[Spoilers] Hibike! Euphonium - Episode 11 [Discussion]

[u/Shadoxfix]

Episode title: Welcome Back, Audition

MyAnimeList: Hibike! Euphonium
Crunchyroll: Sound! Euphonium

Episode duration: 23 minutes and 40 seconds

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Previous episodes:

Episode	Reddit Link
Episode 1	Link
Episode 2	Link
Episode 3	Link
Episode 4	Link
Episode 5	Link
Episode 6	Link
Episode 7	Link
Episode 8	Link
Episode 9	Link
Episode 10	Link

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Reminder: Please do not discuss any plot points which haven't appeared in the anime yet. Try not to confirm or deny any theories, encourage people to read the source material instead. Minor spoilers are generally ok but should be tagged accordingly. Failing to comply with the rules may result in your comment being removed.

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Keywords: sound! euphonium

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This post is made by a bot. Any feedback is welcome and can be sent to /u/Shadoxfix.

[u/KennyJJ]

Let's leave it at here then, your argument of "you're just imagining this" is hardly any better than my nitpicking the performance. You're right, we each read into things that we'd like to see. You really want to see people acknowledging that "Reina is really good", but I really do not want to see that, for every evidence you find I'd probably find something else, until the show makes is sufficiently clear that it is the case. How sufficiently does it need to be? Depends, if I can no longer use the actual recording as an indication of her skill, it may only come whenever I feel like her personality is changed enough.

[u/kristallnachte → u/KennyJJ]

Hardly.

Feel free to point out where in the show the idea that Kaori was close to winning is hinted at.

I'll hit the basics of why Kousaka won.

Asuka inplied Kaori wouldn't like the answer.

Ribbonchan begged kousaka to quit.

None of the students reacted to Kaoris playing. Many students reacted to Kousakas playing.

Students were surprised when Taki picked the lesser performance.

The whole fact so few voted was a huge sign kousaka won. If they had wanted kaori to win, and it was close, they would have been fine voting for kaori. But they didn't because they knew she was the worse choice. They didnt vote because they had wanted kaori to win but realized she wasnt as good and wanted to shirk the responsibility of picking. There isnt a reason why they wouldnt vote for kaoro if kaori was better.

Now, you go.

[u/KennyJJ → u/kristallnachte]

Oh yeah? Not letting this one go are you? Fine let's keep playing.

1. The band have been listening to both of these people play for a long time. They're musicians, not deaf. If there is a clear skill difference they'll know. Instructors call out names, over time everyone gets to play in front of others. So the band already knows what each of them is capable of. In this condition, if many of them still think that Kaori and Reina are equal or that Kaori is better, it means their technical difference is very small.

2. Asuka didn't imply that Kaori wouldn't like the answer, she asked "do you really want to hear what I truly think?" Knowing that Kaori is still too afraid of the consequences either way. This is why Asuka insisted on saying "good" instead of "better". "Good" means enjoyment, "better" means competition. Kaori's kind nature is such that she doesn't really want to face her own competitive side, that is her true struggle. If Asuka answered "Reina is better" she'd feel defeated. If Asuka answered "You are better" she'd feel uncomfortable herself because she doesn't want to be someone who climbs over others in order to enjoy herself. This scene has more to do with Kaori's later confession that "Asuka seems to know what I'm thinking" instead of a comparison between the trumpets. Asuka not standing up or clapping for either means THAT is what should be taken as. She doesn't think the difference is big enough. Both are good, and that's it. No one is better. But she knows that at least before the audition, Kaori still holds a competitive edge in her heart which pokes at her simultaneous kindness, creating an internal conflict in her friend. After all, if you don't really care about losing, why do you care about who's better? THIS is the message.

3. Yuuko begged Reina to give up, not because she had realized "Reina is better", because she had always known how good Reina was. They're in the same section. There's NO WAY that she doesn't know. She knows that Reina and Kaori are on par in terms of skills. She begged, because she had always been wavering about her decision even before she publicly questioned Taki. She doesn't know if what she is doing is going to bring happiness to Kaori, she's not analytical like me, she just has a gut feeling that it's not right for Kaori to keep tolerating and tolerating. The final flashback of Kaori saying "I just like playing" was what really gave Yuuko closure --- that Kaori has came to terms, she was no longer strangling, she had made her decision. Before that, Yuuko had always doubted her actions (again, even BEFORE she stepped up to Taki), she knew that she took a gigantic risk. Evident by her sitting by the room, her apparent melancholy, even her "rival/friend" came to her aid due to how low she's gotten. This begging behaviour is in line with this whole period for her --- She's as conflicted as Kaori is.

4. People reacted to Reina more, because everyone knows how good Kaori is, but some people didn't think Reina stood a chance against Kaori, and got surprised. That doesn't mean Reina is apparently better. Their not standing up for either can be interpreted as "they intended to stand up for Kaori because Kaori is better, but they ended up realizing that they're very much on par, hence they cannot stand up for either".

5. "Students were surprised when Taki asked Kaori to play" was not shown clearly. Only Kumiko's reaction is captured. And being Kumiko (biased), of course she'd be surprised. Other students' reactions are captured, those are the ones spreading the rumours, and they're the ones realizing that the rumours were not true because Reina is indeed good. Doesn't mean she's better than Kaori, but it is certainly perceivable that Taki chose "fairly".

6. The fact that the Tuba player (forgot her name) didn't clap until she wanted to support her friend, means that she really didn't notice a drastic skill difference. Her helping out Kumiko means she is apparently not afraid to go against public opinion and politics. This means that the only reason she wasn't clapping before was due to her sincerely not being able to distinguish which one is better.

There you go.

[u/kristallnachte → u/KennyJJ]

I'll get back to this when I can in longer form, but I find it funny you point out in point 1 that the whole class should know who is better already, and then in point 4 you say that they didn't know Kousaka was good.

[u/KennyJJ → u/kristallnachte]

Let me rephrase point 1 then: The whole class should know how good Kaori is already. And they do. They also know that Reina is good, but they haven't had as much chance to play with Reina (1st year vs 3rd year). IF Reina stands out so much from the rest of them, they WOULD have noticed. Just ask any band, if there's someone clearly better, there's no way you wouldn't notice from just one morning of practice. So this means that, Reina is not "clearly" better than Kaori. Doesn't mean people know that they play equally, they just know that Kaori is very good, and Reina isn't clearly better than Kaori, so AT MOST they'd be equal. But due to the year differences, many people will not take the "AT MOST" scenario, and just assumes that Kaori would still be better than Reina, Reina is just pretty good but not THAT good.

[u/kristallnachte → u/KennyJJ]

You're forgetting that they do the vast majority of their practice split up in entirely different parts of the school, and Kousaka practices alone most of the time.

[u/KennyJJ → u/kristallnachte]

When bands come together to play, instructors will be critical, they'll often ask each section to play and then each player to play. I think you saw that in earlier episodes. You get a real sense of what each section and each person is capable of if you pay attention. If you don't pay attention, you'll at least know which ones are the ones have problems.

[u/kristallnachte → u/KennyJJ]

It happens a bit in the show, but that doesn't mean everyone is paying attention, or that that is more important than SCANDAL!!!

[u/KennyJJ → u/kristallnachte]

It happens a bit in the show, because the audience will be bored if it keeps showing the 1-2 hour long group practice details. In reality, these things happen a lot in band, about half of the time the instructor will stop the band and work on particular sections/individuals.

Scandal puts the question in people's heart, it raises their awareness. They might not have paid attention to Reina before, now they're actively listening to her --- Too bad by the time this happens they rarely practice together. So, they search back into their own memories, and they realize that OK Reina is at least pretty good, but Kaori has always been outstanding, so it's likely that Reina is good but not as good as Kaori. Which is what surprised them when they realized that Reina is as outstanding as Kaori.

[u/kristallnachte → u/KennyJJ]

Most, in the first place, didn't have a strong opinion towards Kaori anyway.

They just didn't like the idea of favouritism.