Hibike! Euphonium Episode 11

Ribbon-chan’s tears are delicious.

Impression

“Will you stay with me?”
“Yeah.”
“You won’t abandon me?”
“If I do, you can kill me.”
“I’ll actually kill you.”
“You probably would, Reina. I’m prepared for that. This is a confession of love, after all.”

I have never been baited this hard, ever before. I’m not even sure what they’re trying to achieve any more. I mean, I loved that scene, but at this point the potential for yuri is veering in and out of existence, and I’m rapidly growing into too much of a cynic to believe that Kumiko x Reina has any chance of happening, even if it did sound like Kumiko was a worried lover seeing Reina off to a war, or something. I’ll just assume that Reina and Kumiko have an odd tendency to talk together whilst staring passionately into the other’s eyes. It’s all platonic – the cheek caressing, the promises, the soft music. At any rate, the obligatory yuri scene was not the most satisfying event of the episode.

Instead, it was the audition. I loved the entire re-audition and everything that went on during it – it was a brilliant scene. I initially thought it was going to be an overwhelming victory for Reina, so it was really interesting to see things unfold in they way they did. I myself felt that Reina performed better, and I think all the band members did too – but no-one would either admit it or could bring themselves to choose. For Kaori, no-one except Yuuko and Haruka clapped. For Reina, no-one except Kumiko and Hazuki clapped – but there were some awkward glances and wavering expressions by some of the sheep in the crowd, who clearly didn’t want to go against the general anti-Reina sentiment and support her despite the fact she was better. In the end, practically everyone did an Aoi-chan and abstained. Kumiko really shone here by standing up and clapping for her amidst a sea of hostility.

I cannot express how incredibly good it felt to see Yuuko sob loudly and uncontrollably in a flood of salty and delicious tears – you know, at that moment it felt like it was her defeat instead of Kaori’s. Initially, I did retain some sympathy for her. I know she holds a lot of admiration for Kaori, who is not only an excellent trumpet player but also someone who tried to solve the rift emerging amongst the current second-years in the band. And she witnessed how Kaori was denied a solo part last year on grounds of seniority. But all that sympathy vanished when she started begging Reina to bomb the audition – what the fuck, Ribbon-chan? All this time, she’s whined and complained about how Kaori was allegedly better, and used some very underhanded methods to even set up a re-audition in the first place. And now this episode she admits to Kumiko, the de facto leader of the Reina supporters, that Reina is indeed better. Even Natsuki-senpai got her to admit it. But instead of giving up, Yuuko instead throws away all her dignity and starts begging despite the reality of things – and despite the fact that a meritocracy is how this band has been operating for the entire year now. I didn’t have a shred of sympathy for her after she did that. Has she ever thought about how Reina feels? What if, next year, a first-year who’s even better than she is turns up, and denies her a solo part for the next two years?

Ironically, did Ribbon-chan even think about how Kaori herself would feel? Imagine she finds out she only won because Reina bombed it on purpose. Would that make her happy? I suspect that, to an extent Kaori knows full well that Reina is better than her. Asuka didn’t give a straight answer, but Kaori didn’t want to hear it anyway – because she knew she wouldn’t like what she heard. I think you can even read something into how she calls Reina ‘Kousaka-san’, which is oddly respectful for a third-year senpai addressing a confident first-year. What was significant about this audition was that Kaori didn’t simply lose. In being offered the solo part, and declining it in favour of Reina, Kaori admitted that she was not as good as Reina. In other words, she was defeated – and this is why Ribbon-chan was so upset. Taki-sensei relied on Kaori’s integrity as a musician in awarding Reina the solo part, and her decision to accept defeat actually made me respect her a whole lot more. Kaori doesn’t want to win the solo part because it was handed to her – she wants to win it because she has won, and because she deserves it regardless of any personal circumstances. In other words, she’s a good person, and is someone who’s putting the band and success at the competition above herself. Which is pretty much the complete opposite of Ribbon-chan. It was pretty hard to tell at first, but this band really is full of good senpais. Plus one best Natsuki.