Following an outstanding first season that will probably retain its place as one of the best ever produced in my book for quite some time, this second one faced a daunting task of meeting expectations and maintaining that level of quality.
I knew that going in, but still... I can't help but feel disappointed.
This second season feels more like a sequel than a continuation of the same story. After all, for all intents and purposes the journey of our beloved band members was already complete; they found purpose, each other, bits of themselves and were ready to ride off into the sunset. Of course there were
...
still some unresolved issues, hinted at for the more observant viewers (excuse me a moment while I pat myself on the back), but even so this seconds season, like sequels in general, is at a disadvantage from the start.
The first few episodes we are presented with are comprised of our known cast mostly continuing with what it was already doing (ganbaru and loving X, where X = person's respective instrument), with a side dish of tacked on drama which has no connection to what came before and next to no bearing on what comes after. The conceptualisation of the conflict is ridiculously simplistic and the actual resolution is a 30 second conversation. It seems like the studio felt obligated to incorporate this story line from the source material, but didn't care enough to actually make it work. It feels overbearing and unnatural.
Luckily it gets better from thereon. The other story lines were already set up in the first season, flow more organically and are handled with much more grace, though never really reaching the old level of subtlety and spot-on pacing of the first season.
At some points I feel there is a lot of drama though. The first season had plenty of this of well, but there it was offset by bouts of the characters’ fresh, optimistic enthusiasm. It was an excellent balance that made the emotional moments all the more pungent. But I felt this balance and intermingling of ambience was missing on this second pass.
That’s not to say there aren’t some nice, gripping moment. There are. They just feel less… deserved.
A large part of why I loved the first season is because the show respected its audience. No lazy tropes, no squeaky cartoon voices (I can forgive Sapphire, oops, Midori). There was no needless exposition, no needless vocalisation of a character’s internal workings, no desire to neatly define and simplify those characters. It didn’t use two words when one would do, and used none when a single shot or gesture would be more effective. The viewer was trusted to be observant enough to pick up on details without focussing on it and to read in between the lines.
To some degree this still holds true, but the feeling that every scene has significance is lost. The characters are the same of course, but most of what there is to say about them has already been said. It’s hard to make a tightly woven story without enough yarn. Unfortunate, but understandable.
And then they throw in a swimsuit episode.
Ugh.
Yeah, I know the show has always contained a bit of pampering, with half of the female cast making googly eyes at the other half, but it was done with restraint. It teased, but didn’t resort to cheap ploys. The tone fitted the rest of the show. However, parading our endearing girls half naked at the pool makes no sense within this context.
It’s selling out. It’s not trusting your audience to be mature enough to enjoy a story without bouncy bits. It’s not believing in your own product enough to let it stand on its own without catering to juvenile voyeurism.
Don’t get me wrong, I like two-dimensional boobies as much as the next guy, but at the right time and place. Had it simply been that kind of show, I would have no right to complain. Or had I been granted a peek at Reina’s ample, fermata-shaped boobies* in a scene that was truly in service of the story, I would have been content. As it stands I’m just disappointed. I came to this show to see something rise above complacent mediocrity. (I’m sure Reina understands.)
This brings me to the last, most frustrating point, which perhaps warrants a spoiler alert, not really sure. So;
Spoiler alert. I will imply that certain things are not going to happen.
The most gripping part of the first season has to be the beautiful, blossoming relationship between the two main characters.
It is a very rare example of some girl on girl action in anime that is completely deserved and in service of the story. It develops naturally, is exquisitely portrayed with genuine intimacy and produces one of the most beautiful scenes found in TV series. It feels like the characters come together because of who they are, because they are meant to be together and because they earn it throughout the story. Not because the marketing department projects it will boost ratings or because the writes and animators want to enjoy an erection during office hours.
But then this second season basically says, ‘Uh? What are you talking about? There was nothing going on there, that’s just in your head, you dirty boy. There’s nothing to see here, please move along.’
Nothing is developed, resolved or dissolved, it’s simply ignored. Sure, the established friendship still stands, but what until now had been a heart-warming love story is retroactively made into nothing but a cheap trick to lure in more viewers. It’s either wilful deception of the audience from the very start, or a betrayal of the first half of the series by the second.
After all this negativity, please note I still rewarded this show with a solid 7, a decent grade in my book. I gobbled up the 13 episodes over the course of two days and all in all I did enjoy watching this season. I just regret having seen it.
*I stole this joke from one of HE2’s short specials. Check them out if you want a display of how lazy a studio can get with its own property.
Jun 22, 2017
Hibike! Euphonium 2
(Anime)
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Following an outstanding first season that will probably retain its place as one of the best ever produced in my book for quite some time, this second one faced a daunting task of meeting expectations and maintaining that level of quality.
I knew that going in, but still... I can't help but feel disappointed. This second season feels more like a sequel than a continuation of the same story. After all, for all intents and purposes the journey of our beloved band members was already complete; they found purpose, each other, bits of themselves and were ready to ride off into the sunset. Of course there were ... |
