Sound! Euphonium | Season 1 | I Just Want To Improve
On Saturday night, one of my best friends came over to binge Season1 of Sound Euphonium in preparation of the movie premiering in theaters. We said we were going to binge all of season one and two but realized that was crazy and settled on season one. That night I couldn’t help but think about this show and it drove me to write about it. I wouldn’t call it a review by maybe just a collection of things that stuck out to me that will likely leave a long impact on me. I will be speaking about the entirety of season one so there will be spoilers.
As I mentioned already this post is spoiler-ridden so I won’t give any synopsis to the series, I kind of assume that you’ve watched or you know enough about the series to see what I’m ranting on about.
The first thing that stuck out to me was the musical advisor, Noboru Taki. Taki-San seemed like a kind and understanding teacher that would bring a joyful and painless experience to this club. He then starts off with a simple question: what is the goal this year for this club? Whatever choice the club makes, he will make sure that they succeed and meet their goal whether it was just to have fun or make nationals. This stuck out to me mainly because this is something a mentor said to me when I started my job. What goal do you want to reach? Set it and I will make sure you meet it. I believe this is a great quality of a mentor and something I hope to use when I become one to someone else. It’s a straight forward approach with transparency. The ball is in your court now.
Kumiko’s road through this season is finding her own path and breaking out of the one she made to follow her sister. She picked the euphonium as a kid because her sister had done the same. She seemed to only want to achieve passing marks this is obvious at the start with how she reacted when her team made dud gold instead of moving to nationals. She learns quickly through Reina Kousaka that she can be special too. I also felt the same with my journey as a programmer. I mainly decided I wanted this career path because I had close friends that were doing the same(also the money seemed good). I learned quickly this field isn’t for everyone and I really needed to enjoy it if I wanted to excel and be special like what Kumiko and Reina were aiming for. Once I caught the bug and found what made me love it. I worked hard and I’m still fighting to make myself stick out and show my skills.
As much as the journey of Kumiko’s is enjoyable and rewarding the moment where she felt she hit a wall was relatable and heartbreaking. I think we’ve all been at a point where we think we are exceptional at something but then a barrier hits us or someone doesn’t acknowledge those skills. In her situation, she was having great difficulty with the pace of this piece she was playing. It was hard for her because she wasn’t improving but also the pressure of time being against her for the performance. Another thing to keep in mind is she was chosen over someone else to play it. When Taki-San told her not to play during their practice, I can’t imagine how that must’ve felt.
The moment she is running through her tears and screaming that she just wants to improve, hit me like a ton of bricks. Man tears. Nothing but man tears.
What I would like to take from this and what I would even suggest you take from this, we should set goals and make them tangible. I’m going to get a whiteboard and write out things I want to improve on. Figure out what you can do to get better. Those things can be bullet points to achieve those goals and bring you closer to improve. Practice once a day, if it’s applicable. Let’s come back a month from now and see what improvements we’ve made.
Hopefully, this post didn’t seem like a brain dump. I really just had all these things in my mind but I wanted to compose something that would bring about actions to improve not only myself but you guys. If you are going to work towards something, I’d love to hear what it is in the comments below so we can encourage eachother! I will be working to improve my drawing skills, getting stronger in the gym and being a better programmer. Let’s all strive to be special!