K-on was the animation that led me into the world of anime watching, so It means a lot to me as you can see it on my nickname. I actually saw the series in summer 2015, and a bit later, I graduated myself so I kind of identified with the story too. I can truly say that this is the anime of my life.
Well, I admit it. The story is a bit loose when it comes to season2. This happened because KyoAni never planned of making season2. They planned it to be a one season Anime, so they crammed year1 and year2 into just 12 episodes. The story flow is actually too fast in season 1; Azusa joins-She gets disappointed-They all go on a so-called 'special training'-Mio and Ritsu fights-Concert. All this happens in just 5 episodes. The result? They have to squeeze out 24episodes for just year3. They story flow would have been perfect if they had placed 12episodes for each year. As a fan, the 24epsiodes of season2 was just fabulous, but it could have been quite boring to some. However, that is a flaw for all slice-of-life genre animes so it isn't a problem limited to K-on.
The other minor downside is that it's hardly related to music; just Houkago Tea Time could have also made a great name.
Despite that, the story is very touching when it comes to the end. The scene in s02e20 where everybody cries after the last concert is just heartbreaking. What about the scene in s02e24 and the movie where the rest of HTT sings 'I met an angel' to Azusa, THAT's what we call touching. Also, Kyoani caught every small detail from the story. For instance, the doll Yui brought home from the big cleaning day appears several times again in the anime in Yui's house. These small details make the story enjoyable.
The artwork can't be said 'outstanding' these days, but think of 2009 and 2010. It was quality artwork compared to the animes that came out then, and there isn't a big struggle even if we watch in today.
One of the biggest advantages K-on has is its songs. Starting from it's famous 'fuwafuwa time' there are many other great songs; the OPs and EDs like GO GO maniac, don't say lazy, singing!, No thank you, Utauyo! Miracle, and many others such as Honey sweet tea time, Samidare 20 love, Ichigo parfait ga Tomaranai and much more. It has a lot of songs compared to other animes, and I think this is one of the reason K-on! is still remembered in 2017.
K-on also has quite diverse characters. The five main characters Yui, Tsumugi, Ritsu, Mio and Azusa are all a bit different from each other but they're great when mixed together. This makes the story much more interesting. Not only the main characters, other characters like Sawako, Zun and Ui also each have their own 'thing'. Every character has his/her(mostly her) have a distinguishing point. The supporting roles, such as Ichigo, all have an official behind-story. The characters are the part of K-on that I like the most.
This is it for the review, and I want to end it with a line mentioned in the series.
"Azusa, Houkago Tea Time will Always be Houkago Tea Time" -Hirasawa Yui-
