10 Second Anime - Hibike! Euphonium - Episode 2



Kumiko and her new friends officially join the band club and choose their instruments. Kumiko tries to talk to her former classmate Reina.

Heh.

Kumiko wants to talk to Reina, but not to apologize. No wonder she keeps putting this off. Maybe it would be better just to ask Reina why she thought their school had a chance to play in the next round when Kumiko was pessimistic. Actually, it was more like she just didn't care all that much.

 

Maybe Kumiko doesn't care all that much because she's just been playing the euphonium out of habit and not by personal choice since elementary school?

 

Why trombone? And why is she annoyed at seeing her neighbor Shuuichi? I get the feeling Kumiko is trying to affect an aloof attitude, but she just seems not to have found something to care about yet. Perhaps she just hasn't admitted to herself she really likes playing the euphonium even when it wasn't an inspired choice and her big sister plays it too. She can be unique without having to play a different instrument.

 

What is it with so many girls rolling their skirts so high and why does that one teacher have such a problem with it? #thighs4life #thighsRfree

 

I like how this show uses the blue frame to denote a flashback or fantasy sequence.

 

The three new friends' relationships solidified nicely.

They call Sapphire Midori like she wants, but nobody else does. Sapphire walks like she came from a rich girl school. Hazuki fell in love with "Tuba-kun" because her mouthpiece fit it like the shoe in Cinderella. Sapphire liked her enthusiasm.

 

Hazuki and Sapphire weren't the only ones to show off their funny expressions. Kumiko had her own special charm.

So she can appreciate something. It just happened to be Reina's trumpet playing, so the yuri is developing nicely here too.

 

Asuka totally stole the show when the music club was assigning instruments to the new club members. Haruka, the club president, appears to have grown used to her outsized personality.

Asuka is in charge of the bass section and plays the euphonium too. Since Sapphire plays the contra-bass and Hazuki found her Tuba-kun, Kumiko ended up going with the flow, again. We're going to see a lot more of Asuka. She's like a tornado!

Asuka and Kumiko are going to make great foils for each other. Asuka is way too excitable and Kumiko tries to act nonchalant, so the energy level of the bass section is going to end up just about right. At least until Kumiko begins to care about playing her instrument.

 

 

Hmm.

After seeing Shuuichi again, another character from her neighborhood appeared too, the senior student Aoi. She appears jaded by her experience in the music club whose motto, instead of a goal, has been "To Compete in the Nationals." She warned Kumiko that the high school years pass very quickly. Implied there is that she should concentrate on enjoying those years as much as possible.

 

Adding to the new developments for the music club is the introduction of their new advisor Mr. Taki. We saw him last episode coincidentally listening to the performance of Reina's and Kumiko's school in their last competition. I wonder if he was involved in the voting for the schools who would advance.

 

Kumiko had a problem with how Mr. Taki influenced the club's goal for the year. It didn't have to be a false choice between "making memories" and "aim for the Nationals." Obviously the club can do both, but painting the memories choice as the lazy way out would only make most of the students vote for the more prestigious choice. Aoi was brave in going against the flow, which is what Kumiko seems to want to do in a new school situation.

 

This isn't going to be just a cute girls do cute things in the band club show. We have to have a bit of emotional depth to motivate the characters and point the story in a general direction.

 

I'm surprised a bit at how Reina is being presented right now. She appears totally unemotional, which we know isn't right, from all the tears she shed at her disappointment after her school's great performance only to be denied being chosen to compete in the next round. Maybe she changed so as not be hurt again, or she was always like that and the emotions at that moment were too extreme for her. I'm sure the audience will find out what the deal is, through Kumiko's growing interest in Reina.