The official portal of Kyoto Animation's Sound! Euphonium revealed on Thursday a new visual, an additional cast member, and details about the broadcast on NHK Educational for Sound! Euphonium 3, the third installment of the acclaimed anime franchise.
The animated series is scheduled to premiere in April 2024 on NHK Educational. In addition, the official website announced that all four movies of the franchise will be broadcast on NHK Educational, starting with Sound! Euphonium: Welcome to the Kitauji High School Concert Band (a compilation of the first season) on December 31, followed by Sound! Euphonium: May the Melody Reach You! (a compilation of the second season) on January 1, Liz and the Blue Bird (the first movie focused on the second year) on January 2, and Sound! Euphonium The Movie – Our Promise: A Brand New Day (the second movie of the second year) on January 3.
The upcoming anime will focus on Kumiko's third year of high school.
The author of the original light novels, Ayano Takeda, presented the plot of Kumiko's third year in high school through two novel volumes. The first volume was published in April 2019, and the second in June 2019.
Warning: The following paragraph contains details from the novel plot.
In the novels, the band once again focuses on achieving gold at the Nationals. Kumiko takes on the role of band president, with her ex-boyfriend Shuuichi Tsukamaoto as vice president and Reina Kousaka as the main drummer. Like in previous years, new first-year and transfer students join the band with their own quirks, including Mayu Kuroe, a bombardier from Seira Girls School. Mayu has a prominent presence in the school competition circuit and in Sapphire's former school.
The first anime series, consisting of 13 episodes, debuted in April 2015. This inspired the film Gekijō-ban Hibike! Euphonium: a "memory film" of Kitauji High School Concert Band in April 2016. The 13-episode sequel series, Euphonium 2, was released in October 2016. This sequel inspired the film Gekijō-ban Hibike! Euphonium: Liz and the Blue Bird, centered on Mizore Yoroizuka and Nozomi Kasaki, premiered in Japan in April 2018. Sound! Euphonium The Movie – Our Promise: A Brand New Day debuted in Japan in April 2019, continuing the story with Kumiko in her second year.
Tokubetsuhen Hibike! Euphonium: Ensemble Contest, the theatrical film from Kyoto Animation addressing the "Ensemble Concert" arc of the anime, was released in Japan on August 4 in 74 theaters. This film represents the first new sequel to the anime in four years for the franchise.
