings them all under one roof" in a different way and dynamic. The animation was stunning, as to be expected. It highlighted all the right contrasts, especially when it came to the instruments, without being too flashy or oversaturating. For me, the music was somewhat forgettable. This is one of the big mistakes that reflects the show's attitude towards music. I want to be engulfed in the score and have the characters do the same; instead I got repetitive instances of one selection, and the OST didn't help to alleviate that. I felt both the OP and ED were good. Ultimately, though I understand the paralleling motivations behind certain thematic decisions, I believe the show would have been much stronger focusing more on the characters, rather than the general ripple of drama around them. I can only hope for a change in this for Season 2.

First of all I'd like to mention that this anime is mainly Music with a splash of Drama, and not mainly Drama. When starting the anime I was wondering which it was. Story : 8/10 Sadly, this is the lacking part of this anime. At episodes 10-11 the anime changes it's pacing and has a lot of forced drama. That drama does have a place in the story, but not the way it was presented. It felt unnatural. But this forced drama is my only complaint about the anime. The rest of the story was unpredictable and well paced. Art : 10/10 It's KyoAni, enough said. Seriously though, this is most likely the most beautiful anime I have ever seen. Everything from background art, to the character design is perfect. The animation is truly flawless and cannot be compared to other studios. Also the amount of "reaction.jpg" material is crazy. I've had great laughs at some of Kumiko's expressions. Sound : 10/10 Well, this is a Music anime. The opening is perfect and has some amazing vocals, never skipped it. The anime, being based on showing the improvement of a group of high school students throughout the anime, does that really well. The note misses and mistakes all sound natural, as if somebody who really is progressing recorded the instrument parts for the anime. Character : 9/10 Besides Yuuko Yoshikawa, who felt unnaturally annoying and made only for drama, all the characters were well developed. There is also a division between characters in terms of their purpose. Some characters are major plot elements like Kousaka Reina, and some are just there for the Slice of Life element, like Katou Hazuki, which isn't exactly bad. Enjoyment : 10/10 I loved this anime. Even though I didn't like it for it's drama elements, I loved it for the Slice of Life parts and the final 3 episodes. I will definitely watch season 2 when it comes out. Overall : 9/10 Hibike! Euphonium is a great anime that caters to a lot of people's preferences, being Music, SoL, and Drama. You're bound to like it for at least something. I would definitely recommend it even if the anime is average in Drama.

TL;DR – Cut/paste bland characters in a slightly interesting setting are plagued with useless drama that leaves the viewer confused and irritated. Music is cool if you enjoy chamber music (which I do). If the general idea of this anime interests you – go ahead and watch it if you need something to eat your dinner to every night, its a shallow anime that might leave some begging for more because of the want for basic, shallow, and sometimes CUTE GIRLZ. Having been in a high school orchestra, I related to the struggles and anxiety surrounding the life of a high school musician. That is however, one of the only things I related to. The shows characters for the most part are quite remarkably bland. So remarkably that I didn’t truly understand the need to shove so many characters into this story to begin with. Even the characters that received screen-time were usually unlikable and disturbingly lacking depth. This show follows a typical sports anime pacing with practices, drama, and the final climactic competition. Unfortunately for the story – being in a school band is pretty boring to begin with – having said this they did milk some good little drama out of these characters, but by the end of the anime 90% of the drama was extremely fake-deep and shallow at best. A somewhat misleading and shocking yuri subtext permeates this show like the plague. This show however doesn’t truly acknowledge the potential homosexual subplot however, and makes me feel actually insane after every yuri-implied moment as the show itself pretends like it never happened. If you want to watch this for the music – go for it. Some of the solos and individual performances in the show were well recorded and give a nice mood to the show. Overall this show was literally picking your waifu that plays whatever instruments you like: the anime. Which – believe it or not – doesn’t make an amazing anime. With a smaller cast this show may have had itself under control, but too many characters in too many vaguely half-baked dramatic situations leads to quite the anticlimax once you complete this anime.

I found myself pleasantly surprised by this anime. The animation was way above average. Maybe that was expected from KyoAni, a studio who has brought was great anime. But here, they have given us one of their best work. There was an specially mesmerizing sequence on episode 8. But the quality on this story lies not on the animation, but on their characters. The development of the main cast, specially on the main character, was amazing. It's rare to see that many character grow so much on such short slice of life. What's more, since there's so many people, almost every viewer can relate with someone. It's common to have music with competition, but what was done here was more a mix of music with sport. And this was great as well. After I finished the anime, I found out one of the reason it was so great. It's an adaptation of a novel, not a light novel. Since the main target on this media is different, we got something very different, even for slice of life stories. In the end, I can only say it was a great anime that those who enjoy slice of life, music, school life, or similar genre, will appreciate this work of art

Overall Hibike Euphonium isn't bad by any means, it has the typically KyoAni animation, gorgeous character design (especially the hair) and basic, but endearing philosophy. Unfortunately it never takes that leap into a true plot driven or character driven narrative. None of the characters are elevated to the next level and plot remains largely generic all throughout the first season. Hibike Euphonium is unique within the sphere of competition band anime as it is actually able to convey who is actually better at playing instruments. In many competition anime, once the music progresses beyond the 'obviously bad newbie' to a relatively good level it becomes very hard to articulate who is actually better at playing. A result of this is the anime constantly reminding the audience who you're supposed to think is better. Hibike Euphonium does not suffer from this, the best example is the duel between Kousaka and Kaori, It doesn't fall on its face trying to convince the audience that Kousaka is better, it is clear, even though it is a small distinction. Unfortunately, the anime is not quite as precise in other areas, the pacing is a mess resulting in character arcs concluding far too early. Two thirds of the main cast add absolutely nothing of value to the show and Kawashima is downright annoying. Kumiko's first arc, where she is reluctant to re-enter the world of music, where she is most compelling as an MC, is cut far too short in favour of accelerating the plot. Later in the anime, the writers add restrospective characterisation with an interaction between Kumiko and her senpai in middle-school that feels so out of place and shoehorned into the contemporary arc in a heavy handed attempt to contextualise the plot. It's important for an anime to have faith in it's audience to remember key details of a characters past and this interaction should have been shown, or alluded to, in the first arc of the show. The setting irks me. Nothing about this show would be different if it was set in a college, or even a primary school. There is almost no indication that the students even attend high school. No mingling with non-band students, no focusing on an other school-related activities besides the ominous mention of 'exams'. Maybe this will come later and I'm judging Hibike Euphonium prematurely, but I seriously despise when the setting of an anime is largely inconsequential. For a musical anime I would have loved to see a more adventurous use of diegetics. But for the most part the music was good. I think everyone on the planet should be forced to listen to a marching band cover of Rydeen. The YMO feature might've been the most pleasant surprise I've had watching anime in a long time. Rip Ryuichi Sakamoto and Yukihiro Takahashi.

Welcome to Robert's Too Late Reviews! This time we're tackling a band adventure! The most important fact when it comes to this anime is one's experience in high school band. If you are not/were not a member, much the attraction is probably lost on you, just by the niche nature of the material. Now, a non band kid can understand frustration and hard work, but much of this show is (clearly) geared for those familiar with the experience. Having known the experience, I found a great deal to like! Taking bets on if/or how many pics this anime scored on the RTLR wall of terrible pain. Story: 9 Much of the story revolves around motivating the lazy band kids into actually caring about their performance. A new band director comes to the school, and has a very interesting method to trying to get a response from the kids. I will leave the show to reveal his methods, but I can say as a former band member, his methods work, as they were similar as to what my high school director employed on my high school band. These methods, however, produce a great deal of friction from the members, who are used to doing things the 'way we always have' and see little reason to change. There is also a mysterious character related to the new director. Art: 10 The instruments are well drawn, not an easy feat considering tubas can have up to 18 feet of tubing. Each instrument is instantly recognizable, and sharply drawn. The rest of the art also benefits from the same level of detail. The characters look amazing, and emotional overtones are easily carried through the artwork, always a sign that things are on the right track. Sound: 10 When a group is pointed out as sounding bad, they sound particularly bad. When the group improves and sounds good, the playing level of the music improves to match. This is an important factor as music is such a central theme in this anime. Maybe with a pop-music based anime some can be written off as personal preference, but this is classic brass and woodwind pieces where reed squeaks and off tone notes stick out like sore thumbs and cannot be written off as intentional by any means. When students play their instruments alone, the sound is dead on and at the right skill level for the character. The sound outside the music is well done, nothing of note, but nothing lacking either. The smaller girl's voice sounds appropriately small, etc. Character: 8 There is a mystery girl who is an accomplished musician who joins this school for mysterious reasons. I, like any 'band nerd' knew nearly instantly why she was there. Anyone that didn't live their lives around their tuba and/or non musicians should know the anime does lay the story out in appropriate pieces over the course of the series, so that by the end, it should be obvious. I think they were a little muddled and should have, at the end, stated it plainly, but I imagine they figured most viewers already knew. Still a couple points off for that. Enjoyment: 10 The 'pretty' girl is a weirdo, one of the instruments gets the best name ever, the sights and sounds of band are there in all their (sometimes gross) glory, the music is good, and some of the instruments are twice as big as the kids playing them, what more could you ask for? If you've ever practiced your lips/fingertips off preparing for concert contest, or have done laps for marching contest, and enjoyed any of it, you'll find lots to love here. This is unabashedly high school band, and there's nothing wrong with that! In fact, in honor of my years as a tuba player (and a few years on trumpet) Kato Hazuki and Tubacabra made the RTLR wall of honor! Check this one out, might just work for ya! Thumbs up!