This movie makes me so mad, and I kept putting off watching it for months because I knew this was going to happen. It's just so annoying to see the ideas of something great, but all of it be for nothing as they speedrun this whole section of the story. Overall I think Kumiko is still great here, and her dynamic with Kanade is perfect with where she is as a character and Kanade being a parallel to a season one Kumiko. Though besides Kumiko, pretty much every other character is sidelined. Even though Kanade is good for Kumiko, Kanade's arc is still so dumb. She is told many times that seniority doesn't matter at Kitauji, but she doesn't believe it because of her middle school experience. Kanade is scared that everyone will hate her if she takes a senior's role. As that's what happened in middle school and everyone hated her after they lost the competition. She uses what happened last year with Reina as an example of Kitauji being just like anywhere else and other what-if scenarios. But this point makes no sense because even when Reina played, THEY LOST THE COMPETITION, AND NO ONE BLAMED HER. So I guess no one told her about that part or something?The next new character Mirei wants to do her best and hates that Hazuki doesn't take this as seriously and prioritizes fun. Again she works well for Kumiko as doing your best vs. enjoyment is something that Kumiko struggles with within the first two seasons; it truly shows how far she has come. But we never see Mirei having a negative experience with Hazuki, so it gives me no reason to empathize with her and just makes her out as more of a bitch. Then there's Motomu, whos just a dick and does nothing in this movie, and Satsuki, who literally does nothing. If she had no dialogue, nothing would change. Natsuki was also good, as she and Kumiko seemed to be the only people with common sense. Reina doesn't do much either but starts to worry that her goals could get in the way of her and Kumiko's friendship but that never gets explored. The most insane part of this movie is Kumiko and Shuuchi's relationship. The idea of something between them was definitely hinted at in the previous two seasons, but Kumiko never showed any real interest. Now, this starts with Shuuichi confessing and the fastest relationship ever. They have maybe five scenes together, with the longest one being a date to the festival (which is sped through). We never get to see their feelings grow for each other or anything that would make their relationship believable. Then about thirty minutes later, they decide to maybe date after band is done. This should have either been cut or had a larger focus; it just ruins any potential they had by doing it in a way where we never see anything besides the confession and the semi-breakup.
Because of all these different plot lines, they try to shove in; the pacing is EXTREMELY FAST, with many cuts not flowing together and scenes feeling like they just started before it jumps to something completely unrelated. The final performance, though great to look at, held no weight since I don't know anything about most of the characters and didn't get to see their journey to get to this point. Since the performance was 10 minutes, it took up way too much run time, which left about 4 minutes before the credits. With season three looking like it will go straight to the 3rd year, we don't get to see any of the current 3rd years like Yuuko, Nozomi, Mizore, or Natsuki off. If this is the end of those characters, that's just depressing. The problems here are even more apparent when before this, there is Liz and the Blue Bird, which is the complete opposite of this mess. Liz is focused on two characters, slow-paced, and never leaves the school; it knows exactly what it's trying to do and is confident in its presentation.
Though I have mostly complained, the core themes and message of the story are still continued perfectly, as I mentioned earlier with Kumiko and Kanade. "It gets in the way of getting better… That's life. You try your best and practice and practice, but you could still fail. Life is full of failure (Kumiko)." But it's still important to always try your best, no matter the outcome, to not have any regrets. Doing your best could lead you anywhere. Bonds are formed from being honest and being the best person you can be. Hibike Euphonium has always shown the importance of putting everything you have into something you love. Kumiko and Kanade showcase all of this amazingly in the rain and bus scenes, which are the absolute highlights of the movie. I will never understand why Kyoani chose to do a movie. They obviously care for this series a lot when looking at the previous entries. Hopefully, season three can flesh out all the new characters, and plot lines since much of it felt like setup. I still give this a seven because, well, honestly, I'm not sure it still had the heart it's always had, and that's enough for me. Actually, Asuka was in it, so it's a ten. I love this movie!
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