Hibike! Euphonium Movie 3: Chikai no Finale

A new year signifies a new beginning, and that seems to be the case for Kitauji High School’s concert band. Following the graduation of the third-year seniors comes the entrance of the first-year juniors. The band members put in their utmost effort in practicing for their goal—to enter nationals.

The now second-year Kumiko Oumae, along with her friends, is met with the new and quirky batch of first-years, resulting in friction and conflict between the band members. However, as time passes, their inner feelings slowly unravel, but not every conflict is as easy to solve as the other. The trust and bonds between the band members will be challenged as they push forward for their regionals.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Oumae, Kumiko Main

Kurosawa, Tomoyo Japanese

Hisaishi, Kanade Main

Amamiya, Sora Japanese

Kousaka, Reina Supporting

Anzai, Chika Japanese

Tanaka, Asuka Supporting

Kotobuki, Minako Japanese

Nakagawa, Natsuki Supporting

Fujimura, Konomi Japanese

Tsukamoto, Shuuichi Supporting

Ishiya, Haruki Japanese

Katou, Hazuki Supporting

Asai, Ayaka Japanese

Yoshikawa, Yuuko Supporting

Yamaoka, Yuri Japanese

Taki, Noboru Supporting

Sakurai, Takahiro Japanese

Kawashima, Sapphire Supporting

Toyota, Moe Japanese

Yarimizu, Yoshifumi Producer

Ishihara, Tatsuya Director, Storyboard

Tsuruoka, Youta Sound Director

Yamada, Naoko Episode Director, Key Animation

Reviews

Aug 21, 2024

narwhaal

Recommended

Hibike! Euphonium Movie 3: Chikai no Finale is a continuation from Season 2 of the series. There is a separate film called 'Liz To Aoi Tori', which takes place some time in the middle of the movie. I highly recommend watching that film before watching this film as it makes some moments hit a lot harder. Chikai no Finale is a great film filled with dramatic moments, amazing sound direction and art. It has definitely not fallen in quality when compared to the series that came before. This review is spoiler-free.

Story:
Some might argue that a new season is better than a movie. I do agree ... to a certain extent. Due to its limited runtime of 1 hour 40 minutes, the film could not expand on all of the new characters that were introduced with the second year of Kumiko's school journey. At the same time, there were a lot of events that could not be touched on properly. This film basically has the same events as the series, just that they had to be fit into the small timeframe. Overall, I would say that they did a pretty good job of doing so. For important scenes, they handled them quite well and had the impact they needed to deliver to the audience. The film had many moments with tension that were resolved satisfactorily. Again, it would be better if this was made into a new season, but I am not unsatisfied with their execution. 7.5/10

Characters:
With a new school year, there were first-year characters that were introduced. There was only a few that could really be expanded on due to the runtime of the movie but these characters were fleshed out decently. One in particular, Hisaishi Kanade, I was very happy with. Without spoilers, all I can say is that she was a character that intrigued me from the start and I became quite fond of her interesting attitude and resolve. Other than her, some second-years everyone is familiar with also got their fair share of development. The film does focus more on the first-years though, allowing them to fit in more into the band. Generally, this department of the film was done pretty well, at least for the characters that the audience is meant to focus on. 8/10

Art and Animation:
Of course, KyoAni never fails here when it comes to Hibike! Euphonium. The art and animation are amazing, polished and smooth. Scenery is beautiful, characters are super expressive, everything is just so pleasant to look at. Nothing much else to say, they did a spectacular job as usual. You can tell KyoAni puts their soul into making this series look good. 10/10

Sound Direction/Music:
Again, another department that never fails to deliver. Music is extraordinary and the voice acting is phenomenal as well. You can really tell how much Kumiko has grown as a character through her voice acting. The pieces that were played are beautiful. Really nothing to complain about, the sound direction is immersive and sucks you into the film. As always for Hibike! Euphonium, one of their strongest points. 10/10

To conclude, Chikai no Finale is a splendid continuation of the series, using its short runtime to a damn good extent. A new season would have probably been better to build on all the new characters and struggles, but overall it left me satisfied and wanting more. Even though some of my favorite characters are no longer here due to them graduating, I am still very happy with the new and current characters. Please do not skip this movie as it is canon and do not forget to watch 'Liz to Aoi Tori', another great film.

PS. Watch the after credits, I did not expect to see that so soon.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Jun 8, 2024

lycoping

Recommended

This is a great movie, and it fills the shoes of the first two series of this anime well.

It's also incredibly disappointing, because it rushes through Kumiko's second year like a blue bird through a fantasy piece.

This anime is kind of like a fine wine. You pop the cork, sniff it, put a little in your glass, swirl it around, take a sip, and just savor the experience. When you have thirteen episodes, you can savor every moment of the work of art that is Hibike! Euphonium. This move is like popping the cork, tossing it aside, and chugging right from the ... bottle... then looking at the people around you with red-stained lips and saying, "what?".

It's a waste. I mean, yes, I'm happier that we got it than not. Kanade is an interesting character and she has at least one amazing scene that's at least as good as the climactic scene with Asuka in S2. They still have it - the sauce, it's still there, what makes it special. It's just plowed through so quickly you barely have a chance to register it happened before it ended.

It's hard to say without spoiling, so I'll just say that Kumiko would have been better off just staying single. That ended up being a mess. But, maybe the outcome of that is more realistic than I would like to admit.

We deserve better than this - but KyoAni is capable of so much more than that, too. Maybe there were additional constraints of which we aren't aware, and maybe they were still recovering from the tragedy that befell them. That's understandable. But it's still so disappointing that they phoned it in so flagrantly on this when the first two series showed us they were capable of so much more.

I haven't watched the third season yet. I'm waiting for it to completely drop. I hope that makes up for this movie.

I recommend this movie, because it's important context for season 3. But this movie is a transit, not a destination, and best not to expect too much from it.

And the next piece begins.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Apr 16, 2024

MrRant

Mixed Feelings

God, this film is frustrating.

The very best scenes and moments of the entire Sound! Euphonium series take place in this film, and yet I’m disappointed after watching this, why? Because to get to those incredible moments we had to rush towards them faster than The Promised Neverland S2 rushed towards its ending.

The very first 24 minutes of this were perfect, and I genuinely was confused as to why this was rated lower than the rest of the series, but after the beginning we are bombarded with too much content, new characters, and development for a single movie to cover. Every single conflict in between the ... start of this film and the end of it is given about ten minutes to be introduced, shown, and then concluded, and it’s so frustrating. Because you just know that Kyoani can make a much better product than this if it was a season, cause each conflict they introduce I almost immediately get invested in, yet just as fast as I get invested we are thrown straight away towards a new conflict and a new character. Hell there are even characters that get introduced with problems that get figured out OFF-SCREEN?! What the hell.

It’s so frustrating, because as the same time this terribly paced runaway train we are given the very best performance piece I have ever heard from this series that it made me cry.

In the end it’s a 6 out of 10 film with scenes that are an 11 out of 10.
And the only reason why I’m not even more pissed off, is because if this was a season, the Liz and the Blue Bird film would probably not exist.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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	Poll: Hibike! Euphonium Movie 3: Chikai no Finale Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) shanimebib - Apr 18, 2019	127 replies	by nickehhhhhh »» Jul 25, 5:21 AM
	Turning Hibike! Euphonium into a film was a mistake, especially for the future CickNipolla - Jul 12, 2022	14 replies	by Nurguburu »» Jun 29, 1:37 PM
	Anyone else feel a certain trombone player needs more love? ( 1 2 ) shanimebib - Feb 8, 2019	65 replies	by Nurguburu »» Jun 29, 1:12 PM
	Does Kumiko actually romantically like Asuka? OugiRevolution - Mar 1, 2020	10 replies	by Nurguburu »» Jun 29, 12:42 PM
	Kumiko x Reina ? removed-user - Jan 23, 2022	8 replies	by Nurguburu »» Jun 29, 12:38 PM

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