Please Watch Sound Euphonium

The title pretty much says it all. As Sound Euphonium’s season 3 airs, I want to convince as many people as I can to watch one of my favorite series, in hopes that it will mean as much to someone out there as it does to me. I’m gonna gush a little (a lot) about the series with as few spoilers as possible… starting now! 

STORY

Sound Euphonium primarily follows Kumiko Oumae, euphonist, and her trumpeter best friend, Kousaka Reina. The series opens on the two of them in middle school, at the last festival of the year, receiving what they call a “dud gold” medal. While Kumiko is happy to be awarded a medal, Reina is furious that they didn’t win the real thing, that they won’t go to nationals, that their middle school concert band journey is over, and that her bandmates aren’t as upset as she is. If I can describe the premise that this scene sets up, and expands on throughout the series, in one sentence, I would actually steal a line from Chihayafuru (another series I’ve written an article on :3): “I’m not passionate about it because I love it, I love it because I’m passionate about it.” This series mainly focuses on Kumiko, and to a lesser extent her bandmates, finding their passion for music, for their high school lives, and the invaluable experiences they’ll have during this ephemeral time. Sound Euph is a show that is simple. It’s a show about a concert band, a group of kids finding their way through high school, and all of the drama, learning, heartbreak and incredible moments that can happen in this short span of time. This is, in my opinion, the greatest strength of the studio behind the show, Kyoto Animation, and is a constant theme throughout their shows. This work is the best show that I have seen from them so far, and though I am still working through their entire catalog, I don’t see that opinion changing any time soon (Violet Evergarden is a close second though, I’d also highly recommend).

CHARACTERS

Kumiko Oumae is a girl who starts the story with a lack of identity. She doesn’t know who she is, what she cares about, what she should care about, nothing. She’s going through the motions in every sense of the phrase. She joins concert band out of a sense of embarrassment, and even when she joins she wants to abandon euphonium, the instrument she’s played since she was little, to start fresh, seemingly to distance herself from who she was before. And if it wasn’t for the relentless nature of Kumiko’s senpai Asuka Tanaka, she probably would’ve been able to. 

Asuka-senpai is an absolute joy to watch. Every moment she’s on screen she commands attention. She is wise, passionate, funny, relentless in the pursuit of her goals, and my personal favorite character in the show. Side note, when the COVID lockdown started, I had recently finished watching Sound Euph for the first time, and I decided to buy myself a euphonium, in search of a new productive hobby I could do from home. And I searched pretty hard to find a silver euphonium to match Asuka’s, instead of every other character’s gold euphs. 

Reina is an ace trumpet player, has seemingly always been more dedicated, talented, and skilled than her peers, and isn’t afraid to vocalize that she knows it. Reina’s outward arrogance in regards to her talent are contrasted nicely by her and Kumiko’s relationship, one that is more ginger and soft-spoken. Reina’s dedication also extends to her bandmates, and she has many moments of self-sacrifice for the betterment of those around her and the group as a whole. 

And the last character I’ll talk about is Taki Noboru, my favorite teacher in anime (sorry Koro-sensei). Taki-sensei is patient, mild-mannered, but absolutely unwavering in his pursuit of his goals. Son of a former band director at the same high school, his goal is to win the national championship his father never could. That being said, he’s not the type to bend others to his will. Instead, in one of my favorite moments in the series, he asks his students what the goal for his first year should be. Would they rather win nationals, or spend a year having fun, enjoying their high school lives and playing some music sometimes? And banking on teenage pride, the students themselves vote to work hard, out of what is maybe a fear of only being mediocre, or for not reaching their full potential. He uses this vote to remind his students whenever they being to lose hope or motivation that this is what they voted for, and to not forget their ambitions.

PRODUCTION

I can’t talk about a show about music without talking about the music in the show, right? And this show’s score is top notch. If you’ve seen any other work by KyoAni, I won’t need to convince you that the show is an absolute joy, both to look at and to listen to. The melancholic moments have weight to them, the comedy gets a bit of bounce, and the triumphant moments feel incredibly satisfying. The characters have so much personality in their designs, and even if there are a couple characters that I had trouble telling apart at first, the more you get to know them the more memorable they become. The characters feel so alive, with so many facial expressions and such talented voice actors and actresses behind them, they feel so alive, so fun to watch, and I truly never had a single moment where I had any problem with the production in any aspect. Kyoto Animation continues to raise the bar on their work, which has been incredible to watch since the days of Haruhi and Tamako Market.

CONS

I personally have practically 0 problems with this show, but I’ve talked to a couple people who’ve told me about theirs. The main one I could see, again similar to Chihayafuru, is that the show is sappy. It’s about kids in high school, the problems that they go through and work to overcome, and if you don’t put a lot of weight into those problems, the show could feel overly dramatic, like it takes itself too seriously. One of my friends told me that she felt the show was a bit too formulaic, in that the first two seasons follow one school year, with the typical marching band season into concert season, then graduation, and then it ends. Personally this kind of pacing is a plus to me, as it’s super relatable to my experience as a band kid all throughout my school years, but it’s not for everyone. And I could see the show not having as much meaning to someone who doesn’t have that musical or artistic background. There’s a lot of conversation about why we should put in effort to endeavors that won’t make us money, or secure jobs, or advance our status, and they’re all valid questions. BUT if you’ve ever tried to make something for yourself, to do something that you know the world may not care about, but because it means something to you, then I’m sure you’ll find something valuable in this show somewhere.

CONCLUSION

Sound Euphonium has been one of my favorite shows for a long time, and my favorites list usually consists of shows that have impacted my life in some way. Your Lie in April was my first anime, and the show that made me fall in love with the medium. Run with the Wind rekindled my drive to be fit, and to have the patience and perseverance to work towards a goal that is both far away and difficult to achieve. And Sound Euphonium made me love music again, a passion of mine which I had let go of years before I ever watched this show. I still don’t play all the time, but I’m really happy that I have a euphonium now that I can pick up and play whenever the urge strikes me. Playing the piece that Asuka’s father wrote for her, and that she passed on to Kumiko, is a cathartic feeling that I had struggled to express for a long time. This show means so much to me, and I hope that if this writing inspires any of you guys to watch it, then I hope that you find some value of your own in it. 

If you’ve made it this far, then thank you so much for reading! If you want to hear more of my opinions and the opinions of my friends, please check out our podcast, Oyasumi X Anime! And join our discord if there’s any series you want us to review, or even for me to write something on! Have a great day, take care of yourselves, and I’ll talk to you all soon! Byeeeeeeee

Discord: https://discord.gg/nWdCneGczV

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3rZ1keudtKidI7lHeZZofR?si=908a3f278af04018