Tuesday, December 3, 2019

How Hibike! Euphonium nails the art of the Natural Conversation - S1Ep10

The level of detail in Hibike! Euphonium never fails to stun me as I try to work out quite what it is that made me fall for the show.

I really don't know whether I'm a fool for not recognising some of these things, or whether it's simply incredibly writing. For a little bit of context, in episode 10, we have the beginning of a split due to the fact that Reina will be playing the solo and not Kaori, Taki is of course under a lot of pressure to deal with it etc.

That's when we have an incredibly natural scene, it's so well done that I didn't pick up on it until my fourth rewatch- I'm talking about the conversation between Taki-sensei and Michie-sensei while Taki is doing some printing. Michie talks for a little bit, Taki's printing finishes and then he comes to a revelation - leading to the announcement of a second audition.

So what's interesting, I already hear you ask. What's interesting is the very concept of the second audition. Where did it come from? Why does it solve any of the problems the band is having? Of course, it's the correct solution and it feels like the right. But what makes it so?

Michie-sensei echos the words of Taki's father and says: "Music is nice, you can't lie. When something sounds good, there's no denying it." Initially, it feels almost like a random statement praising music. It doesn't feel like it means much. To me it was just something the assistant band director would say to fill some silence.

But it's not. Actually, it's anything but just something to say to fill some silence. The very problem in the ensemble is that the members had not listened* to either Reina or Kaori's solo. They couldn't make the judgement of which player was actually better, at the time the only one who could make that judgement was Taki-sensei himself-- after all he had judged them both.
*I use the word listened rather than heard because I feel like distinction here is necessary. I'm sure almost everyone has heard parts of it in passing, when they're not focused on it etc. It's important they focus in and face the music so they can genuinely come to a conclusion who should play the solo.

Michie's seemingly random statement provides us the key to the solution- it's in her very words, I'll paraphrase her a little: Music can't lie. You can't deny when something sounds good. -The best way of convincing the ensemble members that one person plays the solo better than the other is to show them. In that sense, the second audition is nothing but a distraction. A method of making the entire band listen to the pair of them, and forcing them to face the fact that Reina plays the solo better than Kaori.

Rant over, I had always wondered about the significance of that printing scene, and I feel like this fits perfectly. Perhaps I'm dense, or maybe it's not quite as subtle as I originally thought, but to me this just reinforces my belief that the writing in Hibike! Euphonium is simply incredible.

tl;dr - I love Hibike! Euphonium.



Submitted December 04, 2019 at 01:42AM by maddavid123 https://ift.tt/2LkceSO

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