The second season of Hibike! Euphonium, in my opinion, is better than the first. This season feels like a more refined and concentrated version of what Hibike! Euphonium is, and that improvement alone turns a good anime into a great anime.

The story isn't any different on paper. The Kitauji high school orchestra continues working hard to achieve their goal of playing at the nationals. However, this second season shifts the main focus from playing in a respectable competition to the individual characters behind the music, their personal struggles, and giving some insight to the history that made them who they are today, and how it sets them on a path for the future. I think this is a fantastic direction to take this series. As great as the music is in Hibike! Euphonium, the characters all have so much potential to flourish and tell very captivating and emotional stories. Without spoiling anything, the ending for this season is well-written and satisfying, and the meat of the season consisting of character building also makes for a great watch.

The art is still consistent with modern Kyoto Animation quality, which doesn't need an introduction assuming you've already watched the first season or other Kyoto Animation works. However, I noticed this season had many more scenic views, which I personally loved. Seriously, some of the scenes in this season are so crisp and high-quality with an immense amount of attention to detail, resulting in gorgeous and lifelike shots of suburban scenery and city night views. The animation and character design is still fantastic, resulting in an all-around 10/10 from me in the art department.

The music in this season, though it did not feel like the main focus for me, was still great. The band performances have a tsunami of emotion behind them, and the background music for other scenes is beautiful. There's some fantastic cello pieces that really make me miss playing the cello and even evoked regret for not sticking with it longer. Emotional and impactful music like this can really add depth to anime, and is refreshing to see when most everyone else in the industry considers music an afterthought.

As stated previously, character development really feels like the spotlight of this season. Though it's still not perfect, it's much better than the first season and it's still very much enjoyable to watch. There's still plenty of drama to be had, enough to make you feel like a single middle-aged wine cat mom getting invested into her favorite soap opera. However, Hibike! Euphonium's drama, unlike most soap operas, is very high quality. The drama between characters this season, mostly relating to character backstory, feels emotional and realistic. Maybe it was just because I could deeply relate to some moments, but Hibike! Euphonium definitely feels like it's a few steps above the typical high school anime "character A loves character B but character C likes character B as well" character interactions. Romance, while still not a main focus of the series, feels much more substantial and less forced than it was in the first season. It's still not perfect, nor is it what I keep watching the series for, but it definitely adds more than it takes away from the series.

Overall, this season was a considerable improvement to an already good anime. The ending was well-written and interesting, and set what feels like a good foundation for future content to the series. I will definitely continue to watch what this series has to offer beyond the second season, and I hope that Kyoto Animation recovers soon to continue doing what they love and making great anime like this.