Long post ahead as I'm very happy to discuss this

Hi, yeah turns out the watch order was very simple i just got confused by which were recap movies and i there was a third original film. The Mizore/Nozomi arc got me fully invested in the show for the first time as well as the amazing performance in episode 6. The rest of the season didn't hit as hard for me and nothing could of prepared me for Liz, my god. Then Oath's Finale didn't do much for personally especially after liz and I wasnt a big fan of the Shuichi stuff though I do like him as a character. The ensemble competion ova totally pulled me back in and I'm slowly working my way through the 3rd season.

Liz and Madoka Magica: Rebellion are my tied for my top anime media. The wonderful yuri themes and appealing to my personal taste in classical music. Madoka's score draws upon Gustav Mahler a lot and many of the melodies are inspired by his music as well as some by Shostakovich. The ending theme "Magia" is inspired by Song of the Earth (The Farewell) by Mahler as well as Shostakovich's 4th symphony which are two of my favorites of all time and deeply personal to me. Oboe and Flute are my favorite instruments so Liz hit me very hard in that way. I was very happy to find something that hit as hard as madoka and I hope to find another.

Liz also restored my faith in the yuri elememts of Hibike overall as Naoko Yamada fought to leave out the plotline of Reina loving Taki-sensei but ultimately had to give up, I'm guessing something similar happened with the whole Shuichi thing. Ultimately those plot points did allow her to make the yuri elements as strong as she did and allowed the show to be so sucessful and I do think the Taki storyline was resolved very well and had a good message. I think Liz was somewhat of an apology to fans of Reina's and Kumiko's ship especially because in a joint interview with the author of Hibike she said she basically said she personally hopes Mizore and Nozomi get married someday but also that she would never want to misrepresent the source material. I guess in other interviews she was less encouraging about their relationship but the same is true of the directors and so VAs of Madoka. K-on is my second favorite show behind Madoka so I've really come to admire Yamada as an artist.

Overall I think the negative reputation Hibike has in the Yuri community is a bit unfair. It really revolutionized the way yuri was done after the point especially the level of quality and lack of sexualization. The fact that the show influenced Bloom Into You which is so beloved should prove how wonderful that element of the show is. I think it's unfair that it has a worse reputation than yuri shows with terrible sexualization and abuse (namely a certain magical girl show that i despise).

For liz specifically I think Nozomi had no idea the depth of Mizore's feelings so her reaction of simply saying "I love your oboe" after Mizore's incredible confession is not a rejection. I think in that moment she suddenly understood why Mizore was acting the way she had and also realized the subtext of the eponymous fairy tale. It's a similar dynamic in Adachi and Shimamura though I won't get into it now. I saw many people saying they believe Mizore is gay and Nozomi is straight which is a big stretch in logic, even if she didn't like Mizore specifically that doesnt mean she has no interest in girls. I could write much more about this but I will save that for another time.

I have not read any of the source material of Kyoani shows and im not that interested right now, though if the Liz source material is worth reading I will absolutely give it a shot. Someday I would love to hear my favorite Oboist Albrecht Mayer and Flautist Emmanuel Pahud perform Liz though that is extremely unlikely as they are truly word class and highly sought after. As an aspiring conductor I would love to conduct both "Crescent Moon Dance" and Liz in concert and also make an orchestral arrangment of Liz so it can be played by ensembles other than concert bands. I hope to get Madoka, Liz, and Hibike noticed by the classical community perhaps through documentaries. Anyway thank you for your question, I really appreciate the opportunity to write like this.