Hibike Euphonium contains so many excellent side characters with one of my favorites being Natsuki so...

Here's a thread about Natsuki's character arc and growth in season 1!

We learn our first details about Natsuki from Gotou. She's a person who doesn't stick around for practice, seemingly doesn't care for the band, and has little to passion for playing the euphonium. Band is not her top priority, she never planned to stay and to work harder.

However, this isn't the case after Shuuchi looked into the band's history and explains that people like Natsuki were once passionate, but because of conflicting ideas caused by seniority and other factors, most of the current second years have lost their drive.

After learning this, Kumiko makes the first step to help revitalize Natsuki's passion for playing Euphonium. This is probably due to Kumiko experiencing a similar event where she conflicted with a senior in the past so she can resonate with Natsuki's waning passion for music.

What makes this small moment with Natsuki so special is that during this episode, we see Aoi's passion for playing saxophone diminish while, in contrast, we see Natsuki beginning to take her instrument home because she truly starts to care about playing music again.

Natsuki starts to become more sociable by talking with Kumiko, taking an interest in her activities, and we see her helpful side when she shuts Kumiko up when Asuka is pissed. Her determination to improve and play more confidently as well is a far cry from how she was initially.

Natsuki and Kumiko's past experiences were similar and because of this Kumiko grows fearful that Natsuki might resent Kumiko for being able to play better. Natsuki lets out a sigh and a slight smile because she understands Kumiko is feeling this way.

After this, Kumiko catches Natsuki practicing by herself. Despite Natsuki knowing that she probably won't pass the audition because of the skill gap, she has a newfound determination to practice, practice, practice as much as she can to give it all she's got!

Her audition is long and drawn out, but one has to admire Natsuki's tenacity to continue going. She mentions how Taki saw right through her, and I think Taki made her play those parts so Natsuki could understand what she needs to work on for improvement since he sees potential.

Natsuki is very accepting and honest with herself, she completely understands that her one year of playing the euphonium isn't enough to get her through the auditions. She's under the belief that talent should precede seniority, and her awareness of this shows she's mature.

This shot is the perfect representation of one's inner mind when they play music they haven't practiced enough so the notes start to crumble as they feel more exposed. This feeling Natsuki had during the audition is one she never wants to feel again and it pushes her forward.

Kumiko's fear was that Natsuki would be just like her previous upperclassman who resented her for being a more capable player than she is. Now we have Natsuki, an upperclassman, praising Kumiko and is happy that Kumiko, with her years of talent, was able to pass the audition.

It's because of Kumiko's talent and the drive she's shown to improve that Natsuki is able to make a goal for herself. Natsuki now has her passion back and her objective now is to improve enough so that they can play with each other in the future. This Natsuki is now fired up!

Natsuki wasn't someone who started with no passion, she just needed someone like Kumiko to help bring her back. What we're left with is an empathetic, nice and strong person with a resolve to become the best version of herself possible. Natsuki is truly an amazing side character.

If you made it this far, I'd appreciate it if you shared this tweet around! Thank you for reading! ^_^