Sound! Euphonium 2

Episode 8

I'd like to thoroughly critique this episode, but I am sadly powerless in the face of all of these tiny Kumikos. Tiny Kumiko being inspired by her sister to join band. Tiny Kumiko making farting noises through her fingers. Tiny Kumiko trying to get her sister to pay attention. All of these Kumikos are tiny and precious and must be cherished, and my duty to celebrate these Kumikos seems far greater than my duty to provide incisive criticism.

Alas, this episode's parade of adorable Kumikos mostly speaks for itself, and so I must continue to critique. Kumiko's relationship with her sister Mamiko finally blew up this week, in the aftermath of Mamiko declaring she wanted to quit college to be a beautician. As we learned in the opening scene, it was actually Mamiko's cool trombone playing that inspired Kumiko to play an instrument in the first place - but by cutting from that flashback directly to a present-day argument with her parents, Euphonium emphasized that whatever bond once connected them is gone now.

That argument was one of the most tense scenes in the series so far, offering a heated and strikingly realistic clash of personalities between Mamiko and her father. Mamiko's frustration was understandable; after ceding ground to her parents all her life, she'd reached the point where accepting any more of their choices would mean giving up her own life entirely. But while Mamiko's position was very well-constructed, I felt the occasional cuts to Kumiko's place on the couch really tied the scene together. Anyone who's had siblings has likely been in that position, hearing someone else weather the storm while you make yourself as small as possible. After years of being ignored, it seemed Kumiko was happy to let her sister suffer without support.

The episode got a little less focused from there, letting Mamiko's issues sit on the backburner while Kumiko developed a cold at school. This episode's direction was more flatly functional than the show's usual standard, but I liked how the grey-green pallor of the rainy day saturated the whole production with Kumiko's own mood. The one critical scene at school involved Kumiko and Asuka, as Asuka returned to practice for a day and ended up inviting Kumiko to her house. That scene established a clear parallel between Asuka and Mamiko - each of them hide their pain, and each of them push back harshly against Kumiko for attempting to bridge the gap. Hopefully that symmetry will be used to good effect in the coming episodes.

The episode concluded back at Kumiko's family apartment, where a visit from Reina was interrupted by Mamiko asking her to turn the music off. The inevitable clash between sisters was brief, violent, and well-observed. I really appreciated the apparent pettiness of Kumiko's anger here. Instead of sympathizing with her sister, she just blamed her for only saying she wanted to stay in band now. That's not a “fair” complaint for Kumiko to make, but it makes total sense from her perspective. Kumiko can't sympathize with her sister just because she's had it rough - Mamiko never shared her pain with Kumiko, so all Kumiko has to look back on is the cold shoulder. Mamiko being unhappy now just makes Kumiko even more bitter, because it seems like she'd been punishing Kumiko for no reason all this time. Years of justifiable resentment don't go away just because you realize the object of your anger has been hurting too.

The execution of this fight was also quite good. The direction remained very stable and frankly somewhat bland, but in this case, that was actually an asset. By keeping the camera at a middle distance, Euphonium emphasized the grounded nature of this fight, as if it were being recorded by a still camera left on the shelf. The scene didn't need closeup shots of pained expressions to sell the feelings of its characters; instead, Euphonium's consistently astonishing vocal deliveries took over, with both Kumiko and Mamiko's voice actresses leaning into the ugly, throaty anger of their words.

Overall, this was a somewhat underwhelming episode, lifted largely by the brief, poignant scenes Kumiko and Mamiko shared. However, the focus on Mamiko and Asuka did give me hope that Euphonium will continue to spotlight the characters we're already invested in and try to build parallels and larger thematic points across them. Euphonium's sequel has certainly been shaky, but relying on its emotionally charged fundamentals could lead it to a very satisfying end.

Overall: B-

Sound! Euphonium 2 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Nick writes about anime, storytelling, and the meaning of life at Wrong Every Time.