Kumiko Oumae

Kumiko Oumae is a first-year student at Kitauji High School who joins the school's concert band to keep playing euphonium, an instrument she picked up growing up. She chose the school partly because she had long wanted to wear its uniform, though she was never fully set on the idea before enrolling.

Kumiko often blurts out exactly what she is thinking and then changes her mind just as quickly, a habit that frustrates her more than anyone else. She admits she dislikes this about herself, feeling like she lacks the courage to speak up about what she really wants or to get involved when something matters to her. Much of that self-doubt traces back to an awkward moment from junior high, when she said something to her former classmate Reina Kousaka at a music contest that she has never been able to let go of.

That shared history resurfaces once Kumiko and Reina end up in the same high school band, forcing Kumiko to face the discomfort she has been avoiding. She also navigates a complicated childhood friendship with a boy she used to argue with constantly, and reconnects with an older former classmate from the band. Through all of it, Kumiko's growth comes less from big dramatic moments and more from slowly learning to say what she actually means.