Ranked #246

K-On!!

Over the few years or so, it’s been increasingly apparent that watching anything associated with moe is to be treated with the same sort of caution as doing yoga, or making origami. Generally you’d do all three in the privacy of your own room, preferably with the lights dimed down and curtains tightly shut. (I am speaking of course, mainly for guys).

Yes there is much shame to be had in admitting you enjoy watching K-On!!, because who in their right mind would enjoy a plotless moeblob slice-of-life show over say… the testosterone filled battle epic TTGL? Certainly no one would admit to such an atrocious act to their friends face to face, (or anything less than a distance of 100 miles and 2 computer screens for that matter). Hence it becomes extremely hard to be objective when posed with the question, ‘Is K-On!! a good anime?’, because all of our social preservation instincts scream “run away!”, while somewhere deep in the soft side of our hearts, something keeps us rooted to our chair and our eyes on our displays.
(Unless you factor in the anonymity of the internet of course, in which case, proudly declaring that K-On!! is awesome and giving it a 9/10 is A-O-K.)

Jokes aside though, in recent times I feel that too much anime are being categorized based on if they have any moe elements in them. While there’s nothing wrong with giving labeling an anime as containing moe, it unfairly depicts certain anime as catering towards the niche otaku audience and suggests it’s lack of depth and unoriginality, which in many cases simply isn’t true. Take Lucky Star for example. Who’s to say that it was just a mindless moeblob?

Anyway I had a review here somewhere… I would go as far as to say that I love the slice-of-life genre. Honey & Clover (which I maintain is more slice-of-life than romance) and Aria remain firmly at my number 1 and 2 spot. For a great slice-of-life, there are a number of criteria that one needs to fill, but the simplest and most important is that every episode should end with you feeling relaxed and contented with a smile on your face. Does K-On!! achieve this? Yes, absolutely 100% yes.

K-On!! follows a relatively frugal format in terms of storyline. You wouldn’t go into each episode expecting anything dramatic or exhilarating, and for some this may be what they like to call boring. But then again, you wouldn’t open a bag of chips expecting M&Ms and chocolate fudge, so why you go into K-On!! expecting anything even resembling a continuous plot? K-On!!’s style single episodic scenarios work greatly in it’s favor, viewers are never startled with annoying cliffhangers or feel an obligation to keep up with it in fear of missing out on some important plot element. If watching K-On!! becomes a chore (I’m looking at you Bleach manga), then it’s missed the point completely, and in this regard, I give K-On!!’s ‘plot’ two thumbs up.

Despite this though, K-On!! deals with some surprisingly deep themes that would go right over the heads of most casual viewers. One definite improvement from it’s first season is the branching out of the limited focus of club practice (eating cake) to wider array of activities. Granted, most of them are still obvious and predictable, the sort of been-there done-that stories we’ve all seen before, but the shift allowed K-On!! to focus on many different aspects and resort less to what I like to call ‘moe-moments’ in order to fill up the 24 minutes. Lets face it, how many different ways can you eat, drink and procrastinate before it starts getting old? Instead though, from the summer trips to school plays to the air conditioning campaigns, K-On!! moves away from the same-ness of cake/tea/practice/more cake in the first season and closer to true slice-of-life.

K-On!!’s real brilliance shines in the final 6-7 episodes or so, as the girls neared the finale of their school life, the realization that their after school tea times can’t last forever hits them quietly and their are faced with the challenges of change and the future. Though not exactly compelling and dramatic, it nevertheless teaches us that our beloved peaceful times cannot always last forever, which only makes them more precious, not unlike Aria the Origination, but on a smaller scale. K-On!’s main idea was a carefree life of daily cake, tea and music with not a worry in the world, but K-On!!’s step away from that ultimately paid off and turned what would have been just a mediocre moeblob into a great slice-of-life.

I supposed I’d better tackle the moe problem, as it seems to be the main issue dragging K-On!! down. Yes, there is a lot of it. Yes, it gets annoying. Yes, it is overused and detracts from the overall effect. Would K-On!! be better without it? Probably. But then it wouldn’t be K-On!!. Yes you can all come and egg my house afterwards for using such a cliche argument, but there is some wisdom in my words, ladies and gentlemen. As much as we all hate to admit it, moe has become an integral part of the characterization of the K-On!! girls. Yui simply wouldn’t believe the same if she didn’t drool over Azu-nyan or cake, Azu-nyan wouldn’t be the same if she didn’t get embarrassed over every little thing and Mugi simply can’t exist without her air-headed-ness and cheerfulness. Sure, they could do without it, but then they’d be different characters completely. Big Macs would probably taste better with tomato sauce instead of mayo, but then they wouldn’t be Big Macs anymore, if you get what I mean. Even though I make better tasting burgers myself, I wouldn’t want to have Big Macs any other way.

And to be fair, a lot of the moe-hate stem from people who watch 3-4 episodes, drop it, and then go complain about it on forums. As I followed K-On!! throughout it’s season, I was quietly surprised as the moe-moments gradually thinned out little by little. It was as if as the girls grew older, the show slowly matured along with them. Don’t believe me? Well, don’t my word for it, see for yourself. Right now. Open up say episode 2 or 3, count how many moe-moments there are, and then compare them to a later episode, say, 21 or something. Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere so take your time… Ok… done? See? Good. Anyway as I was saying, the gradual fade of moe was was subtle and barely noticeable, but for those paying attention it was a nice touch, and went along well with the tone of bittersweetness of the end of their high school lives.

I guess it’ll be wrong to not comment on the music of K-On!! seeing as how that was kinda the whole theme that they were going for. Honestly speaking, it really isn’t half bad. Toyosaki Aki (Yui)’s cute but horrendous out of tune vocals aside, the OP, ED and insert songs generally maintain the high standard of the first season. They’re catchy, and well… very K-On!!-ish. What caught me out though was the meaning they seem to embody. Rather than the lyrics simply being a spontaneous creation (I mean Curry Nochi Rice, what was that all about) they represented something, like Yui’s realization of all the things she took for granted in portrayed in U&I and the girl’s close friendship exemplified through their song for Azusa. In short, K-On!!’s music is great, and that’s all there really is to say about that. (Unless you hate poppy rock, in which case allow me to direct you to the mute button. Seriously, no one’s making you listen to this, get over yourself.)

Guess I better get on to the boring stuff now.

Animation: Nothing to write home about, but the smoothness and crispness is certainly pleasing and relaxing to look at, a very good style for a slice-of-life. Animation during the live performances have definitely improved since the first season, which is a definite plus.

Sound: Insert songs aside, more often than not there’s always some cutesy background music playing to accompany the scene. While this can easily backfire, KyoAni does a very good job of timing, and fitting the mood with the right music, so this section is also a plus.

Voice Acting: I was surprised in the first season how such a amateurish band of seiyuu could bring the characters to life. Another season’s gone by and I’m pleased that the quality of VA as remained consistent. Toyosaki Aki’s performance as Yui deserves a special mention, with interchanging voices between cutesy and hoarse, and the constant (if a bit too frequent) “ehhh?”s, it was really a joy to listen to. I still maintain that she needs singing lessons though.

So ultimately, is K-On!! a good anime? Well let me be perfectly honest. I actually wrote this review as a bet against a friend who maintained that it was impossible to write a review for, and I quote, “a cliched intangible blob of moe”. Now to be fair, he may have been right. Maybe I would have found it much easier to just simply cast K-On!! aside as a generic moe-cash in by KyoAni with half decent characterization, no good plot and overall mediocre anime. But as I instead set out to do the impossible task, I was pleasantly surprised when I realized that it was not as impossible as I originally thought. K-On!! is good. Heck, it’s great. It knew exactly what it wanted to be, and set out to achieve it brilliantly (which is more than I can say for Angel Beats). I’d probably go as far as to say it is the best slice-of-life/moe anime of the year. Sure, it probably couldn’t hold a candle to say… Durarara or FMA:Brotherhood, but you wouldn’t compare K-On!! to those anime for the same reason you wouldn’t ride a goat to an equestrian event or wear a miniskirt to a basketball game. Is K-On!! a good slice-of-life/moe? Yes. Then… did I enjoy K-On!!? Yes, immensely. Then… Is K-On!! a good anime? Obvious answer is obvious. So much for generic and mediocrity huh?

I will conclude with this afterthought. I could probably very easily write a long rant about the negatives of vanilla ice cream. I could talk about how bad it is for your health, how expensive and nutrition lacking ice-cream is, or how it is an overrated flavor and too many people eat just because they don’t have the guts to try new and better flavors, or how the ice-cream companies continue to make vanilla ice-cream to cater for those idiotic people, cashing in instead of nobly taking the first step in revolutionizing ice cream flavors. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t change the fact that I like vanilla ice-cream, and that I enjoy having it every Friday night after dinner as I tune in to watch the weekly action flick on television. If I didn’t enjoy vanilla ice-cream, would that change the fact that it’s a good ice-cream? Of course not. You’d be a magnificent retard for declaring vanilla ice-cream is bad just because you don’t like it, so why do some people do it so much for anime like K-On!!? Vanilla ice-cream exists for people who like vanilla ice-cream, just like K-On!! exists for people who like a good slice-of-life with a bit of (or quite a bit of, whatever floats your boat) moe. If there are people who enjoy it, then that should be all that matters, and I think sometimes we’re too easily forgetful of that fact.

Thanks for reading this wall of text. read more

Things are often more than they seem.

For any individual, there always are surprises to be found in the long walk of life. Things that, while initially appearing flavorless and dull, reveal themselves to be something much more colorful. These are the kinds of experiences that impact a person and make them feel something of significance. They may make them laugh or cry, but in the end these are the kinds of stories that hold a special place in one's heart. The second season of K-ON is a testament to exactly this.

K-ON has always been a very polarizing series, one which has a dedicated fanbase and a vocal group of people staunchly asserting their hatred of the anime. Regardless of any personal feelings one might hold towards the massive franchise, it's impossible to deny the influence that it's enjoyed these past few years. But unlike so many titles that are successful simply by chance or for manipulating its viewers, KyoAni has painstakingly focused on quality to ensure that K-ON deserves every bit of its fame.

Clearly, this is not a complex story.

This will not challenge your beliefs or ideals, nor give you something to analyze and mull over. It's first and foremost a character-based slice of life revolving around five young girls and their daily lives within their highschool music club. Though reluctant fans and critics of the genre may find themselves irritated by the idealized and cute nature of the series, there is much more value to be found than a cursory glance at the artwork or synopsis might suggest, leading K-ON to be an anime recommendable to all groups of people of varying tastes and preferences.

While comedy plays the most extensive role in the entertainment of this series, a good portion of the fun comes from the characters and their basic interaction with each other. There's a very interesting dynamic between the main cast and they contrast and play off each other in both comedic and dramatic scenes. The most noteworthy example of this is the relationship between Yui and Azusa: a lazy, ditzy girl alongside her extremely hardworking and strict junior. While there isn't anything especially unique or complex to be found at first, it's a relationship that eventually develops into one that feels genuinely endearing. There are no melodramatic arguments between the two, nor is there only a single moment where their feelings come to light.

Surprisingly, the resulting character development does not subvert this dynamic but instead expands upon it. Azusa still finds herself feeling out-of-place and anxious in regards to the silly behavior of her seniors, while Yui also struggles to take her musicianship more seriously and come across as a figure that Azusa can rely on. A heavy contrast between the two exists as a result, which allows them to gain insight and grow from each other in a way that feels meaningful, while still retaining the inherent nature of their personalities. It's a dynamic that the series focuses on and highlights, and thankfully this aspect is treated with the utmost care, ensuring that the viewer will empathize with their situation and feel something of significance as the series progresses.

Of course, K-ON focuses heavily on the other members of the club as well – five girls of very different lifestyles and backgrounds coming together and becoming close and inseparable friends. Unlike many slice of life series, this isn't an immediate growth between the cast (sans the long friendship between Ritsu and Mio), but rather a gradual one that builds from each episode. Rather than focus on one specific character each episode, the series is often focused more on their time together as a group. The girls all feel like human beings with personality and purpose, rather than the faceless archetypes that have become a staple of many anime titles. As a result, it becomes very easy to grow attached to the characters and feel like you're along with them for the ride, rather than simply being a mere spectator.

For an anime to immerse its viewers to such a level – to allow them to feel like they are there with the cast, is a very special thing. It serves not only to make each moment more meaningful, but to make the experience feel very personal as well. When the tale of the five girls is over, you may find yourself feeling like something important inside of you is now missing. If the frequency of tea and cake leaves you in doubt, this will be the sign of something brilliant.

The most prevalent theme within the series is that of growing up. They change, they adapt, and they learn to accept their new situation. As graduation draws closer for four of the five girls they deal with the complications of college entrance exams, career choices, and leaving their highschool life behind. Surprisingly, this has the biggest impact not on these characters themselves, but on their junior, Azusa, who feels discontent and uneasy about her friends moving on before her. She struggles with the prospect of managing the club by herself and recruiting new members for after the other girls graduate, an issue that is touched upon many times and eventually resolved towards the end of the series.

It's this theme which leads to a wide variety of emotional and heartwarming moments in the story. Two preeminent examples include the girls performing in front of the school for a final time and having a tearful realization after, and a final scene where the four girls graduate and play a bittersweet farewell song in the clubroom for a crying Azusa. I am not ashamed to admit that these two scenes made me tear up.

Which brings up an interesting point, because if the series were so focused on the girls eating cake and doing nothing each episode, would these kinds of scenes exist in the first place? No. It almost feels like a direct contradiction to the claims of the anime being focused on nothing more than the cuteness of the characters, and while it's impossible to deny its presence in the story, it's quite clear that this is not what the anime is defined by. This is what sets K-ON apart from many of its competitors: being an anime that is not only cute and entertaining, but one that is emotional and carries impact as well.

It should also be noted that while the manga is not by any means bad, KyoAni took Kakifly’s very simplistic 4-koma and added an enormous amount of detail to it, taking important plot elements that only existed in a passing line or panel from the manga. The vast majority of the character development and emotional scenes are the work of KyoAni and the talented staff behind the anime, and for taking liberties and improving upon the manga in so many ways they deserve to be applauded and commended. There's an adage about how adaptations are always inferior to the source material, but this is one example that proves it's not always so.

But then, where would the series be without the stunning production values that KyoAni is so well known for?

This is luckily an aspect that is not glanced over or given second thought, and the visuals in K-ON are something that stand out as being absolutely stellar as a result. Almost everything about the characters is fluid and detailed, with movements looking and feeling very much lifelike. Not only do the mouth and limbs move like in most anime, but the hair will move along with the body, the clothes will furrow and crease realistically to the character’s movements, and their eyebrows and facial shape will accentuate their expression. While the girls seldom practice or play music, the scenes where they do play are beautifully animated and show detail that musicians and general viewers will appreciate. It’s a gorgeous anime to look at and it really reflects the overall quality and effort that KyoAni worked so hard to detail the anime with.

Music itself is much more varied than in the first season, with several times more unique songs that the girls perform together as a band and during the opening and ending sequences. These songs are all performed by the actors behind each character, and, while they certainly aren't amazing pieces of music, they fit perfectly with the tone of the anime and with the musical talent of the girls. They are not professional musicians but rather highschool girls that play and practice for fun, which makes the silly songs that they perform seem all the more realistic and fitting. Of further note is the background music, which is simplistic and sets the atmosphere for each scene very well.

The second season is a bit of a departure from its predecessor, though, in the sense that the music is not highlighted or given nearly as much focus as it had before. This isn't an anime about music but an anime about a group of friends that happen to play music. They practice and play, discuss musical terminology, and shop for new gear, but this serves more as an aspect of their daily lives rather than something they are invariably focusing on and thinking about. There's definitely enough here to satisfy accomplished and aspiring musicians alike, but it is not the focal point. Still, when the series does focus on its musical performances it does a fantastic job, providing both on the entertainment and emotional level. "U & I" is a great example of this, a song written by Yui to show thanks for her sister in a way that she could never express without music.

In the end, K-ON is not some form of "masterpiece" or its synonyms. It would be very difficult to find any anime that can honestly meet that criteria. Rather, K-ON is an exemplary and meritorious title that showcases what the best of anime really has to offer, both within its genre and universally. It's a title which exemplifies that a complex plot and deep themes are not required for an anime to stand out as something truly great.

K-ON may not be everybody's cup of tea, but for the girls of Sakuragaoka High School, it is their tea party. read more