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Sound! Euphonium 2
Episode 10

by Nick Creamer,

How would you rate episode 10 of
Sound! Euphonium 2 ?
Community score: 4.6

Sound! Euphonium has had a bit of trouble fitting Kumiko's sister Mamiko into its narrative arc. Like with Nozomi and Mizore, her conflict with Kumiko's parents has always felt a little, well, second season-y. While both of those conflicts have had great individual scenes, their lack of connection to Euphonium's overarching themes or original protagonists have led to them feeling less than substantial even at their most critical moments. While shows are often described as “greater than the sum of their parts,” Euphonium 2 has had the opposite problem - terrific individual scenes, less than stellar narrative composition.

This episode scattered that complaint entirely, offering both a brilliant conclusion to Mamiko's narrative and a terrific application of that narrative to Euphonium's original key players. The first half of this episode was dedicated to healing the rift between Kumiko and Mamiko, as the two worked together to clean up the kitchen and prepare dinner. Their main scene was a beautiful articulation of the strange and often antagonistic relationships that develop between siblings, as Mamiko slowly walked her way around the confession that she'd actually been inspired by Kumiko's dedication to her hobbies.

Sound! Euphonium's big emotional moments often impress largely through visual execution, but here, the dialogue was at least as good. Both of their positions felt very understandable - Mamiko saw Kumiko as the one who always got to do what she wanted, while Kumiko saw herself as the abandoned child, with all her parents' hopes placed in her perfect older sister. While each of them resented the other, it was also clear they both envied and respected what the other was capable of. Mamiko never outright said she'd been inspired to choose her own path by Kumiko, and Kumiko never admitted how much losing her sister would hurt, but their feelings were clear in both their familiar jabs and the way they each gingerly avoided their most vulnerable thoughts.

The direction of that scene was also quite strong, though less ostentatious than last episode's material. None of the shots used to convey their relationship were terribly unusual, but there was a warm familiarity in how some of the shots tied them together vertically, each of them working at a semi-communal task. And the quick cuts of Kumiko's hands preparing vegetables spoke to her general nervousness and preoccupation. When we're on the edge of an uncomfortable emotional confession, we often seek ways to occupy ourselves, like fiddling with our hands or inspecting a nearby window pane. These cutaway shots implied precisely that sense of preoccupation, conveying both her overt focus and emotional priorities at the same time.

Kumiko and Mamiko's relationship really came home in the next scene, as Kumiko pondered her sister's exit on the way to school. Flashing back to both her recent antagonism and early love for her sister, Kumiko was finally overcome by her long-stewing emotions, and broke down in sobs on the train. Narrative and execution came together for this one; Kumiko's contradictory feelings about her sister have been obvious for a long time, but her own inability to recognize those feelings was clear in how the shot moved from the tear on her vest, up to her cheek, and then up to her stunned eyes. The audience bore witness to Kumiko's feelings in the same way she did - Kumiko likely didn't even realize she was crying until it was clear to the audience. The terrific lighting, smart use of soft focus, and cutting follow-through scene of Kumiko dabbing her tears away all contributed to making this one more clear peak of Euphonium's second season.

With Mamiko resolved on quitting college, it was finally time for Kumiko to make Asuka follow her own selfish dreams. This episode's last act formed the cathartic conclusion to Asuka's narrative, as Kumiko screwed up her courage to request Asuka join the band one more time. Though Mamiko's material was satisfying for its own sake, tying Mamiko's resolution into what Asuka needed to do gave this arc a congruity that Nozome's narrative always lacked. And as always, narrative grace aside, this scene's execution was already its own ample reward.

Facing off in the crosswalk separating their school buildings, Kumiko made her case in familiar terms: you're the best in your role, the band needs you, and playing at Nationals is what you truly want to do. At first, Asuka framed her rejection of this plea in familiar terms as well. “I didn't want Nozome to rejoin the band. Do you honestly think I could get away with making an exception for myself?” It's obvious that Asuka isn't worried here about what the rest of the band thinks - it's only her own pride that matters. Asuka's absolute determination to clean up her own messes has defined much of her relationship with the band, and has been one of the reasons it's so difficult to ever get a full read on her motives.

Pressed further, Asuka revealed more of her thought process than she ever had before. Waving off Kumiko's assurance that “everyone wants you to play,” Asuka replied that “everyone will say they want to play with me. That way no one gets criticized. No one gets hurt.” Asuka is not a fundamentally warm person - she's proud and distrustful and deeply cynical. Her views on others have been heavily informed by her absent father and disappointing mother, and when you couple that with the fact that she actually is very insightful, you arrive at someone who can't fundamentally believe others mean what they say. After all, Asuka herself is composed of a thousand masks, so why would other people be any different?

Pressed even further, Asuka unveiled her final weapon: profound and perfectly aimed cruelty. She first revealed a blunt and precise understanding of Kumiko's character, describing her as “curious, but afraid of getting hurt, and thus unlikely to actually put yourself in the middle of other's problems.” Kumiko has spent this season trying to be both kinder and more aggressive in seeking what she wants, but Asuka's character-savvy eye cut to the heart of her weaknesses. Having established Kumiko's wishy-washy failings, Asuka then asked “do you think anyone would tell someone like that how they really feel?” Not only did Asuka directly attack Kumiko's confidence, she doubled down on that by second-guessing the relationships Kumiko has come to cherish. It was a brutally mean thing to do, and the fact that Asuka resorted to it at all demonstrated just how much Kumiko's pressure had gotten to her.

Unfortunately for Asuka, Kumiko had grown too much over this show to just take her abuse and run. Faced with Asuka's insincere cruelty, Kumiko responded with painfully sincere honesty, crying as she said how much she personally wanted Asuka to play. Taking the lesson of her sister to heart, Kumiko rightly criticized Asuka's feigned maturity. Staying emotionally distant didn't make Asuka mature or strong - it just prevented her from being the person she wanted to be. “So what if I'm a child?! Why do you keep trying to act like an adult!?” she said. In the face of Euphonium's Great Pretender, Kumiko entirely surrendered her own hesitance, fear, and emotional distance.

That honesty was what finally broke through to Asuka, and let her embrace her own desires. Euphonium's gorgeous execution did this scene ample justice, but it was built on an emotional core that had been building ever since these characters met. At its best, Euphonium isn't just a beautifully constructed high school drama, or a showcase for some of anime's best directorial and animation talent. At its best, it's Asuka chiding Kumiko for trying to see her tears, while silently thanking her for sharing her own.

Overall: A

Sound! Euphonium 2 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Nick writes about anime, storytelling, and the meaning of life at Wrong Every Time.


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