Sound! Euphonium: Our Promise: A Brand New Day Review

New Year, New Band Members

Sound! Euphonium: Our Promise: A Brand New Day (Hibike! Euphonium Movie 3: Chikai no Finale / 劇場版 響け！ユーフォニアム～誓いのフィナーレ～) is the sequel to Season 2. To some of you, that might not make sense. How is the third movie the sequel to Season 2? What about the other movies? What about Season 3?

Allow me to explain the order of this series. First, there’s Season 1. Second, there’s Season 2. Then, the first two movies are recap movies of Seasons 1 & 2. So, you can skip those. After those comes Movie 3 (this movie), which follows Season 2.

Do we go to Season 3 next? Nope. Following Movie 3, there’s the Ensemble Contest Arc, which is another (shorter) movie. And, finally, after that, we get to Season 3 which begins airing tomorrow. But, can’t you just skip the movies and go right from Season 2 to Season 3 anyway? I wouldn’t recommend it.

You see, this movie covers the entire second year. Seasons 1 & 2 covered Kumiko’s first year at Kitauji High School. The entire second year is condensed down into this one movie, which felt really weird. And then the Ensemble Contest Arc and Season 3 both take place during the third year.

So, why shouldn’t you skip Movie 3? The simple answer is that it introduces quite a few new characters. Now that Kumiko and the gang are second-years, we get new first-year students. Those new students are still going to be around in Season 3 as second-years.

That’s the big chronological reason why you should watch this movie. But, there’s another reason. If you’re planning to watch Season 3, you probably like Sound! Euphonium. So, why would you skip this movie? It gives you more, canon, Sound! Euphonium content.

From “It’s So Over” to “We’re So Back”

I’m sure it comes as no surprise to many of you reading this that I’m on the Kumiko x Reina hype train. Kumiko might not know it, but she’s in love with Reina. And, Reina might not know it, but she’s in love with Kumiko.

Now, Reina has always been very open about how she has a crush on Taki-sensei. But, I don’t see that going anywhere. He’s quite a bit older than her, has already been married before, is her teacher, and has known her since she was a kid.

Considering all of those factors, it’s pretty easy for me to brush Reina’s crush aside. Kumiko is a bit of a different story. There’s always been something between her an Shuuichi. However, it never amounted to much. In most cases, it felt like a one-sided crush on Shuuichi’s part.

This all changes in Movie 3. Much to my horror, Kumiko and Shuiichi actually started dating. I’ll admit that it was cute seeing them going on dates and holding hands. But, the main thing I was thinking was, “It’s so over. The Kumiko x Reina ship has sunk.”

Luckily for all the Kumiko x Reina stans out there, this isn’t where things ended. Kumiko and Shuuichi broke up. We’re so back! The Kumiko x Reina ship was salvaged from the ocean floor, repaired, and set sail once again. At least, for now.

Kumiko and Shuuichi mutually decided that this wasn’t the right time for them to be together. But, they left the door open to rekindle their relationship at a later point. I haven’t seen the Ensemble Contest Arc yet, so I don’t know if it happens in that movie. But, if not, it’ll probably happen in Season 3, unfortunately.

Seasons 1 & 2 Drama, Revisited

Alright, it’s finally time to talk about the main plot of the movie. New students come into the Kitauji High School band and have some concerns. They want to know if who gets to perform in competitions is based on merit or seniority.

By that, I mean they want to know if third-year students get preference or if it’s purely based on skill. And, if that sounds familiar, it’s because it is. We did this whole song and dance already back in Season 1 when Kumiko was a first-year student.

Remember how Reina was chosen over Asuka to perform the solo in the competition? Yeah, the same exact thing is happening again. And, it’s also very similar to what happened in Season 2, which focused on the mess that occurred two years ago. Basically, this movie doesn’t do anything new.

So, what exactly is the drama? Wasn’t this all solved last year? Yes and no. It was solved as far as the current second and third-year students are concerned. They know that Kitauji’s competition band is merit-based and have come to accept that. The incoming first-year students, however, were not around for that.

Some of the first-year students don’t believe that this is a true meritocracy. Or, if they do, they believe they’ll be punished for outperforming the upperclassmen. For example, the rule might be that a first-year who’s better than a third-year gets the spot. But, will the upperclassmen then shun that first-year student?

We know the answer is no. And the second and third-year students know the answer is no. However, the first-year students still aren’t so sure. They’ve also heard about what happened two years ago. So, it makes sense that they’d be wary. Some students from back then are still around.

Final Thoughts

Sound! Euphonium: Our Promise: A Brand New Day gets a 6/10 from me. It was a fine movie and I enjoyed watching it. But, the big issue was that it reintroduced the same drama that we just saw for two entire seasons. If it did something — anything — different, it would be a better movie.

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My review of the Ensemble Contest Arc is available now.