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Sound! Euphonium 2
Episode 9

by Nick Creamer,

How would you rate episode 9 of
Sound! Euphonium 2 ?
Community score: 4.8

Asuka's true nature has always been one of the central mysteries of Sound! Euphonium. Often goofy, sometimes cruel, and always distant, she's kept her friends at arm's length all through the series. But with the national competition approaching and Asuka still nowhere to be found, it fell to Kumiko to reach out this week and see if Asuka's mother could be convinced to let her play. So began one of Sound! Euphonium's most emotionally charged and visually impressive episodes to date.

This was the first episode both storyboarded and directed by Taichi Ishidate, who you may remember as the director of Beyond the Boundary. Tying him to that questionable production doesn't really give him enough credit though, as this episode readily demonstrates. Beyond the base differences in the material, Ishidate also sees himself as a very hands-on episode director who prefers to handle many cuts himself, as he mentioned in a recent ANN interview. That interview also reveals his preference for bodies and landscapes over faces, a trait that echoes series director Naoko Yamada's own priorities and quickly becomes clear in this episode. On top of Ishidate, this episode also featured Akiyo Takase as animation director - the illustrator of Violet Evergarden, who's swiftly risen to managing animation roles and could well be tapped for that series' full adaptation.

Ishidate's restless skill as a director is clear from this episode's first few minutes, as last episode's relatively subdued framing is replaced with diverse and evocative shots conveying the various characters' subtle shifts in body language. One early shot seemed almost like something out of K-On!, with posture demonstrating the relative moods of all characters involved before their faces are even revealed. Kumiko's discomfort with the band's direction and troubled mood are clear even before she articulates her frustration, making it seem like a natural progression when Natsuki suggests she convince Asuka's mom to relent.

That scene introduced one more of this episode's strengths - its understated physical comedy. This was a dramatically heavy episode, but light interludes relying on Kumiko's eternally funny body language helped things from getting too dour throughout. This mission to convince Asuka's mom essentially represents Kumiko taking a more driven approach to the band than ever before, but that character shift was bolstered by endearing physical asides in nearly every scene.

With that mission established, it was the animation's turn to shine. In a pair of scenes after school, Kumiko first lamented her task to Reina, then joined Reina in returning the room key to Taki. Reina's monologue about Kumiko's special ability to connect with others was already a gorgeous sequence, but I was even more impressed by the moment where Taki took the key out of Reina's hand. There, Reina's extreme emotional state was conveyed through a union of camerawork and beautiful animation, as the energy of his touch essentially flew with the camera up to her face and then down to the tips of her arched toes. While some of this episode's consistent leg shots felt gratuitous, sequences like that demonstrate just how much pathos can be drawn out of small details of the human form.

After that, it was off to Asuka's house. Kaori ended up “running into” Asuka and Kumiko after school, handing off a bag of sweets intended to coerce Asuka's mother. This exchange between the three of them offered a stern reminder of Asuka's fundamental nature, as she quickly realized that Kaori was meddling in her affairs. Asuka didn't say a word to this effect, but her stormy mood was clear through the direction - as Kaori bent to fix her shoelace, Asuka's expression was clouded in darkness, and Kaori was framed as both too intimate and confined between bars. Asuka's pride and reticent personality consistently make her a perfect character for a Kyoto Animation drama - though she may only say “Kaori sure is cute huh”, her true feelings are clear in every shot composition and quietly shifted eye.

After struggling through some studying at her house, Asuka finally dropped the bombshell - her father was a famous euphonium player, her parents had been divorced since she was two, and her mother had no interest in letting her either play his instrument or reconnect with him in person. Asuka's resentment toward both her parents wasn't just clear in posture and framing this time, though those certainly helped. Even the base language she used to refer to her parents conveyed her resentment, as she described her father as someone who “used to be” her dad, and referred to her mother as “that woman.” At last, it became clear why Asuka was so resistant to getting involved in the band's drama. She saw their struggles as trivial compared to her own - proud and distant to far more than a fault, she bore her anger at both parents like a cross and saw her current troubles as her earned punishment.

In the end, it turned out Reina wasn't wrong about Kumiko's special nature. The finale of this episode was a wonderful release of the tension built throughout, opening with Kumiko declaring how much she loved Asuka's sound. I was astonished again by how well the shots of Asuka responding to this declaration conveyed how stiff she was. In a medium where stillness is the rule and movement the exception, a character not moving shouldn't by itself convey stiffness - but something about Asuka's posture, and how her breath catches when others make her uncomfortable, made it clear how tense she felt in that moment.

But being uncomfortable isn't necessarily a bad thing. Kumiko's words unlocked something for Asuka, as she likely hoped they would. Asuka is not a person who can readily ask others when she needs help, so her only route was to invite Kumiko over for another reason, drop the truth on her, and see how Kumiko reacted. Kumiko reaching out and validating Asuka's love of music enabled Asuka to embrace that love herself.

The episode concluded on the banks of the river, as Asuka played her father's song for Kumiko one more time. In an episode defined by emotional tension, restless direction, and beautifully fluid animation, I appreciated the simplicity of this finale. Asuka's feelings were clear in the music alone, so the camera lifted away from the girls to simply admire the beauty of the world around them. This show understands how much can be conveyed without words. In Asuka's case, simply being there to listen is enough.

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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