Sound! Euphonium

Sound! Euphonium

Cover of Hibike! Euphonium novel
響け! ユーフォニアム　北宇治高校吹奏楽部へようこそ
(Hibike! Euphonium Kitauji Kōkō Suisōgaku-bu e Yōkoso)
Genre Music, Drama, Slice of life
Novel series
Written by Ayano Takeda
Illustrated by Nikki Asada
Published by Takarajimasha
Imprint Takarajimasha Bunko
Original run December 5, 2013 – ongoing
Volumes 3
Manga
Written by Ayano Takeda
Illustrated by Hami
Published by Takarajimasha
Magazine Kono Manga ga Sugoi! Web
Original run November 28, 2014 – ongoing
Volumes 1
Anime television series
Directed by Tatsuya Ishihara
Written by Jukki Hanada
Music by Matsuda Akito
Studio Kyoto Animation
Licensed by
Network Tokyo MX, SUN, KBS, TVA, BS11, AT-X
Original run April 7, 2015 – ongoing
Episodes 12

Sound! Euphonium (響け! ユーフォニアム　北宇治高校吹奏楽部へようこそ Hibike! Yūfoniamu Kitauji Kōkō Suisōgaku-bu e Yōkoso, lit. Sound! Euphonium Welcome to Kitauji High School's Musical Instrument Club[n 1]) is a Japanese novel by Ayano Takeda, published on December 5, 2013 by Takarajimasha. The story takes place in Uji, Kyoto, and focuses on the Kitauji High School Music Club, which is steadily improving thanks to the newly appointed adviser's strict instruction.[1] A manga adaptation illustrated by Hami began serialization on the Kono Manga ga Sugoi! Web website on November 28, 2014. An anime adaptation, produced by Kyoto Animation and directed by Tatsuya Ishihara, began airing in Japan in April 2015.

Plot

The Kitauji high school concert band club had at one time participated in national tournaments and was a champion school, but after the club's adviser changed, they have not been able to even participate in the qualifying tournament. However, thanks to the newly appointed adviser's strict instruction, the students are steadily improving and build up their strength. As they fight over who plays solos, some students give priority to studying and quit club activities. Finally, the long wished-for day of the contest arrives.

Characters

Kumiko Ōmae (黄前 久美子 Ōmae Kumiko)
Voiced by: Tomoyo Kurosawa
Kumiko, a first-year high school student, is the protagonist of Hibike! Euphonium. She speaks standard Japanese, which is rare in Kansai. She is easily swayed by the opinions of others and is an indecisive person. She dislikes her character because she cannot make her wishes known to others. She is a euphonium player. She lives near Byodoin Temple and is a friend of Shūichi's family. Her school bag is plain, and it seems that she is not interested in over the top, fancy stuff. Kumiko and Shūichi are childhood friends, and they get along so well that they do not talk to each other using the polite form of speech, except for in public places. She likes novels, which contain extreme matters that contrast with her character. She is an in-door type of person and she does not get along with sports-oriented people, except for Hazuki.
Hazuki Katō (加藤 葉月 Katō Hazuki)
Voiced by: Ayaka Asai
Hazuki is a friendly girl who talks innocently. She is Kumiko's classmate and is suntanned because she belonged to the tennis club when she was a junior high school student. She is a beginner at music. She admires the trumpet and joined the concert band club, but ended up playing the tuba. She is a bright, perky mood-maker, and the type of person who prefers standing out over supporting others.
Sapphire Kawashima (川島 緑輝 Kawashima Safaia) / Midori (緑)
Voiced by: Moe Toyota
Sapphire is a girl with soft hair and a delicate constitution. She is often timid due to her lack of self-confidence. She is embarrassed of her own name "Sapphire" (緑輝 Safaia, lit."green brilliancy") , so she tells people to call her "Midori". She is from a junior high school named Seijo (聖女) which has a competitive concert band club. She plays the contrabass, which she endearingly calls "George".
Reina Kōsaka (高坂 麗奈 Kōsaka Reina)
Voiced by: Chika Anzai
Reina is a beautiful trumpet player with long black hair. She was a member of the concert band club at the same junior high school as Kumiko. She is regarded as a good scholar by others. She is a dedicated trumpeter, and goes to the music classroom even outside of club activities. Though she has a polite disposition, she is not viewed so well by others because she usually has a surly expression. She cherishes her trumpet, which was given to her by her parents when she was a junior high school student.
Asuka Tanaka (田中 あすか Tanaka Asuka)
Voiced by: Minako Kotobuki
Asuka is a third-year student and vice president of concert band club. She plays the euphonium and is the leader of the bass section. She is a beautiful girl with glasses, and a playful personality.
Haruka Ogasawara (小笠原 晴香 Ogasawara Haruka)
Voiced by: Saori Hayami
Haruka[n 2] is a third-year student and president of the concert band club. She plays the baritone saxophone and leads the saxophone section. She is a strong-minded character.
Kaori Nakaseko (中世古 香織 Nakaseko Kaori)
Voiced by: Minori Chihara
Kaori is a third-year student. She is a beautiful girl who has flowing, deep-black hair. She has a gentle character, and is quite popular in the concert band club. She plays trumpet and leads the trumpet section.
Shūichi Tsukamoto (塚本 秀一 Tsukamoto Shūichi)
Voiced by: Haruki Ishiya
Shūichi is a first-year high school student. He is Kumiko's childhood friend, and the two went to the same junior high school. He and Kumiko are not classmates in high school because they are studying different courses. The pair had a falling out, due to Shuichi having made a snide remark about Kumiko when they were in their third year of junior high school. He was originally a horn player, but he gets to play the trombone after winning a game of rock-paper-scissors. He notices minor internal conflicts within the concert band club and tells Kumiko, because a second year student had trouble with a third year student, who did not practice and was not good at playing, by which the number of second years dropped drastically.
Takuya Gotō (後藤 卓也 Gotō Takuya)
Voiced by: Kenjiro Tsuda
Takuya is second-year student who plays tuba.
Riko Nagase (長瀬 梨子 Nagase Riko)
Voiced by: Miyuki Kobori
Riko is a second-year student. She is a tuba player.
Natsuki Nakagawa (中川 夏紀 Nakagawa Natsuki)
Voiced by: Konomi Fujimura
Natsuki is a second-year student who plays euphonium.
Yūko Yoshikawa (吉川 優子 Yoshikawa Yūko)
Voiced by: Yuri Yamaoka
Yūko is second-year student who plays trumpet. She adores Kaori.
Aoi Saitō (斎藤 葵 Saitō Aoi)
Voiced by: Yōko Hikasa
Aoi is a childhood friend of Kumiko, and she is two years her senior. The two often played together, as they lived in the same neighborhood. She and Kumiko drifted apart in junior high school. They are reunited in the concert band club. She plays tenor saxophones.
Noboru Taki (滝 昇 Taki Noboru)
Voiced by: Takahiro Sakurai
Noboru[n 2] is the new music teacher in Kitauji High School and serves as the adviser to the concert band club. He is also in charge of Class 5 of the second-year students. He is polite and has a methodical personality. He is popular with the female students. He emphasizes independence in his students, and to this end he pushes them reach their goal of going to the national convention.
Michie Matsumoto (松本 美知恵 Matsumoto Michie)
Voiced by: Aya Hisakawa
Michie is Kumiko's homeroom teacher and is the vice-advisor of concert band club. She is known as a frightening teacher.
Mamiko Ōmae (黄前 麻美子 Ōmae Mamiko)
Voiced by: Manami Numakura
Mamiko is Kumiko's older sister. She is college student and a trombone player.
Akiko Ōmae (黄前 明子 Ōmae Akiko)
Voiced by: Haruhi Nanao
Akiko is Kumiko and Mamiko's mother.
Azusa Sasaki (佐々木 梓 Sasaki Azusa)
Voiced by: Azusa Tadokoro
Azusa goes to Rikka High School (立華高校 Rikka Kōkō) and is Kumiko's rival.
Mizore Yoroizuka (鎧塚みぞれ Yoroizuka Mizore)
Nozomi Kasaki (傘木希美 Kasaki Nozomi)
Masahiro Hashimoto (橋本真博 Hashimoto Masahiro)
Satomi Niiyama (新山聡美 Niiyama Satomi)

Media

Print media

Hibike! Euphonium is a 319-page novel written by Ayano Takeda, and features cover art drawn by Nikki Asada. Takarajimasha published the novel on December 5, 2013.[2] Two sequel novels titled Hibike! Euphonium 2 Kitauji Kōkō Suisōgaku-bu no Ichiban Atsui Natsu (響け! ユーフォニアム2　北宇治高校吹奏楽部のいちばん熱い夏, lit. Sound! Euphonium 2 The Hottest Summer of Kitauji High School's Musical Instrument Club) and Hibike! Euphonium 3 Kitauji Kōkō Suisōgaku-bu, Saidai no Kiki (響け! ユーフォニアム3　北宇治高校吹奏楽部、最大の危機, lit. Sound! Euphonium 3 The Greatest Crisis of Kitauji High School's Musical Instrument Club) were released between March 5 and April 4, 2015.[3][4]

A manga adaptation illustrated by Hami began serialization on the Kono Manga ga Sugoi! Web website on November 28, 2014.[5] The first tankōbon volume was released on April 3, 2015.[6]

Anime

An anime television series adaptation, directed by Tatsuya Ishihara and produced by Kyoto Animation, began airing in Japan on April 7, 2015.[7] The opening theme is "Dream Solister" by True, and the ending theme is "Tutti!" (トゥッティ!) by Tomoyo Kurosawa, Ayaka Asai, Moe Toyota and Chika Anzai.

Episode list

No. Title Original air date
1 "Welcome to High School"
"Yōkoso Hai Sukūru" (ようこそハイスクール) 		April 7, 2015
In the flashback on her junior high school days, euphonium player Kumiko Ōmae is devastated because her concert band did not accomplish their dream of winning a competition. On the first day of high school, she hears the school's concert band playing and the poor performance of their music drives her to despair. Kumiko meets a girl named Hazuki Katō, who is sitting in the seat behind her, and then Hazuki tells Kumiko that she wants a new friend, afterwards, the two become friends with each-other. While walking in the corridor, they run into Sapphire "Midori" Kawashima. Midori reveals that she used to be a double bass player in her junior high school days. The three girls go to observe a band meeting, and Kumiko is surprised to meet trumpeter Reina Kōsaka, who is a former classmate of her's from the same junior high school. On the way home from school, Kumiko tells Hazuki and Midori that she is not sure whether to join the group or not. Depressed, Kumiko sits on a bench, and is approached by her childhood friend, Shuichi Tsukamoto, but then she leaves him due to a past argument between the two. Eventually she decides that she will not join the band and returns home. In her room, Kumiko recalls the devastating look on Reina's face when the concert band lost. The next day, Kumiko sees Hazuki practicing with a mouthpiece and gives her advice, by doing so, Kumiko invited to join the band and makes up her mind to sign up. 
2 "Nice to Meet You Euphonium"
"Yoroshiku Yūfoniamu" (よろしくユーフォニアム) 		April 14, 2015
3 "First Ensemble"
"Hajimete Ansanburu" (はじめてアンサンブル) 		April 21, 2015
4  

Notes

  1. ↑ Kitauji (北宇治) stands for "North(ern) Uji", and suisōgaku (吹奏楽) actually means "concert band", not "musical instrument".
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Haruka Ogasawara and Noboru Taki are referred to as "Ogasawara" and "Taki" by their surnames at the descriptive parts in the original novel.

References

  1. ↑ 宇治舞台に吹奏楽部の青春描く　同大生で作家の武田さん. Kyoto Shimbun. January 16, 2014. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  2. ↑ 響け! ユーフォニアム　北宇治高校吹奏楽部へようこそ [Hibike! Euphonium Kitauji Kōkō Suisōgaku-bu e Yōkoso] (in Japanese). Takarajimasha. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
  3. ↑ 響け! ユーフォニアム2　北宇治高校吹奏楽部のいちばん熱い夏 [Hibike! Euphonium 2 Kitauji Kōkō Suisōgaku-bu no Ichiban Atsui Natsu] (in Japanese). Takarajimasha. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  4. ↑ 響け! ユーフォニアム3　北宇治高校吹奏楽部、最大の危機 [Hibike! Euphonium 3 Kitauji Kōkō Suisōgaku-bu, Saidai no Kiki] (in Japanese). Takarajimasha. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
  5. ↑ 【速報】『響け！ユーフォニアム』コミカライズ、11月28日より「このマンガがすごい！WEB」で連載スタート！ (in Japanese). Takarajimasha. November 22, 2014. Archived from the original on November 29, 2014. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
  6. ↑ "『響け! ユーフォニアム 北宇治高校吹奏楽部へようこそ』第1巻" [Hibike! Euphonium Kitauji Kōkō Suisōgaku-bu e Yōkoso 1]. April 3, 2015. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Sound! Euphonium's 2nd Promo Video Introduces Cast". Anime News Network. March 24, 2015. Retrieved March 28, 2015.

External links