I ended up motivating myself to watch K-ON! after Yi's recent post on the topic
of side characters. So, here it is.
K-ON! is very much a slice of life story at its best. A group of girls
(Ritsu, Mio, Tsumugi / Mugi and Yui) are just entering high school.
Basically, Ritsu can't decide on a club she wants to join and then she ends
up figuring the Light Music Club would be a good idea well, there's a
problem with that: all of the members graduated, so unless they can get four
members, it's going to be unofficially disbanded. Ritsu decides to take on the challenge of re-forming the club with herself
as the president.
Really, it isn't much of a challenge. She recruits her friend Mio, Mugi
joins, and Yui kinda wanders in thinking “light music” translates to “easy
music”. Well, not quite. But she sticks around anyway even after finding out that's
not what it means.
The series follows these four girls and their antics as they practice, hang
out, and play their music. Like I said: slice of life at its finest.
The Characters: K-ON!
Other than their membership in the Light Music Club, these girls are pretty
different.
Ritsu sorta has the Haruhi Suzumiya “do anything!” pumped-up
mindset. Mio is a shy girl, easily made to blush. Mugi is a wealthy, sweet girl who
has a thing for nice food and sweets. And Yui...Yui is just out of it.
That's all there is to be said about that girl.
I'm not going to paint these girls as the most well-developed characters,
because really, they aren't. I mean, they aren't underdeveloped, but they are sort of...they have a few
aspects to them and that's all you see.
It didn't really bug me much though, because honestly, they didn't need to
have more than what was there. Sure, it would have been nice, but the
characters worked fine as they were.
I suspect that maybe when I watch season 2 in the vaguely near future, I'll
see some more sides of the characters.
The Songs: K-ON!
They're the Light Music Club. Now what the heck does that even mean?
Honestly, I had no clue when I first got started in watching the series.
Tell me they're the Choir Club and yeah, I follow you there, but Light Music
Club? Turns out that apparently means band.
Like, for real band. With drums and a guitar and a keyboard and singing and
all that jazz (Note: All that jazz is a phrase I do not get to use nearly
often enough).
So along with being a band comes that fun thing where you write your own
songs, and these girls do just that.
Now let me say: the songs are not very good, comparatively speaking. But for a group of high school girls who are basically in it just to have
fun and express their high school-ness, yeah, they're not half-bad. They're basically of the “get up and have fun” variety. I will never
complain about that.
Basically, I cannot complain about these songs. I can call them amateurish.
But there will be no complaints.
Conclusion?
For basic slice of life, K-ON! isn't bad at all. It's a fun-filled, cheerful
series that isn't half-bad when it comes to comedy.
I've found that series which aren't specifically labeled as comedy actually
tend to make me laugh more than the ones that are, oddly enough...
But anyway. Considering the fact that it's from Studio Key, I expected some
serious tears. Because... well, it's Key. They seem to get their jollies (another phrase I
don't get to use nearly enough) going “happy, happy, happy, NOW WE ARE
RIPPING OUT YOUR SOUL AND YOU WILL CRY LIKE A BABY”.
Just, you know. Something I've noticed from experiences with Air, Clannad
and Kanon. So in K-ON! I was sitting there like a paranoid freak (this is
what you've done to me, Key!) just waiting for something bad to happen.
I was pleasantly surprised by a lack of tears. So prettymuch, I recommend K-ON! if you like Key and don't want to cry. Or
if you like slice of life and don't want to cry. If you generally just like
smiling while watching anime, I recommend K-ON!.
Oh for the love of god, go watch K-ON!.
My rating: 7/10
Okay, so I was singing praises of this anime. Go ahead and question this
less-than-epic rating. ...Look.
K-ON! anime had a standard to live up, and that standard is...well, those ones I
listed that made me and everyone I know cry. It did not live up. Poor K-ON!.
K-ON! | |
| Episodes | 13 |
|---|---|
| Genre | Comedy, Music, Slice of Life |
| Aired | April 2, 2009 to June 25, 2009 |
| Directed by | Naoka Yamada |
| Producers | Kyoto Animation, Pony Canyon, Movic |
| Opening Theme | Cagayake! Girls by Aki Toyosaki |
| Closing Theme | Don't Say “Lazy” by Yoko Hikasa |
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