DESCRIPTION

CAST

ANIME DramaHibike! Euphonium 2
MOVIE DramaLiz to Aoi Tori
MOVIE DramaHibike! Euphonium: Todoketai Melody
OVA DramaTokubetsu-hen Hibike! Euphonium: Ensemble Contest

REVIEWS

• 

  ottermatter

  70/100
  Doesn't quite hit the high note perfectly.

  Before we begin, here are four important FAQs:

  Q: Can I watch this without watching the TV series?
  A: No, watch the two seasons of TV series first. They’re all very closely related.

  Q: Apparently there is this Side Story called Liz to Aoi Tori, should I watch it first?
  A: It’s not mandatory, but I hugely suggest you to watch it first. It actually enhances some parts of this movie.

  Q: Is it worth it to watch the TV series and Liz movie just to watch this one?
  A: In short, the TV series and Liz movie are actually better than this movie.

  Q: Does this review contain spoiler?
  A: No.

  And so, here we begin with the review.

  ...

  Taking place after the end of Hibike! Euphonium 2, our familiar characters have now gone up a grade. Characters with blue ribbons are now third year students, characters with red ribbons are now second year students, and characters with green ribbons have now been replaced with fresh new faces of new first year students.

  Replacing old characters that the viewers might have already attached to is without doubt a bold move. After all the time spent to develop the characters, then outright replacing them with new characters and having to convince the viewers to like the new characters, it can be very hard to pull off and might be one of the reasons why series with school setting rarely cover more than one year. However, when you noticed that the studio that helm the production of this movie is Kyoto Animation, the studio that have produced massive hits over massive hits like Clannad, Haruhi, K-On!, Free!, Violet Evergarden, and many more, you just can’t help but feel confident they might be able to pull it off.

  

  Unfortunately though, if I have to describe it with one word, Hibike! Euphonium Movie: Chikai no Finale is frustrating.

  If you’ve already watched the TV series and Liz movie as I suggested at the beginning, by now you should’ve have familiarised yourself with Kyoto Animation’s direction and production quality. There’s just no complain regarding them. The direction, animation, character movement, soundtrack, voice acting, background art, camera movement, every little detail, there’s just no compain about them. They are all produced in high quality. However, doesn’t matter how much you polish it, when the plot is weak, it’s bound to be a weak movie.

  Chikai no Finale has a weak storyline and being a movie instead of TV series really doesn’t help at all.

  The main idea about Chikai no Finale is to showcase the development of the characters after the events in the previous TV series, mainly the development of the protagonist, Oumae Kumiko. The story focuses mostly on Kumiko and the new first year students with Kumiko helping them integrate with the club by helping them with their issues. While it sounds like typical Hibike! Euphonium plot (Kumiko sticks her nose into other people’s problem), unlike the previous drama, the problem with this new set of drama is how underdeveloped they are and as a result seem trivial, unnatural, and overdramatic.

  In the end, even Kyoto Animation can’t showcase the best of them through this movie. Having to introduce new characters, setup the drama, establish the plot, resolve the conflicts, all while also have to show the older characters’ development and the obligatory festival and competition in a very limited timeframe, proves to be a very tough hurdle. They have to condense this much content into a movie that doesn’t even last 2 hours.

  I have a feeling that if the plot is given more time to develop, it can actually be decent. With this limited time frame, it ends up being a pile of rush jobs instead, skipping from one thing to another very quickly, before the viewers can even develop a feeling towards the new characters and empathise with their issues.

  With that being said, this movie is not all bad. In fact, many of the points above are done very well. I find myself loving the new third years because of this movie, which I’ll end up be disappointed because they have to graduate, which means that I won’t see them again if there’s a sequel. The performance they do in this movie absorbs me deeply that I found myself nodding following the rhythm and who knows how many times I have listened to it again and again afterwards.

  Repeating myself once again, this movie is not bad at all, but can it be better?
  Absolutely.

  I can’t help but think there’s room for improvement, especially in the storyline, the buildup, and the pacing. This is why instead of bad, I describe this movie as frustrating.

  So, in conclusion, should you watch the movie?
  Depends.

  Do you like Hibike! Euphonium and want to see more of the characters?
  If no, feel free to skip this movie. You’re not going to love Hibike! Euphonium because of this movie. If the first 2 seasons of the TV series failed to attract you, nothing else would be able to.

  However, if yes, you should watch it. Not to mention there will be a sequel that covers about Kumiko in her third year and before you watch that, this movie is definitely a mandatory. So, enjoy the movie and wait for the next piece that will begin shortly.

  
  Continue on AniList
• 

  fucku

  72/100
  Despite my bias, this one is not a perfect installation to the series.

  NOTE :

  This is not going to follow my usual style of reviewing a show because I just want to get some major things out of my head with this show. Also note that this will be spoiler-free.

  ---

  My history with Hibike.

  • Keeping it short and sweet here. Discovered this absolute gem back in August and it instantly shot up to my 2nd (potentially 1st) favorite show of all time.

    • I procrastinated a whole lot (re-watched s1,s2 and Liz once) before finally getting to the latest entry.

    • Part of the reason was because I'm usually just reluctant to finish my favorite shows because the idea of "All good things must come to an end" fucking sucks.The other more important reason was that I heard that this movie did not live up to its predecessors.

  Unfortunately, the rumors were true.

  ---

  Review

  ---

  Problems

  Pacing and Content

  • I'm going to address the elephant in the room right from the get-go as it is the most glaring problem. I don't know how or where to begin but the movie is a cramped mess. I don't want to get into the tiniest of details so I'll give you a general idea of why this was the case.

    • In case y'all didn't know, the original Hibike! Euphonium Novel is split into 3 years, spanning over the course of MC Kumiko's high school years. The first 2 seasons of the anime adapted Kumiko's 1st year of high school. This movie adapts the 2nd year.

    • IF it's still unclear, Year 1 had an 8hr runtime while Year 2 was hastily packed into a 1hr40m movie. Naturally this would lead to TONS of content being skipped/skimmed over. I don't want to get to into spoiler territory so just know that the pacing and content of the movie sucks, from start to around 3/4 of its runtime. This is my biggest gripe with the movie.

  Budget

  • I have one more issue with it, that being the budget and how it was spent. I love the performance, but there were a few things that made it miss the mark for me.

    • I've never cried at any music performance in my life, until I listened to the third movement of Liz and the Blue Bird's titular piece. I mention this because its plain as day to see that this is where most of the budget went. It's not a bad thing, but...

    • the performance is merely a backseat. I shit you not, we can have a 360p crappily animated performance, slap it on s1, 2 or Liz's climax performances and they would still be good. It's because...

    • Hibike! Euphonium is about the journey, not the end. So blowing all their budget to do such a grand performance didn't sit well with me because I'd much rather trade the entire performance for a good middle section.

  Positives

  Potential

  • Even with the scuffed pacing, it's clear as day that Hibike! will always have some of the best characters this medium has to offer. Though most of the drama that would otherwise be emphasized on if this movie was instead turned into a series were short, they were super interesting. Perhaps it's due to them being rushed that piqued my interest, but I could actually see it de-throning S2's drama if stretched out.

  Authenticity

  • This is one of the rarest things in Anime nowadays. Hibike! is one of the few possessors of said Authenticity. I will probably never have the right words to describe what I mean by this.

  Characters

  • Another Hibike special. Every single key Y1 student brings so much new conflicts to the table, while our Main Y2 cast continues to discover about themselves and their futures. Lastly, the remaining Y3s try their hardest to make their final year a memorable one.

  ---

  Conclusion

  • All in all, this movie is but an installation in one of the best Animes of all time, and if you liked it previous seasons, this one will be no different.

  • Finally, for all those who just scroll down to look at the score, note that my scoring for movies (except Liz) don't matter for shit because I haven't seen enough of them. Read the actual content to get a better understanding of how I truly feel.

  Thanks for reading!
  Continue on AniList
• 

  SeaBear57

  70/100
  A rushed continuation that at least knows what it wants to say.

  
  This movie makes me so mad, and I kept putting off watching it for months because I knew this was going to happen. It's just so annoying to see the ideas of something great, but all of it be for nothing as they speedrun this whole section of the story. Overall I think Kumiko is still great here, and her dynamic with Kanade is perfect with where she is as a character and Kanade being a parallel to a season one Kumiko. Though besides Kumiko, pretty much every other character is sidelined. Even though Kanade is good for Kumiko, Kanade's arc is still so dumb. She is told many times that seniority doesn't matter at Kitauji, but she doesn't believe it because of her middle school experience. Kanade is scared that everyone will hate her if she takes a senior's role. As that's what happened in middle school and everyone hated her after they lost the competition. She uses what happened last year with Reina as an example of Kitauji being just like anywhere else and other what-if scenarios. But this point makes no sense because even when Reina played, THEY LOST THE COMPETITION, AND NO ONE BLAMED HER. So I guess no one told her about that part or something?

  The next new character Mirei wants to do her best and hates that Hazuki doesn't take this as seriously and prioritizes fun. Again she works well for Kumiko as doing your best vs. enjoyment is something that Kumiko struggles with within the first two seasons; it truly shows how far she has come. But we never see Mirei having a negative experience with Hazuki, so it gives me no reason to empathize with her and just makes her out as more of a bitch. Then there's Motomu, whos just a dick and does nothing in this movie, and Satsuki, who literally does nothing. If she had no dialogue, nothing would change. Natsuki was also good, as she and Kumiko seemed to be the only people with common sense. Reina doesn't do much either but starts to worry that her goals could get in the way of her and Kumiko's friendship but that never gets explored. The most insane part of this movie is Kumiko and Shuuchi's relationship. The idea of something between them was definitely hinted at in the previous two seasons, but Kumiko never showed any real interest. Now, this starts with Shuuichi confessing and the fastest relationship ever. They have maybe five scenes together, with the longest one being a date to the festival (which is sped through). We never get to see their feelings grow for each other or anything that would make their relationship believable. Then about thirty minutes later, they decide to maybe date after band is done. This should have either been cut or had a larger focus; it just ruins any potential they had by doing it in a way where we never see anything besides the confession and the semi-breakup.

  Because of all these different plot lines, they try to shove in; the pacing is EXTREMELY FAST, with many cuts not flowing together and scenes feeling like they just started before it jumps to something completely unrelated. The final performance, though great to look at, held no weight since I don't know anything about most of the characters and didn't get to see their journey to get to this point. Since the performance was 10 minutes, it took up way too much run time, which left about 4 minutes before the credits. With season three looking like it will go straight to the 3rd year, we don't get to see any of the current 3rd years like Yuuko, Nozomi, Mizore, or Natsuki off. If this is the end of those characters, that's just depressing. The problems here are even more apparent when before this, there is Liz and the Blue Bird, which is the complete opposite of this mess. Liz is focused on two characters, slow-paced, and never leaves the school; it knows exactly what it's trying to do and is confident in its presentation.

  Though I have mostly complained, the core themes and message of the story are still continued perfectly, as I mentioned earlier with Kumiko and Kanade. "It gets in the way of getting better… That's life. You try your best and practice and practice, but you could still fail. Life is full of failure (Kumiko)." But it's still important to always try your best, no matter the outcome, to not have any regrets. Doing your best could lead you anywhere. Bonds are formed from being honest and being the best person you can be. Hibike Euphonium has always shown the importance of putting everything you have into something you love. Kumiko and Kanade showcase all of this amazingly in the rain and bus scenes, which are the absolute highlights of the movie. I will never understand why Kyoani chose to do a movie. They obviously care for this series a lot when looking at the previous entries. Hopefully, season three can flesh out all the new characters, and plot lines since much of it felt like setup. I still give this a seven because, well, honestly, I'm not sure it still had the heart it's always had, and that's enough for me. Actually, Asuka was in it, so it's a ten. I love this movie!
  

  Continue on AniList

SIMILAR ANIMES YOU MAY LIKE

• ANIME

  DramaKono Oto Tomare! 2
• ANIME

  DramaSakamichi no Apollon
• ANIME

  MusicD4DJ All Mix
• ANIME

  DramaAo no Orchestra
• ANIME

  DramaBanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!!
• ANIME

  SportsNa-Nare Hana-Nare
• MOVIE

  AdventureMimi wo Sumaseba
• ANIME

  DramaChihayafuru
• MOVIE

  ComedyK-ON! Movie
• MOVIE

  MusicLove Live! The School Idol Movie
• MOVIE

  MusicLove Live! Sunshine!! The School Idol Movie: Over the Rainbow
• MOVIE

  ComedyChuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai!: Take On Me