Mid-summer Fanfare

Mid-summer Fanfare (まなつのファンファーレ) is the first episode of the second season of the Hibike! Euphonium anime series. It was broadcasted on October 5, 2016.

Synopsis
As the Kitauji wind band celebrates moving on to regionals, Kumiko notices an unfamiliar girl their age leaving the concert hall. Later, Kumiko joins Reina taking part in early-morning practice sessions in addition to usual club meetings. On their first one Kumiko meets the band's only oboist, Mizore Yoroizuka, who is the first student to arrive every morning. The same day, Taki reveals that he has invited his college classmate Hashimoto, a professional percussionist, to instruct the percussion session leading up to the regional competition, and the girl that Kumiko saw at the concert, a flautist named Nozomi Kasaki who quit the club during the clash between serious and laid-back students the previous year, approaches the bass section during their sectionals to ask Asuka's permission to rejoin the band. Asuka refuses. Nozomi turns out to have come from the same middle school as Mizore, and the two are implied to be friends, but Mizore is upset by hearing Nozomi playing her flute from a distance. While watching fireworks at a local festival with Reina, Kumiko muses on why someone who loves music as much as Nozomi would decide to give it up.

Trivia

 * This episode is longer than any episode of the series, coming in at about 47 minutes (a standard episode lasts around 23 minutes).