#takeda ayano

[x0401x]

No, but… that was a really good one, actually.

I might as well let this out. A lot of people are still losing their minds over episode 12, and I’m not even gonna try to pretend this isn’t to be expected. It’s not happening only on this side of the fandom—the Japanese one was also torn about it, although I’d argue they were much quicker to understand what KyoAni was going for with it.

Y’all know me. That goddamn studio owns my soul, but I’m not joining the “KyoAni did it again (even when they actually did not)” club in this lifetime or the next. If the changes made during the adaptation ruin the intention of the original work, no matter how good the animation is, a spade is still a spade and I address it at length when people ask my opinion. But that’s not what happened this time.

And guys, hear me out: it’s not as painful as everyone is making it to be. I’m dead-serious about that. Stick with me here.

Firstly, there’s a couple of conversations going on that we need to put to sleep. One of them, the one bothering me the most, is that Reina “chose Taki’s way of doing things over Kumiko”. Or worse, that she “chose winning at the nationals over Kumiko”. The episode itself debunks this in several ways, mainly by showing that flashback of S1. If Reina had chosen Kumiko despite thinking Mayu’s performance was better, Kumiko would’ve known, and it could very well have been the end of their friendship. She would’ve been outraged. In no universe would this scenario ever make her happy. More importantly, the flashback implies that Reina wants to choose Kumiko in spite of everything. What stops her from doing so is the fact that it would mean betraying Kumiko, which is worse than not being able to play with her on national stage one last time. Reina didn’t choose Kumiko… but she did.

None of this was about victory—it truly was a matter of meritocracy. Choosing the best members doesn’t guarantee they would win at the nationals, especially given that Mayu isn’t superior to Kumiko by a wide margin. They’re almost tied. And neither was any of it a Taki vs. Kumiko thing for Reina. She’s abrasive when it comes to defending his policies, but her belief in him isn’t blind. The fandom tends to underestimate Reina a lot because of her romantic feelings and mistakes her faith for stubbornness, even though both the novels and the anime are adamant about her good judgement. It’s not that she trusts him because she’s in love with him—she’s in love with him because he is worth her trust. Then again, this had nothing to do with him. It was all about Kumiko. She was the only thing in Reina’s mind the whole time. Taki wasn’t mentioned even in passing.

The other is that Kumiko’s loss was for shock value because the novel’s outcome was too obvious and KyoAni wanted to surprise the viewers. I’m not gonna lie, this decision was definitely meant to give the anime a so-called “plus alpha” in comparison to the original, but that’s not all there is to it. The main reason is obviously to have it be more grounded and mature, not so much your usual music anime, as well as make the whole debate about fairness actually convincing. The original is not only predictable, it’s also questionable. It’s easy for something to look like Deus Ex Machina even when that’s clearly not the intention, and KyoAni didn’t want Eupho to be that anime. By extension, they shot down every suspicion that could’ve possibly been raised about Kumiko’s win in the original work.

Of course Reina would’ve recognized Kumiko’s sound, so although most readers would know that she wouldn’t choose Kumiko for any reason other than her performance, it still leaves room for doubt. The anime slaps this doubt into outer space by constructing a situation where Reina deemed Mayu’s playing as superior, although by a hair’s breadth. It effectively answers the question of “what would she have done if that was the case?”. With the author having approved of this, it’s safe to say that, yes, that’s what Reina would have done in canon as well. And it would be the right choice, which then means that her choice in the original was also undebatably the right one. That Kumiko earned her win in the novel.

This may or may not have been intended, but either way, the anime has elevated the original work’s outcome by going for that route. After all, the original was predictable, sure, but that doesn’t mean it was unrealistic. These two things are being confused and conflated with one another a lot in many comments that I’ve been seeing out there. Realism doesn’t always have to be negative. Kumiko and Mayu had equal chances of winning. That’s what the audition was all about. The novel portrays what would’ve happened if Kumiko had won, while the anime portrays what would’ve happened if she had lost. Both are valid and the existence of one further validates the other, not the contrary.

What the author wanted to show was that, although Kumiko can’t follow Reina or her more talented senpais, she’s still an excellent player, enough to perform the solo on national competitions, and she wouldn’t let this get the better of her. It also seems like there was an element of “be careful with what you wish” as one of the morals behind Mayu’s arc, where she finally accepts her true feelings through regret rather than joy. Meanwhile, what KyoAni wanted to show is that, even if Kumiko is surpassed, she’s still an exceptional leader and has the makings of a fine teacher. In a way, the anime affirms that both Kumiko and Mayu play a special role in guiding Kitauji through the final tournament. Above all, both routes assert that Reina wouldn’t lie under any circumstances and that Kumiko (as well as Mayu) would indeed accept either result with utmost grace and understanding, no matter how frustrating it might be.

Another thing that the anime elevated is Kumiko and Reina’s bond. In my honest opinion, KumiRei has become the best female relationship in animation and one of the absolute best female relationships in fiction thanks to this episode. It’s transcended friendship, transcended gay, transcended fucking everything.

Alternative endings aren’t dead and they don’t always suck. Eupho continues to be one of the most amazing slice-of-life franchises ever.

[arataka-reigen]

Oh apparently the author of 'hibike! euphonium' is also the author of 'flower and asura' the yuri vibes make so much more sense now

[xitty]

Flower and Asura isn't using just any old Kenji Miyazawa book, they show the edition Hana is reading in the way you can simply google it to find it: they left the whole ISBN clearly visible. It's this one.

[roxannarambles]

Well, I might be committing to something I regret, but I'm going to try and clean up the English auto-translation of the Julinemo short story just so that it's a little easier for people to read. (I don't know Japanese, by "clean up" I mean just clean up the Google translation to fix things like incorrect pronouns, funky grammar, weird spacing, etc) This thing takes up 57 pages on my GoogleDoc and I spent, er, what, 45 minutes on 5 pages just now? Eheheh . . . it's gonna take me a while, but if I get a little work done each night, it won't be so bad. Maybe take a week at most?

I dunno if this will be wasted effort if somebody out there actually knows Japanese and wants to painstakingly translate/localize this properly into English, but considering how niche the pairing seems to be (for some reason?), I'm guessing the odds are low. Especially if it's gonna be done officially. But I figure we may as well have something unofficial in the meantime.

edit to add:

btw if you want to read it in the meantime while I continue to work on the doc, head here

[hatsumishinogu]

Hana wa Saku, Shura no Gotoku Vol.8

[beeftony]

Episode 5 of Flower And Asura has so much yuri subtext that I wouldn’t believe it was unintentional if it was from anyone other than Ayano Takeda. I learned not to get my hopes up with Sound! Euphonium, which she also wrote the original novels for.

[newsintheshell]

▶️ SOUND! EUPHONIUM: IL FULL TRAILER DI CONTEST ENSEMBLE È QUI! 🎺

A quattro anni dall'ultimo film e dalla tragedia che pochi mesi dopo colpì lo studio, KYOTO ANIMATION e Tatsuya Ishihara (Chunibyo demo Koi ga Shitai!, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid S) sono pronti a riportarci nelle aule del liceo Kitauji ed è tutto bellissimo! Ho le lacrime agli occhi.

Questo nuovo OAV uscirà nei cinema giapponesi il 4 agosto e, come vi ho già anticipato più volte ormai, per il 2024 è già confermata una terza stagione della serie.

Le prime due le potete recuperare su Crunchyroll, mentre il film spinoff Liz e l’Uccellino Azzurro è distribuito da Anime Factory.

[yuurei20]

hi hi

I hope it’s not trouble to ask but, the anthology mangas are not canon right?

Hello hello! Thank you for this question! 📕

The anthology manga were created by a total of 42 different illustrators (including bonus illustrations), none of whom were the game's creator Toboso Yana, though she did draw the covers!

We do not know how much oversight was involved in the content and there are parts in the stories that conflict with the content of the game, so it might be best to consider Twst's alternative media (the anthology manga / serialized manga / novels) as canon to themselves individually but probably not to the game, or to each other ^^

They are maybe similar to Square-Enix-branded fanart, like the art gallery books!

And here is a list of all artists, for the curious ^^

Volume 1:

萩原 ダイスケ (Hagiwara Daisuke)  赤井 ヒガサ (Akai Higasa)  NAOE 一色 箱 (Ichiiro Hako)  雨壱 絵穹 (Amaichi Esora)  鈴木 次郎 (Suzuki Jirou)  悌太 (Teita)  カズアキ (Kazuaki)  まくらくらま (Makura Kuruma) マジコ！(magico)  夏目 あやの (Natsume Ayano)  汐田 晴人 (Shiota Haruto)  竹田 羽角 (Takeda Hasumi)  藤本 桜 (Fujimoto Sakura)  優月 祥 (Yuzuki Shou)  かなめ もにか (Kaname Monika)  北国 良人 (Kitaguni Rato)  十束 椿 (Totsuka Tsubaki)  野原 もさえ (Nohara Mosae)  寝子 暇子 (Neko Himako)  鴉月 ルイ (Karasuzuki Rui)  銀野 佑 (Ginno Yuu) 宮間 諒 (Miyama Ryo)  渡 ざらめ (Watari Zarame)  いちるの望 (Ichiruno Nozomi)

Volume 2:

椿いづみ (Tsubaki Izumi) キナコ (Kinako) 清原 紘 (Kiyohara Hiro) 花ヶ田 (Hanagata) 双葉 はづき (Futaba Hazuki) さらちよみ (Sarachi Yomi) 尾崎ドミノ (Ozaki Domino) もち (mochi) 平井 るな (Hirai Runa) 雨壱 絵穹 (Amaichi Esora) 藤本 桜 (Fujimoto Sakura) 寝子 暇子 (Neko Himako) かなめ もにか (Kaname Monika) 山田 リューセイ (Yamada Ryuusei) 霄之 ツ��� (Sorano Tsuki) 和佳宮 テトラ (Tetora) 古町 ゆき (Furumachi Yuki) 栗栖 ゆん (Kurisu Yun)

[eiichiro]

HIBIKE! EUPHONIUM (2015) created by takeda ayano

[animebw]

So, I've been getting almost all my hibike euphonium knowledge from osmosis from what you say. So I wanted to know how integral to the plot is that guy some people ship kumiko with (never learned his name), not only in this season, but in the previous ones too.

Because I don't think you mentioned him at all while talking about this season, other then kumiko being tired when people think they are dating, but I have seem some people say that they did end up together bc something something hair clip in the epilogue?

Also wanted to know if they dropped or dealt with the Reina crush on the teacher thing

You do seem to cherish this show a lot, so I do wanted to check it out myself, but these two things are the only things holding me back at this moment

So here's what actually happens: in the original novels, Kumiko and Shu get together at the end. Unambiguously. She confesses, he gives her the hairclip back, it's a whole big scene.

In the show, Shuichi has maybe twenty lines of dialogue across the entire final season, not a single of which has romantic implications or framing, he has a single line of dialogue in the entire final episode, and then we see Kumiko has the hairpin in the epilogue but it's not commented upon and Shuichi is never seen again.

Last week when episode 12 aired, the original author Ayano Takeda posted on Twitter that she was happy with the changes KyoAni made, and she encouraged fans to appreciate her novels and KyoAni's adaptation as equally valid interpretations of the same story. There was, however, a follow-up tweet where she further clarified that she had the final say on any changes the show made, and if Hanada or Ishihara or whoever proposed a change she wasn't fond of, it was ultimately her call whether to let it happen or not. So what this feels like to me? Is a compromise. A compromise between Takeda's original vision and KyoAni just very obviously not giving a single shit about Kumiko and Shuichi as a couple.

Now, KyoAni's been changing things in Eupho ever since the first season, and in fact, most of their shows diverge pretty heavily from the source material. And since I haven't read the original novels, I only have secondhand knowledge on what KyoAni added or took away. But what I have heard is that while all of Kumiko and Reina's subtext is still there in the novels, Shuichi has a far more visible role in Kumiko's life, with many more scenes dedicated to them as a romantic subplot. In fact, I've heard there were a few scenes in season one between Kumiko and Reina that were originally between Kumiko and Shuichi in the novels. I can't confirm if that's true or not, but frankly, it would not surprise me one bit.

Obviously, I don't know the reasoning behind the decisions KyoAni made. But looking at Hibike as a whole, it feels like they looked at this story with a pretty standard het relationship subplot and realized there was actually a far more compelling love story lurking just underneath the surface, one that Takeda herself didn't seem to realize was as special as it was. So when they turned it into an anime, they made the conscious choice to downplay Shuichi's role as much as possible and cash all their chips on centering her relationship with Reina as the real heart and soul of the story. And over the course of nine years, they supported that story as much as they could, finding every way possible to prioritize them in the narrative and frame them with the cinematic language they've deployed for so many straight couples in the past, while simultaneously refusing to give Kumiko even a single moment where she appears romantically interested in Shuichi.

And I want to stress that last point in particular: outside of that one scene in the Year 2 movie where Shuichi almost kisses her, every single interaction Kumiko's had with the idea of being in a relationship with Shuichi has been "Oh HELL no." She's constantly avoiding him in their first year, she can barely work up the effort to be civil to him while they're actually dating, and it's only after they break up that they're able to be on good terms with each other as friends. Even in this final season, there hasn't been a single moment where it's felt like either of them were considering getting back together. Shuichi's just been happy to support her, and Kumiko feels comfortable around him for the first time ever, and that's the extent of it. It's only the comments from the first years that suggest anything about a romantic subplot still ongoing between them, but none of that is reflected in any of their onscreen moments.

Like, even putting Kumirei aside, there is just no romantic tension between them anymore. Not even in a "Wow, where did that romantic moment come from? That was so forced out of nowhere!" sort of situation- the love story between them is completely nonexistent at this point. The only evidence in this entire fucking season that they start dating again is Kumiko having the hairpin in the epilogue (which, side note, hasn't been brought up all season either), which, frankly, is so open to interpretation that Bandai's shareholders are salivating in jealousy. Sure, maybe it does mean Shuichi asked her again and she accepted, but it could just as easily mean he gave it to her free of charge and accepted she didn't think of him that way. Or it could even mean he gave it to her and said something like "Once Reina finally gets turned down by Taki-sensei, make sure you give this to her, I think it'll be put to far better use that way." And frankly, that last interpretation is way more supported by the show I just watched than simply them getting back together.

The point is, KyoAni does not care about Kumiko and Shuichi getting together. It has never cared about Kumiko and Shuichi getting together. Honestly, my crack theory is the reason they sped through Kumiko's second year in a movie is to get through her Dating Shuichi arc as fast as humanly possibly. But Takeda clearly does care about them getting together, considering that's what happened in the novels. And I suspect that's one thing she decided not to budge on when they were in conversations discussing the changes KyoAni wanted to make. So to compromise, KyoAni put in the barest minimum effort to suggest things technically played out like they did in the novels- "Look, she's got his hairpin! That means they got back together!"- while refusing to spend a single solitary second on it beyond that and removing any explicit confirmation so everyone who doesn't care about them as a couple- KyoAni included- can interpret it otherwise and be fully justified in doing so.

Because from start to finish, through the entirety of this season, the love story that stood at the center of everything was Kumirei. Every last plot beat, every last thematic throughline, every last bit of swelling music and romantic framing and effort spent making you root for two people to stay together, it was always them and no one else. Even the big change they made in episode 12 where Kumiko loses the soli only further cements their story as the story of this show, with Reina's utter devastation at losing her only confirming just how special Kumiko was to her in a way not even Taki-sensei truly measures up to. I've said it in the past, but even moreso now than ever, it is impossible to look at the arc of Hibike Euphonium and not see a love story between these two girls, a story about just how fucking much they mean to each other and all the reasons their connection was something unlike anything else on this earth.

And if you choose to see it as a story of Kumiko and Shuichi getting together instead? Then you are actively fighting against what the show is communicating to you every second of every episode. You are, in fact, the delusional shipper inventing a romantic subplot where none exists. You are everything that yuri shippers are accused of being when they choose to actively engage with the text as it exists and not as you imagine it to be. Because as open-ended as the ending is, as straight as it pretends to be, it is far easier to imagine a future where Kumiko and Reina reunite as lovers than a future where she somehow falls for the guy she's never shown any interest in before. Frankly, if I was a Shuichi truther I'd feel pretty insulted by this ending! "What do you mean their entire subplot is cut out and it's only half-assedly implied in the epilogue that it totally happened offscreen? What is this bullshit?!"

This is why I chafe so strongly against the queerbaiting label. I watched three seasons of BBC Sherlock, I know full well what queerbaiting looks like. But a love story like this does not happen out of malice. It only happens because every single person involved, from animators to voice actors to directors and everyone in between, believes in it so strongly that they're willing to push as hard as they can to make it as real as physically possible within the limitations at their disposal. Kumirei is Hibike. Their story is Hibike. And if KyoAni can't convince Takeda to let them embrace it fully, well, they can at least wrestle her to a stalemate that allows that interpretation to still be possible- and, even, more plausible than the direction she initially took it down.

Adaptation is an art of making changes. It requires a text to stand on its own, fully apart from whatever source it sprang from. And KyoAni in particular has always embraced the philosophy of treating adaptation not as a one-to-one copy machine like so many of its contemporaries, but an opportunity to build something entirely new. All of its shows are, first and foremost, shows before they're translations of their source material, works of art designed to be taken as wholly complete experiences however much they resemble their inspirations or not. In Hibike! Euphonium the novel series, Kumiko and Shuichi are canon. In Hibike! Euphonium the TV show? It's flat out impossible to come to that same conclusion unless you're dead-set on believing what you want to believe, evidence be damned. And if you're so obsessed with this mid het ship that you choose to ignore the single greatest love story of all time to pretend it's more plausible, then you're simply an idiot who's opinions aren't worth engaging with.

[choirschoir]

Ave Mujica Translation Directory

...Welcome. To the world of Ave Mujica.

Interviews:

[9/13/23] BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!!'s Yuniko Ayana x Ayano Takeda, "Experts of Relationships between Women," Talk the Various Realities of MyGO!!!!! (Comic Natalie)

[9/15/23] Ave Mujica, and the Truth of their Heavy Sound: Behind the Symphony Weaved By 5 Virtuosa (Oricon)

[9/16/23] Ave Mujica’s Members Finally Unmasked! The Cast Talks Alea jacta est, Their 0th Live, the Shocking Final Episode, and Hopes for the Upcoming Sequel (Lisani)

Articles:

[8/12/23] Who are the members of the elusive "Ave Mujica"? Their educational background? An ex-girlfriend's photos leaked? I investigated! (Fan Article)

[9/29/23] Ave Mujica Feature ft. It’s MyGO!!!!! Director Kodai Kakimoto (Megami Magazine)

Lore:

My True Self -Rebirth- (Original Vid)

Lost Deep Within the Forest -Exploration- (Original Vid)

Looking For the Answer -Discord- (Original Vid)

Memories and Illusions -Past- (Original Vid)

Song of Awakening -Invitation- (Original Vid)

Prelude (Original Vid)

Songs:

Black Birthday (hanamukes, mirrorofparanoia)

Two Moons ~Deep Into The Forest~ (hanamukes, mirrorofparanoia)

Choir ‘S’ Choir (hanamukes, mirrorofparanoia)

O God, You Fool (hanamukes, mirrorofparanoia)

Mas?uerade Rhapsody Re?uest (hanamukes, mirrorofparanoia)

Ave Mujica (hanamukes, Muse Asia)

[aceoflilies]

JULINEMO NATION HOW ARE WE FEELING???????

(English context: the author of Hibike! Euphonium, Ayano Takeda, wrote an official novella focusing on Nemona and F!MC! With several incredible illustrations along the way! It’s fully in Japanese, but by god I’m going to try and do… something to get this legible in English.)

[jjs-brainrot]

Imma be real with you, Hibike! Euphonium fans. I ain't ever watch that but every time yall talk about it in terms of Girls Band Cry, it feels like you think it was also an completely original anime that was ground up written by Jukki Hanada instead of an adaptation of a 2013 novel series by Ayano Takeda.

Like, maybe I'm missing something, but you're angry at him for adapting another person's work? Despite nothing I can see pointing to Ayano being any kind of yuri writer and has only ever made Hibike! Euphonium?

And Jukki Hanada is a prolific screen writer who's worked on way more than just Hibike! Euphonium? Like he's got a massive list of scriptwriter credits you could pick from but he uh... was also the scriptwriter for the anime adaptation of Bloom Into You. Literally the most important yuri anime from the last decade?

Like I ain't trying to tell you not to be cautious about whether Girls Band Cry will commit to it or not but it feels like you're obsessing over very old wounds to me.

2016 was 8 years ago. I'm not trying to pour salt in it or anything (trust me, I took damage saying that) but that was fundamentally a different era for yuri anime from the current boom we're in now.

[z-moves]

Illustrations from Ayano Takeda's After the Rain With You

Art by (in order):

mele (Twitter/X: mele_ck)

shu (Twitter/X: shuu_illust)

satoma (Twitter/X: satomatoma | Tumblr: satomatoma)

Gemi (Twitter/X: gemi333)

buchi (Twitter/X: Qooo003)

Naoki Saito

[hatsumishinogu]

Hana wa Saku, Shura no Gotoku Vol.7