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I finished reading the manga and was astonished, shocked, unable to react. Later I read reviews on the series, and some of them said something that I, at that moment, agreed with: ”it was a character driven story and became a plot driven story”. ”Somewhere along the way, this story loses its identity”. It made sense. Starting from the Moon Arc, the gems, aside from Cairngorn, had less screentime and very little development. It was a bit disappointing to not have some plot points adressed, and how “rushed” things felt towards the end.
As the day passed, I thought long and hard about the divine Phos ... monologue when praying for the lunarians. It couldn’t get out of my mind. Then, something clicked within me, and tears came rushing from my eyes.
This story was never about the other gems. It was about how they, along with every other being in this universe, made Phos miserable and lonely.

**The Gems’ nature.**
The gems are naturally individualistic beings. They do not reproduce; they have no need for food, warmth, shelter, and are effectively immortal. They break if they touch each other in some angles and can be dangerous to their peers, hence Cinnabar.
I’d say that, if not for Kongō, they would live in solitude. Surely rational beings tend to form bonds through conversation, but they have no instinct to create families or to have friends.
As such, they lived centuries and millenia, even in this abnormal situation where Kongō is present, with very few deep connections being made – of which almost all were outright obsessions. Rutile and Padparadscha, Ghost Quartz and Lapis, Cairngorn and Phos. They simply don’t care about others, unless it’s related to some kind of paranoia.
In _three hundred years_, our cheerful protagonist couldn’t befriend any of them. And worse, they couldn’t accept him as who he was: fragile, overconfident, clumsy. When asked, they all said Phos needed to change, to be useful, and he sadly followed along.

**Phosphophyllite’s nature.**
Phos, for instance, is a very special case: his heart contains ”a pure innocence”, as said by the lunarians. ”This is a kind gem”, said Kongō. There’s something in his nature that makes him closer to humans. Kindness can lead to irrational and dumb decisions (of which Phos has no short record of). He wanted to save everyone, and to be loved by everyone. With all these desires and strong feelings, he had the potential to develop anger, hatred, hope, passion – a human soul.

**Indifference is the opposite of love.**
All of Phos’s followers to the moon went because of their own individual wishes. Dia wanted to be away from Bortz, Yellow wanted to meet his old companions, Benito wanted to be different, Amethyst wanted to be apart from his twin, and so on... Only our protagonist was on a selfless endeavor.
When Phos failed on his mission to persuade Kongō and was locked away for 220 years, they didn’t really care. When he came back all broken down fisically and psychologically, they cared even less. When he was being transformed into the savior through 10.000 years of suffering, they were worried, but ultimately unfazed.
They failed to understand and sympathize with Phos’ desire to save them. They couldn’t ever love him, and so, our 3.5 green stone was fated to be lonely.

**I have always been alone.**
The admirabilis betrayed him to save their family. The lunarian prince Aechmea manipulated Phos’ entire life to achieve his nothingness goals. The gems were indifferent to his aspirations or his suffering. And ultimately Kongō, the only one who showed him kindness, made Phos into the solitary savior who would free humanity, a role he arguably could do himself. Every single one of them used him for their own selfish desires.
“That’s it”, I thought. “I think I get it now”.
This is the tale of one who sacrificed his entire existence for the sake of others, and received nothing but despair in return.

Little by little he was forced to make insanely difficult decisions that smashed his spirit, but never once turned back, even when he had forgotten gemself, because he wanted everyone to be happy – and to find a sliver of love. But I think the latest chapters contain a wonderful message. As Kongō said to Peridot and Sphene: "It is actually very rare to accept your emotions and issues. To come into terms with them completely is what we call a miracle". Well, Phos is that miracle. When he had the power to make everyone who mistreated him suffer, he chose to save them. He could have been taken by vengeance, but understood that would have been pointless – he accepted their wishes to pass on and the fact that he was born alone, and would die alone. By saving mankind, he was able to guide the world to a new age of rational mineral lifeforms with no traces of humanity, as Dr. Ayumu dreamed of – of evolved beings able to be satisfied with themselves however failed they were, and because of that, able to accept Phos as who he was. No longer there was a need to break oneself in order to be loved. Just a wish for everyone, good or bad, strong or weak, to find happiness. And happiness, at last, he found.

I love Hibike. It's definitely one of my favorite anime. There's something magical and true about it – which was present in its first and second seasons, and in the movie Liz to Aoi Tori.
This season was heartbreaking to watch. To think that one of my favorite shows, which I've been eagerly waiting to finish for 7 years, would end like this.
That feeling of awe, of passion, and delight, was mostly absent from the 3rd season – and from the movie of their second year in highschool, Chikai no Finale, too.

As said mangaka Sakamoto Shinichi,

“Fantasy” is originally something that can be drawn ... but cannot happen in reality. It seems it was called inflated nonsense… But there are few words humans in the real world speak of. Truth can only live in fantasy”

Art is supposed to deliver inspiration and magnificence to anyone who witnesses it. As the wise says,

“Art is the realization of a true idea in physical form”

It is a medium to grasp universal truths using individual occurrences.
An artist can present to us the better and worst elements of our moral life, and by doing so can help us become better people. Art can inspire admiration for beauty and virtue. An epic poem, for example, might encourage its readers to strive for excellence.
Now, how will a piece of work that portrays failure inspire us? It won't. It will be forgettable, at best; dreadful, at worst.

MUSIC: 8/10
This is a show about music, but I felt it lacked, well… music. But maybe it is a problem with the overall pacing – they cut a lot of important moments, and wasted opportunities to create amazing scenes. The good stuff was concentrated in the end, but it was delivered in a fantastical fashion. The symphony was fantastic, and the OST was remarkable and unique, too. Hibike remains the crème de la crème when it comes to anime music.

***SPOILERS AHEAD***

CHARACTERS: 7/10
I felt the beginning was really nice, with the juniors’ anxiety, and Kumiko stepping up to align their wishes with the band's goals. Her scene with Sally in the temple was beautiful.
Kumiko's dialogue with the teacher, with Reina, and with herself about finding purpose, were excellent. In the end, she found what she loved, and what she wanted to do, having made her own decision.
The characters are remarkable and interesting. This is the aspect I love the most about this show.

Having said that, Reina was totally nerve wracking throughout the season. It seemed as if she couldn't see that the band members were humans. Not only that, they're teenagers doing concert band for fun. They would gain nothing from it. Not money, not experience (because most of them won't follow a musical career). So the only thing that’s got them engaged is passion and pride, in other words, love for music and being recognized for their hard work. Treating them harshly would only make them lose spirit, dislike music, or even quit the club, and they would lose valuable performers.

Taki's attitude is also to blame. He was extremely obnoxious to the fact that, were it not for Kumiko's strength, he would've lost touch with the band. He is not an idiot, and could certainly foresee that the club's morale would decrease after the eupho's soloist changed. And with equally capable performers, it was a no-brainer that Kumiko should've been chosen. This made me quite doubtful of his capacity as a sympathetic and intelligent adult. Also, to have no one rising up against him is frustrating. Though that's hard to ask of teenage girls, especially of our indecisive Kumiko.

About Mayu, it's not even her fault. She is a good girl, had her troubling past, and plays really well; but the show portrays her as outright annoying. Mainly because there's no reason for us to care about her. She was introduced as a plot device to pose a challenge for Kumiko to overcome, but it was repetitive, progressed too slowly, and became irritating.

And what was the need of Kanade failing to qualify? For this drama over the “four tubas” versus “three euphoniums” to end in a disappointing manner? Is it so hard to make important characters important in the story? To have them participate in the crucial moments and to actually matter?
We want to see them shining. Surpassing their limits. Doing what was thought to be impossible. This is what fantasy is for. But all we got was boring "reality".

STORY: 5/10
It was rushed. To a point that I had to make sure I didn't skip any episode, more than once. Important moments were skipped for the sake of cheap drama.
The drama overstayed its welcome so much that, rather than being happy or sad when the show ended, I was relieved. And alas, it ended in a disappointing and unsatisfying way, with Kumiko not getting the solo. “But this was realistic!”, some would say. “It made Kumiko grow as a person by accepting the consequences of her beliefs, and showed that sometimes, in the real world, no matter how much effort you put into something, you can still fail”.

Well, fantasy's job is to inspire. How is anyone supposed to feel inspired after watching failure? All the build-up done in the previous seasons, the flashbacks, and the boring drama in S3 itself, felt worthless. If Kumiko wasn't the protagonist, it would matter much; but she is. Her achieving what she desires and overcoming challenges after so much development is crucial to a satisfying ending. We watched this girl for dozens of hours only for her to fail.

***END OF SPOILERS***

CONCLUSION: 6/10
The message a story transmits is the story itself. Of course, a long story could contain tons of messages, but there is always the one, the most important one, that is the summary of it all. And the decision to change the novel's finale crushed Hibike! Euphonium's message for the sake of “subverting expectations” and “realism”.

The message ultimately went from “we can achieve our goals if we put our hearts into it”, or “music should be enjoyed and played with passion”

to “we must do everything to win, even if that means sacrificing ourselves” or "sometimes we fail even after trying our hardest".

From a beautifully true message to cheap realism. They oh so much tried to be unpredictable, only to follow the most predictable path!

What matters in a story is how it will be remembered. Hibike! Euphonium will live in my mind as a tale of failure, of melancholy, and acceptance of mediocrity, with a bittersweet taste.
Thus, having dug up the precious gold from the previous seasons and storing it tightly, whatever worthless copper left will be forgotten.

“For without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods” – Aristotle

Do not embark on this story if you expect a railroad of thrilling events. It has a lot of detours, as a journey should have. It takes its time, devoting the first few hundred pages to presenting the characters and what it will be about. Each chapter is a unique ride. But if you do decide to join the crew, you will watch first hand Frieren’s quest for knowing humanity and herself. Savour it slowly. The details are everywhere, be them expressions, scenery, or dialogue, this manga explores ... the art of imagery to the fullest, something a book could never achieve. As I wondered about the amount of effort put into this, I am amazed. The nuances of magic and how it changes over time, the individuality given to each character, the foreshadowing.

As the story goes, we learn more about Frieren’s past and her now deceased party members, and how they changed her. How these ten years, or “a mere one-hundredth”, as she said, of her life were meaningful to her. After all, in knowing others, you get to know yourself.

Should one who will outlive everyone else bother forming relationships? Considering the difference in age, is it even possible for her to truly connect to others? Sousou no Frieren tries to answer these questions, and does so in a way I’ve never seen in other media – maybe Maquia, but I digress – as with many other aspects of a fantasy world. Everything seems to be thought out.

The ability this story has to provoke catharsis is spectacular. Few works have been able to make me tear up, but Sousou no Frieren made it a handful of times. Even the side characters are interesting, but the very best are the eventual reminiscences she has of her old friends and how she treasures them.

It was also a fun ride. The comedy is on point. I laughed a lot throughout the pages, mainly with Fern, her apprentice, who is also the cutest thing in the world.

This review will not consist only of praises, though. The pacing can get draggy at times and is a little episodic. There is no real threat or imminent danger. This is not your average story, with cliffhangers and so, but a search for meaning, and that is what makes it so beautiful. It was done to be appreciated each sip at a time, like a bottle of fine wine. With that in mind, definitely give this a try, for it will be a remarkable experience.