Hibike! Euphonium: Kakedasu Monaka

It's as good as any episode in the first season. This OVA focuses on the students who didn't pass the auditions, especially Hazuki, the main character here. We see what they were up to while the main band practiced, things like choosing their group's name and making the presents they gave to the band in the last episode. At first, I thought it would just be a light episode with some cute interactions, which would already be pretty satisfying for me. But there were many touching scenes with Hazuki, Shuichi and Natsuki that were great combined with the beautiful visuals. It also shows Taki-sensei supporting ... this group, which was missing from the first season, when it felt they were just abandoned.

The animation is top-notch, just like in the first season and anything created by Kyoani, it's enjoyable to watch even when there's not much happening becaue it's so beautiful. They used the same opening and ending, and again the OST is really good and complements each scene exquisitely. Recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the first season. I think this completes the series well and it's not just a useless filler. And especially to see more about Hazuki, considering this is probably the last time she receives the spotlight, since she was not a main character anymore in the sequel. For just an additional episode, it was a lot better than I expected.

Somehow, I completely skipped over this episode when I watched the entire Sound! Euphonium series. So we technically watched this out of order. Sound! Euphonium - Ready, Set, Monaka basically occurs in parallel with episode thirteen of the first Sound! Euphonium season, and I'll assume you've watched it for the purposes of this review.

Story & Characters: Sound! Euphonium - Ready, Set, Monaka gives us some neat little story snippets that wasn't included in the thirteenth episode of the Sound! Euphonium season. The ten girls who did not make the cut for the Kitauiji Concert Band form a new team. First, we ... learn how they came up with their team name. It was interesting, even if it ends up being somewhat uncreative. However, the rest of the episode explores not just what they can do for the concert band, but what Hazuki can do. While the concert band is on their way to the concert hall, Team Monaka has their own agenda with everyone being on board with being the best support for the band that they can be.

Hazuki is basically the centre of attention for this episode, and even though I didn't completely love her in the first season, this episode does a fantastic job at tying up some loose ends that I greatly appreciated. She wants to show that she can be a good sport about not making the cut and she does that with her head held high in the sky. The rest of the Sound! Euphonium characters aren't shown a ton here. Shuuichi has a very interesting role in this episode, something that probably should have been included in the original series. Natsuki also ends up with some interesting lines. It almost feels like some of Hazuki's optimism rubs off on her, something many audiences likely didn't see coming when the first season aired. (Story: 8/10, Characters: 8/10)

Art & Sound: It's hard to fault any of the graphical animation or sound works here, but they still do put emphasis on the nice moments here, which is always appreciated. Kyoto Animation truly does put their heart into this season and this episode didn't falter. The same OP and ED remains from the first season here. (Art: 9/10, Sound: 8/10)

Overall Enjoyment: Sound! Euphonium - Ready, Set, Monaka gives us a lot of fun little details that I really did appreciate. I am proof that you really didn't need to watch it to watch the rest, and is really just an addition to what already is a great series. I recommend watching this if you've already seen the first season and are enjoying the series. (8/10)

Hibike! Euphonium: Kakedasu Monaka is a prequel episode taking place between the auditions and final performance of Hibike! Euphonium. This episode features great music but the animation and art style seems to be lacking making this episode a combination of many things making it mediocre at best.
As previously stated, this episode takes place in between the auditions and the final performance: following the rejects from the auditions who decide to go by the name Monaka to represent their group. The episode makes a lot of references to the show such as making the good luck charms or collecting the mallets from the band room for ... the final performance. Outside of this and a bit of character development, not much happens though.
There are many great things about this episode. Although I can point out the music, much of it is just reused from Hibike! Euphonium as are the backgrounds. The reference back to the main series and filling in the gaps is a very nice feature and helps to make the world this show takes place in more built and grounded in reality.
As for the bad, there isn’t too much to criticize. The worst part was probably the animation that seems to be incredibly rushed in this episode and not really polished. On top of this the idea of an arc following side characters seems cool, but most of these characters are not at all developed during the main series making it feel more like you’re watching this episode to see more of the world of Hibike! Euphonium, not to see these unimportant characters, which to some people is a plus but to me it just seems lazy.
I didn’t really have a lot to say in comparison to my other reviews but that is because it is hard to say a lot about a twenty-five minute episode. Overall I would recommend this episode for those who are fans of Hibike! Euphonium due to its length, but those who don’t really care all too much about the world of Hibike! Euphonium and are just watching it to say they have watched it or they were recommended it and aren’t all too interested, or those who are re watching it, this episode is very skippable.