Is KyoAni queerbaiting with euphonium? If so, has there been a bigger bait and switch ever in the history of anime?

Well, episode 10 and 11 have been somewhat of a roller coaster ride for us yuri hopefuls. Some nerd posted the following images on their tumblr and I must say I went through the exact same thought process. At this point, many of us had either accepted or had lingering in their minds the thought that KyoAni was sinking this ship. Reina and Kumiko were both bound by the confines of heteronormativity and all previous (see my previous blog post) glaringly explicit hints of a gay relationship were simply the result of KyoAni trying to increase their viewership by catering to the yuri audience. It seemed as though they had no intention of letting the hetero ending of the source material be altered. But then episode 11 aired, and this happened. CLEARLY THIS IS MERELY A PLATONIC ENTIRELY HETEROSEXUAL EXCHANGE BETWEEN TWO GIRLS NOT INTERESTED IN EACH OTHER ROMANTICALLY, RIGHT? Yes, this dialogue is actually in the source material, but KyoAni understands who is watching this show and for what reasons. They understand that there is an exceptionally large group of viewers who would feel betrayed if they backed out of it now. The question is: do they care? Let's be honest, they could pull this shit every time in every series they do and we would still fall for it. With the amount of bait they have set at this point, I feel as though they should be obligated to at least not end the series with Kumiko and Shuuichi getting together, especially considering Kumiko has shown nothing but apathy towards him. Also, check out this sneak peak for the next episode. If KyoAni sinks the Kumiko/Reina ship, I would challenge you to find an example of a bigger bait and switch in anime history.