Hibike! Euphonium 2 – 08

The amount of Kumiko-ness in this is incredible

A little illness can go a long way.

I’ll Take Potpourri for 1000, Alex…

Midori Forehead Attack!

This episode was advancing a bunch of storylines, without really wrapping anything up. Of course, since it’s episode 8, this is the time to be advancing everything to its respective finish line, ready to cross in the last couple episodes. And if you’re doing it the right way, you can even throw in a little bit of misdirection to give the individual episode its own flavor and interest. That’s what they did here, giving Kumiko a minor illness. I mean, if I get a cold with a cough and sniffles, I’m usually full of sniffles for a week. So to be all better in a couple days is something I’d love to have.

The band’s shock at the possibility that Asuka won’t play with them.

First up, tho, storywise is Asuka again, or still. Five days without coming to practices, and then she shows up. Since the band is trying to stay in a maintenance mode, this isn’t too terrible, but it’s causing uncertainty and anxiety in the other members, and their sound is suffering. Not a lot, but they’ve lost that spark that separates the mechanically perfect performance from the impressively musical performance. Now, that’s not unexpected, and even Hashimoto-sensei is impressed that they’ve kept the sound as good as they have, but there’s just a little missing, and that’s the kind of thing that would keep them from getting gold at Nationals. So missing Asuka is having that double effect, since her playing is one of the best sounds in the band, and her presence is always inspiring.

Asuka gets what she wants

But what’s even more interesting to me is her interactions with Kumiko this episode. Kumiko is the only of the other bass section members to not rush to her, or to fawn over Asuka’s return to the band, even though she was very happy to see her return for the Station concert. And Kumiko takes time to ask Asuka specifically if she’s going to quit, which leads to a wonderfully engineered invitation to Asuka’s house. Seriously, this was the perfect way to buffalo someone into doing something you want them to, as Asuka manages to convince Kumiko to come over, ostensibly for math tutoring, by herself (so she can focus better), when Asuka’s mom won’t be home. If this was a different kind of story, that would be the flag for “We’re gonna do it!”, but this isn’t a romance show, or a yuri manga. Anyway, I’m guessing we’re going to get to that visit next episode.

Falling Out

Someone doesn’t have an answer

This episode spent a lot more time on the family issues at Kumiko’s home, with Mamiko’s family meeting where she wants to quit college and become a beautician. A year from graduating from college, and she wants to quit, and says that that year “isn’t soon enough” and that “it has to be now.” That kind of talk makes me wonder what kind of trouble she feels like she’s in. I want to think it’s some kind of boyfriend trouble, but that doesn’t really make sense because she could have just introduced a boyfriend to her parents, no? And why would there be trouble when she has her own apartment anyway? Something’s driving her out of her apartment and back home. It could be just general disaffectation, but that doesn’t seem like it would be necessary to quit now.

Kumiko picks a fight in front of her friend

The real part that intersects with Kumiko is that Mamiko claims that she never wanted to quit playing in the band. While Kumiko doesn’t react right away, it’s something that eats at her for the next day. I think that Mamiko quitting band was one of the things that really came between her and Kumiko, and the flashbacks to their interactions show that Kumiko thought the trombone was one of her sister’s best features. The scene where Mamiko is quitting is kind of ambiguous tho. It could play that way if she was being pressured to quit by her parents to get into a good college, but it could also play out that way if, say, Mamiko was starting to have the same feelings toward Kumiko that her middle school senpai did: You think you’re better than me? Are you playing better than I am to mock me?

And she’s not backing down

But when Mamiko complains about Kumiko listening to euphonium music with Reina, Kumiko’s emotions finally boil over, with Mamiko’s having things to her convenience finally pushing Kumiko to confrontation. And I’m pretty firmly in Kumiko’s camp: Don’t quit saying that you have to study for college exams and give me a hard time about playing the euphonium and then come back later and say “I didn’t really want to quit”. Don’t gloom around here and tell me I can’t listen to what I want when our parents are paying for your tuition and apartment so you could not be here. I don’t care how much you think the world can’t understand you, that’s all just out and out selfish. And the fact that Kumiko blows up in front of Reina shows a couple things: How frustrated Kumiko is and how close she feels to Reina. Maybe the fact that Reina is there helps forestall a big argument, but I’m still on Kumiko’s side. And seeing Mamiko’s reaction to Shuichi reminding her how much Kumiko looked up to her makes the point that Mamiko wasn’t looking at it from Kumiko’s side at all.

Reina lets the conversation happen

And maybe the first step toward reconciliation?

I really love the way that Asuka engineers a chance to get Kumiko all to herself. The amount of calculation in that was incredible. And I start to wonder if anyone in the band has ever gone to Asuka’s house. One would think that perhaps Haruka or Kaori have, but my gut feeling is that Asuka has never felt the desire to let her guard down that much. Even with going to festivals with them, I think that Asuka feels more of a connection to Kumiko, although it’s certainly no revelation for me to say so. Everyone has thought from the beginning that Asuka treats Kumiko differently. So I’m really interested in seeing what the result of her visit is going to be.

About Highway

Proving that you don't have to be young to love anime, I enjoy all genres and styles of shows. If it's not hurting anyone else, you should never be ashamed of what you like!