Sound! Euphonium 3 concludes a nine-year journey that follows the scholars of the Kitauji Excessive College Music Membership by means of the drama of highschool and band competitors. Taken in isolation, this season looks like the tip of an period. Factoring within the tragedies that the studio Kyoto Animation has gone by means of, it’s one of many biggest victories ever.
Euphonium participant Oumae Kumiko and her mates are actually the seniors, and have thus gone from newbies to leaders. For Kumiko, that’s greater than literal; she’s now the president. They’ve seen the membership go from leisure to aggressive, they usually have yet another probability to earn what has eluded them the previous two years: gold at nationals. However a couple of challenges lie forward, like making an attempt to information the membership as its veterans, and determining what their respective futures in music (if any) seems to be like. Kumiko additionally meets a switch pupil named Mayu who’s a euphonium participant herself, and she or he has to consider the diploma to which this remaining 12 months is supposed to be her personal time within the highlight or Kitauiji’s.
Can the membership maintain collectively and win nationals, or will it collapse earlier than even making it again?
In preparation for this evaluate, I learn by means of my previous posts about Sound! Euphonium. Seeing the place Season 3 begins as compared actually highlights the truth that these characters have every gone on their very own journeys whereas a part of a higher general journey. Kumiko now sees herself as a euphonium participant by means of and thru, and her earlier ambivalence about music has made method for a unique kind of ambivalence centered extra on what comes subsequent. Trumpeter Kousaka Reina has gone from upstart prodigy to the central pillar of the membership, the place her unmatched talent, no-nonsense perspective, and unwavering dedication to music positions her as an intimidating but inspiring upperclassman. Kawashima “Midori” Sapphire has turn out to be the light however agency mentor to a fellow contrabass participant. And Katou Hazuki, who had joined the membership on a lark and with no musical expertise, can now play the tuba with constant confidence. They will all show real talent with their devices now, regardless of how otherwise they started.
Being the veterans additionally means new obstacles. One is the truth that the first-years didn’t undergo the fires of change with their trainer, Taki-sensei, and don’t perceive why the older members revere him. One other is that Kumiko and the others have managed to rehabilitate the varsity’s fame to the purpose that some college students enroll particularly to affix the music membership, and so many have already got entrenched concepts of what to anticipate. With the principle forged because the seniors, they’re now in a spot the place they’re essentially the most mature folks within the room.
On the identical time, the third 12 months of highschool in Japan additionally historically marks the tip of immaturity. Kumiko struggles with envisioning her future, which is made all of the harder by the truth that Reina is able to dedicate the remainder of her life to reaching higher heights in music. The earlier membership leaders can look like giants who had all of it found out, so why does it appear so completely different now? The transition from childhood to maturity underlies this remaining season. It feels real, and I discover myself reminiscing a bit about what it was like.
5 years have handed since I final watched any Sound! Euphonium, so it’s arduous for me to instantly examine this concluding season with the earlier entries. Even so, I feel it holds as much as my recollections of the anime and as a piece unto itself. However if you’re conscious of the catastrophes that Kyoto Animation confronted—specifically an arson assault that claimed the lives of over 30 folks and injured dozens of others as properly, after which COVID-19—Sound! Euphonium 3 is a real triumph for everybody concerned. The truth that that they had such devastating setbacks and managed to tug off a remaining season that appears and feels so satisfying actually speaks to how nice KyoAni is at spreading institutional information and ensuring it’s not simply the veterans who hoard all of the glory. In relation to each the Kitauji Excessive College Music Membership and Kyoto Animation, understanding the significance of passing the torch is paramount.
