Kumiko and her friends are the main source of those insecurities, and they're not much more than what you'd expect from a teenage group of anime characters: naïve, overstating, and worried about love. Little can be said about unique characteristics or personalities, since aside from a few cute quirks (like a character naming her tuba 'Tubacabra'), there are next to none. To balance this weakness out, the show introduces the collected and beautiful bandmate Reina, whose mutual admiration with Kumiko tends to go a little overboard. There's a load of flirting between the two without any romantic development, which leads me to believe the relationship is only there to give a reason to the protagonist's unnatural success; the two are driven by a non-existent love for each other, and it is not convincing in the slightest.
That wasted screentime could have been better used on the development of the school band, who the viewer only gets to know about a quarter of. Because of that lack of focus, there is no unifying element of teamwork to the storyline—you are merely watching a few people surrounded by background characters whenever they play. Their instructor, Taki, is often pointing out musical flaws or weaknesses in certain sections of the band, but the lack of familiarity with the members makes their struggle to improve near meaningless. Unless you're driven by any personal nostalgia, it is seemingly impossible to empathize with anyone. It really makes the end goal to reach the nationals both predictable and uninteresting, as well as boring to watch.
The animation of Hibike Euphonium is great. Crisp, fluid, and full of detail, it's something that can only be expected of the notorious studio behind it. The art itself isn't as impressive, but acceptable; everything looks as if it's been bathed in layers upon layers of oil, even excessive by the standards of teenage hygiene. Regardless, watching each instrument as it's being played is always a real treat.
Hearing them is pretty nice, too. It's likely the only real indicator of progress in the series, as they go from sounding like your average school band to something deserving of recognition pretty quickly. In fact, it's a little too abrupt of an improvement. Later performances begin to sound too professional for their age level, and as beautiful as it is, it's immersion-breaking. For better or for worse, you can tell that the soundtrack was performed by a group that makes its anime counterpart pale in comparison.
Clumsiness aside, Hibike manages to fit into the formula its predecessors put in place, albeit quite half-heartedly. The fundamentals are all there, but the soul is missing. It's drab, often slow, and questionable in focus, but it is what it is. If you're looking for something light and simplistic, go nuts. Just don't expect much in the drama department, OK?
