Sound! Euphonium 2 – Episode 07
Previous S2 Eupho review(s):
Episode 01
Episode 02
Episode 03
Episode 04
Episode 05 Part 1 and
Part 2
Episode 06
I ended up making a blog as a unified location for all these Eupho writeups (cause it's hard to keep track of 13 posts for many people), so if you want a single place to check for these posts, or an easy way to refer people to them, they're at
https://thoraxes.wordpress.com/
Also a link to the neogaf post with the URLs for all 13 Season 1 episodes is
here.
- Man, look at the detail on that metronome. They wrote in all the divisions, and you can even see the weight that's used to adjust the fulcrum. It feels funny being excited by something like that, but maaaaaaaaan does it look so good.
- Station Concert? Seems like a community performance of sorts. Definitely a high school band program activity if i've ever seen one. I've done holiday parades, festivals, performed in community centers, malls, retirement homes, etc. Really cool that they're going to do a community performance.
- Midori is a liiiiiiittle bit of a fan of Seria, huh? The way she gushes reminds me of how I do the same thing for my favorite ensembles, and even DCI (drum corps) stuff from time to time. Pretty neat that a high school would be selling CDs and blurays. My own high school ensembles (band, jazz band, combos, musicals, etc.) did the same.
- Asuka is stone-faced though. I guess whatever happened near the end of the last episode went through. Wonder what happened? Oh wait... Oh this won't end well at all. I get where Asuka's mom is coming from, but wow is she forceful. You can tell she's not even considering Asuka's feelings.
- MY MAN TAKI YEAH YEAH. What an awesome dude. He let her mom get all of that out, took it stone-faced, and stood his ground. He's such an awesome teacher. Seriously. First he whips them into shape, is hard on them but in an encouraging manner, then stands up for his students and what they what? Even to their parents? Seriously, everyone deserves a band director like him.
- What the hell! I mean, I've seen parents get aggressive towards their children regarding clubs/studies/grades, but wow. I don't think I've seen an escalation like that. And the way she didn't give in. Man. Maaaaaaannnnnnnnn. Having friends that were on the receiving end of parents not wanting them to do music, I can say that they people who suffer as a result of that go through some really rough times. It's heartbreaking. They way she took her mom out like that, and the way her mom reacted after were just... jeeze. That was tense.
- Of course anything that happens spreads through the band like wildfire. There are no secrets in band. Reina affirming her beliefs reinforces that she's as strong-willed as ever. You can see that slap really affected Kumiko.
- Reina's observations are on the mark. Good juxtaposition of Asuka's changing stances in the brief flashbacks. What exactly does Asuka want and why? She's just as much as an enigma as Taki.
- I don't know how to feel about this next scene. Like, it feels good to see her back. It feels good to see her not be kind of a jerk for once. That facade she's pulling off feels really painful to watch. Just the churning of my stomach as she forces that bubbly persona doesn't feel good at all.
- If she wants to talk to Natsuki later... Well, that probably only means one thing. Is this going where I think it's going?
- CALL HER OUT ON THAT ONE OF YOU TWO PLEASE. Ahhhhhhhhh, c'mooooooonnn.
- Well, this is no good. Having seen stuff like this happen before (even at a collegiate level, too) it really brings down the morale of everyone. To be in that limbo-mindset as a group is a dreadful period of time.
- Cool to see Natsuki and Nozomi practice together. Defintiely a fun practice technique to get together with another person and play through your parts together. Seeing how your part fits with someone else's is invaluable.
- Wel;, this isn't good. I wonder if Haruka and Kaori can pull something off for their friend.
- Dang, even Taki is a little on edge. It sucks for him, it sucks for the band, and it sucks for Asuka. There are no winners. Though Taki seems considerably less affected than the band, and he's right in that they really can't be slacking off in rehearsal. It's cool that he stays focused.
- Haruka is so good with this speech. She's right, too.
- I am more than happy with the cosmic mandate that draws Yuko and Natsuki into playful conflict, even in situations like this. It definitely helped lighten the mood.
- Haruka is really stepping up and owning this. It's really cool to see her start to be confidently out in front.
- Woo, gold for marching! More Azusa is always appreciated. The ponytail game is strong in this scene too.
- I also like the "uniform" for this performance. It's half the uniform they wore when they marched, but instead of the full clothes, they wear a shirt over it.
- Instruments that are as fun to play as they look: agogo bells. Seriously. It's impossible not to be happy when you play them (and just look at the face of the person playing them!). African percussion pieces are probably some of my favorites when it comes to their beat patterns and usage. Bass drum girl moving to these for this piece is good.
- A brief soprano sax closeup!
- I also like Midori's bass playing.
- That was cool that they featured the solo by having her stand up there. It makes it more fun for the crowd!
- Cymbal girl sees another day to smash some metal together. All is right with the world. This time it's a more vertical crash. Check out the way she holds the straps on them too. Her hands aren't inside them, but rather gripping them tightly with fingers near the base so they can hang a little easier, but still reverberate and have good physical control over them.
- Horn A (T12) (concert D) is correct with the fingering. Also notice how they lift their instruments up when they play that high note. It's to allow the sound to travel better/louder.
- Haha, how fun! They all get to stand up and dance! Man, this would've been a ton of fun to perform.
- I think that's Knuckle, right? Just a minor thing, but they properly drew the hi-hat on the set closed, which is reflected in the sound.
- Azusa says it best. Haruka is awesome here. For as reserved as Haruka always is, it's really cool to see her go out like that and give a performance like that. It takes a lot of guts to play a solo like that in front of a crowd of that demographic.
- Mamiko ending. Seems she's up next.
That episode was one heck of a ride. From the beginning, to the fallout, and ultimately how people moved on was all handled pretty nicely. Seeing Asuka roll with her situation, or Haruka becoming more dependable and less reserved with a performance like that was really cool. Everyone coming together after what was going on with Asuka was great. The ending with the song gave me the feeling that maybe there are better things to come. That maybe everyone figured out how to get over the Asuka situation in their own way. Either way, it felt like a breath of positivity after the mood from before. Haruka finally standing more on her own felt like something that's been needing to happen for a while now, and i'm glad she went for it.
Slowly we're starting to flesh out some of the other major players, and i'm really excited to see where it all goes next, and how some of these people and their issues play out with the whole cast. It's a likable cast of characters, and I really enjoy seeing them and their stories come together like this. The band dynamic as a social construct is easily enough to have me hooked, but with this cast of characters it feels even more enjoyable than I expected. I really like this group ;_;
And to be honest, i'm looking forward to the moment Asuka finally breaks... If such a thing is possible.
