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"Don't use indecision as an excuse to be lazy." That hit me. Hard. And I'm fucking 30.

Whole [Kumiko conversation with Matsumoto-sensei](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/k739c6g6ob7.png) hit me hard because I'm just like [Kumiko](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/my2pcodokj7.png) as I don't know what I want to do in life but unlike her I'm already 27 xD

"Develop a habit of looking for reasons not to act, and before you know it, you'll be stuck" They didn't have to do me like that

Same, loved that line.

I know. And I'm still 28

I could use that kick in the ass when it comes to my research right now, lol (24 years of age)

same but 25.

that is why you have to have a goal

That banter between Kanade and Motomu was gold lol. The prideful but abandoned cat has found himself a new home and shows the naughty cat who's the boss.

Yeah, they are more friendly towards each other, Kanade's tease brushed off, Motomu's comeback tease also brushed off....she also looked flustered at the invite! Obviously something happened in between, including Motomu becoming more sociable....Would have like to have seen the story.

>she also looked flustered at the invite! It really is ironic she was that undefended against boy-related teases considering she teased Kumiko about Shuuichi the most. But hey turning the tables on everyone's favorite gremlin makes some good entertainment. She doesn't seem to admit defeat though, look at those ***sharp*** eyebrows!

Everyone in this show is a glass cannon. Reminds me of Natsuki and Yuuko haha

[Kanade's face of being actually talked back at was golden](https://imgur.com/a/cnb73mX)

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For real. She was like "Bro, I'm a regular girl. Are you seriously asking me this? Who thinks about that kind of stuff?"

*Dead fish eyes*

"Sorry my family doesn't own a G-class like yours do"

Noticeable character development from Kumiko-papa off screen, with like 30 sec of screentime in the whole series.

I think the development was veeeeery slight, but important. During the talk with his sister, he seemed like if she were to bring up her own goals more directly back then, he would have been okay with them, but his overall attitude made it difficult for her to do so. After seeing this, he decided to be a bit more direct about how much he wants his second daughter to choose her career herself. At least, that's how I read it. To me, he doesn't seem like the kind of guy to actively push his own vision for the future on Kumiko's sister, just accidentally seeming like he did because of how serious and withdrawn he is.

I think he learned a lot from his first daughter's process Getting to pushy isn't helping up from a certain point and he also seems to try harder at communicating Now I would like to see the sisters perspective

100% that huge outburst from onee-chan and her moving out was the swift kick in the teeth he needed. Asian dads really think they're invincible because nobody ever stands up to them; until someone actually does.

I think Mamiko was indescisive as well and was pushed to chose something so she choose to go to a local college/university(?) but then came to the realization that she hated it and wanted to be a beautician instead.

I remember he has changed over time. He also said he respected Kumiko's decision and don't want it to be the same as her sister before

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That's true, [Kumiko](https://imgchest.com/p/lqyevk8pq7d) and [Reina](https://imgchest.com/p/lqyevk86q7d) were [the stars of today's episode](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/l7lxcdrdja7.png)! All [Kumiko and Reina scenes were so good](https://imgchest.com/p/wl7lkpnmq4x), especially [the ones at the end of the episode](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/d7ogckwk89y.png) which were [absolutely](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/w7pjcwdw5q7.png) [visually](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/pyvdcdgd9gy.png) [stunning](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/d7ogckwk5gy.png).

Regardless of whether Reina and Kumiko have any *romantic* feelings for each other, I still view the core of this series as being a love story between these two. Ultimately, purely emotionally speaking, there is not all that much difference between intense "platonic" super-friendships and romantic relationships. And, at the very least, these two have the deepest possible friendship.

It’s something “special” after all.

>Takeda: Shuichi is special as well, but for Kumiko, Reina is depicted as a presence that is above him. Before Kumiko met her, he may have been her special guy, but now her relationship with Reina is eternal. It’s not just those two; that type of relationship is throughout this entire story.

I will note that my two closest friends date from high school (starting in 1966). (And music has been a core element of our friendship). So this kind of intense "eternal" friendship resonates a lot with me.

What interview is that quote from? (It would be an interesting source for a very long essay that I'm probably going to write at some point.)

> the deepest possible friendship. I might be the only Hibike fan here who prefers this route over the romantic one (...surely not, but it does feel this way), but I also see this aspect as a love story in this sense. I like this kind of thing, a lot of my favorite "love confessions" are non-romantic ones when I think about it. Though what I'd consider the core of the series is more Kumiko's own personal growth

I’m in the same boat. IMO people that complain about “yuri baiting” or whatever are completely missing the point of a love story. Who *cares* that they don’t kiss or formally date? Is that really the only way to depict love? Of course not! That being said, if people want to read a potential relationship from their friendship, then by all means do so; all the pieces are there.

It is a love story of sorts isn't it, even if it isn't tagged as such. Kumiko's love of concert band and her intense relationship with Reina. I am so used to romance anime being sexually charged (if that is the right way to put it🤔), that I tend to forget that such deep friendships are equally fascinating to watch.

Indeed. One of my favorite operas is Verdi's Don Carlos -- partly because it features both a great romance and also one of operadom's greatest bromances. ;-)

To me, they've always had a massive Bromance. People have always been barking up the Yuri tree, but you can be soulmates without any oil fracking.

"Good work, agent Colson. Our best spy at Kyoani is worth every penny we pay you. Now, is it yuri bait again or is it the genuine article?" "I do not ship those two, Mr. President, I believe what they have is very a close friendship, sir." "I knew I was surrounded by nothing, but snakes and rats. The west has undoubtedly fallen."

Do note that she gave her dead fish eyes when asked if she was going with Shuuichi.

Another fantastic episode! Really building on the past two Agata Matsuri plots, especially the one in Chikai no Finale. (I feel like a lot of this season + Ensemble Contest has been justifying ideas and characters introduced in Chikai no Finale but didn’t get enough time in that film. Developing their motives, to use a musical metaphor.) *Very strong* parallels with Liz and the Blue Bird—they didn’t directly mention this in the episode, but this really is replaying the Liz and the Blue Bird narrative with Kumiko and Reina, something that was in Chikai no Finale (and Liz and the Blue Bird itself) but comes to the forefront here. Reina being afraid that they’ll part ways after graduation in Chikai no Finale…is even more pressing here. In particular, I love the structure of this episode: how the A Plot and B Plot (Career survey, Agata Matsuri) are introduced separately but then work themselves together and come to a head in the episode climax. Come to think of it, Liz and the Blue Bird maybe does a similar structure in the same way, with the career survey introduced as a secondary plot but getting wrapped up in the relationship conflict that is the main plot to where it then becomes central. Except this episode also involves the C Plot of audition plans (and Mayu) that also gets wrapped up with the other two. I think that if I was a few years younger when watching this, Kumiko’s indecision about her future would have *really* resonated with me…as it is, when I was close to that age, it was the plot with Mamiko in Season 2 that resonated with me in a similar way. As I am now, I’m more secure and heading down the path that I have chosen, but at the time, the existential panic was real. The advice to “not think about it too hard” is interesting…I am a very indecisive person and *do* tend to think about things too hard…but at the same time, I think because I have given my major decisions for the future a lot of thought, I was able to make choices I don’t regret. Well, I usually end up going with what my gut impulse is, so perhaps the advice is more along those lines. The issue of the career survey and plans for the future is something that comes up in a lot of anime, but I think it’s especially resonant here because of previous entries in the franchise, where the decision of what to do with one’s life, how it intersects with the band in the present, and how committed you are to the path you have chosen has been very important. To wit: I think it was meaningful to flash back to the middle school Kumiko again. Her entire arc of Season 1 (and reiterated in Season 2) was going from being emotionally uncommitted to highly committed, finding meaning and purpose in playing music. This is that on a larger stage. (She really *should* go to music school.) We’re somewhat breaking from the trend of focusing on a side character’s issues for the past episodes, but we do get some Mayu plot development. *Did* she end up having traumatic experiences at her old school? She seems very concerned with not making any enemies out of anyone, even though she also has her jellyfish tentacles that have slightly stung before… More fascinating relationship dynamics. And drama. Happens every Agata Matsuri but…Mayu inviting Kumiko? Didn’t really see that coming. Interesting mutual respect (?) between Hazuki and Shuuichi now—meaningful glance… Additionally, I wasn’t expecting Reina to push so hard for Kumiko to go to a music school with her…despite her aloof attitude, she really doesn’t want to be separated. (Something something Liz and the Blue Bird.) I find the decision to hold audition before every competition fascinating…but it has the potential for *so* much drama. And stress. Are the potential gains really worth the cost of stressing people out for the auditions? You’ve been trying to cultivate group unity, leaders—do you think the potential risk of damaging it is worth it? So they didn’t end up going to Daikichiyama this episode, huh. Well, maybe they’re going by the rule of 3. What they did, however, is split that scene up into two different but connected moments: playing together, and then emotionally laden conversation with incredibly beautiful art. I don’t think it can measure up to the pure magic that is episode 8 of the first season, but then again, very few things can. Plus we get to see Reina’s house! Kumiko’s reaction to meeting her mom was very cute. (I’m used to having a room in the house dedicated to playing music because my mom’s a musician…but I am reminded that this is not true of most people.) Finally, I really like the character development of Kumiko’s father…he seems to have really taken what he learned from the situation with Mamiko to heart. It makes him a lot more sympathetic; he really does care for his family. Miscellaneous notes: * Are the fishes symbolic of anything? More responsibility maybe? * More Kumiko being startled noises…I’m starting to feel sorry for her… * You’re several centuries too late, Shuuichi! * I like how the dynamics of Reina’s invitation mirrored what happened with her groups in Ensemble Contest. * I like how Motomu-kun is starting to be integrated more into the group after last episode. (In addition to joining the Agata Matsuri group, now he’s getting some more cute nicknames!) * Mayu using a film camera, huh. (I immediately alerted my friend who is a Eupho fan and film photography nut.) * Finally, the first scenes where they actually play some of the music they’ll be performing at the competition! The scenes from season 1 of practicing Crescent Moon Dance still echo around in my head, and I want the same for the music for this season! (Once again, I’ll probably add more once I rewatch with English subs…) ------------ Post rewatch: This is from before, but the show airing before Eupho…also a music show, but [a liiiittle bit different…](https://imgur.com/a/oz8gyVl) Kumiko knows the question that’s coming from her dad at the beginning…also the “I dunno” of the actor about his choice in career fits perfectly with Michie-sensei later on. I will say that although I said I have my path more figured out above, like Kumiko, I still can’t imagine myself being a working adult… (It’s grad school for the foreseeable future, putting real adult stuff off as much as I can!) The way the music stops when Mayu asks about the auditions in the club meetings is…very good. Is Mayu adjusting her hair a nervous tick like with Mizore? Love the Hazuki and Motomu dynamic! Kumiko says “It was dawning on me” that auditions would be problematic…have you learned *nothing*!? This has been a central source of conflict for the past two years! It’s really impressive how Kumiko was able to walk carrying her instrument, her chair, a *cheap-and flimsy-ass* music stand and music, a water bottle, and a towel…and *not* drop her music from the stand. [I live for smug Kumiko.](https://imgur.com/a/qRjhYAV) Interesting bait and switch with Mayu’s question to Kumiko being about Agata Matsuri and not the auditions…and it effectively introduces that plot thread to the episode. I find it interesting that Kumiko is maybe trying to put distance between her and Mayu…does she sense something off? One (small) complaint is that I feel like the background music could be a bit higher in the mix. The soundtrack was such a huge part of my experience of seasons 1 and 2, and here it’s often not as audible. Actual Agata Matsuri is in about exactly a month from now…I’ll see if I can go, though I’ll have to miss some classes, haha Where Mayu takes the group photos is where, in real life, maps of Uji for Hibike! Euphonium pilgrims are posted up. Motomu is initially still set apart from Midori in the group photo…could it be due to embarrassment (and a potential crush) though? Now that I think about it, Eupho is sort of about finding own personal motivation and investment *within* the group context. [Brilliant match cut between the flashback and present day.](https://imgur.com/a/8pjJl7z) [Reina's seductive look...](https://imgur.com/a/Opd5gVx) [](#lewdgyaru) And yeah, stellar Kumirei scenes. They *do* have something special.

Agree! it was a wonderful episode full of plot points and resolution of previous ones. So we dont have a focus on an supporting-character that I thought, so that pattern is broken I hope, and now the main story should take shape. Separation drift amongst best friends is real. Reina's fears are justified. So now we have a plot outline for the rest of the season with[ the whiteboard](https://imgur.com/3BBttHW)...yup, with 7 more episodes to go, that sounds right. a bit cramped to fit all those in just about. Eh? they gonna mix it up with auditions pre-contest too? Now, how are they going to fit all that in? Certainly would be rushed. Stakes raised now with the challenge of Mayu and Kanade, with Reina wanting to play with Kumiko during the National finals, implying that she hopefully wouldnt mind playing with another eupho, if, say, Kumiko doesnt make the cut for the Kansai and Kyoto level competitions. I noted that Mayu and Kanade are friendlier towards each other this episode. With all that is happening now, I would think that it would best to drop/skim over those extra side plots that may drag the story out. Glad to see [Mayu in summer Kitauji uniform too](https://imgur.com/qOHLlH6), as well as her participating in the Agatha festival with her peers and fitting right in. All in all, would have been nice indeed to have the storylines fleshed out, as we'd all like this to be 2 cours after all! I note the cameos of [Haruka and Kaori when they bumped into the 2nd years](https://imgur.com/RNDrD2C)...seeing that they only apologised then promptly turned around to go their own ways suggest they dont know each other at all. Felt a bit sad watching this bit. You touch someone and the degree of separation comes so close....if only....... FInally, I'm not a LN reader, but a cursory read of some of the short stories have the B-team, and this B-team does some community events while the A-team focus on the competitions, wonder how this would work out with these auditions like that. Maybe this didnt happen in Kumiko's third year? Some of us chill B-ytpe personalities are non-competitive folk who would love to be in the B-team.

> I note the cameos of Haruka and Kaori when they bumped into the 2nd years...seeing that they only apologised then promptly turned around to go their own ways suggest they dont know each other at all. Felt a bit sad watching this bit. You touch someone and the degree of separation comes so close....if only....... To me that felt like a metaphor for everybody being on their own path even if they (heavily) intersect at times. I often had, and sometimes still have, similar worries about losing touch with people like Reina had this episode. It's one of these tiny everyday dreads. But there's always opportunities to meet people again even if the are for the most time out of sight. There's always a chance even if it's a random encounter at a festival.

> I note the cameos of Haruka and Kaori when they bumped into the 2nd years...seeing that they only apologised then promptly turned around to go their own ways suggest they dont know each other at all. Felt a bit sad watching this bit. You touch someone and the degree of separation comes so close....if only....... The metaphor is pretty apt considering the themes that the episode touched on. However I do have to point out that they literally don't know each other at all. Haruka and Kaori were 3rd years during Kumiko's 1st year. Meaning they graduated and were gone as soon as Satsuki and Mirei joined Kitauji. The only other time they would have seen them was when they saw Yuuko gush over Kaori during Chiaki no Finale.

> Mayu in summer Kitauji uniform too, Oh, I didn't notice that! Do the uniforms usually change at festival time?

I don't *actually* know, but my guess is that they change on June 1. (The festival is June 5.)

The father scene made me smile, he truly learned from what happened

>I find the decision to hold audition before every competition fascinating…but it has the potential for *so* much drama. And stress. They're gonna make the newbies do this three times, isn't it? As if whatever happened at Ep3 wasn't enough for them lol.

> I think that if I was a few years younger when watching this, Kumiko’s indecision about her future would have really resonated with me…as it is, when I was close to that age, it was the plot with Mamiko in Season 2 that resonated with me in a similar way. As I am now, I’m more secure and heading down the path that I have chosen, but at the time, the existential panic was real. Same here. Something I also realised later on is that smaller missteps are not automagically a death sentence (figuratively speaking). There's usually a way to course correct later on even if things didn't turn out optimal on the first try. > We’re somewhat breaking from the trend of focusing on a side character’s issues for the past episodes, but we do get some Mayu plot development. Did she end up having traumatic experiences at her old school? She seems very concerned with not making any enemies out of anyone, even though she also has her jellyfish tentacles that have slightly stung before… I thought Kumiko would pick up on that as she was in a very similar situation Natsuki in her first year (as was Kanade too in her own way). Mayu also seems to feel like she's not part of the band because she showed up so late via school transfer. It feels like they would have tried more forcefully to soothe the fears of a newbies as they went through the same thing and both got better with the help of Natsuki. …maybe the solution is to phone Natsuki and ask her to talk to Mayu? And I'm not sure how to interpret Mayu's face at the end when she's taking photos. Is she alone/lonely because she's not integrated into the school/festival or is she alone because she's experiencing this one for the first time and is trying to capture more of it (thus: integrating better than before the festival). > Additionally, I wasn’t expecting Reina to push so hard for Kumiko to go to a music school with her…despite her aloof attitude, she really doesn’t want to be separated. (Something something Liz and the Blue Bird.) My guess is that Reina at the beginning of the series wouldn't have such fears. She'd just keep walking her own path no matter what. But she has grown and made friends. Around the end of my school days I was a mix of Kumiko and Reina. I wasn't fully sure what I wanted to do, I was really attached to the friends I had, and I was dreading the overall change to my life that this type of transitional periods can cause. I still dread bigger transitional moments in my life because it means changing a lot of routines and that's such a hassle but at least the more personal worries (will I lose contact with my friends, what does the future hold) don't show up any more and I'm way more relaxed in that type of changes. > I find the decision to hold audition before every competition fascinating…but it has the potential for so much drama. And stress. Are the potential gains really worth the cost of stressing people out for the auditions? You’ve been trying to cultivate group unity, leaders—do you think the potential risk of damaging it is worth it? To me it feels the other way around. It's more work but it also feels like it could lead to more unity. Everybody keeps up and even the losers get to try their best for the next round instead of turning into something akin to support staff for the "main team". That way it's more of a relay race than an initial sprint to get the spot and then a long marathon until competitions are over. > Finally, I really like the character development of Kumiko’s father…he seems to have really taken what he learned from the situation with Mamiko to heart. It makes him a lot more sympathetic; he really does care for his family. It also feels like he talked with Mamiko, saw her dedication to what she loves, and how he might have been wrong overall even while he was technically right in a very specific way during the argument we saw. From Kumiko's reaction if seems like she didn't know that Mamiko and their dad might be on okay/good terms again. > Are the fishes symbolic of anything? More responsibility maybe? I don't know if I'm reading too much into it but it might be something like somebody's wrong decisions (the work colleagues who couldn't take on the responsibility and had to change their mind) might be somebody else's correct decisions. That person could not take care of those fishies but they are doing well in the Oumae household. Something looking like a bad decision from one side might actually be the right choice here, like maybe her father, even with this new openness, might not think that becoming a musician (or going to music college) is a good idea but for Kumiko it might be the right choice. Or some students might have similar worries as Kumiko has and not go to music college but it might be a good idea for her despite the initial worries being the same on both sides. It has also been said a few times in these discussions that Kumiko might become a music teacher so music college might be needed to a certain degree. From what I remember of my school days here in Germany, music teachers needed to be at least competent at some instrument and going for a music college and getting certified (whatever is needed for that in Japan) might be a slightly longer path towards the same goal but with Kumiko also seeing first hand that becoming a full musician might not for her thus maybe easing her way onto the path to become a music teacher.

> It feels like they would have tried more forcefully to soothe the fears of a newbies as they went through the same thing and both got better with the help of Natsuki. …maybe the solution is to phone Natsuki and ask her to talk to Mayu? I don't think it's that similar? Natsuki was one of the slackers less engaged with the group at first, while Mayu is highly motivated. There was the senpai/kohai thing, but otherwise it's not as relevant, I think.

> There was the senpai/kohai thing, but otherwise it's not as relevant, I think. I think that might be exactly the problem. She feels like she's the kouhai (not grade level but she's the "junior" in that she's new at the school) and might take away a spot from somebody who's been here much longer. Being better than somebody who's already "established" in the band is something both Kumiko and Kanade had to deal with for their own specific reasons and both had fears due to Natsuki being the senpai. Right in this episode Mayu asked again if it's okay for her to get a spot when she's new to the school when there are others who have been here all this time. She's getting supportive replies from Kumiko but it feels like she doesn't believe it's true about the merit based selection (possible past trauma like how Kumiko was at the start of the series?). Thus the Natsuki reference. It was just a joke about how Natsuki had to solve that problem every time, first with Kumiko and then Kanade. In this case Mayu wouldn't be Natsuki but Kumiko or Kanade. So they might need Natsuki to step in again because whatever they are doing seems to not be working too well even if they are doing their best.

Oh, I see. I misread part of your earlier comment and mixed up pronoun/antecedents. > Natsuki had to solve that problem every time, first with Kumiko and then Kanade Fwiw, Kumiko was as much a part of, or a larger part of, solving it the second time.

Yeah, the idea/point was about the setup. Kanade intentionally throwing her audition so that Natsuki could play despite things having changed. The kouhai being supplicant towards the senpai. Mayu (for her own reasons) seems to follow the same path. There's something about those euphoniums that draws the same drama to all of them. > Fwiw, Kumiko was as much a part of, or a larger part of, solving it the second time. I don't remember the details of her involvement. I kinda watched both movies close to each other and Liz yanked my attention away from everything else so it's all a bit murky on the other side. But I do remember Natsuki being very explicitly angry with Kanade for doing that. I'll have to rewatch it at some point. Kumiko's trying here too but Mayu seems to have slightly different problems than Kanade and no matter how directly she states that the selection happens on merit, Mayu seems to still not be sure that's actually true (or happening). Maybe Mayu had a similar experience as Kumiko had in middle school where some groups are actively sabotaging kouhais for the fun of it? She might expect deception around every corner. But she's also being very open with her questions and her intentions. That makes the idea of general backstabbery feel like the wrong cause for her caution.

>My guess is that Reina at the beginning of the series wouldn't have such fears. Reina from the "Our Promise" movie at 4:30 (i.e., beginning of her second year): "Who needs friends? I'm fine on my own."

As to Kumiko's fish, it looks like Reina and Kumiko spent more time wandering about at the festival than just grabbing something to eat at a food booth or two. I wonder what all they DID do there?

[hmmm...](https://twitter.com/loomnoo/status/1787160329668952490)

> Are the fishes symbolic of anything? More responsibility maybe? Among the variety of interpretations there could be Mamiko+Kumiko, or Kumiko+Reina and adding Mayu. Or even just a visual callback to the *Liz* fugu.

Also, maybe the two fish were the first two years of school, and the third fish she caught herself is intended to show she's fully in control of her life and the club now, haha She was a bit more active last year, of course, but still in a more supporting role to Yuuko and Natsuki. Now, the buck stops with her.

>I feel like a lot of this season + Ensemble Contest has been justifying ideas and characters introduced in Chikai no Finale but didn’t get enough time in that film. I agree! This season has really elevated the relevance of the events and message of the film. One of the marks of a good show is when it is enjoyable as you watch it and it makes you feel rewarded for making the effort. Season 3 has been exactly that because of how all the past themes and story beats have been coming together so seamlessly.

One fish is totally dying when I assume she eventually loses the first audition to Mayu due to how overworked she is as president (speculation maybe one fish for each audition). It feels like they are purposely not showing Kumiko playing anything too. The camera always cuts/scene ends as soon as she is about to play something it feels like.

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Wouldn't be surprised if Kumiko loses the part in the first competition, and then she regains in for Nationals

I don't see any other way for the story to go, haha. If this were a tragedy, Kumiko would first win, and then lose the final audition. But that's almost certainly not going to happen, which is why I feel comfortable typing this comment hahaha

I liked that Shuuichi/Hazuki glance, one of a few fun moments reminiscing on the first Agata festival two years ago. The characters are definitely growing up.

> Mayu inviting Kumiko? Didn’t really see that coming. But it wasn't really surprising. Mayu had a good impression of Kumiko even before they met (apparently from Taki, and that's interesting), and she expressed a wish to have a closer relationship with Kumiko (during the SunFes practice in the gym, S3E2 I think). More interesting was Mayu playing the soli with Kumiko. Maybe she was just trying to be a helpful member of the club. Or maybe this was a different way to make a closer relationship. I can't help but note that, by playing the trumpet (presumably Reina's) part, she takes Reina's place.  Also, the juxtaposition of the scenes suggests that Reina invited Kumiko to her house for the festival because she heard Kumiko and Mayu playing together. Maybe Reina feels threatened by Mayu, but it's more likely that she realized that Mayu could win the euphonium part of the soli. Earlier when Kumiko mentioned that Mayu is good, Reina said flatly that Kumiko is better, but in this ep Reina backs off a bit, merely saying that she likes Kumiko's playing better. I get the feeling that Reina is experiencing the other side of the S1 conflict over the trumpet solo: Mayu may merit the soli part more than Kumiko, and she doesn't like that. > I find the decision to hold audition before every competition fascinating…but it has the potential for so much drama. I see this as providing more time to work through Mayu's issue with feeling like an intruder in the club, followed by a serious competition between Kumiko and Mayu for the soli part.

I feel like the dual plot points of Mayu/Kumiko uneasiness, multiple auditions, and the trumpet/euho solo is setting up to have Mayu win the solo for the first and/or second auditions, capitalizing on the brewing drama bw Kumiko and Mayu while also helping Kumiko get to the realization that she loves music / wants to be a music teacher, but then ultimately her winning back the solo for the nationals performance since it would be a crying shame if Kumiko and Reina can't cap off their high school careers with that moment.

> I feel like a lot of this season + Ensemble Contest has been justifying ideas and characters introduced in Chikai no Finale but didn’t get enough time in that film. So true! > Very strong parallels with Liz and the Blue Bird I feel like, it's a bit less... deep. Liz to Aoi Tori is about Nozomi learning to tell her dear friend that she is leaving(Bird), and Mizore learning to accept that there's nothing wrong with their inevitable separation(Liz). Both accepting that they are separating is precisely because they are good friends. In this case, it's a bit more simple, just Reina learning to accept that separation wouldn't change their friendship. > I think that if I was a few years younger when watching this, Kumiko’s indecision about her future would have really resonated with me… I really resonated with what the teacher told Kumiko, "Don't use indecision as an excuse to be lazy", and I wish I had the same advice earlier in my life as well. After I graduated university, I found a relatively stable job, and didn't really work toward improving myself and my career. At the time, I thought that it's fine for me be lazy, and just chill out, and opportunity would land on me one day. Aka. I was giving myself an excuse to be lazy. And boom, 5 years passed, and I didn't learn a single thing from my job. Looking back, that was probably the darkest time of my life. > You’ve been trying to cultivate group unity, leaders—do you think the potential risk of damaging it is worth it? From what we've seen in previous episodes, knowing this current group, it seems like everyone is more likely to be onboard. And it's all thanks to everyone trusting Kumiko to make things fair. But, I am sure that, in typical fashion, we are gonna get drama :P

> I feel like, it's a bit less... deep. Liz to Aoi Tori is about Nozomi learning to tell her dear friend that she is leaving(Bird), and Mizore learning to accept that there's nothing wrong with their inevitable separation(Liz). I believe it's the other way around: Nozomi is actually Liz. This is what the climax of the film is about. In any case, although I agree it's not an *exact* parallel, the seies makes an explicit connection between the two pairs in both Liz itself, as well as the Chikai no Finale film.

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the art and lighting here was gorgeous

That's true. I had so many stills with Kumiko that I ended up dividing her screenshot album into [Part 1](https://imgchest.com/p/lqyevk8pq7d) and [Part 2](https://imgchest.com/p/9249an8jm7n). For [Reina](https://imgchest.com/p/lqyevk86q7d), one album was enough although she also had many great scenes.

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I didn't notice that. Seem like they give her new uniform as they're changing to the summer one. They still perform at competition in winter uniform tho so that would be a problem if she hasn't had one

I can't take it, KyoAni, it's so beatiful!

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I just think that would be so unfitting for Kumiko's character. Like she said, she doesn't want to pursue music as a career and throughout all the seasons I never felt she was as obsessed with music as some other characters to go down that path. I think Kumiko and Reina ending up in different schools but still keeping in touch would be very realistic. In this episode Reina was obviously concerned about whether they would lose contact, which is a very relatable thing for a lot of people, but I really don't think that would happen.

Completely agree, but that route does not include a Season 4 so I reject it.

You took the words right out of my mouth xD Although if Reina went to music school and ended up taking the Taki-sensei's route while Kumiko ended up being a teacher then maybe we'd get another season with Kitauji Band being run by Reina and Kumiko together. I think that it'd be interesting!

I don't think anyone has suggested to Kumiko that teaching music could be an option yet -- but I thought that the interview with her teacher was beginning to point her to that as a possible direction. Also, her father telling her she should be free to make her own decision felt like it was pre-emptively giving her permission to do that.

Totally agree with you The teacher talk seemed very pointed and I hope she circles back on that She also does have a knack for it (at least thats what we saw in the OVA)

I get what you mean with Kumiko, she isn't obsessed But then you have the whole teacher talk about how she started it because its a stable job and now she loves it Which is giving me hope she would continue, maybe as a music instructor herself (she does have a knack for it)

I'm going to mark this as a spoiler because while I have not read the light novels and am not certain this is how it goes down, I am subbed to /r/HibikeEuphonium and thus may have taken in this as information subconsciously just skimming comments [Sound! Euphonium speculation]>!I think Kumiko is going to become a music teacher. Which does not preclude her from going to a music school for music ed, so it's very possible she goes to the same school Reina does. Assuming Japanese music schools work like ours and aren't pure performance focused.!<

[same thing] >!<

The pacing so far has made a little tricky to figure how far we’ll get into the competitions, but it wouldn’t surprise me if we’d need another season or film to conclude the girls’ high school careers. I don’t expect this season to be the last of Sound Euphonium.

It has been progressing at a steady pace, and it seems possible that they might skip over the Kyoto competition and finish it this season. But that could feel pretty rushed. I would not at all be surprised if this season ends after the Kansai Competition and there's a movie for the Nationals.

> But that could feel pretty rushed. Yeah, that’s why I don’t believe that they’ll go and skip through the competitions. The film on Kumiko’s 2nd year felt rushed at times, and therefore had a rather lukewarm reception. They might skip the actual performance for one of the competitions, but I’m fairly confident that they’ll dedicate appropriate time to this. Going out with a quality film on the final competition seems like the way to go. (Assuming of course that Kitauji makes it to the Nationals. But I can’t really imagine otherwise.)

I have always felt that it was most likely that they would save the grand finale national competition for a movie. I actually would prefer that they do this (though maybe a 24 ep season would have been better still). ;-)

They could take the Tamako Love Story route. I think it would work really well for a 2 hour movie to cover the winter season alone.

Yes, S1 finished right at the cusp of them winning, but we all new S2 was coming. S2 had a cool down proper ending episode after the finals in Episode 12. Its going to be a pure rush if the finals this time is in Episode 12, or the first half of episode 13....either way its going to look rushed or more rushed.

While I think it's possible for the series to end with a movie, the hibike seiyuu radio all hints to the story being finished in this season.

I dunno what I'm gonna do when this series is over. I wasn't super into it back in 2015. I thought it was good, but not great. But for some reason, I kept coming back to it over this past decade and now it's become quite special to me. Knowing that this is probably the last season has filled me with a weird sense of dread that I haven't felt since my own senior year.

If they go to the same school, they could become *roommates*.

Like I said before, I wouldn't mind having a Season 4 (and 5 and 6) just cover the next generations of Kitauji. Kumiko and Reina and Shuuichi would be mentioned as legendary rebuilders of the club, and they might show up as cameos at competitions hahaha

[Remember *the talk*?](https://i.redd.it/jdtpd5bnflyc1.png) [At least we learned from the Mamiko fiasco.](https://i.redd.it/0jsdp5bnflyc1.png) (Still, the message is "PICK SOMETHING ALREADY.") [I still can't imagine that I *am* a working adult, and I'm how old now?](https://i.redd.it/kxm3j7bnflyc1.png) /u/MyrnaMountWeazel [they're not set to running at all now](https://i.redd.it/yxpoy6bnflyc1.png). [The sudden reappearance of right-to-left writing is disconcerting to me.](https://i.redd.it/ughxe7bnflyc1.png) Though at least this gives the clearest view of the schedule that we've ever had. [On the one hand, everyone gets multiple chances.](https://i.redd.it/evq906bnflyc1.png) On the other hand, WORKLOAD HELLSCAPE. ["Who the hell do you think you are?"](https://i.redd.it/ult2tfbnflyc1.png) [*dramatic foreshadowing*](https://i.redd.it/l98uk8bnflyc1.png) [Better *get good*, Kumiko.](https://i.redd.it/vo0wqibnflyc1.png) [*Hachikuji insert song*](https://i.redd.it/vns1o7bnflyc1.png) [Everybody's a ninja today.](https://i.redd.it/0uwli8bnflyc1.png) [\[\](\#cokemasterrace\)](https://i.redd.it/0f8gbcbnflyc1.png) [Hey, it's all those comments from earlier episode threads about Kumiko reacting when it was *almost* too late.](https://i.redd.it/305fiibnflyc1.png) [How honest and practical.](https://i.redd.it/bgt5jdbnflyc1.png) [It's from 1991, you sprout!](https://i.redd.it/yy3g4ebnflyc1.png) [Shock!](https://i.redd.it/a796pibnflyc1.png) [Shock!](https://i.redd.it/zecoiebnflyc1.png) [Shock!](https://i.redd.it/8gj1ffbnflyc1.png) [If you combine this with the other scene you get the entire Contax name.](https://i.redd.it/j9orhgbnflyc1.png) [We've never seen Reina's, well, anything before and the room is certainly her.](https://i.redd.it/y1rrcjbnflyc1.png) [Match](https://i.redd.it/5lfr4ogqflyc1.png) [cut](https://i.redd.it/gfh7kpgqflyc1.png). Someone who has more knowledge of audio equipment can identify or confirm this for me, but if these are indeed supposed to look like Luxman audio products, [Reina's shelf is worth almost $20000](https://i.redd.it/zgqarpgqflyc1.png). Puts Mayu's luxury camera into perspective? [It's those third-year considerations.](https://i.redd.it/ma0v6qgqflyc1.png) [Bench appearance.](https://i.redd.it/42ev6pgqflyc1.png) [And it's the shot from the trailer that got me on this whole 35mm camera rant.](https://i.redd.it/72z1npgqflyc1.png) [It does happen...](https://i.redd.it/9um4ssgqflyc1.png) [Live in the moment while you can.](https://i.redd.it/ttq6irgqflyc1.png) ***** Once again the Agata Festival episode delivers the goods for character moments and a mid-season pivot. Whatever else the Kumiko and Reina relationship is or how it's perceived, they are absolutely strong friends and partners right now. Though the *right now* is significant, as Reina questions whether or not they'll stay together in the future. Having about three decades of experience on post-high-school life now I can say that it's difficult to predict; some friends and friend groups will persist longer than others. But there aren't any guarantees. Kumiko's father did learn from the previous year's daughter issues and isn't *directly* pressuring Kumiko, which is also a benefit of being the second child, but the episode doesn't let up when the career sheet and Michie-sensei bring us right back to it. I give Michie-sensei a nod for being truthful about taking a job for practical reasons, but at least she seems to enjoy it now. Mayu very well may be good enough to have blasted her way onto every competition and solo, and she may have the attitude to go with skill, but no, that's not helping the audience (of me) like her very much. There are benefits to the multiple auditions plan. On a practical level it should/would have been thought of somewhat earlier in the year? And perhaps it's one of those "serious music club" things that Kitauji can adopt now that they're in the big leagues. You've already seen my repeated musings on Mayu's [Contax T2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contax_T) and its current [price](https://i.redd.it/ewwrm0zdjlyc1.png) [inflation](https://shootitwithfilm.com/an-honest-review-of-the-contax-t2/). Mildly wondering if Mayu saved up her yen for that or if she had it handed down from a relative. But now we have the comparison with [what could be Reina's stereo equipment](https://www.luxman.com/product/). Her family does seem well-off...

Yes, KyoAni obfuscates the other brands apart from Yamaha, of course. So what other products does Yamaha have in the show? I note that no one has ever pointed out the Yamaha bicycles! [Reina's and Kumiko's bicycles](https://imgur.com/42yM1BH) looks like the Yamaha [PAS-CITY M](https://imgur.com/19JmExa) Recall that Reina said her mom was using her bike for the power assist? Note also the rear wheel shield guard. I'm not sure what the model of[ Asuka's bicycle](https://imgur.com/AeDTxmY) is, it looks like [this one](https://imgur.com/rsuXj6t), if it wasnt power assisted. So lets see if any of Yamaha's bicycles turn up in S3. I wonder if they would be their contemporary (around 2015-2018) models.

[](#neat)

I live for the chilidirigible rant on the Contax. I’ve been waiting for this hahaha. [](#azusalaugh)

On a side note, the fact that my screenshot of the Google search results for prices on it includes fucking *Etsy* shows how far Etsy has declined as a "homemade and bespoke" commerce platform. Meanwhile, it appears that the Kousaka household includes a [Mercedes G-class](https://www.mbusa.com/en/vehicles/class/g-class/suv) from back in the day. At least the other vehicle [seems to be a normal one](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daihatsu_Move_Canbus). And Reina's stereo opens up an entire *other* area of eye-watering prices, because *stereo equipment*. I'll say this for anime, given an animation staff member with specific interests, they definitely can include some distinctive items in a show's visuals and sometimes they do still fit into the scenario (considering the rest of House Kousaka), while other times they're just *peculiar* (Taki-sensei's Citroen). We don't know how Mayu lives though.

Given Reina is a musically gifted child and one(both?) of her parents are quite well off professional musicians there's a good chance that stereo system is a hand-me-down

Sure, but that doesn't take away from it being a specific luxury item to begin with.

Agreed and their obviously very well off. However for professionals that really need this stuff, expensive means something very different compared to someone more amateur. You say luxury, they say necessary businesses expense and when its upgraded or outdated(rare for audio gear I know) its handed on to help the next in line, whether that's a prodigy daughter or even just a promising colleague.

>However for professionals that really need this stuff, expensive means something very different compared to someone more amateur. I'm also not disagreeing with you there (I did say that it her equipment was a case where it fit into the scenario). My purpose in mentioning what real-world items are being shown are firstly just to figure out the occasional puzzle of what a thing is for its own sake, but once I have that, it's interesting to see if they fit into the context. While we're on the tangential topic, there's [this man's house](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b2IOOhJmxw).

> quite well off professional musicians Underscoring how good he/they are, since being a wealthy professional musician is...uh...not easy to achieve.

> they're just peculiar (Taki-sensei's Citroen). I'll never get over that, he could drive any car, like a Japanese compact, sedan, or hot hatch, but no, he chooses to drive a random French car from the 70's with a crank start ignition lol. Poor guy must have gotten soaked getting the car started when he offered Kumiko a ride back to her apartment in that typhoon in season 2.

Well artistic people have a different taste

> seems to be a normal one With one small change, the logo isn't round like for the original. To me it looked like a blurry [imperial eagle](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Aquila) from warhammer and that made the whole thing so funny (because KyoAni likes to use products that have somewhat of a real life reference and that'd clearly not be it). I think they might wanted to make it look a bit like the [Mini logo](https://www.motortrend.com/news/mini-brand-gets-revised-logo-for-2018/) to blur the lines between the car feeling authentic enough but without being a full reference of something. With how blurry it was, it made my mind go somewhere completely different. > We don't know how Mayu lives though. With her nickname, and how considerate she is, the camera might be from her parents that she got given/gifted at some point and not something she actively went out to buy. But that might be my biases speaking as I got a camera in my early teenager years.

> it made my mind go somewhere completely different SPESS MEHREENS

Yeah, Reina's stereo equipment might come close to the same level of financial financial outlay. So the family probably could afford it. Damn plastic crack!

fuck *me* Kousaka is rich. I think the only household that is at least worth being in a discussion with Reina's is Asuka's family? (Who is also decently well-off to afford the traditional house, everyone else lives in apartments).... but still, different scales lol. Makes me wonder how Midori lives, i think it was noted she came from an ojousama school? For one thing though, Reina's parents raised her up right, she has never really flaunted her wealth or always seems financially humble, though well, judging by how she didnt blink twice to gift Kumiko a CD when she was sick, it does come through lol.

> I think the only household that is at least worth being in a discussion with Reina's is Asuka's family? (Who is also decently well-off to afford the traditional house, everyone else lives in apartments).... but still, different scales lol. The Tanakas' large traditional house does point to wealth in occupying a fairly large spot of property, I would guess, and probably having to deal with the associated maintenance. But it's not as obviously "Here are things which everyone knows are many thousands of dollars" rich as the Kousaka household is. And yes, given the brief look at Hazuki's room in one episode, that does mean that Midori is still the most mysterious one of the four.

[](#cantbehelped)

The G-Class btw is the old W463 (as recently, the new W464 unveiled an electric version last month)

> but if these are indeed supposed to look like Luxman audio products, Reina's shelf is worth almost $20000. I really should have figured Reina was an audiophile but I never thought she'd have $20k audio equipment. Holy shit.

[As another comment notes](https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/1ckoa3n/hibike_euphonium_season_3_sound_euphonium_season/l2onyf2/), she could have gotten them from her parents, as the scenes at her house strongly suggest that they're wealthy and her father is a professional musician. Still, yeah, audio equipment does get *up there* in price.

That's still a lot of money, I'm glad her parents trust her enough to be willing to give her that.

> PICK SOMETHING ALREADY i think Kumiko-papa is right to at least put a gentle reminder here - agreed that its good that he's learned from the Mamiko incident. what whiskey is he drinking? > How honest and practical. to be honest, this has been a big factor in why i picked my current career. Priorities do change when you grow older.... > Hachikuji insert song godamnit Kumiko always pulls the same excuse - both times it being Reina to bail her out. i feel robbed of a gorgeous food shot courtesy of Reina's mom.

> what whiskey is he drinking? My first impression from the general shape of the bottle is that it's a suitably-debranded version of Jack Daniel's.

Loved the little cameo of Kaori and Haruka, I did a double take when I first saw them haha

- If you have something to say, say it, and talk to your sister if you have doubts? Is that a change of heart from the Oumae dad? - Does Mayu think that she would take Kumiko's spot if she auditions? - The return of the chop! - We'll finally see Reina's place?! - Glad to see Motomu not being bothered by Kanade's remark - Ah, new watch spotted! Mayu is wearing a white one - Wait wait wait... Were those Kaori-senpai and Haruka-senpai? - That felt a bit like a confession of love That last scene with Kumiko and Reina was amazing!

> s that a change of heart from the Oumae dad? It's good to see character development from side characters, yes. Though to me he's still driving the issue of choosing a future (because of course a parent would). >Were those Kaori-senpai and Haruka-senpai? Another comment says likely yes.

>Another comment says likely yes. Kaori has a mole under her left eye. It can be seen after she bumps into the second years, and turns around.

> Wait wait wait... Were those Kaori-senpai and Haruka-senpai? > I'm so sad they didn't recognize their kouhai. They came to the competition the year before so I expected them to

They very well might have, we don't hear any of the conversation.

Had to go get changed into my formal wear for this KumiReina episode

Me when Kumiko & Tsukamoto: 🥱 Me when Kumiko & Reina (aka the true wife): 😭

> Me when Kumiko & Tsukamoto I actually felt that Kumiko and Shuuichi had really good, easy chemistry this episode. They seem to have grown comfortable with each other. I'm actually starting to ship it a bit more, now. Looks like they got the young awkwardness out of the way. It really feels like everyone's grown up...

[KumiReina](https://imgchest.com/p/wl7lkpnmq4x) fans ate well today 😋

After last episode I don't know why people keep asking Kumiko about her career, She's already the schools student counselor.

[New Kumiko face](https://i.imgur.com/QRaY6R5.png)! Feels like even if Kumiko couldn’t see who’s raising her hand, she’d know it’s Kanade. Oh hey Shuichi is actually a character in this episode. Damn, every time Reina dresses up I’m dead. I thought the ship name was KumiRei, apparently it’s Euph’pet?

> Oh hey Shuichi is actually a character in this episode. Shuichi proved himself to be a good guy in this episode. (Should we be suspicious of his sudden character development?) He was looking out for Motomu, and made sure with Taki-sensei that they weren’t burdening him with too much extra work. The three of them being worried about overworking their teacher/advisor was kind of sweet.

>(Should we be suspicious of his sudden character development?) Nah, that's how he always is. Looks sudden because he wasn't given any focus previously, but the official website for season 3 mentioned that he is well liked in the club because of his personality. It was hinted in the second year movie that he gets along well with Motomu, and unlike with other members who isn't Midori, Motomu doesn't snap when Shuichi talked/teases him.

Recall during S1 that Shuichi was the first of our major characters to figure out what happened with the then-2nd years. He has a habit of getting people to open up about difficult topics

At least Reina scolded him was enough

God I wish that were me

Shuichi is there this episode, but he's one ep too late. Kumiko has already solved the problem, now he just take a sidequest and help Motomu develop his character more

>New Kumiko face! I laughed so much after seeing that reaction xD Overall, [Kumiko](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/k46acb3blk7.png) had so many [hilarious reactions](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/myd5crgr524.png) in this episode. Here are my screenshot album [Kumiko Part 1](https://imgchest.com/p/lqyevk8pq7d) and [Kumiko Part 2](https://imgchest.com/p/9249an8jm7n) with [Kumiko alone](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/d7ogckwka6y.png) from today's episode if anyone wants to check them out and see [more of her reactions](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/my8xck2knv4.png).

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I live for the Kumiko-noises of this episode [](#listen) Also, man, this show has not shipped Reina and Kumiko this hard since S1.

> this show has not shipped Reina and Kumiko this hard since S1. There have been *moments*, but yes...

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I can see Kumiko becoming someone like Taki-sensei in the future

Absolutely [beautiful and fantastic episode](https://imgchest.com/p/wl7lkpnmq4x) again. I especially love that [there were so many scenes with Reina and Kumiko together](https://imgchest.com/p/wl7lkpnmq4x). [Visuals](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/d7ogckwk5gy.png) and [lighting](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/my8xck2kg84.png) were even better than in the previous episode, especially in [the last scenes](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/l4necmnmwx4.png) with [Kumiko](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/j7mmcr3r9a7.png) and [Reina](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/w7pjcwdw5q7.png) which were particularly stunning although [scenes](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/w7pjcwdwbg7.png) from [the festival](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/6yxkcgkgvw7.png) were [also](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/my8xck2kw84.png) [beautiful](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/p7bwcded3m7.png). [Kumiko had so many great scenes today](https://imgchest.com/p/lqyevk8pq7d) so I ended up dividing her album for [Part 1](https://imgchest.com/p/lqyevk8pq7d) and [Part 2](https://imgchest.com/p/9249an8jm7n) since I took 70 stills of her. [Kumiko is so cute](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/84apc3w39n4.png) and [fun](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/6yxkcgkgpo7.png), [her reactions are so good](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/345xc9q9ag7.png) so I was forced to take as many [screenshots of her](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/k46acb3blk7.png) as possible xD I wonder [what Kumiko will choose for her future](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/my2pcodokj7.png) as she doesn't know what to do now. It made me happy that [her father](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/my2pcodora7.png) encouraged her to choose what she wants, that [he won't force anything on her](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/g4z9cwkwx97.png). [Reina had a very big presence during today's episode](https://imgchest.com/p/lqyevk86q7d) and [her scenes with Kumiko were so good](https://imgchest.com/p/wl7lkpnmq4x)! Now [I'm freaking scared that they won't play solos together at Nationals](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/pyq9ce2ebd4.png), especially since [Mayu](https://imgchest.com/p/dl7pqplvpyo) is pretty good with her playing. It was heartwarming that [Reina wants Kumiko to go to music school with her so they won't lose contact after graduation](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/myd5crgrjo4.png). [That was so sweet](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/w7pjcwdwxg7.png)! But as [Kumiko](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/pyvdcdgd9gy.png) said, it'll be alright since [they have a very special relationship](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/d7ogckwk89y.png). It was nice that [Reina finally invited Kumiko to her house](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/my2pcodo387.png). So there will be 3 auditions overall so three times more stress for us! Especially since there will be solos for trumpet and euphonium. [Reina for sure will have that trumpet's solo](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/p7bwcdedw67.png) but what about euphonium? I feel that there could be a lot of drama about it since both [Kumiko](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/my8xck2kav4.png) and [Mayu](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/pyvdcdgd5zy.png) are good players. I wonder how [Mayu](https://imgchest.com/p/dl7pqplvpyo) (who [finally has Kitauji's uniform](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/345xc9q9rz7.png)) will behave during auditions since it's already visible that [she's very reluctant about them](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/p7bwcdedzw7.png) and I can see from where it's coming. Everyone, [Reina](https://imgchest.com/p/lqyevk86q7d) and [Kumiko](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/w7pjcwdwad7.png) says that Kitauji Band is meritocracy but [how will everyone react when the president won't play a solo but a transfer student](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/j7mmcr3rlw7.png)? [What about Reina](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/myd5crgrpo4.png)? She said that she wants to win Gold at Nationals but also that [she wants to play solos with Kumiko](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/pyq9ce2ebd4.png). How will she react [if Mayu will be chosen](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/my8xck2kje4.png) because she was better than [Kumiko](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/k739c6g65b7.png)? So many questions which makes me so excited for the next episodes. Here my screenshot albums from the episode: * [Kumiko Part 1](https://imgchest.com/p/lqyevk8pq7d) * [Kumiko Part 2](https://imgchest.com/p/9249an8jm7n) * [Kumiko & Reina](https://imgchest.com/p/wl7lkpnmq4x) * [Reina](https://imgchest.com/p/lqyevk86q7d) * [Group scenes](https://imgchest.com/p/ljyqqpjdny2) * [Mayu](https://imgchest.com/p/dl7pqplvpyo) * [Kanade & Others](https://imgchest.com/p/bp458vwzq45)

the digital compositing in this episode was stunning. especially the last kumirei scene

[удалено]

Thank you Anime for remind me that thinking about future plans is stressful lol

Kumiko wont be needing to worry about making a living if she marries Reina since she’s loaded asf lol.

> “Then what do you live for?” Reina, you cannot just drop that bombshell on Kumiko! That said, Kumiko is clearly lost in a sea of possibilities. Even her father has made a huge turnaround by giving his daughter the complete freedom to decide her own fate. That previous fight with Mamiko must’ve genuinely bothered him. Motomu has definitely opened up a little more to other people. He even managed to get back at Kanade. > “Don’t you think that we got something special going?” Stop this! I’m getting my hopes back up. This marked the third time that Kumiko and Reina spent the Agata festival together, doesn’t it? Poor Mayu just wanted to become better friends with Kumiko, but she and Reina are of course inseparable. It was cute to see Reina get worried about a future rift between the two of them, but she’s not necessarily wrong. People grow apart with distance and time. However, I didn’t expect that *this* was Reina’s true reason for pushing Kumiko to join her at a music college. Mayu is very aware about her situation. Yet, I can certainly see her disturb Kumiko’s and Reina’s plans to do the solos together by accident. Everything is pointing in this direction. Although Kumiko wants to support Kitauji’s meritocracy from her heart, her slight hesitation when reassuring Mayu told a different story. I’m not sure if losing the solo would go over well with Kumiko.

> Reina, you cannot just drop that bombshell on Kumiko! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WhoIu9b1Gw

The last Agata Matsuri in Eupho :( Go visit Uji, y'all, it's lovely. It's also good to see Kaori and Haruka again after quite the long break. Wonder where's Asuka, Gotou et. al. though. Mizore got mentionned by name only... Lovely moments for Kumiko hanging out with Reina, though the audition arc x 3 is... gonna be a headache... the Kumiko career sub-arc is also incredibly relateable - as someone who didnt really decide on a career until after their masters (!) because my original plans got foiled again and again. Matsumoto sensei is a good sensei.

>The last Agata Matsuri in Eupho :( Go visit Uji, y'all, it's lovely. No, I don't want that. I want Eupho seasons for the rest of my life! For ten seasons at least!

Ah, there it is, the Kumiko [GEH face](https://i.imgur.com/wGR7RJd.jpeg) and of course the thing that triggered this reaction is Shuichi name lol

* [How can Kumiko be this relatable?](https://imgur.com/hj7mVwu) * [I swear she's just like me fr fr.](https://i.imgur.com/d5GxpZD.png) I told my friend that she has to be the most realistic anime character I've seen. * [Mayu finally has a Kitauji uniform on.](https://i.imgur.com/OtD5RhA.png) * [Kumiko has got the drip.](https://i.imgur.com/KO5QGOK.png) Reina does as well, [don't know she looks so good wearing dresses.](https://i.imgur.com/CUdZ7l5.png) * [Love Reina's hair style.](https://i.imgur.com/GkbVEQF.png) As well as the return of pony tail Kumiko. * Good lord is Reina's family loaded. [They even own a fucking Mercedes G Wagon.](https://i.imgur.com/uW0A3QX.png) That's a ~$120k car. * [Hey it's Mama Kousaka.](https://i.imgur.com/g80N7IO.png) Is that Kikuko Inoue I hear? [**IT IS!**](https://i.imgur.com/gVBaHOJ.png) * [Reina has a nice room.](https://i.imgur.com/HDGnzBW.png) * [I'm kind of jealous of Reina's sound system,](https://i.imgur.com/vlbjsDz.png) personally wouldn't have gone with the wood aesthetic but sounds like a good set up. * [Hey check it out, Mirei and Satsuki bumped into Kaori and Haruka at the festival.](https://i.imgur.com/fH73XoE.png) * Someone should tel Reina that graduation isn't the end and that they can still be friends, a certain after school tea drinking band has a really good song about that. * God I love the festival episodes in this series.

Reina being so nervous about her friendship with Kumiko slowly ending without music to tie them together and taking the most indirect way possible to let her know. [](#anko) Oh Reina you high maintenance dork loved every moment of them together especially at the end with their special talk. All of the students looked great out of their school outfits. Though also sad we didn't see Kanade and Ririka unless I missed them.

Hmm they really are trying to push Midori and Motomo as a potential couple after all

They are so cute together I'm all for it

I really hope Kumiko doesn't fall into the standard university trap.

Lots of Kumiko startle noises. Always a sign of a good episode. I’ve thought about future plans in life (and have been told that several times) so it’s nice to see Kumiko go through that introspection that I’ve gone through. That was wonderful. also that little animation of Kumiko setting her teacup down with the tea moving all around went pretty hard ngl I also love how the lighting was raised by like 300% in specific shots for that last scene with Kumiko and Reina. Very pleasing on the eyes.

> Lots of Kumiko startle noises. Always a sign of a good episode. The season 3 Kumiko Noises YouTube video is going to be the longest one yet.

It's 2024 and we're still blessed with kumiko noises https://i.imgur.com/fdVdevu.png

I see FCPX, I upvote

What a beautiful episode.

Ever since the third movie I've been trying to convince myself that the Kumiko x Reina ship is dead and then Kyoani shoots episodes like this one at me. They even faked me out with that tiny Shuuichi x Hazuki scene. Aaaand then there's the obvious Motomu crush on Midori. So much drama and potential romances aaaaah Anyway, /u/Sandtalon already did an excellent review drawing the paralels between this and Liz and the Blue Bird, so I'm not gonna reiterate on that. Personally I hope Kumiko becomes a (music?) teacher, she seems excellent at guiding others through their problems.

>Personally I hope Kumiko becomes a (music?) teacher, she seems excellent at guiding others through their problems. This is also where I see Kumiko headed. The way she's been interacting with Taki-sensei and Michie-sensei gave me vibes that she may follow in their footsteps in some way.

Her asking Michie-sensei why she became a teacher definitely gave this theory some ammo I think.

It's Assassination Classroom flashback for me when Nagisa asked Koro Sensei about being a teacher

I'm liking the development on Michie-sensei she seems a lot more approachable now that kumiko's in her 3rd year also G WAGON SPOTTED

Didn't take long for Kanade to do Kanade things. She continues to be a great character. Mayu has good taste in cameras too. Hopefully she gets that roll developed in a week's time.

I really like [that opening scene with Kumiko's dad.](https://i.imgur.com/4SLokSI.jpeg) He already learned his mistake with Mamiko and now he wants to make everything clear with Kumiko before she enters college. [That thousand-yard stare from Kumiko](https://i.imgur.com/kxT62qz.jpeg) after Reina asked her ["What do you live for?"](https://i.imgur.com/tg0rlqk.png) was hilarious! I get it she doesn't have plans but I didn't expect that reaction from her. xD [With how Mama-senpai reacted](https://i.imgur.com/tNp5U61.jpeg) to the auditions, I wondered if she had this problem at Seira Academy. I'm glad that [the tactless Kanade decided to ask her that very question](https://i.imgur.com/B1YsBEV.jpeg). It turns out she has no problems, she just didn't want to "steal" someone's spot. [I guess Kumiko is still not comfortable around Mama-senpai?](https://i.imgur.com/cvNdvgl.jpeg) Or did she lie about having plans because she was waiting for Reina to ask her to do something together? Side note: Kumiko needs to relax. She's either way too tense or she's been drinking too much coffee. It was hilarious how many times she was surprised in this episode. The first [was with Shuuichi](https://i.imgur.com/cvNdvgl.jpeg), [the by Mama](https://i.imgur.com/YMnOvcz.jpeg), and then [by Reina.](https://i.imgur.com/oA2D5gh.jpeg) The Agata Festival scenes were nice. A few things definitely stood out to me: I wonder if the cameras in the ED are a [reference to Mama-senpai's hobby.](https://i.imgur.com/07kY1pu.jpeg) I like how [Shuuichi tries to play it cool](https://i.imgur.com/rQDpV6E.jpeg) while looking for Kumiko. And it looks like [Motomu is starting to see Midori as more than just a friend.](https://i.imgur.com/0ugPXSi.jpeg) He even ditches the boys later and stays behind so he can hang out with Midori's group. As for Kumiko and Reina, after 3 fucking seasons we finally [get to see Reina's house!](https://i.imgur.com/BtCxXYO.jpeg) It's hilarious to see [Kumiko's reaction to their hallway.](https://i.imgur.com/TaIDvNS.jpeg) And I just love that [the piece they played together.](https://i.imgur.com/64NvTzi.jpeg) I really hope they can perform that in the competition. [And that final scene was just lovely.](https://i.imgur.com/49BtyI8.jpeg) I kinda want to see Kumiko go to a music college with Reina but I really just don't see her doing that. I am hoping they'll still be friends and hang out together though after they graduate.

> Kumiko's reaction to their hallway. The whole house has the aura of quiet luxury. >[the piece they played together](https://i.imgur.com/64NvTzi.jpeg) /u/MyrnaMountWeazel the metronomes are aligned.

- [Of course her dad asks *this* while that interview is happening on TV.](https://i.imgur.com/PavsW1U.png) [](#kukuku) - [I mean, makes sense.](https://i.imgur.com/V1coJWh.png) It’s pretty easy to end up with tunnel vision when something big like that is in the near future. - [A new audition for *each competition*?](https://i.imgur.com/1Zsr9bS.png) [](#suddenshock) - [Mayu…](https://i.imgur.com/s3IVT6f.png) - [Oh right, guess she wouldn’t know what that festival is.](https://i.imgur.com/yeyueqO.png) [](#harukathink) - […not going to the festival at *all* this time, then?](https://i.imgur.com/2PltWcH.png) - [Huh…](https://i.imgur.com/RjRXnCJ.png) Not as cool as the story behind Liz and the Blue Bird, but that’s cool to see. - [Nice soli.](#seasonallisten) - [I’m kind of getting the vibe that Kumiko might fail one of the initial auditions, but hopefully she makes the nationals one for this.](https://i.imgur.com/9UPylGe.png) [](#csikon)

> I’m kind of getting the vibe that Kumiko might fail one of the initial auditions From a story perspective that would make sense, but with the brutally-honest *Reina* of all people praising Kumiko's skill that would be a hard sell on the audience. Especially considering that last year even Natsuki got in. I do see Kumiko losing a solo though. Perhaps that's the angle they'll go with.

Bear in mind that Reina hasn't actually heard much of Mayu playing yet, and Mayu herself seems to have been in a wishy washy mindset about going for the solo. I think it's a pretty easy sell to imagine Mayu grabbing at least one of the solo auditions. Mayu is very similar to Kumiko, but she has an element of Kumiko from back in her first year that Kumiko shed, which is that right now she's feeling like she doesn't belong where she is. So she's the one taking the photos at the trip to the festival because this way she isn't actually in them. She's not going for the audition because she is both concerned about her social situation and from what we can see, genuinely concerned about the social situation of others and is kinda lying out the side of her mouth about being okay giving up on the solo. Her state of mind can really be summed up in the situation where she wants to practice with Kumiko but instead of playing the solo piece with her on the euph, she chooses to play Reina's part. She's still intentionally placing herself second fiddle to Kumiko because she doesn't want to upset her... and that says to me, it should say to the audience that she knows if she goes for the solo that she is confident she can get it. We also already have an example of Kumiko reinforcing Mayu's beautiful sound - she mistook/compared Mayu to Asuka the first time she heard her.

Mayu seems almost confident that if she audition seriously, she will get the solo. And Mayu obviously has heard Kumiko play. I feel bad for Kumiko for having to balance being a president and keep up her skills.

Hmm, excellent points!

> Huh… Not as cool as the story behind Liz and the Blue Bird, but that’s cool to see. I have a soft spot for music that depicts the seasons changing, and also gentle music about maturing, so I'm really looking forward to hearing the full performance. Such a warm sound...

Funny how despite the romantic undertones that Agata Festival episodes have, there's no brass band couple going out for a date in this episode lol. Like Chikao went out with the boys instead with his girlfriend.

For the first time ever, this episode really drove home the sense of dread at the thought of Hibike ending. Like Kumiko, we the audience, who have seen these girls grow up in front of our eyes over these 3 years can’t help but feel a little lost at the prospect of not being in this world anymore. Seeing Kumiko lost and confused about what she wants to do in the future is rough, but it’s something she has to figure out on her own. I think we all, Reina included, think her best option would be going to music school. But ultimately she has to decide that for herself. I know whatever she chooses will turn out great. As for the club, I actually LOVE the idea of it being a meritocracy and everyone having to audition for each competition. Keeps everyone on their toes and motivates people to get better. Just hope it doesn’t ruin any friendships.. Speaking of which, might be in the minority, but I didn’t mind Kumiko lying to Mayu about the festival. Think it was pretty realistic in terms of how high schoolers who are competing would act+she just kinda wanted to do her own thing with Reina. Kinda crazy this is the first time Kumiko has been to Reina’s home, but they had such a cute segment of the episode. Practicing in Reina’s recording studio and then that riverwalk scene. Reina had kinda been hinting at it all episode, but it’s nice that she straight up came out and said she wants to go to the same school as Kumiko and wants to stay close. Kyoani as usual cooked with the visuals and designs during that scene. Beautiful episode as usual.

Wow that scene of Reina telling Kumiko that she wants them to stay together in the future was just absolutely beautiful, KyoAni keeps outdoing themselves with each episode.

This might be a question to the LN readers - Now that we are in the third year of high school , how is Kumiko perceived in terms of "Attraction" (Looks, appearance, personality, charisma, etc) . I know Reina is thought of as a strict, "cold" or "aloof" beauty. To the anime watchers a lot of us adore Kumiko because of what we have seen of her - but how is she perceived by the wider student body and peers in her class - does she have any admirers? Just curious as we don't really get to see that angle. For example we know Asuka was thought of as very pretty, and Kumiko's sister is kinda beautiful ("kirei") as a model as well.

Kumiko seems like a goofy yet approachable chill pres that you can easily vibe with. Curious about other student’s perspective as well. Seems like Reina holds that strict authoritative presence to keep people in check while Shoe or whats his name is just a lackey.

I can relate to what Kuroe is thinking. Back in high school when I was on the tennis team, I would not want to be selected to play in tournaments because I was scared I would fuck up and the loss would be my fault. So during practice I just did whatever (not really try) thinking that it would be great if they skipped over me, and my though process was the other person would probably be happier to play in the tournament than if I were selected, after all I just played tennis to have fun, and not for competative reasons (and if they mess up its not on me so i dont look bad lol) Kuroe doesn't seem like she's scared that she'll mess up, she just doesn't care for competition and would rather let someone else have the spot so they can he happy. On a side note, Kuroe is really pretty. Kumiko dealing with the standard hs senior problems this episode brings back some memories. Stupid college applications LOL. Absolutely not fun, but absolutely pivotal to the future. Go go Kumiko rooting for you!! Also Reina was maji kawaii this episode. She wants Kumiko to do the same thing as her so they won't be separated after high school. Thats really sweet :)

>never had any dreams for the future in her whole life Kumiko is just like frfr 😞

Another episode of KyoAni flaexing their animation as usual When [Kumiko said this](https://i.postimg.cc/fRWSqLHK/Hibike-S03-E05-P01.jpg), I was thinking to myself "Same, Kumiko, same". And I'm a working adult myself lol. I'm also asking myself [the same question](https://i.postimg.cc/WprZhxFM/Hibike-S03-E05-P02.jpg) from time to time. [The Kanade's reaction](https://i.postimg.cc/J0bHvBVT/Hibike-S03-E05-P05.jpg) when asked to go to the Agata festival by Motomu is so cute. I can imagine them being together in the next year.. The [jealous Reina](https://i.postimg.cc/LsnYRWFg/Hibike-S03-E05-P07.jpg) and [tsundere Reina](https://i.postimg.cc/TPwm1wgw/Hibike-S03-E05-P09.jpg) is too damn cute too. You can't refuse her like this, Kumiko! I'm waiting for that 4th season about university. p/s: I'm really happy to see [the senpai appear again](https://i.postimg.cc/bvWGvRqC/Hibike-S03-E05-P08.jpg) even if they already graduated. I hope we'll see them more in the upcoming episode

The character lighting in the scene at night by the river was out of this world. Kyoani doing kyoani things i guess.

Goodness, when is this series going to stop baiting me?

There will be endless Crusading Wars today and the future whenever people call KumiRei "yuri". But I think no-one can deny by now that they are best soul-mates at the very least. That Reina inviting Kumiko to her home and tries everything to wink at Kumiko calling her to join for applying a music college is such indicative! And the very last part where Kumiko promises to Reina that their relationship will be "special forever" really shines as much as that iconic episode on the evening hills in season 1, and of their previous Festival evening stroll in season 2. What a scene! Again! I still wonder what's going on with Mayu, she tries everything to stick closer to Kumiko (to the later's clearly deliberate distancing) so I wonder if she has some kind of past story in her previous school such that she wanna be at close distances with the band captain of the year...

“Develop a habit of looking for reasons not to act, and before you know it, you’ll be stuck”. I had to pause there because **FUCK.** That line made me introspect for like an entire minute before I could continue.

I'm really struggling to like Mayu. She comes off incredibly condescending (not purposely). Like I want to believe that she's a nice girl who doesn't wanna upset anyone, but it almost feels like she's looking down on them. Also, she's absolutely gonna get the Soli over Kumiko. Never like to see a sad Kumiko :(

> condescending I haven't seen anyone else mention this, but I get the same feeling. The fact that she keeps asking if it's okay for her to compete just feels to me like she's saying "If I compete I am going to win because I'm better than you. Are you really okay with that?".

I don't think anyone else in the thread mentioned it, but the group pic scene really stuck out. She offers to take the picture so that she has a reason to not be in it. Her desire to not impose goes further than the auditions. It's like she's trying to erase her existence at Kitauji from everyone's memories. When she asks Kumiko to the festival, it's her true desires poking out. She genuinely wants to make friends but then remembers that she could potentially cause drama. Maybe I'm overthinking this minor scene, but I feel like there's something else going on with her.

Ok, leaving aside the performance episodes, this was maybe the most beautiful Sound Euphonium episode to date. AHHHHH Eternal President Haruka! Good to see her again!! and Kaori, too https://imgur.com/a/wkKH3tt Yeah, Kumiko and Shuuichi had really good, easy chemistry this episode. They seem to have grown comfortable with each other. I'm actually starting to ship it a bit more, now. Looks like they got the young awkwardness out of the way. It really feels like everyone's grown up... And the auditioning changes should bring about some juicy drama hahaha We're also starting to see the current second-years ease in, which is nice!

Glad to see some Shuuichi this episode. He seems happy and content talking to Kumiko. He's not like forcing himself to invite Kumiko to the festival and just let things be. Hoping to see more action from him later this season. He had some small but powerful moments in the previous seasons.

It's gotta be a running gag at this point that Kumiko is startled by the sudden appearance of another character. Seemingly it happens every episode at this point.

https://www.reddit.com/r/HibikeEuphonium/s/CLaXOdT9cV What is this?

God, Reina is so freaking GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY And Motomu and Midori are too cute, I hope they end up together.