10 Second Anime - Hibike! Euphonium - Episode 6



Taki-sensei requires band members to audition for their spots. The bass section seeks to motivate Hazuki's tuba playing.

Heh.

Taki-sensei's nickname of the good-looking demon (and mean too) seems well deserved to the band members not used to hard work and lots of practice. Now that he required the players to audition for the final spots in the competition ensemble, that nickname is going to stick.

 

With open auditions that means the tradition of having the seniors automatically chosen was set aside and there's going to be some tension as the talented juniors might displace them. I can see their "fans" throwing fits too.

 

Natsuki, the seemingly disinterested junior, perked right up when she heard the chosen music and got motivated by Kumiko's sight reading. How many spots are there for euphoniums again?

 

The point of freshmen and juniors competing with seniors for seats is that Hazuki the new tuba player has a shot. Unfortunately for her, she's not quite motivated at playing the bass notes since the music sounds pretty boring. This sounds like a job for Asuka.

Asuka! Asuka! Asuka!

Okay, maybe it wasn't a job for Asuka. From scaring Hazuki with potential Sapphire clones taking her spot to a pep talk from Tubacabra in a Tuba-kun suit played by Kumiko, Asuka's plans just seemed like usual Asuka-senpai being strange and manic. I don't even know what she was trying to mimic with her hand gestures for her bad Tubacabra pun. Looks a bit dirty to me...

 

Using the Tuba-kun suit was a bad idea with Sapphire around.

Eventually Hazuki's friends got the right idea from Goto, who was embarrassed to say why he really liked playing the tuba - its music only shines in an ensemble when it creates harmonies, sets the beat, and moves the group forward. Aw, the big tough guy had a soft gooey center. When Kumiko and Sapphire played their instruments' parts with Hazuki's boring practice music, we found out it was actually Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. And that brought us all the way back to the title of the episode - Twinkle, Twinkle Little Tuba.

 

The way the afternoon light varied in brightness during that scene was inspired, especially when a bright spot shined on Hazuki as she realized the bass section is supposed to play for the whole ensemble.

 

Oh, there was little movement on the Kumiko - Reina relationship.

Kumiko couldn't help but flirt with Reina after she flashed her a good dose of the zettai ryouiki. Kumiko gives good glance making Reina do the doki doki. Ah, yuri in a KyoAni show. Gotta love it.

 

There was some other relationship movement too. We saw Hazuki get a little weak in the knees from Shuuichi helping her lift Tuba-kun.

This episode, Hazuki's crush was given a little more room to grow with a wistful glance and another Tuba-kun rescue. It looks like Tuba-kun's heaviness is the source for Hazuki's meet cute encounters with Shuuichi. Though it's doubtful that he would ever feel the same way about her because of his unrequited affection for Kumiko.

 

 

Hmm.

We saw the light-hearted effects of Taki-sensei's reign of terror, but Aoi's appearance at the end of the episode to encourage Kumiko's practice reminded us that some of the people responsible for what happened to the band last year are still in it, as are the victims. New tension often grows more powerful from old tensions, so I'm curious to see if the hidden story will be revealed before the final members are chosen for the competition ensemble. Baptism may wash away the old sins, but sometimes you relive those old sins preparing for that new birth. I want to know what happened before we see this new band start to impress during their competitions.