Learn Japanese with Sound! Euphonium

Anime by Japanese level › N3

How hard is the Japanese in Sound! Euphonium?

Ikkimi rates Sound! Euphonium at N3 (everyday Japanese at full speed). What sets its level: band club talk, music words. Of the 192 anime Ikkimi rates by hand, 44 are easier and 80 are harder.

Levels follow the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, from N5 (easiest) to N1 (hardest). They are Ikkimi’s estimate of how hard a show’s Japanese is to follow, from how fast people talk, how many unusual words there are and how clear the voices are. They are not official JLPT ratings.

Format, episodes, year and genres are from AniList’s entry, which may cover only the first season.

The words in the title

The Japanese title, 響け！ユーフォニアム, is a first lesson in itself. Its 2 words, as a dictionary lists them:

How to learn Japanese with Sound! Euphonium

Ikkimi lists Sound! Euphonium on Crunchyroll. What each service carries varies by country. Ikkimi does not stream anything: you watch on your own account, in Chrome on a computer, and Ikkimi adds a Japanese line you can click on top of the player.

On Crunchyroll

Crunchyroll rarely has Japanese subtitles. On a Crunchyroll episode, Ikkimi looks for a matching Japanese subtitle file in Jimaku’s public catalogue, loads it and lines it up with the episode by itself. If Jimaku has no file for an episode, you can search by hand in the Ikkimi popup or load a subtitle file from your computer.

1. Add Ikkimi to Chrome

   Get the extension from the Chrome Web Store and sign in.

2. Play an episode

   Open Sound! Euphonium on Crunchyroll. The Japanese line appears on top of the video.

3. Click the words you keep hearing

   The video pauses and the word opens: kana, romaji, meaning, JLPT level and a recording by a native speaker where one exists (never a computer voice; otherwise the line from the show plays again). Keep three to five words an episode, the ones that come up again.

4. Review them later

   Kept words come back as flashcards on the Ikkimi website, with the scene and the line they came from, just before you would forget them.

Easier and harder shows

Shows within a level of Sound! Euphonium, with the most genres in common first.

Easier

• N4 to N3Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You君に届けschool romance, a polite leadNetflixCrunchyroll
• N4 to N3Tsuki ga Kirei月がきれいquiet school romance, text messages on screenCrunchyroll
• N4 to N3Whisper of the Heart耳をすませばa film, family and school talkNetflix

Also N3

• N3Your Lie in April四月は君の嘘school talk, music words, poetic monologuesCrunchyrollNetflix
• N3Umamusume: Pretty Derbyウマ娘 プリティーダービーracing words, cheerful club talkCrunchyroll
• N3A Silent Voice聲の形a film, school talkNetflix

Harder

• N3 to N2Violet Evergardenヴァイオレット・エヴァーガーデンformal polite speech, letters read aloudNetflix
• N3 to N2BEASTARSschool talk, long inner monologueNetflix
• N3 to N2Blue Periodブルーピリオドart school words, inner monologueNetflix

See every N3 anime or all 192 anime by Japanese level, and read how to learn Japanese by watching anime from zero.

Questions

Is Sound! Euphonium good for learning Japanese?

With some help. Ikkimi rates it N3 (everyday Japanese at full speed). What sets its level: band club talk, music words. It sits in the middle of Ikkimi’s levels. A beginner can follow it with kana and romaji on every word, but it is easier after one or two simpler shows.

What Japanese level is Sound! Euphonium?

N3, on Ikkimi’s scale from N5 (easiest) to N1 (hardest). Of the 192 anime Ikkimi rates by hand, 44 are easier and 80 are harder. The level is Ikkimi’s estimate, not an official JLPT rating.

Where can I watch Sound! Euphonium with Japanese subtitles?

Ikkimi lists Sound! Euphonium on Crunchyroll. What each service carries varies by country. Crunchyroll rarely has Japanese subtitles, so Ikkimi looks for a matching file in Jimaku’s catalogue and lines it up with the episode.

What does the title 響け！ユーフォニアム mean, word by word?

響く (hibiku) means “to resound; to be heard far away”; ユーフォニアム (yuufoniamu) means “euphonium”. Words the title writes in another form are shown here as a dictionary lists them.

How many episodes does Sound! Euphonium have?

AniList’s entry lists 13 episodes of about 24 minutes, first aired in 2015. Later seasons may be listed separately.

What should I watch before Sound! Euphonium?

Shows a little easier than Sound! Euphonium, with genres in common: Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You (N4 to N3), Tsuki ga Kirei (N4 to N3) and Whisper of the Heart (N4 to N3).

Sources: show details from AniList; meanings from JMdict (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0); readings and word splits from kuromoji.js with IPADIC; JLPT word levels from Jonathan Waller’s unofficial lists. See Credits. Spotted a mistake? Tell us at hello@ikkimi.app.