The final competition for the third-years is at hand. The Kitauji High School Concert Band performs together one last time in a bid for National gold.

The three-day summer camp has begun, and members of the concert band are faced with a rigorous training regimen. Mayu hesitates to audition yet again, afraid that she'll take the soli part from Kumiko. Motomu speaks to Midori in private.

The competition performance is "only" 12 minutes long. It's both a blink of an eye and an eternity. The Concert Band members bet their entire youths on this competition. And Kitauji High School Concert Band's performance begins.

Mayu taking the soli part has made the concert band uneasy. Despite Kumiko's insistence that this is how it should be, several members take issue with Taki's decision.

Taki decides to let the band executives choose their competition piece this year. The leadership deliberates on this decision while trying to get the rest of the band ready to perform at the Sunrise Festival.

Taki decides that the band will choose the euphonium soli player by voting on one final audition. Kumiko then decides that they should choose based on sound alone, and so the two of them audition anonymously.

The Kansai competition is right around the corner, and the band's dissent about Taki-sensei's decisions only continues to grow. Kumiko goes to speak with him, and she has to decide whether to speak her mind.

Now that she's well into her third-year, Kumiko is now facing pressure from teachers and parents alike to choose what she's doing after high school. Concert band members form groups to attend the Agata Festival, but Kumiko has other plans.

The concert band receives its Kansai competition results. Reina and Kumiko see Yoroizuka perform with some of their senpais. However, Kumiko and Reina's relationship becomes precarious as she continues to insist she won't go to music school.

Only three schools will be selected at the Kansai Concert Band Competition to compete in the Nationals. Will Kitauji High School be one of them?

The concert band begins taking itself very seriously to give itself the best chance possible of winning gold at Nationals. Unfortunately, the intense environment has some of the new recruits discouraged and intimidated.

The day of the Sunrise Festival finally arrives, and it's time for the concert band to have their first performance of the year. Proximity to other schools and bands brings some of Motomu's family issues to light.

The band suspects Taki played favorites in choosing Reina in the auditions. Noticing the band's rising distrust of Taki and Reina, he makes a proposal.

The band is hard at work preparing for the audition and the competition. Aoi has trouble with her part, to which Taki says, "when will you be better by?"

Kumiko and her buddies head to the pool for one last breath of freedom before their grueling concert band training. There, Nozomi reveals some of what had happened the year before.

Asuka invites Kumiko over for a study party. With Kumiko's sister quitting college and Asuka's band membership uncertain, Kumiko and Reina are forced to contemplate the role of music in their lives.

Kitauji High School Concert Band is preparing their parts for the ensemble, but some students are fooling around when they should be practicing.

Kumiko and the others join the concert band, and they choose their instruments. Their eccentric senior, Asuka, still likes to mess with them.

Kumiko enters Kitauji High School having been unable to forget what Reina said at a middle school concert band competition. She goes to visit the concert band at school along with classmates Hazuki and Sapphire, where they meet Reina again.

Starting this year, the band holds auditions for members participating in the competition. First-year Hazuki has a chance, too. The bass section does everything they can to encourage her.

Members of the concert band are given a brief, three-day summer break that quickly fills with plans of all sorts. Some of the third-years attend an event to gather information on different colleges and plan their futures.

It's the school festival at Kitauji High School. Kumiko's sister insists on quitting college, while Taki reveals some things about his past with his wife.

Having won first place at the Kyoto competition, Kumiko and the band are preparing to compete in the Kansai competition. A shadow looms over them when an old member, Nozomi Kasaki, enters the picture.

With Asuka back in the competition, the orchestra is just about set for the Nationals. Meanwhile, Kumiko tries to understand why Reina is upset at her.