skreyola wrote:...This show continues to be tedious and full of the unpleasant type of drama.
MangaRocks! wrote:skreyola wrote:...This show continues to be tedious and full of the unpleasant type of drama.
Oh dear... I didn't want to do this right after finally agreeing with you , LOL, but I do just have to note that, personally, I don't find it tedious in the least; and I've actually found the drama to be (mostly) pretty natural/realistic, all things considered...
MangaRocks! wrote:Also, regarding our previous conversation, I wanted to mention (because I just remembered this) that at least two of the reasons the kids were surprised at Taki's methods ... their previous ranking for doing things (as restated in the current ep., in fact) was based on what year of school they were (the senpai got priority over the kouhai)
MangaRocks! wrote:
audibly showcasing the skill levels of Reina and Kaori. (Kaori was indeed very good... but Reina was just on another level entirely. And they showed that beautifully.
MangaRocks! wrote:no one even truly 'voted'
skreyola wrote:@MangaRocks: I hope I haven't offended you with anything I've said.
skreyola wrote:I wish more of this show was about the music. Maybe it was partly an expectations thing for me, but I think I would have enjoyed this a lot more if it were like Shirobako, Nozaki-kun, and Glass Mask... I'm not at all feeling like I'm getting immersed in the world of concert band. And I think I ought to be, given how much of the OP is them playing their instruments, how much visual emphasis they put on the instruments, the eyecatches in the middle of each episode highlighting an individual instrument or section, etc. This show promises a peek into the inner workings of music, and instead, it delivers teenage angst and drama that doesn't feel like it has anything to do with concert band. This could just as easily be a soccer team or a colorguard corps, for all the time the show spends on music technique.
skreyola wrote:Maybe people who were in a band are getting something out of the realism of this kind of conflict, but I'm just not feeling it.
skreyola wrote:I think this show would be a lot better if they'd focus on the music, on the difficulties people are having with their parts of the music, and not on the petty sniping at each other that arises out of not wanting to put forth the effort to hold the places they want. My problem isn't that I don't think this kind of conflict happens but an that it's not fun for me to watch that kind of drama. I avoid people who do that kind of thing.
skreyola wrote:And am I supposed to like any of these characters? SPOILER: Highlight text to read: "Oh, it isn't fair that you're talented and put in enough practice time to not only be good but to be polished and powerful. You should throw the competition so my friend can be in the competition. It's not like she'll ever get any auditions once she graduates unless she's in the competition, never mind what that will do to the school's chances of winning; what's important is that she plays the solo."
skreyola wrote:The only one half-way likeable is the MC, and she never does anything proactive. She's just an observer. She didn't even tell bunny-bow girl that Reina's been a top trumpet player for a while. I don't feel like her character is getting any development.
skreyola wrote:Everyone's just floating along, doing nothing likeable, hoping the teacher will bail them out. I don't care if this band wins or loses at the competition, because I have no reason to care about their hopes and dreams. The show wants to tug at my heart strings, but it hasn't given me anything but "These characters feel strongly about their wants." Nobody wants their wants for anything important, they just want them with fervor.
skreyola wrote:I haven't seen anyone mention where they hope to go with their playing after graduation ...
skreyola wrote:... and there's no indication that any of this really matters in the long run for any of these characters ...
MangaRocks! wrote:skreyola wrote:@MangaRocks: I hope I haven't offended you with anything I've said.
Oh gosh, no, you haven't offended me at all!! (If anything, it should be me saying that to you, LOL! ) I just didn't reply until now because I usually only post on here once a week.
MangaRocks! wrote:skreyola wrote:The only one half-way likeable is the MC, and she never does anything proactive. She's just an observer. She didn't even tell bunny-bow girl that Reina's been a top trumpet player for a while. I don't feel like her character is getting any development.
As for telling the little brat about Reina... uh, I'm pretty sure she already knew, LOL. (And anyway, that wasn't the point, and wouldn't have dissuaded her regardless. *shrug* )
MangaRocks! wrote:As for Kumiko doing things proactively, well, I think this week's episode should handle any objections with that, LOL.
MangaRocks! wrote: Ah, but that's the thing-- they *aren't* floating along anymore, and Taki isn't bailing them out. He's pushing them-- *hard* (so hard, in fact, that he's apparently been getting chewed out by his superiors for it, although IMHO his level of 'push' is just right)
MangaRocks! wrote:skreyola wrote:I haven't seen anyone mention where they hope to go with their playing after graduation ...skreyola wrote:... and there's no indication that any of this really matters in the long run for any of these characters ...
As for the question of why any of that would then matter for their future, despite the fact that most of them won't continue... oh dear, please do not get me started on the many benefits of the training they are receiving, LOL. Just
MangaRocks! wrote:Sound! Euphonium episode 12:
the emotions and experiences here were just perfectly done. Kumiko knowing in her mind what she wants that new section to sound like, and what she has to physically do to make those sounds, but it not working like she wants it to, and thus her getting really frustrated... the looks of intense concentration on everyones' faces when practicing... and all of the emotions in the entire end section
blkmage wrote:I don't get it, the inner workings of music in any band or orchestra is entirely band politics. Everything else is literal rote repetition until you've trained your muscle memory properly. I mean, sorry that bands, especially high school bands, aren't as interesting as you might've thought they were.
Cadence wrote:I feel like I am awkwardly stepping into a conversation where I really don't belong, so I'll try not to comment too much on Hibike! Euphonium...except to say that I am still really enjoying the show. The audition story of the past few episodes reminded me of my own experiences auditioning for a solos as an underclassman and the repercussions when things didn't quite turn out how everyone thought they should. I thought the characters in the show reacted realistically - they are just high schoolers, and they act like high schoolers. I think that the silly drama is an inevitable part of high school ensembles, and that it has been handled very well. My only complaint with the show right now is that it needs more oboes (in fact, the woodwinds in general are severely underrepresented).
skreyola wrote:...My point was, that she didn't do it indicated a lack of impulse.
skreyola wrote:The show up to this point has felt detached and vague.
skreyola wrote:I wasn't questioning the value of arts education/music/being in the band. I was saying that nobody's reason for wanting to have the solo was "I'm going on to music school, so I need this for my transcript." It was, "I just want it so badly that you should give it to me." Nobody's reason for sniping at each other has anything to do with its helping them advance in something beyond this year. They just want to be able to tell their college friends that they stood on the stage at nationals/regionals/big competition. That's what I meant when I said that none of this matters to the people who are scrabbling for a place they haven't earned.
skreyola wrote:It's truly saddening that it took so long for this show to get to such a good handling of its subject matter. The rough start really hurt the show, and I think there is way too much hinting that the show will focus on the music. I think the the OP and the eyecatches should have been done differently, showing more of the characters and less of the instruments and playing, because that's where the show actually spends all its time. This could have been an entirely different, and much better, experience.
skreyola wrote:I meant to encompass the whole band, not just the two soloist contenders. There was more than just the solo, by which I mean the slots for the competition, and I meant not just Kaori but her pushy friend. Again, the argument for having Reina step aside was not your benefits, either. She didn't want it to happen because it would be a character-building experience for Kaori but because it was what she considered fair, ignoring how unfair it is to push aside a better musician for the sake of giving someone less talented and less polished an undeserved honor.
skreyola wrote:I recognize that I'm coming to this as an outsider, not having been in band, but that's kind of my point. blkmage's evaluation of the interest level of concert band for those who didn't experience it themselves kind of makes my question: why make an anime about it, if the main connection it will make with people is a knowing glance between people who've been there, done that? *shrug*
I just wish it had been more accessible to an outsider like me.
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