Kyoto Animation strikes again with another show relying on music clubs, young cute girls, and over-the-roof quality. The studio already worked on similar ideas years ago when it released K-On! and Clannad. Since then, however, the industry changed in regards with music-themed shows and it evolved from being simply a background for a cheesy comedy or lazy romance to be something more akin to a sports show filled with drama and tears. As if drawing inspiration from some great recent pieces such as Tari Tari and Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso, KyoAni delivers one of the studio’s best with Sound! Euphonium (Euphonium!).

This is a tale about Kumiko Oumae. After failing to enter the national competition with her middle-school music club and facing some problems, she now hopes to simply enjoy playing without higher ambitions. What happens, however, is that this new school is about to meet an inspiring teacher and plenty of skilled new students, something that can only raise their music club to new heights.

It’s from Kyoto Animation

You know the stuff. The studio is known for awesomely animated shows and they deliver it once again. The scenarios are breathtaking, there is a lot of stuff going on in most scenes, and the cuteness of the girls is outstanding. This day and age, however, has put a toll into how damn similar the girls are and you cannot simply watch Euphonium! without having some deja-vu from previous works of the KyoAni studio. It’s time they do something different with this character template, or else it will only get harder and harder to break the entry barrier to any new release from them.

It’s about an orchestra

Although pop-idols are everywhere and music shows are nearly all about them, Euphonium! works in tandem with the better shows and opt for non-conventional otaku music. This time an orchestra. This choice is the first and most important win of the show because it gives some identity and allows us to enjoy some refreshing music from time to time, not simply hear some seiyuu singing stuff as we do in every other dramatic show. It also works because it is a type of music demanding extreme teamwork and provides ground to explore the relationship between characters in less conventional ways.

…an orchestra of girls… mostly

Okay. There are some guys. I mean, there is one guy that matters, who turns out to be the teacher responsible for the school club. There are also two students with some minor appearances here and there too… and that’s it. Surprisingly, around fifty from the sixty or so members of the club are girls. Is this a thing? I cannot judge, but considering it is a show from KyoAni I can only think this was made on purpose to show cute girls every damn second. And yes, they are fuc*n cute.

A training season

Despite teasing the desire of the students to join the national competition, this season is more about giving ground for every major student and putting them against the typical problems derived from the need of perfect teamwork, a strict teacher, and tons of teen problems such as romance, rebellion, and worshiping. This leads to a show filled with a sports atmosphere where competition is close by and the group must train harder and harder, but also delivers some decent character-developing plots and interactions.

Consistency?

Without much in terms of tension, Euphonium! ends up being a fairly consistent show that only lacks more moments where emotions truly overflow. It delivers a decent pace and rarely feels boring, but its shyness to go head-on with the competitions and the urge to bring life to the girls makes everything feel a bit lacking in thrilling moments. As in many sports shows, you get episodes introducing instruments, concepts related to orchestra and marching bands, and so on, leaving the tension only to its last leg.

Euphonium! is perhaps one of the best works from KyoAni. Unlike most others it doesn’t waste too much time simply trying to be cute and it also skips attempts to sound utterly complex and “cult”. It is a simple tale of friendship, hard work, and slice-of-life of teen girls doing stuff related to music. Because of that it feels more natural than most other shows from the studio and it works as a charm to make this yet another awesome music-themed show after the engaging Tari Tari a few years back and the more recent and stupendous Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso.

Perhaps it could do more in terms of its competitions this season. Only a single event happens and bang! The end. So now we can only hope the next half consolidate this sports-like atmosphere and deliver us more moments of thrill and tears.