Hibike! Euphonium 3

With the ensemble contest behind them, the members of the Kitauji High School concert band now aim to win a gold medal at the national competition. For third-year club president Kumiko Oumae and her friends, it is their last chance before graduation. Filled with anticipation and anxiety, Kumiko worries if she can successfully lead the band.

Amid her struggles, Kumiko encounters transfer student Mayu Kuroe. From her gentle demeanor to her talented euphonium skills, Mayu was a member of the Seira Girls' School concert band—a regular at nationals. While Mayu is friendly, Kumiko cannot help but have an indescribable feeling from their meeting.

As new members arrive and plans are set in motion, the club, with an insatiable hunger for a gold medal, learns what it truly takes to propel themselves to reach the national level.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Oumae, Kumiko Main

Kurosawa, Tomoyo Japanese

Kousaka, Reina Main

Anzai, Chika Japanese

Tanaka, Asuka Supporting

Kotobuki, Minako Japanese

Yoroizuka, Mizore Supporting

Tanezaki, Atsumi Japanese

Nakagawa, Natsuki Supporting

Fujimura, Konomi Japanese

Tsukamoto, Shuuichi Supporting

Ishiya, Haruki Japanese

Kasaki, Nozomi Supporting

Touyama, Nao Japanese

Katou, Hazuki Supporting

Asai, Ayaka Japanese

Yoshikawa, Yuuko Supporting

Yamaoka, Yuri Japanese

Hisaishi, Kanade Supporting

Amamiya, Sora Japanese

Usukura, Ryuutarou Producer

Yarimizu, Yoshifumi Producer

Ishihara, Tatsuya Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Tsuruoka, Youta Sound Director

Reviews

Jul 31, 2024

ham_phd

Recommended

And with that, Hibike has (probably) come to an end. It's not easy to meet the expectations for a final season of a series that is so passionately loved by so many. Especially when so much time had passed waiting for this concluding chapter. While I can't speak to the personal expectations of all fans, I for one found this season to be a near perfect conclusion for one of my favorite series and protagonists of all time.

Hibike has been a very special show for me ever since I discovered it. As a former band kid, I can't recall many pieces of media that ... felt so deeply relatable to me. This feeling has possibly never been stronger than it was in season 3. With many of our characters in their final year, and our most important characters in positions of leadership, there is a powerful feeling of anxiety throughout. Anxiety to achieve their goals with their last attempt. Anxiety about the future beyond high school. Anxiety about the future of their relationships with each other and with music. These struggles our character face managed to be so specific that they evoked parallel memories of my own time in band, and had me reminiscing about whether decisions I made back then were correct and if I would have chosen a different path if I could go back now. To have continuously nailed the high school band experience with each season is a testament to the passion of both the original author and the team at Kyoani.

Kumiko really takes center stage in this season, and I found the conclusion of her arc that began all the way back in season 1 to be immensely satisfying. Rarely do you see such realistic, organic growth of a character in anime to the point that they feel like a genuinely real person. Becoming a leader is not an easy task, and for A LOT of people out there, does not come naturally. Seeing this side of the coin was really refreshing, when so often we see examples of natural leaders with less relatable struggles. I think everyone can see some of themselves in Kumiko.

If I had to give one criticism of this season, it would be that the final episode wasn't double length. Maybe we can hope for an OVA at some point, but the finale was a bit rushed for just 1 episode. Luckily this doesn't impact the important arc of the season. Enjoy this final, special season of Hibike! Euphonium!

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Jul 11, 2024

boxtop

Mixed Feelings

This season has a solid story plot and serves as closure for fans who don't plan on reading the novel. To be frank, the direction and pacing of this season is bad. While KyoAni spent a lot of time ensuring every frame was absolutely gorgeous, it was difficult to watch this season because it was sloppy.

The biggest weak point is the lack of time dedicated to developing plot points. We are often told of what's been happening behind the scenes instead of shown. There were times when I was shocked to hear what's been happening in the band since we never actually see that on ... screen. This is very different compared to the pacing and direction from seasons 1 and 2. They also can't blame "running out of time" as there was a whole episode dedicated to a side-story with no bearing on the overall narrative.

Other issues include the limited music played throughout the season and some OOC events. I'm still happy I watched this season to finish the series, but it pales in comparison to the prior seasons and isn't a good watch on its own.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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Jul 12, 2024

Shidzenrekun

Not Recommended

Spoiler

I've never thought I will be writing a review for something on MAL, but oh well, here we are. I'll keep it short as there aren't many things to discuss. Spoilers Ahead.

To preface all of this, IMO Hibike! Euphonium is a great anime... until the 2nd year of high-school because after that, it's just a downward spiral and 3rd season especially makes me question a lot of it's narrative decisions. And mind you, I wasn't against skipping 2nd year for them to finally experience the sweet victory in season 3. I pretty much expected it to happen from the get go (though in my head ... it was more of a gradual improvement: bronze - 1st year, silver - 2nd year, gold - 3rd year, but the current version works well too). The problem is "how" the characters got to it.

3rd season suffers a lot from very strange drama, Mayu existing and, ironically, lack of music. And I can give pass to strange drama as there were some even in 1st year (namely Yoroizuka and Nozomi). I can give a pass to lack of music, no matter how unfortunate it may be. But Mayu is one step too far. Creating such a shallow character just to... crush Kumiko without no apparent reason and deny her growth? Like, what exactly her character achieves by being in the show? Stir up drama in the ensemble? They were already making it without her. Making Kumiko a better person? yeah right, I'll believe. /s. I genuinely don't understand why this character was given so much for literally zero reason.

Also "press f" for Reina as she's been clearly lobotomized this season. All this yuri-bait talk about how "special" they're to each other, how she would know Kumiko is playing from the first notes, how bad she wants to play soli with her, well f*ck that, MerITocRACY is all we care about now (call me deaf but Kumiko's performance was just better and it was obvious what order they had). Furthermore, it seems that throwing your *almost* girlfriend under the bus does nothing to your mental state, cause we can just cry it off and pretend that nothing happened, and just play like we always did. yeah right, I'll believe. /s.

If you still want to watch it, just drop it after episode 11 and go read normal ending in the novel.

Reviewer’s Rating: 1

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	Is this the final season? Hickykissy - Aug 12	13 replies	by MrRant »» Yesterday, 8:17 PM
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