Jul 3, 2015 1:02 PM
On Shipping and Euphonium
Anime Relations:
Hibike! Euphonium
Euphonium's caused quite a kerfuffle recently, especially with certain segments of the shipping community. Since I stayed safely away from all the social media and message board drama, I was fortunately free to form my own opinion on Kumiko and Reina's relationship and what I saw between them without too much outside influence, and these are my own thoughts on the subject. I should preface this by saying that I'm not a hardcore "shipper" as such. I've been part of internet fandoms for almost 15 years, going back to my Harry Potter days, and I've learned after so many years of watching shipping drama turn into hurt feelings, broken friendships, disappointment and anger that it just isn't worth it. Even people who "win" shipping wars rarely get everything they want - the author won't develop the relationship as fully as they hoped, or botch it somehow, or even kill off one of the characters right after they get together. So I don't get too heavily invested in any fictional ship anymore - I can still enjoy a pairing or potential pairing if I think it's written well and the chemistry between the characters is strong, but that's about as far as I go.
Now, getting back to Euphonium (spoiler warning from here on out if you haven't finished it), what I saw between Kumiko and Reina was a beautifully developing relationship between two characters who are just dripping with chemistry together, and it's very easy to see why they became such a popular pairing. Now I don't know whether they're actually building a romantic love or a deep friendship or something else entirely, and to quote Asuka, I honestly, really don't care. Some connections are just too deep and complex for a one-word label, and this to me is one of those. From my perspective, just watching their growth and how close they became, from fumbling around not knowing how to talk to each other in the first couple of episodes to the casual, playful intimacy that they share with each other in the last episode, was all supremely well done and I enjoyed every bit of it.
Having gone that far, this is where I break from the path of the typical shipper. Shipping at its core comes down to the shipper placing his or her own desire upon the couple. That desire could be as innocuous as just wanting a kiss or a canon confirmation, or in more extreme cases could have an entire sociopolitical agenda behind it, but whatever it is, shipping in most cases is ultimately a wish-fulfillment fantasy for the shipper, and not about what's best for the story or the development of the characters (though in some cases those things will happen to align). This is especially pertinent to Euphonium, though, because one of the core messages of the entire series is that expressing your honest feelings is an act of liberation, of freeing yourself to grow and explore new horizons, the exact opposite of the straitjacketing limitations of shippers' demands that characters "must" follow this or that rote path. In the case of Kumiko and Reina, they could eventually become lovers, lifelong best friends, both, or neither. Within the context of this specific story, these two semesters of high school they spent together, does that future path really matter? No, it doesn't. What does matter, and the lesson that we as viewers can learn from them, is that they both found the courage to pursue what they wanted, and (as Kumiko put it in the last episode about going to nationals) to express their wishes out loud to each other. In doing that, they're no longer held back by fear or doubt - they've set themselves free to allow their feelings and bonds to develop to their fullest potential, whatever that potential may be. It doesn't have to be romantic; it doesn't have to not be romantic. It's entirely up to them what they choose to do with it, but the key is they've allowed themselves that freedom to choose. The counterpoint to Kumiko and Reina is Asuka, who doesn't take sides or express her true feelings on almost anything, who won't stop hiding behind her masks, and whose growth remains stunted as a result. Out of all the characters with significant screen time, she's the one who changes and matures the least. The harmony to Kumiko and Reina's melody is Hazuki, who shows her courage on several occasions, but especially with her confession to Shuichi in episode 8 (that it comes back-to-back with Reina's confession is obviously a deliberate juxtaposition on KyoAni's part). In that case he doesn't return her feelings, but the message is clear. Speaking your wishes aloud doesn't always guarantee that you'll get what you want, but you'll still feel better for saying it. Since Hazuki put herself out there, now she knows whether she had a chance with Shuichi or not, and she's freed herself to move forward with her life instead of waiting and wondering and being stuck at the starting gate.
I talked to some people who thought that KyoAni needed to address KumiRei more explicitly in the last two episodes, but while I understand their point of view, to me we're already given everything we need. The real climax of the KumiRei relationship arc is when Kumiko finds it in herself in episode 11 to return Reina's "confession of love" statement from episode 8. There's no going back after that, and you can tell from the look on Kumiko's face right afterward that she knows it, too. Now they've both admitted out loud that this relationship, whatever it is or may become, is something they both want, and every scene of them together in the last two episodes is really just reaffirming and reinforcing that commitment. And notice it's from that point on that Kumiko really becomes much more assertive - clapping for Reina at the audition, standing up to her sister and admitting she likes the Euphonium, and telling Asuka that they are going to nationals. This from someone who wasn't even confident enough to cast a vote on trying for nationals at the beginning of the series. It's like admitting her feelings for Reina out loud unblocked her and gave her the courage to speak up about other things that she likes or wants too.
Finally, I love the way KyoAni's writers handled this relationship for the most part, letting it build in slow steps and breathe in-between until it finally starts to blossom in episode 8. The only major misstep they made with that whole arc as far as I'm concerned were those 15 seconds of episode 10 with Reina suddenly talking about her feelings for Taki. Not just because it was so out-of-sync with the rest of the series, but because it never really comes up again except as a bit of a brick joke in episode 12; as a plot point it goes nowhere.The Taki thing apparently was part of Reina's plot arc in the book (or so I hear; I haven't read it), so if they'd included it because they were doing a faithful adaptation then fine. But when you find out from people who have read the book that 95% of the KumiRei stuff was all KyoAni's doing and not in the book at all, then the choice of still including that episode 10 scene just to do nothing else with it becomes even more head-scratching.
So that's my take on Kumiko/Reina. I don't "ship" them in the usual sense of the word, but I think they have a wonderful - and wonderfully developed - relationship that stands at the heart of everything KyoAni wanted to say with Euphonium, both emotionally and thematically.
Now, getting back to Euphonium (spoiler warning from here on out if you haven't finished it), what I saw between Kumiko and Reina was a beautifully developing relationship between two characters who are just dripping with chemistry together, and it's very easy to see why they became such a popular pairing. Now I don't know whether they're actually building a romantic love or a deep friendship or something else entirely, and to quote Asuka, I honestly, really don't care. Some connections are just too deep and complex for a one-word label, and this to me is one of those. From my perspective, just watching their growth and how close they became, from fumbling around not knowing how to talk to each other in the first couple of episodes to the casual, playful intimacy that they share with each other in the last episode, was all supremely well done and I enjoyed every bit of it.
Having gone that far, this is where I break from the path of the typical shipper. Shipping at its core comes down to the shipper placing his or her own desire upon the couple. That desire could be as innocuous as just wanting a kiss or a canon confirmation, or in more extreme cases could have an entire sociopolitical agenda behind it, but whatever it is, shipping in most cases is ultimately a wish-fulfillment fantasy for the shipper, and not about what's best for the story or the development of the characters (though in some cases those things will happen to align). This is especially pertinent to Euphonium, though, because one of the core messages of the entire series is that expressing your honest feelings is an act of liberation, of freeing yourself to grow and explore new horizons, the exact opposite of the straitjacketing limitations of shippers' demands that characters "must" follow this or that rote path. In the case of Kumiko and Reina, they could eventually become lovers, lifelong best friends, both, or neither. Within the context of this specific story, these two semesters of high school they spent together, does that future path really matter? No, it doesn't. What does matter, and the lesson that we as viewers can learn from them, is that they both found the courage to pursue what they wanted, and (as Kumiko put it in the last episode about going to nationals) to express their wishes out loud to each other. In doing that, they're no longer held back by fear or doubt - they've set themselves free to allow their feelings and bonds to develop to their fullest potential, whatever that potential may be. It doesn't have to be romantic; it doesn't have to not be romantic. It's entirely up to them what they choose to do with it, but the key is they've allowed themselves that freedom to choose. The counterpoint to Kumiko and Reina is Asuka, who doesn't take sides or express her true feelings on almost anything, who won't stop hiding behind her masks, and whose growth remains stunted as a result. Out of all the characters with significant screen time, she's the one who changes and matures the least. The harmony to Kumiko and Reina's melody is Hazuki, who shows her courage on several occasions, but especially with her confession to Shuichi in episode 8 (that it comes back-to-back with Reina's confession is obviously a deliberate juxtaposition on KyoAni's part). In that case he doesn't return her feelings, but the message is clear. Speaking your wishes aloud doesn't always guarantee that you'll get what you want, but you'll still feel better for saying it. Since Hazuki put herself out there, now she knows whether she had a chance with Shuichi or not, and she's freed herself to move forward with her life instead of waiting and wondering and being stuck at the starting gate.
I talked to some people who thought that KyoAni needed to address KumiRei more explicitly in the last two episodes, but while I understand their point of view, to me we're already given everything we need. The real climax of the KumiRei relationship arc is when Kumiko finds it in herself in episode 11 to return Reina's "confession of love" statement from episode 8. There's no going back after that, and you can tell from the look on Kumiko's face right afterward that she knows it, too. Now they've both admitted out loud that this relationship, whatever it is or may become, is something they both want, and every scene of them together in the last two episodes is really just reaffirming and reinforcing that commitment. And notice it's from that point on that Kumiko really becomes much more assertive - clapping for Reina at the audition, standing up to her sister and admitting she likes the Euphonium, and telling Asuka that they are going to nationals. This from someone who wasn't even confident enough to cast a vote on trying for nationals at the beginning of the series. It's like admitting her feelings for Reina out loud unblocked her and gave her the courage to speak up about other things that she likes or wants too.
Finally, I love the way KyoAni's writers handled this relationship for the most part, letting it build in slow steps and breathe in-between until it finally starts to blossom in episode 8. The only major misstep they made with that whole arc as far as I'm concerned were those 15 seconds of episode 10 with Reina suddenly talking about her feelings for Taki. Not just because it was so out-of-sync with the rest of the series, but because it never really comes up again except as a bit of a brick joke in episode 12; as a plot point it goes nowhere.The Taki thing apparently was part of Reina's plot arc in the book (or so I hear; I haven't read it), so if they'd included it because they were doing a faithful adaptation then fine. But when you find out from people who have read the book that 95% of the KumiRei stuff was all KyoAni's doing and not in the book at all, then the choice of still including that episode 10 scene just to do nothing else with it becomes even more head-scratching.
So that's my take on Kumiko/Reina. I don't "ship" them in the usual sense of the word, but I think they have a wonderful - and wonderfully developed - relationship that stands at the heart of everything KyoAni wanted to say with Euphonium, both emotionally and thematically.
Posted by
WingKing
| Jul 3, 2015 1:02 PM |
1 comments
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Dodecahedron-O24 | Aug 31, 2015 5:02 AM
I agree, all this shipping talk that was going on took away from enjoyment of just two people become close friends. We know that Reina has romantic feeling for Taki-sensei. Whether this is more hero-worshiping or high school crush on a teacher, will probably never to explained away. With there being 4 volumes of LNs out right now, I don't know how fast Baka-Tsuki will get it done (they have both the prologue and I think chapter 1 done).
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