First Impression: Sound! Euphonium 3

Being President of the Kitauji Concert Band is hard work, especially if you have a tendency toward the kind of inarticulate splutters and awkward gestures that get you mixed up in all sorts of highly melodramatic situations, like Kumiko Oumae. Flanked by her best friend, the cooly confident Reina Kousaka, as Drum Major and the boy she turned down last year, Shuuichi Tsukamoto, as Vice President (not at all awkward, nope), Kumiko spearheads a campaign to recruit new students to the band and inspire the club to go for gold at the Nationals. The Kitauji Concert Band has weathered some serious storms over the past two years, recovering from scandal among the members, and ultimately embracing the challenge set for them by the new club advisor, music teacher (and heartthrob—at least in Reina’s eyes!) Taki-sensei, to put in the blood, sweat and tears needed to become contenders on a regional, and ultimately national level. So far, the Nationals gold has eluded them. But hope springs eternal, and it has certainly sprung this new school year, as the cherry blossoms drift in the Kyoto air like falling snow. The veteran band members are bursting with nervous energy—who will show up to the club tryouts? And will they be good enough to help carry the band to victory? What the bass section really needs is an experienced euphonium player, but all they get are some (rather eccentric!) beginners. But wait, what is that warm, gentle sound coming from the school roof?

At last. Eight years since Season 2, with only a film, movie spin-off, and OVA to keep us going in the meantime, Kyoto Animation’s glorious Sound! Euphonium is back. And what a resounding return! Not a single beat is missed: we are thrown right back into the delightful melée of music, comedy, and melodrama that has made this series such a classic. An artful montage, following Kumiko to school, revisits all the key scenes and sights from earlier installments of the franchise, refreshing audiences’ memories and signaling that this season too will be rich, layered, and incredibly honed in on the kinds of little details that bring characters and stories to life. Speaking of which, Reina, Kumiko, Midori, and Hazuki seem to be even more themselves in this premiere; as third-years, they have matured (even the flappable Kumiko), and seem more comfortable in their own skins, and with one another. As Kumiko herself says, she has finally caught up to Reina, which is her way of saying that she is at last living with passion. The relationships between the girls, and between Kumiko and second-year eupho Kanade (whom she reluctantly took under her wing in one of the interim films), continue to delight and provide both the laughter and pathos that audiences have come to expect of this franchise. I’ll admit, I laughed out loud, squeed, and even got a little misty-eyed with this premiere, even though nothing particularly remarkable happened! It was just so good to be back with everyone and see how they’ve grown.

The quality of the animation is exactly what we would expect of KyoAni—in a word, outstanding. Clearly, the instruments are still being drawn by hand, despite their demanding intricacy, which is a relief to see. Ishihara is back at the helm as director, and seems to have stepped up his adventurousness a notch, with some standout sequences—plunging down a tuba, for instance—while also incorporating a few homages to former assistant director Naoko Yamada with the lingering shots of legs and eloquent flowers. The soundtrack too is promising, with some hints at the new themes, particularly for the eupho, but no OP or ED reveal yet. Despite the long break, and the tragedy that struck KyoAni in 2019, it is clear that the creative momentum has not abated in the least but rather has continued to build—much like with the Kitauji Concert Band itself, and each of its cast members. This episode is filled with exactly the right balance of familiarity and the promise of drama to come (the post-credit scene! The hair whip! The closing long shot!) to set my expectations very high indeed for this, the final installment in the greatest band anime ever to be made. 

Sound! Euphonium 3 is streaming on Crunchyroll.

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