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darkchibi07 wrote:

I wonder if that in medias res scene in the 1st episode will come into play. Will that scene take place close to the competition or after.

Oh yeah, forgot about that one. It's not in the second book and I'm not done with the third one yet, so I don't know if it's an original, from the end of the third book or from the short story collection. spoiler[Either way, considering that it's set in winter and assuming that the chronology of the competitions is the same in the anime as it was in the books, it should be taking place well after all of that year's competitions.] (Not really a spoiler in my opinion, but others might disagree, so I'm marking it just in case)

Looks like another season of discussion dominated by whether it's Yuri-bait. Honestly I will agree that Kumiko and Reina act far closer than normal friends, completely ignoring the dialogue their body language alone portrays the two as intimate to a point were it would be incredibly weird if they weren't dating. (Also the relationship between Shuichi and Kumiko is almost non existent at this point.)

But there is so much more to Sound Euphonium that makes it a great show, and it always saddens me to see everything so flippantly disregard to discuss the Yuri. I just want some discussion about some of the other notable things about the show, people can talk about how great Natsuki is, or how gorgeous the shot framing is. I don't mind some discussion about the Yuri, but it seems to control 90% of discussion threads.

Now I'm aware I'm being kind of a massive hypocrite here by spending most of the comment mostly talking about what I'm complaining about, so I'll try to mention it sparsely in future points if it's not particularly relevant, but I just wanted to briefly(HAHA) complain about this.

I thought one of the parts of episode three that was interesting was the use of day and night to set mood and tone. Also, I'm not gonna begrudge Kyoto Animation some mild fan service especially since the scene involving Reina at least how I saw it could have been construed as Kumiko being made self-conscious about her lack of "feminine charm."

Also, this episode did nothing to improve my opinion of Yuko I didn't like her in season one and this only cemented my dislike for her. Honestly, her thought does feel like the mentality of a sore loser or someone who would call "sour grapes."

The real reason why Asuka disapproved of Nozomi rejoining the band is hard to believe for me. Yoroizuka went from being best friends with Nozomi to not being able to look at her without feeling sick, overnight? And it kept up for a year? All because she chose to leave the band of slacking third years? I was in high school music for six years, and last time I checked, it wasn't the entirety of high school life. Bit too dramatic of a reaction, no?

Parsifal24 wrote:

Also, I'm not gonna begrudge Kyoto Animation some mild fan service especially since the scene involving Reina at least how I saw it could have been construed as Kumiko being made self-conscious about her lack of "feminine charm."

Especially since Kumiko's self consciousness about that has been a plot point since about thirty seconds into S1E1. This is just more of the same and also more of her comparing herself to Reina and feeling herself coming up short.

kinghumanity wrote:

The real reason why Asuka disapproved of Nozomi rejoining the band is hard to believe for me. Yoroizuka went from being best friends with Nozomi to not being able to look at her without feeling sick, overnight? And it kept up for a year? All because she chose to leave the band of slacking third years? I was in high school music for six years, and last time I checked, it wasn't the entirety of high school life. Bit too dramatic of a reaction, no?

Yeah that's how I would describe the entire arc up to this point "overdramatic". Beside for the explanation to make sense, the two of them would need to have never seen each others since Nozomi dropped out, otherwise Nozomi would notice and then there's no reason for Asuka to try and hide that fact. And why not just tell Nozomi that? She keep coming everyday, you can just tell her and she'll leave it at that.

I really hope this isn't the entire plot of S2 and we'll eventually move on to something else.

Favorite episode thus far, it was all so on-point, and I don't think I can love Asuka more than I already do. Her conflict is still the most relatable for me, and I don't know if that explanation she gave was all there is to this, at least that performance in the last segment reflected something more complex.

About Reina's scene, while unnecessary yet okayish, I really loved the part in which Kumiko goes "Ah, that" when Reina broughts up asking Takimoto about him dating the other teacher. It's not that she dismisses it but it's a real "thing" in friendship that there are topics that worry your friend a lot but to you they're not always that important.

It's also interesting that this thing with Taki is incredibly similar to the same conflict with Nozomi and Mizore, it doesn't make Kumiko miserable but she is conscious that she is saving a secret for the sake of Reina, clearly making similar decisions far more complicated.

kinghumanity wrote:

The real reason why Asuka disapproved of Nozomi rejoining the band is hard to believe for me. Yoroizuka went from being best friends with Nozomi to not being able to look at her without feeling sick, overnight? And it kept up for a year? All because she chose to leave the band of slacking third years? I was in high school music for six years, and last time I checked, it wasn't the entirety of high school life. Bit too dramatic of a reaction, no?

It's not that far off from someone not going to family reunions or not even greeting each other, and it's not always a particularly strong reason behind that attitude. I think there is probably one more reason why Mizore can't stand Nozomi, and it's reflected in her whole playstyle, it's robotic, it's stripped of passion and it works perfectly as a shell, Nozomi would only break up that shell and bring the fear of failure again, thus why she chooses to be as perfect as possible. I do agree that her reaction to even the music she plays in episode 2 was a little too exaggerated.

Edl01 wrote:

snip.

I wholeheartedly agree with you, I think that Euphonium is SO much more than just that.

kinghumanity wrote:

The real reason why Asuka disapproved of Nozomi rejoining the band is hard to believe for me. Yoroizuka went from being best friends with Nozomi to not being able to look at her without feeling sick, overnight? And it kept up for a year? All because she chose to leave the band of slacking third years? I was in high school music for six years, and last time I checked, it wasn't the entirety of high school life. Bit too dramatic of a reaction, no?

nah, the clsoer they were, the harder that backstabbing feels, been there done that.

I did find the underwear bit a little odd as, barring last week's Reina-in-a-bikini shot, SE has been pretty matter-of-fact about what the girls all wear. It's not so much "Look at this girl wearing X" so much as "X is being worn", without the invitation to look.

Personally, I find all this "how do you feel about competitions" bit to be a little weird. Though I'm speaking as someone who regularly partook in competitions in middle and high school, and whose schools came out on top just about every year. So my perspective is very much a privileged one, so to speak. But for me, the point wasn't about winning the competition, it was about getting to perform a piece to the best of our abilities as a group, knowing that all that hard work and dedication paid off, not necessarily in a win--because when you perform, you're really thinking more about the music in front of you than anything else--but in a performance you can be proud of. I can still remember concerts that went so well, it felt like the orchestra had turned into one big organism, where we could feel each section's energy spurring the others on.

So, yeah, long story short, unless it's a horrendously bad performance, competitions are always about more than the win; it's about that magical moment of synergy. I wonder if SE is going to go that route or not. ^^;

kinghumanity wrote:

The real reason why Asuka disapproved of Nozomi rejoining the band is hard to believe for me. Yoroizuka went from being best friends with Nozomi to not being able to look at her without feeling sick, overnight? And it kept up for a year? All because she chose to leave the band of slacking third years? I was in high school music for six years, and last time I checked, it wasn't the entirety of high school life. Bit too dramatic of a reaction, no?

I get the feeling that Nozomi leaving the band is not the cause of Yoroizuka's problem with her, and that it's something else that's more personal.

Ayano Takeda (the original author) has stated in an interview that Yuuko is her favourite character, and now I think most people can see why. The contrast with her initial impression was even starker in the books, as the first book didn't have the scene with Yuuko and Reina in the empty classroom, so the scenes of her shown in this episode were the first time her motivation was revealed to be something more nuanced than a simple teenage crush on Kaori. I also loved how they portrayed Kumiko's awkwardness around her, gradually replaced by a semblance of understanding. And yeah, Tsuruoka has been working wonders with Tomoyo Kurosawa's voice ever since he told her to adlib as much a possible as Sylphy in Amagi Brilliant Park.

On an unrelated note, I think I finally figured out why Mizore didn't speak the Kansai dialect in the novels, even though she's stated to be 100% local (unlike the only other Standard Japanese-speaking band member - Kumiko, who's from Tokyo). I probably shouldn't talk about it right now though, as it seems like some aspects of her background and personality haven't yet been made clear enough in the anime.

DerekL1963 wrote:

Parsifal24 wrote:

Also, I'm not gonna begrudge Kyoto Animation some mild fan service especially since the scene involving Reina at least how I saw it could have been construed as Kumiko being made self-conscious about her lack of "feminine charm."

Especially since Kumiko's self consciousness about that has been a plot point since about thirty seconds into S1E1. This is just more of the same and also more of her comparing herself to Reina and feeling herself coming up short.

I wouldn't exactly call it a plot point, since it's mostly been used just for comic relief so far, and it definitely wasn't comedic in this case, being part of an emotionally subdued scene. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if Kumiko's self-consciousness were the explanation they'd go with if asked directly about that shot, but even if that's the case I'd still say it feels out of place, sandwiched between sequences showing Mizore's slump and Reina regaining her determination. Not a huge minus in an excellent episode, but a minus nonetheless.

meiam wrote:

kinghumanity wrote:

The real reason why Asuka disapproved of Nozomi rejoining the band is hard to believe for me. Yoroizuka went from being best friends with Nozomi to not being able to look at her without feeling sick, overnight? And it kept up for a year? All because she chose to leave the band of slacking third years? I was in high school music for six years, and last time I checked, it wasn't the entirety of high school life. Bit too dramatic of a reaction, no?

Yeah that's how I would describe the entire arc up to this point "overdramatic". Beside for the explanation to make sense, the two of them would need to have never seen each others since Nozomi dropped out, otherwise Nozomi would notice and then there's no reason for Asuka to try and hide that fact. And why not just tell Nozomi that? She keep coming everyday, you can just tell her and she'll leave it at that.

I really hope this isn't the entire plot of S2 and we'll eventually move on to something else.

If I'm not wrong, Nozomi dropped at the end of last year, and now we're in summer, so around six months went by. It's not impossible that Nozomi also purposely avoided Mizore because she felt conscious about the whole thing, so I think that they haven't seen each other because Mizore obviously can't stand her and Nozomi maybe didn't want to trouble her? It's likely that her whole reason to come back to the band is to reunite with Mizore.

Perhaps Nozomi knows, but Asuka, as dettached as she is, KNOWS that saying that is very hurtful, she's at least conscious that nobody is as pragmatic as her to resolve stuff (though she's not really resolving anything, just avoiding it).

I thought it was a really good episode.

Asuka has a "talent" for defusing drama? No, she has a talent for deflecting drama away from herself. She doesn't take a side during the previous year's conflict between the first years and the seniors. She refuses the position of president. After promising her support, she abandons Haruka and Kaori in the section meeting during the Marines' Hymn conflict. She maintains neutrality during the trumpet solo conflict. She deflects questions with jokes or pleas to her position as VP.

Add to the above Asuka's "it's about to end" comment just before the competition performance in S1E13 and her downcast reaction to the band's advancement to regionals. I think we have to question her commitment to the success of the band.

Given the above, are we really supposed to think that Asuka has now become a band hero, sacrificing herself for the good of the band? I think something else is happening.

Parsifal24 wrote:

Also, this episode did nothing to improve my opinion of Yuko

Yuko's nose flips remind me of Aisaka Taiga's "talent" (Toradora ep 13), so I'm a full on Yuko fan now (no not really). I like most of her fuller characterization this season, including the pride that makes her insist on the pretense of having been right even though she knows she wasn't. However, I don't like her self-mocking her hero worship of Kaori. It suggests the hero worship is not genuine, and that rings false (which come to think of it is ironic since that sort of hero worship happens only in anime anyway).

kinghumanity wrote:

Bit too dramatic of a reaction, no?

Agreed. The first season's drama had believable roots: slackers vs workers and rookies vs veterans. This season's seems more contrived so far.

vonPeterhof wrote:

I wouldn't exactly call it a plot point, since it's mostly been used just for comic relief

And I wouldn't call it mostly just comic relief. It introduces Kumiko as thinking about maturation and marks the beginning of her progress to a more refined maturity.

Valhern wrote:

If I'm not wrong, Nozomi dropped at the end of last year, and now we're in summer, so around six months went by.

From S1E11, Yuko tells Reina the first years quit, then the prefectural competition was a wreck. Therefore, given that we see her in a winter uniform when she resigns, Nozomi quit in the Spring of the previous year.

kinghumanity wrote:

The real reason why Asuka disapproved of Nozomi rejoining the band is hard to believe for me. Yoroizuka went from being best friends with Nozomi to not being able to look at her without feeling sick, overnight? And it kept up for a year? All because she chose to leave the band of slacking third years? I was in high school music for six years, and last time I checked, it wasn't the entirety of high school life. Bit too dramatic of a reaction, no?

They promised to win gold together in high school, then in her first year, Nozomi QUIT! That promise meant something to Yoroizuka. It was a serious goal the two of them were supposed to be working toward. When Nozomi bailed, it shattered her already fragile psyche. It is clear that Yoroizuka is not an emotionally stable person. I think that is a large part of the problem.

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EP. REVIEW: Sound! Euphonium 2