“It’s like being drawn to something beautiful despite your fears “ – Kumiko

This is literally the whole yuri fandom as they watch Hibike! They know what might happen (or what did happen in the novels) and they jump over board just about every time Mattaku-sensei or Shoe1 is mentioned but always come back when KumiRei happens! Seriously, just this Friday night I might have been the only one still aboard this ship. Then when the preview of this episode hit, those back on board could have been counted on one hand. And now after this episode it’s like back to before episode 10 aired! Has a series affected people like this? I think not! It’s  like watching Titanic reverse-sink or something!

Not that I am mad at those who change their hearts every other episode at a simple scene or anything because this episode dear readers! It was like KyoAni was fed up with being  called trolls so they up’ed the yuri up to 11 (no pun intended) and I say yuri and not just KumiRei because the yuri sprang up from every other corner like it was a series by Morinaga or Shizuru-sensei!

The couples that might have been hinted at were outed and those that already sailed hit shore this episode. It goes without saying that this episode totally OWND  episode 8! Not only did KumiRei out-do themselves this time around but we also got other ships into focus and some totally new ones!

I really don’t know about you all but this series is going into the archives for me. No matter what happens to KumiRei there are other ships now to consider even if they pale in comparison and even KumiRei will still stay in my heart. I don’t care about the future, this is the now and KumiRei is dominating. Worrying about the novels is like worrying about death in real life – What is the point of living if we all die in the end kind of deal is what I see this as!

But before we go any further, just a reminder that Homucifer is watching over us…

Watch Venus and Jupiter Kiss On June 30th (Tuesday) & July 1st (Wed)!! Hibike! Euphonium Finale on June 30th!!! (Subbed ep hits night of July 1st)

 

 
 

 
NatsuRibbon

I sat there like minute trying to figure out how to approach this episode and then I was like, why the hustle? Let’s just do this by couple! And so let’s begin with the ‘WTF where did that come from’ NatsuRibbon as I like to call them! Seriously can Natsuki-senpai get any more awesome? I think yes! After the last episode where she surprised me by the way she handled her losing to Kumiko and now this, I am ready to declare her BEST GIRL except there is Reina so I actually can’t but by the gods, Natsuki-senpai is waaaay much better than Asuka-senpai! And also speaking of Asuka, just when she couldn’t get any lower she actually managed to this episode as well when…but that is in a bit. For now we are about Natsuki-senpai!

Really, I can’t even say why I was surprised! She and Ribbon are both 2^nd years and probably classmates, also they went through that hell together from a year ago so I shouldn’t be surprised at their closeness but you have to admit, that came out of the left field so hard, especially when in the episodes before it looked like there was friction between these two! Now they are close and I bet they are going to stay that way from now on, especially if you think of the future when Kaori-senpai graduates and these two 2^nd years are the only ones left (Safe Bet Ship right here!)

And this change in the relationship is all thanks to awesome Natsuki-senpai for taking the first step and lighting that match stick! Despite having been shown off as a loner, the exact opposite of what they did with Asuka-senpai, these two’s roles are now reversed! Not even just roles, it seems their personalities too have switched! Natsuki has turned from that lonesome girl who spent most of her time staring out windows not giving anyone a minute of her time to being the most empathic of the bunch! Meanwhile Asuka-senpai went from the awesome love em all Senpai to a cold shoulder ‘it’s none of my business’ bitch status!

And so this greatest of people Natsuki-senpai saw and understood what Ribbon might have been going through and saw beyond the villainy of her! She reached out to her, in style I might add, after Ribbon saw the truth of it all. That truth being that Reina was too good and thus seeing the error of her ways because she knew Reina had been picked because of her skill. That moment was gold too, when Kumiko got Ribbon-blocked on her way to ask Reina to a lunch date!

Ribbon’s predicament finally start to sink in and she is lost! Natsuki-senpai tries to cheer her up, suing the best method possible, when she blew in the distracted Ribbon-chan’s ear! Her reaction was super! I think she hit her head on the lockers too! There was this sickening sound but since she didn’t cry out in pain I guess it wasn’t that bad. Anyway Natsuki tries to tell Ribbon that she might have done more damage than she might think and that Kaori-senpai might come out with even more damage no thanks to her but Ribbon-chan says that she knows that!

Ah Love, makes people do crazy things, don’t it?

But even as brief as that moment was, it started something, grew a seed that I think is gonna grow into the most beautiful of lilies! For later after Ribbon talks to Kaori-senpai, a talk that she wanted to apologise for what she has done but didn’t have the heart to, all but ran away from her love and guess who runs into?

Right into Natsuki-senpai’s back! At first I thought it had been an accident but on second watch I wasn’t so sure! That delay of a handful of precious seconds spoke volumes! Even Natsuki-senpai was taken aback by this! I can’t wait for the next episode where instead of seeing Ribbon all over Kaori-senpai like before, this time Natsuki-senpai has her arms around her like her guardian angel protecting her heart from the evil of this world!

SHIP!

 


 
 
 
Just kiss her girl! She won’t see that coming!
 
Asuka/Kaori

I am with club Pres! What does she see in Kaori?! But who are we to judge, especially I? As long as there’s yuri, I would care at all what a person is like, 99% o f the time! I am even inclined to not hate on Asuka just for Kaori-senpai! Doesn’t mean I like her though!

Kaori has spent like, the last two episodes trying to get Asuka to acknowledge her! I am like, you have been together for three frikkin years, if she hasn’t taken you seriously yet, why would she start now? And if you haven’t been trying to get her until now, why wait all this time?! Actually thinking of it, isn’t it amazing that these two, three actually including the Pres, don’t have boyfriends already?! I mean come on, it’s not like they are hot! And it’s not like romance is forbidden in this universe so why? I am having delusion right now and I better stop or I might be consumed and I will have to post-pone this to tomorrow!

Anyway, that is all I have to say about this, Asuka is just so not making this ship easy to sail!

 

  

 
 
 
 
 
 
KaoRibbon

The ship that almost almost rivalled KumiRei! Except its fate is so clear cut like the Titanic because all we have seen so far is one-sided love! Worse still is that Kaori-senpai knows, I am pretty sure she knows unless she is the dumbest person in the anime, that Ribbon loves her! She knows and yet all we have seen her do that might be seen as giving something back is allowing Ribbons to take pictures of her in her band uniform and even then she still put up a fight!

This very episode too, even as Ribbon poured out her heart to her in the classroom, an action that would only have been upstaged by actually saying the words ‘I love you’, in terms of FEELs department, she only looked on as if through sympathetic eyes when she looked at Ribbon! Ribbon probably knows it too, she knows that Kaori-senpai doesn’t love her like she does but she doesn’t care!

Actually it was this fact that totally transformed me from a Ribbon hater to a Ribbon lover! I just can’t help it. I will always take the side of a girl in love! It is why I defended Chikane during the ‘Chikane raped Himeko. That is not love!’ and why I look at all the so called Puella Magi fans who hated Homura and raeg’d on SHAFT for apparently destroying her character (Which is total BS BTW!) in Rebellion because this is all about…

But there is billions of people in the world, all totally different so we can’t all have the same perception and though it sucks, that is the way things are.

Anyway back to the point at hand, Ribbon’s dedication towards Kaori really hit me right in the heart and though the episode started out with me totally hating on her, it actually ended with me ready to cry for her! To the very end, even in front of the whole band, she was still behind Kaori! Those tears, I think I know why they affected me so. It was as if she was not crying just because her love lost her last chance to go to the nationals, but also because maybe she knows that after the mess she had created, there was no way she was worthy of Kaori-senpai’s love! So her tears were not only for Kaori-senpai but for herself too.

I SHIP THIS! (Even if it might be over!)

 
Shit, I guess I have to love her now, huh?
 
 
Even the characters have been affected by the KumiRei!
 

How do you know this Kumiko?
 
 
Ribbon-block!

…of Kousaka-san?

’Oh crap! She knows’ Face


’Oh, it’s about the music? Whew’ Face!


Passionately defending waifu! Like all great lovers!
 
Dark Kumiko ready to go on the offence if necessary!
 
 
 




Reina being an S towards Kumiko! Well, they love pain, don’t they?
 



 
Can you believe there’s some who think of Reina as a cold bitch?

Alright Ladies and Gentlemen, best for last! That means only one thing when it comes to this show of course – KumiRei, duh! And before we begin let me tell you all something! I didn’t sleep a wink last night! I spent all night thinking of KumiRei and no matter what tricks I used, I just could not get them off my mind! Even the basic sheep-counting hax didn’t do nothing! But that was way after watching the episode!

During the episode itself, my housemates had to come over to my room to see if I was okay! There was fear on their faces and it turns out they thought that I was having a seizure of some sort! This was during that golden moment that made episode 8’s mountain moment look like child’s play! You know which moment I am speaking of – The one before the trumpet wars of course!

It took me over 40 mins to get through that scene that wasn’t even longer than three minutes! I was crying, screaming and scratching the wall behind be like a maniac during that KumiRei moment! I am not even kidding you one bit dear Readers! Even I was surprised with what I was doing! I was aware of my behaviour but I gave no ticks! It didn’t matter that it was the middle of the night and that my room is connected to the neighbours and that they were definitely sleeping, or trying to because they sure as hell had to have heard me! I sure hear them walking in their room next to mine so they should hear me as well, especially when I resort to wall abuse!

I am telling you all this episode hit me so hard I can only think of one other ship that hit this hard and that is my true OTP – MadoHomu! OMG, does this mean KumiRei are riding to the top of my list?! THIS IS MADNESS!

And MADNESS this show is turning out to be! And if those Venus and Jupiter rumours are on point, I am going to need an ambulance come July 1^st! You all have your thumb on your emergency button dear Readers, I might need some rescuing! But that is not the only madness that is spewing from this show! Like I said, it’s like KyoAni was slapping people in the face for doubting them by tuning everything up to 11! This episode bitch-slapped episode 8 so hard I almost want to cry for it! You thought KyoAni was frakking around? Well what you say now, eh?

Not only did KumiRei sail all the way into space, but as we have seen other ships set sail, and hard this episode! Hard a problem with the KumiRei because they are apparently destined to be het-ed (Heh, heted, get it – hated?) in the future? Well then, we will just have to prove our point by introducing other ships! What you say now? – said KyoAni this episode!

Hibike! Is way past baiting! This is heading into law-breaking territory if KyoAni decides to crap on their viewers with this! They have to know this. They are human after all! I mean for the love of God, even I am starting to feel sorry for Shoe! At this point! Me, feeling sorry for a character like him! The world is ending! I mean forget about the fact that even his minutes of development were totally dismissed since episode 8! This episode alone he really looked like he could have used some Kumiko in his life and I wouldn’t even have minded but what did KyoAni go and do? They totally made Kumiko leave him to wallow in his pain!

Let’s think about this, Kumiko is not the Kumiko of the beginning of the show! She has matured and is getting stronger! She is showing that she no longer cares what others think of her, taking queue from Reina BTW, and she has proved this by how much she has stood up for Reina these two episodes and not afraid of displaying her new closeness with Reina to everyone!

So, why then is she not going to Shoe!’s rescue? She has to know, and even if she is wrong, she has to suspect that maybe Shoe! Is struggling because he is thinking of her and how he might have screwed up their friendship! So at the very least she should feel a bit guilty. There isn’t a reason why she did not go to Shoe1 at their spot that time when he was obviously struggling but she DID NOT! What did this Kumiko do instead?

She was worried and asked Reina not once, but twice if she was okay! She went to Reina twice! So it is not that she doesn’t want to get involved into something troublesome because she is with Reina but that she did not go to Shoe1!

Speaking of this, since I can’t avoid these so called spoilers from the novels, I caught a few of them and one of them mentions of how in the novel, there was a moment where Kumiko was struggling and Sho1 encouraged her, right? To me this looks like the exact opposite of what those rumours described! Shoo1 is in no position to be encouraging Kumiko, in fact I see no way Kumiko can go from where she is to needing comfort again, especially since she just had that same problem right before ep 8 which was taken care of during the festival moment of awesome!

For KyoAni to waste the two remaining episode going back to depressed Kumiko makes -1000 sense? And less sense would be not utilising this developed mutual understanding between KumiRei to solve that issue especially after Kumiko has just done the same for Reina!

And there lays the gold dear Readers! No matter how you slice it, this is a KumiRei story! Forget about the novel, we are not watching the damn novel, we are watching the anime! Think of the Game of Thrones fandom! Who seriously gave a tick about the books, or even still do before the TV? Not many I might think! There is a huge difference between two medium even if the core is the same! And from what I hear KyoAni bought the rights to Hibike meaning they can do whatever the hell they want with it! An example that might fit this is DC Comics! Everyone knows of Clark and Luis! They are like the golden and signature couple of the DCCU! They have been it for almost 90 years and yet guess what DC went and did this year? Or was that last year? Any way they went and made Clark/Superman fall in love with Diana/Wonder Woman! If even Louis and Clark can be fracked with why the hell not this couple that no one is even giving a tick about because it is none-existent so far?!

But I am getting side-tracked again! Now where was I? Yes, about the craziness of this show! Well remember ep8, I know I am talking about it a lot, but remember how we kinda hated discount Sayaka for declaring that she will be helping Kumiko and Shoo-1 get together? Apparently KyoAni didn’t even let that shoot take above ground because they totally killed it with fire, just like they did Shoo-1’s development! Now instead of pushing Kumiko to realise her insinuated by Hazuki real feelings, the stooges are instead supporting the KumiRei just like the fandom!

This ship is sailing so hard it has even taken the characters themselves aboard it!

KyoAni is doing its best to erase all signs of doubts but some people are so straight they can’t even turn their eyes a degree off course and are still in denial! If even after this episode there is still debate, I give up!

Back to the episode, Kumiko has Reina on the brain! Did you see that smile and how eager she was to go ask Reina to join them for lunch? And let’s not forget the hurt and disappointment when Reina turned her offer down, because she had already eaten with Kaori-senpai! Ah but even before that, how cute she was as she defended Reina from Ribbon-chan!

Please forget me you all, I am lost to this ship!

 

 
 

Kumiko pls
 


All aboard the KumiRei!
Even Straight-chan approves of KumiRei now! Denial Anons, I am disappoint!

 
 

 
 
 
Those looks…Mein Gott!
  
 
She remembers! Just like the rest of us!
 
 
 
 

Dat look, dat smile…I am so dead…
 

 

“…”

I…I…I can’t! I literally ca-