The story, centered around Kumiko Oumae and her music class companions as they try to get to the nationals, is very inconsistent in terms of emotional intensity, pacing and enjoyment. Throughout the early episodes, the story is focussed on introducing Kumiko and her friends, Midori and Hazuki, to the audience, however this is little initial tension or overbearing atmosphere to keep the audience engaged through this middling introduction. Hazuki increasing her capacity to breate, though insightful to those who are interested in the qualities required to play a wind instrument, is neither comedic nor engaging; even worse, it feels as though the audience are being forcefully pulled away from the considerably more interesting side characters like Asuka, Reina and the instructor, Taki. As the narrative progresses, other characters do become more relevant, but the results are mixed. An entire episode is spent focussing on a love triangle that goes nowhere, a conspiracy of nepotism that adds nothing and the main character faltering the episode before the climax. However, that’s not to say that the story is a failure; specific moments are so well written and directed that they are simply breathtaking, such as second halves of episodes 8, 11 and 13. On the whole, this leads to a story that feels too long in some ways, as it has many redundant gears that simple exist to pad out the series, yet too short in others, as the more interesting and resonant parts are never given the focus they deserve. Tragically, though all the ingredients were there to construct a heart-warming, memorable story, they were not handled with the competence required to make this a truly great slice of life series.
The characters are much like the story in terms of how mixed they are. Reina Kousaka is without a doubt the highlight character, boasting a stoic and occasionally cryptic attitude that makes her intriguing, but having sufficient depth and believability to make her relatable. Her scene on the mountain with Kumiko was the magnum opus of this anime, having sufficient build-up to warrant the reveal of her ideals without feeling cheap or melodramatic. However, her full potential isn’t quite reached, as conflicts are introduced regarding her, yet they rarely reach a resolution. Taki, the instructor, is also a very watchable character, but he gets little development or screen time, which, given the conspiracy surrounding his relationship with Reina, is quite a missed opportunity. Speaking of missed opportunities, Asuka has little done with her character after it is established, though thankfully this fault isn't nearly as glaring, as her interactions with the rest of the cast more than make up for it. However, regarding the character cast of Hibike! Euphonium, the praise ends there. The other characters all fall into the categories of being either disappointingly mediocre or outright boring. Kumiko joins the former category; perhaps she was intended to act as a character through which the audience could view the others, but this approach leaves much to be desired, because she seems like too much of a blank slate. She does have some development in the penultimate episode, but by then it is too little, too late, coming off as more of a desperate attempt at character growth instead of a relatable problem.
Instead of giving her more consistent growth, time is wasted on her friends, Midori and Hazuki, whose company would perhaps be more appreciated if they didn’t distract from the emotional core of the series, Kumiko and Reina’s relationship. As they are, they’re annoying, uninteresting friends who say way too much and add much too little. Though other characters, like Natsuki and Aoi aren’t bad by any means, they waste ample time in an anime that really needs to pick and choose its foci better. However, though everything mentioned thus far is mixed to a varying degree, there is one constant in Hibike! The comedy is uniformally bad. There is not one genuine laugh provided even though every trick in the moe-book-of-laughs is used. Breast gags come off as more obnoxious than anything else, awkward character interactions make the audience feel just as uncomfortable and the over the top facial expressions don’t gel with the more dramatic nature of the series. Sometimes the comedy and drama are shifted between with so little grace that the audience suffer from tonal whiplash, and occasionally it feels like even the series doesn’t know what it’s trying to communicate. That’s not to say the drama is done poorly; quite the contrary. The climax of the series sent chills down my spine, and the aforementioned conversation between Reina and Kumiko in Episode 8 resonated to my very soul. If there were more moments like this, Euphonium might have been great, but it must simply settle for being decent.
Surely the animation is its saving grace, right? Kyoto animation always delivers in this regard, right? Well, if you consider a spotless glass of water to be beautiful, then this will probably appeal to you. However, for me it didn’t stick out nearly enough most of the time to make this series a real spectacle. The character designs are bright and consistent, fluid and detailed, but lack a sense of identity needed to make them memorable. Chuunibyou’s character designs had a exuded a sense of silly optimism, giving the audience an idea of who they are before they even spoke. Hibike! Euphonium’s character designs, on the other hand, didn’t really have much emotion. Aside from Reina, who the animators seemed to priorities above everyone else just like the writers did, Kumiko and the others, particularly the males, are monotonous to watch, with their plain uniforms and uninteresting expressions. The animators not only seemed to put their best efforts into the best characters, but the best scenes as well. For the most part, the series is set in a detailed, yet ultimately blandly coloured and designed room, feeling very claustrophobic and unengaging, both visually and narratively. On top of that, wind instruments are, by design, not particularly notable visual stimulants, and the anime fails to work around this. Aside from the occasional mouth movement, the euphonium and trumpet players only occasionally move a single finger, and that’s in the rare instance that the frame is focussed on them. That's not to say the instruments themselves were bad, as they are extremely well drawn and lit, but they weren't utilised properly. The occasionally visited lake, however, is absolutely breathtaking, as is Reina’s resplendent white dress in episode 8 and the bridge shown during Kumiko’s meltdown in episode 12, which, along with the accompanying strong facial animation and soaring music, leaves me both wistful to see more, and disappointed that such well-directed scenes are so few and far between. On the whole, Hibike! Is easy on the eye, but serves very little purpose for the vast majority of the anime.
The score is much like the visuals; technically, it’s high quality, with crisp sound effects and realistic instrument sounds, but it feels much too safe and by-the-numbers to impress like it should, particularly in an anime the focusses so heavily on music. The OP and ED are both completely forgettable, often starkly contrasting the more dramatics episodes in the series and they’re both overall weak, generic songs in their own right. The voice acting for the male characters in this series is completely forgettable, even for Taki-sensei, barring one or two emotional moments. Kumiko’s fairly good, Asuka and Reina are both great, but Midori and Hazuki are nails on a chalk board, absolutely irritating in every line they speak. Interestingly, I think the voice actress for Kaori was the stand out, capturing the emotional intensity and restraint of her character in a role that would have been very easy to fumble in. The OST doesn’t back up this relatively strong group of voice actors very well, shining only, as was mentioned earlier, in the same moments as the characters and visuals, but being disappointingly mediocre in every other respect. It’s pleasant, certainly, and keeps up with the pace, but nothing is memorable or evoking, as the series further proves its inability to reach its potential.
The themes presented in Hibike! Euphonium, at least on paper, are resonant, relatable to people regardless of their age and should make for some emotionally satisfying moments. Themes such as being the underdog, finding self-acceptance and self-value and enjoying the little moments in life are all present. However, much like every other aspect of Hibike!, they’re a mixed bag. Reina herself struggles with her love for Taki, while also feeling slightly uncomfortable around him and very defensive of him, though this never reaches anything. Kumiko struggles with her ability, though after an outstanding character moment, this is resolved too easily and too late. Such themes and scenarios are peppered throughout, but the series messily tangles them, introducing too many and resolving few of them. Even Asuka is hinted to have some hidden secrets, but they never come to fruition.
Overall, Hibike! Euphonium is a can-see anime. If it looks like it will appeal to you, if you have fond memories of being in a school band or aren’t as concerned about messy structure, then you will by no means regret this. It’s pretty to look at, sound pleasant, and has some stand out moments that elevates it from so-so to decent, though if, like me, you would prefer something with a more decisive and competent handling of its themes and characters, there are better anime out there for you. However, a second season could blow many of my problems away, and if there is a second season, I’ll be watching.
(On a side note, the translation of Hibike! Euphonium to Sound! Euphonium is one I disprove of. Instead, direct and more tonally accurate translate would be “You Can Play! Euphonium”, though perhaps this would make the product less marketable. )
