An Excellent Ensemble, Second Movement- Sound! Euphonium Season 2

 

Despite thoroughly enjoying the anime’s first season, another series which took a backseat for a while for me was “Sound! Euphonium.”  The first season was an absolute masterpiece, with excellent characters, drawings, plotline and music, all properly balanced out and wrapped up in a tidy and beautiful package.  As a standalone series, it worked surprisingly well, though it’s easy to see how a second season can easily be added onto the ending.  So would Sound Euphonium’s second season hold up to the high standards set by its predecessor?

 

 

If something works, don’t change it.  Instead, just keep going with it.  Thus summarizes the general rule of thumb for development of Sound Euphonium’s second season.  Now, the first season of the series had won me over both by bringing up memories of my own experience with high school orchestra and showing the steps and passion that these students had taken in order to turn around a failing group and make something of themselves.  The chemistry was biting yet complimentary and combined frustration and trust with a healthy dosage of meritocracy.  Now, with all that said and done, the second season could have just coasted along on the tailcoats of the first season, but instead from the getgo, new characters get introduced and existing characters get fleshed out.  Thankfully, character development still takes the slow and deep approach, lasting several episodes and the effects felt long after the character is initially introduced.  These elements and mystery don’t stack one on top of another; instead they are staggered in a marathon pass-the-baton style approach, though still building on the feelings and relationships established in the first season.  The feelings and aromas of romance from the first season still linger on into the second season, though they are more subtle than before.  Now, with the deep issue of turning around a failing band resolved, the second season of “Sound Euphonium” instead relies on relationships amongst the group members and the pursuit of the next big musical achievement.  Personal motivations also play a key role here, along with the aspects of chemistry and romance.  The approach is a bit more abrupt and less graceful than in the first season, however, though still much more than acceptable.  Later on in the series, the issue of growing up and one’s future begin receiving attention, and for the second season, this is a very appropriate topic and infuses the series with a rich, complex topic of discussion, from both the band members themselves (most notably Kumiko and Asuka) to Kumiko’s older sister.  Taki himself also gets fleshed out, and while this is done through a slightly more conventional approach, the symbolism and mood are reflected in the atmosphere in a complex manner that shows there was actual thought put into that portion of the storyline.

 

 

Also thankful are the still-high drawing and artwork standards from the first season, though the rich saturations and backgrounds are toned down here slightly and used a bit less often.  The overall mood in the second season is more somber, reflected in the frequent usage of greys and more matte colors in drawings rather than warm yellows and oranges.  There is less action in the second season versus the first, attributable to fewer scenes where the band is practicing and performing, but the quality is right up there with its predecessor.  While music is still the glue which holds the entire series together, there is less of it applied here, and it is instead used more in topics of discussion and dialogue amongst the characters.  This is still at its heart a series driven by dialogue and character interaction rather than action.  However, what music there is thankfully is at the same level qualitywise as in the first season.  Overall, while the series overall is not an enormous step back from the first season, the second season nonetheless has gotten slightly off balance with its application of ingredients versus its predecessor.

 

 

But maybe I’m being too picky with Sound Euphonium’s second season.  Or maybe that’s just how good the first season was.  Either way, the second season of Sound Euphonium still follows the same recipe and cooking style of its predecessor and as a result is still a good followup overall.  The change in the amount of certain ingredients however is what made the second season not as tasty as the first season.  Now, that being said, the second season does also have a very conclusive ending, but adding more content onto the end would still be very feasible.  In fact, there have also been two movies made for Sound Euphonium, one of which is a continuation from the second season’s ending and the other focusing on a side story of some of the secondary characters.  While I knew about the latter, I was not aware of the former, nor was I aware of the still-not-released third season.  I guess this just shows how strong of a property this is, right?