Sound! Euphonium Season 3 is divisive, and it is easy to understand why. KyoAni and the staff made risky decisions in how they adapted the source material, making a critical change towards the end of the season, which really divided the community. Of course, there was also the issue of there not being enough performances in the season, because previous seasons showed the performances, whereas this season did not do the same. The thing I appreciated the most though, was that with all the themes that the season provided throughout, the end result stayed consistent with the themes presented.

Kumiko’s encounter and relationship with the new transfer student, Mayu Kuroe, was no doubt, a turbulent one. Mayu plays the same instrument as Kumiko, and needless to say, there are only so many spots available in a performance, or in the soli. Now, with Kumiko in her third and final year at Kitauji, and with Mayu being the new kid on the block, there is some pressure on who should play and who should not, and while Kitauji has adopted a variety of ways to decide such things, Kumiko, along with vice presidents Reina and Shuuichi, decide that for each performance during the school year, there would be an audition. Managing a band is not an easy job, and Kumiko saw that firsthand. The thing I love about the series is how well it understands school life and music. In a band, there are always clashes of personalities, people who push others harder than they are used to, people who want to just have fun playing with their friends, and people who take winning competitions very seriously. Being the president, you always have to have your ear to the ground on how the band’s morale is, and for the majority of this season, it is not good at all, with the tension at a fever pitch due to the auditions and their results.

The relatability of the characters is another massive reason why I love this series. Kumiko in particular, is someone that I am sure many of us can relate to on some level. She is a graduating high schooler with a very common problem that many of us might have faced before, not knowing what to do after graduation. By being the president of the school band this season though, she learned a lot about how to deal with people, how to motivate people, but most of all, she learned that a lot of the time, you reap what you sow, and that there will always be someone better than you at something, and I’m glad that this theme was hammered home in the end.

As for Mayu, she was also quite relatable, but to many, very frustrating to watch I would imagine. As a transfer student, especially if they are a very capable one, they will very likely shake the morale of the existing group, because all of a sudden, there is someone that plays better than most of the band populace. Therefore, she adopts an attitude of just going with whatever the majority wants, whether it is to play a certain way, to go somewhere together, just whatever would allow her to fit in, to not influence the pre-existing relationships in the band.

(This especially hurt to see, because it is a sign of isolation to the point that she cannot even make a decision on what drink to choose because she thinks it might cause conflict, even though in reality, it is a very trivial matter.)

She just needs a hug…

Mayu and Kumiko's interactions throughout this season were tense, and understandably so, because not only do the two play the same instrument, they also had clashing viewpoints toward how Kitauji should operate. Kumiko wanted meritocracy, in that the best players should play, regardless of their status. Mayu, however, did not want to rock the boat that is the band, so it seemed like she wanted to forfeit her role in the band to Kumiko, as that was probably what their bandmates wanted, for their president to play. That is another sign of Mayu’s tragic character, where she just cannot bring herself to affect the band in any substantial way. Kumiko, for a good chunk of this season, avoided her, because it reminded her of herself in the past, the one that Reina “hated” for not caring about the result of a competition.

As controversial as Mayu’s addition to the cast might be, I personally loved her role in the story. She can be seen as an antagonist, but she really isn’t, as she is the catalyst that made Kumiko a better person. Kumiko can lament the missed opportunities to tell Mayu what she really felt about things, but in the end, Kumiko and Mayu helped each other, with Mayu pushing Kumiko to confront conflicts within herself, and Kumiko told Mayu something she needed to hear all her life, which was to play for what she believes in, and not “lie to the performance”.

I also loved Kanade’s role in the story, with her bluntness. In a way, she might have voiced how the viewer was feeling towards a certain moment, and that again, is relatability, in a different light.

Even if there are reconciliations to be had, another theme of school life is that friendships can also disappear in the blink of an eye. Reina parting ways with Kumiko is another theme in more ways than one, from the meaning on the surface, to what it means in a musical sense. It reminded me of how Mizore and Nozomi’s relationship in Liz in the Blue Bird, my favourite anime, felt like, with one holding back the other. It is difficult, but sometimes, if you truly love your friend, you also have to let them go, and it is another theme that stayed consistent to the end of the series, which is excellent.

Common arguments about why this series was not living up to people’s expectations included the fact that the performances were for the most part, skipped. That may be the case, but I found the tension in the band just as entertaining, if not more. There were no antagonists in the end, leaving the tension as natural, yet as strong as it can be, which is what the performance was to me, the characters interacting, arguing, and in the end, thriving, under Kumiko’s leadership. The other thing was the pacing, and that one I agree with, as it slightly drags the build up to the pay-off, but made the pay-off happen a bit too quickly at the same time, which is an odd place to be in. There is an argument to be made about that, but to me, I found what we got to be extremely rewarding and inspiring to watch nonetheless. I do wish the second year of Kumiko’s high school career was a full tv season though, that would be the thing to lament about for me.

Overall, this season left me breaking down at some of the tension that was so palpable, and left me in awe of how gorgeous KyoAni’s animation and directing was, possibly even superior to the last two seasons. It’ll be a series that will stay with me for a long time to come, and one that I’ll remember fondly.

Each piece along the way was beautiful. For Kitauji, there will always be a next piece, and for Kumiko, Reina, and everyone else, there will also always be a next piece.

This is me whenever I talk to that someone called Hibike! Euphonium.