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It is, without a doubt, the aim of every good show to create not only good relationships between the characters of a show, but also to to create a good relationship between the viewer and the characters of the show itself. This way, the viewers can easily empathize with the characters while getting attached to them, thus also feeling connected to the show and being easily able to like it. You want to see a good example of this phenomenon? Take a look at K-On!!, and you may find the answer.

I can say for sure that there hasn't been many shows over the past ... decade that caused as much conflicts among its viewers as K-On!! did. With K-On!! being prescribed as being a simple moeblob show without any depth or whatsoever, the show naturally haven't had only fans. Lots of haters are still around when it comes to K-On!!, but, still, the show also has got its own fanbase, which is, in addition, quite huge. For me, it has been a real pleasure to watch K-On!!, given that it does bring out the little silly fangirl in me, which is quite unusual, since I'm a 17 year-old guy.

tl;dr:

Story: 6/10

Art: 9/10

Sound: 9.5/10

Character: 10/10

Enjoyment: 9.9/10

Overall: 9/10


Story: 6/10

It isn't a real secret that the story isn't necessarily one of the strong points of K-On!! Besides, it should be an obvious, given fact that you can't expect a great and thrilling story by a simple slice of life series, which is, in addition, set in High School. That's pretty much the epitome of ac
stereotypical series if it wasn't for the musical aspect. In comparison to other series that are set in High School, the musical aspect brings a lot of fresh air to the rather ordinary setting, along with the challenges that are faced by the five girls.
Still, you shouldn't expect any tremendous plot twists, which is, in fact, a really positive aspect! After all, this series is meant to be calming and reassuring, thus a lot of plot twists would rather ruin the atmosphere than helping to create it. Some points of the plot still don't seem realistic as they are supposed to be in this SoL-series, but this is an excusable fact. Because of all the points I've just mentioned, the story may seem a little repetitive after a certain point, but, given that you should know by now that the main concept of this series is 'cute girls doing cute things', the story won't get extremely boring as long as you can enjoy this particular point of the story.


Art: 9/10
I think that I can surely say that the art style is one of the most arguable points of the whole show. Why, you ask? Of course I'm talking about the really arguable character designs, which are considered extremely 'moe' by a lot of people. After all, this is one of the points why K-On!! is rather well-known among people who watch anime.
I'm not going to rant about the character designs for a long time (simply because this is something everyone needs to decide for himself, though you should also consider that the show was produced – more or less – during the peek of the 'moe' hype). But I'd still like to express my own personal view about the character design, which is, as you might have expected from my rating, quite positive. After all, the rather 'moe-ish' style of the characters perfectly fits the general cozy, comfy atmosphere of K-On!! This sort of character design may not fit other shows, but it is, without a doubt, the best thing that could happen to K-On!!. If the characters were designed in another way, the show would've lost a lot of its cozy appeal. Still, it is quite understandable if you dislike the character design, but keep in mind that it is the perfect fit for a show that is as cozy as a fire in a chimney on a cold winter day.
Aside from that, the animation quality is simply flawless, just as expected from Kyoto Animation. There weren't many animation errors (I noticed one error, as far as I remember) and the backgrounds are obviously really well-drawn. But who did actually expect a different, worse result?


Sound: 9.5/10
Before you attack me with swords for this rating, I'd like to explain my opinion.
After all, K-On!! is – more or less – a music anime, hence it should be natural natural to expect a lot of good soundtracks. And K-On!! did deliver. While the music surely doesn't fit everyone's tastes (simply because the OSTs as well as the EDs and the OPs are as overly cute as the characters are), it does indeed fit my personal taste. Very positively outstanding is the fact that all the soundtracks also contribute a lot to the general comfy atmosphere of the series, with the great interaction of all the instruments and the undeniably cute lyrics, which are – at least to me – sometimes scarily prepossessing. In contrast, other songs do seem rather weird (in particular the lyrics of some songs), though they do still serve their purpose: after all, this is is a SoL, thus the lyrics of a song can also describe things taken straight from life!
One of the rather negative points is the fact that we, as the viewers, can't hear music performed by Hokago Tea Time each episode, though this may also be a good thing, given that the music would eventually sound recycled if we got to hear full performances from HTT each episode.


Character: 10/10
The character section is – without a doubt – one of the strong points of the show and surely one of the reasons for the popularity of K-On!!
If you watched at least 5 shows in your entire life, you should probably be aware of the fact that people usually enjoy a series more if they are attached to the characters, their emotions, and all the problems they have to face, no matter how small they may seem. This is surely one of the stronger points of K-On!!, at least in my case. I am aware of the fact that some people may dislike all the characters, but I got attached to the characters during this second season, which is the main reason for my high rating.
Yet another reason for my rather high rating is the - in comparison to the first season – visibly growth of the characters, even Yui gets at least a little more mature during her third year in High School. The character development surely isn't as great and meaningful as it is in other series, but it is there, which I consider a significant improvement in comparison to the first season. (n comparison to other series, it is very nice to see almost every single of our main characters getting a similar treatment (in terms of character development), not a single character gets 'left behind' (well, beside Mugi). This sort of character development also causes the great in-between character interaction with thoroughly changing and developing relationships that become more and more meaningful with each episode.
Obviously K-On!! doesn't follow the typical 'protagonist/antagonist' scheme, which is a fact you should know just b looking at the artstyle. Instead of characters being shown only in a negative or in a positive way to the viewer, you get to see them doing both silly and thoughtful things, more or less meaningful ones, and interesting and rather boring things. Overall I am positively surprised by the fact that a great diversity of different sides of the characters is shown.
Summed up, the characters may not be very different at all, but the way K-On!! portrays its characters is more than enough to make you attached to them (at least in my case).


Enjoyment: 9.9/10
This section of my review is a very special one for K-On!!, given that the enjoyment manifests itself in a completely different way than it does in other shows.
Usually you watch a show knowing that you can expect either a good story, or lots of action or other extremely interesting and unique things. Based on this fact you create yourself an image of the show, expecting what you might enjoy and what you rather won't enjoy. But K-On!! is different: The enjoyment doesn't come from huge fights or a great story. It is the bare fact that you can simply lean back, relax and enjoy to see 'cute girls doing cute things' that makes the show enjoyable, as long as you are able to enjoy this sort of show. Really, you should know that you can't expect more than that if you plan to watch K-On!! Oddly enough, this is literally everything this show needs, at least for me, given that this is everything I expected. This sort of enjoyment also combines (PASST ZU) very well with the overly cute art style and the overly cute music style of HTT. K-On!! makes you feel at least a little reassured, which provides – at least for me – a lot of enjoyment. Besides, you may as well be able to enjoy each character for their own weaknesses and strengths: No matter whether it is Yui's incomprehensible laziness, Mio's seemingly boundless shyness or even Mugi's great tea: every single character contributes its own part for creating the whole story that it is (mainly) filled by positive emotions.
Still, this show also makes you reminisce a little bit about your own life. How so? Obviously it doesn't emphasize on saving the world or achieving something extremely meaningful, but it does emphasize on something even more important: The value of friendship!
Yeah, I know that this sounded really cheesy, so what? K-On!! makes you value friendship a lot more, since it does show what every single group of good friends is capable of doing. Not in the stereotypical 'the power of friendship'-way, but rather just by showing how much fun you can have in your everyday life with your friends and how they're able to support you, no matter what happens. And isn't this why you need friends?
Yet another lesson given by the show is the knowledge how great it is to give others inspiration. After all, you do feel better if you know that you'll be remembered by others.

tl;dr: The characters and the atmosphere they create make the show enjoyable, not the storyline, so if you don't enjoy the characters, I highly recommend you to watch something else.


Overall: 9/10
It is undeniable that K-On!! has caused and will cause lots of controversial discussions among all anime fans. The character design alone provides enough for weekly discussions, let alone the storyline. Still: K-On!! provided me with lots of fun, laughter, and even lots and lots of emotions towards the end (simply because I felt connected to the characters and their problems). The series may not fit everyone's tastes, but it still provides lots of fun for these who get easily attached to the characters while being able to ignore the rather weak storyline.

And always remember: “Fun things are fun!” (Yui Hirasawa)

Ah, Rail Wars.... The trainwreck of this summer!

Okay, sorry, everybody already heard that pun but I just had to use it here. Now that this is out of the way, I think that I should start with my real review.

First of all, I think that I should mention that I'm quite interested in trains, so I actually had high hopes after I heard the title and the premise of this series. Sadly, all my hopes were crushed after the third episode.

Story: 2/10
If I'm really honest, this show is nothing for people who are interested in good stories. It's not even really good for people who ... are solely interested in “plot”, given that even the “plot” was ridiculously bad. Obviously the story consists mostly (at least 90%) of “cabooses”, which is why my rating has become so low, since I've obviously been expecting something different. If you read the synopsis of this show here on MAL, you can read something about an extremist group called “RJ” plotting to privatize the railways. My sole question is: where are the extremists?? Throughout the show there were some people who tried to attack the railways, or an idol who promoted the Japanese Railways, but the extremists were never mentioned as such. This is the first out of a lot of disappointments.
Besides, even the little elements of story in this series (which had basically the length of one episode), were quite unrealistic as well. As a railway fan, I really must emphasize on the lack of realism in quite a few episodes. Given that all the characters were 17 years old and had neither a license for guns nor a train driver license... Why in the name of hell were they allowed to carry guns with them?
As well some of the characters acted in a quite imbecile way. By all means of respect... Who on earth would be paranoid enough in order to believe in assassinating cats?

Art: 2/10
Ah, the animation of Rail Wars!... That's where the true trainwreck starts.
First of all – I really do feel sorry for the animation studio (Passione), given that this was their first bigger project. Still, it is really mentionable that the amount of animation errors is so high that it's almost ridiculous. I won't point out all the errors one by one, you should check for yourself how inconstant the animation of the series is.
And even the size of the cabooses (which were probably important for the producers) changed during(!) all episodes.
There's nothing more to comment here, let's just say that the animation is one of the worse parts of this show.

Sound: 4/10
To be honest, the OP and the ED were fairly nice, in particular the rather funky ED somehow fit the show. Still, they're not outstanding in any particular way. As well the voice actors were in general acceptable, even though all the other sound effects were rather dull.

Character: 2/10
I'm pretty sure that I've never seen as many cliches used in an anime as here.
First of all, we've got Takayama, our stereotypical, dull and boring MC. Maybe it's because he is as dull and stupid as I used to be, but according to me he is one of the most boring and hateful harem leads ever. His sheer denseness is outstanding even in comparison to other harem leads.
Then we have Aoi. Your generic redhead-tsundere. My opinion about Aoi probably isn't really neutral (because of my rather negative stance against that character type), but I still consider her one of the worse tsunderes, given how bluntly she tries to ruin a lot of things, in particular during the earlier episodes of this series.
The next mentionable character is Haruka, who is at least a little more interesting because of the little yandere-side of her character. Still, she can be also seen as a quite dull character.
And the last (but definitely not the least) character of the “Fourth Vigilance Squad” is Iwaizumi, the only character I liked at least a bit, simply because he usually tries to do something productive. Still, his appearances are way too seldom throughout the whole series.
All the other characters of Takayama's harem aren't outstanding as well, so there's nothing special to brag about either.

Enjoyment: 1.5/10
As a railway fan, I really had my hopes high for this show. Perhaps that's why my rating is so harsh, but I just cannot ignore the sheer amount of logical errors throughout the whole series (as mentioned above): Simply because of this very fact I wasn't able to enjoy this show at all. Seriously though, 17 year-olds carrying guns (and trying to kill each other with them because of a misunderstanding), running away from cats and being officially allowed to drive a train without a license? That's surely not what I did expect from this show.

Overall: 3/10
Obviously my expectations for this show were far too high. But even when I try to look on this show from a different angle, I can only see a dull, boring ecchi harem show with nothing particular to remember.


tl;dr this show is good for you if you are interested into cabooses whose size changes minutely, otherwise you should turn away.

Have you ever thought that fictional characters might influence your life so much that it changes your whole perspective on the purpose of life?

I didn't, until I watched Clannad: After Story.

General information:
If you are familiar with anime, chances are high that you might have heard about Clannad and Clannad: After Story, two anime produced by Kyoto Animation and generally known as 'tearjerkers'. Both series are based on the Virtual Novel 'Clannad' that was originally produced by Key. So far I can also highly recommend the visual novel, but of course this review will describe the anime Clannad: After Story.
To put it simply, Clannad: After ... Story influenced my life in a way I would have never expected. I know that this sounds rather lame, perhaps also because you have certainly read this very line in a million other reviews, but it is a blatant truth that has to be mentioned. Which leads me to the point that it was obviously better than I expected (even though my expectations were unreasonably high after watching its predecessor (Clannad) and after hearing that After Story is going to be a million times better). Besides, After Story obviously changed my perspective on a lot of things. Even though the basic principle of the story is rather simple, it manages to grip you like almost nothing else, in particular because it has this very ability. Aside from that, the series gives you many different kinds of inspiration for your every day life. It is something that – simply said – changes your perspective on the world. Though, my conclusion will be explained further by the end of this review.

Plot/Story: 9.8/10

As I've said before, the plot of the story is nothing special by itself, it is something you can basically describe as slice of life. The story is neither extraordinary, nor outstanding by itself. Only in combination with the characters and all their (painful) background stories, you are able to appreciate the series at its best. This is also why I recommend everyone to watch Clannad before watching Clannad: After Story: only after watching the first season you are certainly able to comprehend the characters and to appreciate their character development. That's the big point: you get in the roles of the characters, and this is where After Story truly shines.
Basically, the first half of the series is indeed nothing special in comparison to other series. We have a couple of small arcs about some of the supporting characters, which aren't really outstanding, even though these episodes are pretty well-written and in general enjoyable. Still, those parts of the story definitely aren't enough to understand my rating, also because these arcs are absolutely irrelevant for the main story. The main characters don't get any significant character development during these arcs, therefore these arcs can be only seen as useful in terms of the minor characters and the development they get.
But where After Story truly shines, is the latter half, the arcs of the story that are eventually relevant in terms of the main characters. Even though this part of the story 'just' describes all the ups and downs of the main character's life, it does it in a really astonishing way, and that's where the story shows its best side. Because of the well-proceeding character development (you can read more about that later), you can truly appreciate how the main character feels in all the phases of his life. Beside that, the whole set-up of the story was definitely great and the pace of the latter half was perfect, so the story never seemed rushed.
In a nutshell, the plot doesn't seem extraordinary or complex, but this is another aspect why I consider this series as something great. You don't expect something from a series that has such a seemingly monotonous plot, yet the story is absolutely unique, particularly in combination with all the plot twists. Some people assume that the plot is predictable (mainly because of its genre), but I honestly don't think that. You'll be positively surprised when you watch it.
If there is one thing that can be openly discussed by the community, it is obviously the ending. Some people like it, some people don't, mainly because it destroys some of the efforts the producers made in order to produce a realistic series (which can be seen as a little critique from my side). This is a question you have to answer for yourself, while it definitely depends on your personal preferences. On a positive note, there weren't any visible plot holes left after the final episode, even though the ending may seem a bit confusing if you don't know the Visual Novel.

Animation/Art style: 9/10

There are people who dislike Key's art style (in particular because of the big eyes of the female characters), but I actually grew to like it very much, also because it is really unique and since this style defines the characters in an appropriate way. Despite your personal preferences on this particular topic, it is generally known that KyoAni shows during After Story how truly beautiful an anime series can look. The animation is really well-made, in particular the scenes with Sakura trees are truly gorgeous, hence I can highly recommend the series to you if you like well-animated series. Beside those scenes, KyoAni's animation also shines in the 'Illusionary World' scenes. Those scenes are always animated in the ideal way to create a fitting atmosphere. In general the art style definitely fits the atmosphere of the series, also because of the appropriately used blurring effects. The art style was never misplaced throughout the whole series, even the backgrounds were usually memorable and breathtaking. In case you want to check it out for yourself, just watch the opening, since it manages to show perfectly how good the animation is.
As well I see no reason to complain about the character designs. Each character is designed in an unique way, so you can identify them easily. In addition to that, their characteristics are well-represented by their designs, no matter whether the character is rather shy or extrovert. The characters' designs usually didn't spoil the story, though.

Sound: 9/10

I guess that I should start this part of the review with my opinion about the opening theme. A truly gorgeous song. I started to listen to it on a daily basis, since it motivates me like almost nothing else. It is nearly perfection, in particular since this opening fits rather sad scenes as well as times in which an episode starts on a rather positive note.
Other songs that appear during AS are great as well. Just take 'Small Palms' as an example. This song is always able to fit the atmosphere, so I'd likely give the sound a high rating.
You wonder why I didn't give the sound a 10/10? There is one simple reason.
Torch. (The ED)
As much as I like Torch as a rather motivating song, it often managed to destroy the atmosphere of a complete episode in less than 10 seconds. Including various ED's would have been better, considering that the upbeating atmosphere of Torch doesn't fit a couple of episodes at all. Still, I also grew to like this song.
Kudos to Jun Maeda for this one, he did a great job again.

About the character voices (attention: I only watched the English sub, which means that I only heard the Japanese voice actors and actresses): Each character definitely got the perfect voice actor/actress in the 'original' version. The character voices perfectly fit their characteristics, the quality of the sound is consistently good as well. Beside that, the voices are perfectly detachable, so you will never get confused by them. The voice actors definitely made a good job here.

Characters: 10/10

I already enjoyed the characters (and the relationships between them) during Clannad, but After Story made me truly love them like my own children.
To start with, all the characters were really well-rounded. Each character has got many different flaws, but also many strengths, which were mainly connected to the painful background stories of them (you can read more about them later). Not a single character has been out-of-place, hence I grew to like them all.
Beside this aspect, the producers managed to keep all the characters realistic throughout the whole series. Not a single character has behaved in an inhuman way during the series. Their reactions were always comprehensible, in particular the actions and thoughts of the main character (Tomoya Okazaki) were always so realistic that it sometimes hurt a little inside my heart.
Though, one of the most important points is definitely the fact that you will certainly relate to the characters in a lot of different ways. You can easily identify with the characters in a variety of occasions, which makes you feel even stronger for the characters. This can be considered as one of the big advantages of Clannad. All the joy and the pain the characters feel, will be also certainly felt by you. Which leads me to another enormous advantage of After Story: the ingenious character development.
Throughout the whole series we are able to see how the characters grow because of all the hardships they experience. It is truly unique to see such a well character development through the whole series. In particular the main character, Tomoya, visibly grows because of all the hardships in his life. There will also appear another certain character halfway through the series, who will likely change your personal view on your own life.
Though, not only the main characters have got a good character development, but also the supporting ones. I honestly didn't expect to see a series with such a great character development, even for the supporting characters. None of them were flat or unnecessary; everybody has got the ideal place in the story as a whole, so the amount of supporting characters also can't be considered as too high.
Take Youhei Sunohara as the best example. He is already well-known from the first series, during which I honestly disliked him. But, given all the development he has got during After Story, I also grew to love him as a character. We can perfectly see how even such a 'sidekick' can get a good development and grow to a loyal, sharp-minded human.
In a nutshell, I'll remember all the characters (even the supporting ones) of Clannad even in the distant future. Their sad, painful background stories in combination with all the hardships they experienced were enough to make me remember them for a long time. Each character is really unique, but also perfectly outlined.

Enjoyment/Influence on my life: 11/10

Before I start to talk about other aspects, I would also like to emphasize all the humorous elements of the story, obviously since they are one of the aspects because of which I really enjoyed After Story. Despite being overly emotional and something you can call a 'tearjerker', the series also managed to make me laugh uncontrollably a couple of times. Even though the first season had a couple more running gags, several moments of After Story were hilarious as well. (SPOILER) Just take 'Drunk Nagisa' as an example. To see how such a lovely character gets drunk is something totally hilarious and unexpected. To such moments I'd also count the moment Nagisa tells her father something about her private life with Tomoya, or in general almost each interaction between Tomoya and Akio. Hell, these two are so similar that my sides almost broke a couple of times. (/SPOILER) All the humorous elements were a the perfect compensation to all the emotional moments.
Okay, but now back to the main topic...
Clannad: After Story is definitely one of the view anime I can recommend to everyone. Even non-anime fans will certainly be touched by it, which can be great if you intend to watch such a series. Besides, you needn't know anything about anime if you want to understand it; you can just watch it and be entertained.
Aside from that, I would re-watch it definitely as soon as possible. The series also contains a couple of hidden teases (which make every single re-watch a great experience), but I'd rather re-watch it because of all the lessons it taught me. The whole season is almost perfect as a whole, so I would definitely re-watch only both series as a whole.

Now about my rating... Some of you may be irritated by my rating, but I'm fully serious here. This may sound stupid, but AS definitely changed my life in such a positive way that I can only give it such a high rating. Because of it I now tend to pay more attention to the point of view other people have, in fact, I started to think more about other people and their opinions at all.
Sadly, the improvement it made on me can be hardly put into words, but I'll try to do it. Basically, the way After Story portrayed what a human being can withstand (and what it obviously can't), showed a whole new side of life to me. While the story seems rather simple, it made a huge influence on my life by directly showing to me what can go right, what can go wrong, and how everything influences our mind and our life as a whole. After all, After Story shows a whole new side of life to its viewers: a dark side that everyone tries to ignore. While a couple of other series try to ignore this rather dark side of life, After Story directly puts a finger on it, showing what really matters in life: family, friendships and ultimately love, no matter whether to your family or to your precious friend. It gives you a lot of inspirations for your life, no matter how you used to live before watching it. And because of the huge impact the series makes on you, you will certainly remember it even in the far future. Blatantly said, it certainly makes you a better person.
Though, there is another important point that makes the series so memorable. While the story itself is already memorable (also because of its simplicity), the characters play an important role as well. No matter whether it's Nagisa's shyness in combination with her ability to remain always positive for all the people she loves, Tomoya's (almost) incomprehensible ability to keep on living after everything or Ushio's innocence that ultimately portrays the view of a little child on the difficulties of life in a perfect way: Clannad: After Story is a memorable series that lives not only by the story, but also of the realistic way the characters deal with the struggles in their life.

Final Rating: 10/10
In a nutshell, After Story is something you can describe – blatantly said – as life. It shows you all the ups and downs of a life, which isn't extraordinary, but it does that in such an astonishing way that you may be blown away, just as I am. All the emotions that were both shown and felt from the characters (and from the viewer) throughout the whole series, such as anger, envy, grief and depression, but also faith, fortitude, charity and – most of all – hope, make the series perfect as it is. All the emotions are portrayed in such a realistic way that they sometimes even become real, the viewer can really feel all the pain the characters have inside them. And that's why I consider After Story as a true masterpiece. Thus, just by showing you all the difficulties and hardships one can experience in his own life, it can certainly change your view on what life is about. This series definitely gives you a lot to think about.

Aside from that, there is also another important aspect why I highly recommend Clannad: After Story to everyone. Whenever I think about a life decision, I started to remember what the characters of After Story experienced. Unlike many other series, Clannad: After Story isn't something you'll easily forget the day after you finish it. It is something that will certainly burn itself deeply into your mind, not because of the tears you may shed, but rather because it shows life from a different angle. Remember what you would have done in Yukine's place, after everything that she has experienced in her life. Or think about all the hardships Tomoya went through. This series is extremely unique because of its ability to show you how the human mind certainly reacts to life-changing events and everything that follows them. Besides, the series shows you what can go right in your life, and what certainly can't go always right. Whenever you'll think about them while making an important decision, you'll likely pay more attention on the view of other people (just as I do), and that's why Clannad: After Story made such a huge impact on my life and why I can highly recommend it to you.

Dango Daikazoku!