There is not much of a story, it's just about the everyday life of high-school girls. There is few development as well. BUT chara-development does exist, which makes the main characters enjoyable : they aren't just stereotypes with no story, they are consistent enough to be pleasant.
But "K-ON!" is definitely not for people who are looking for deep stories and chara-development. They are for those who just want to be distracted for a while.
This show succeeds in entertaining the viewer thanks to wonderful graphics and sounds, funny characters, awesome staging and hilarious situations.
Now, here is the long version :
STORY:
"K-On!" is about the life of high-school girls forming a music club, and... that's all. The episodes just show those girls living their high-school years, studying for their exams, taking vacation breaks, and hanging around while sometimes working for their club activities.
I'll be blunt : if you're looking for a deep, complex, developed story, you definitely won't enjoy this anime. But if you can understand that story is not everything in an anime, you will see all the good points that make this show really enjoyable.
The one major flaw I see in this anime's story is the rythm. "K-On!" is composed of a 14 episodes season, and a 27 episodes season (along with a movie, which takes place before the last episodes), covering three years of those girls lives.
BUT the first 2 years are actually covered by the 1st season, and the last year is covered by the 2nd one.
As a result, the first two years are way too short! This is really stupid! It just feels like nothing happens in those two years, which makes me feel that the first season is way too short for what it's telling.
ART :
For a 2010-ish anime, "K-On!" is absolutely gorgeous. The chara-design is fairly simple, but the backgrounds are great (although classic : most of the anime is staged in an average japanese high-school), the light effects are beautiful and the animation is quite flawless... except in the first season, where it is sometimes disgusting. But the second season and the movie have an awesome animation, at least for an 8-year old anime.
SOUND :
Visually it is well done, but the sound is also great. The OST is simple but very well used (it plays a major role in comedic scenes). The songs (whether that be the openings, the endings, or the insert songs) are absolutely awesome : "K-On!" offers a lot of purely orchestral, rock'n'roll songs.
It is interesting to notice that the quality of the insert songs is generally lowered in the episodes. This is actually a great idea : remember, the characters are average high-schoolers, not music genius!
Because of that, and because they are supposed to play in live during their concerts, the girls don't play their songs perfectly. Of course, in the real OST, the songs are much better than what can be heard during the episodes!
COMEDY :
Humor in "K-On!" is terrific. Of course it is subjective, but we can't say they didn't pull a lot of comedic strings :
- Yui's clumsy behaviour : it's not only cute, it's also fun because whatever happens, you just know that Yui will fail at something xD.
- Overdramatic scenes : many scenes are played as dramatic stuff when it really is nothing serious.
That offset is often used in popular comedic stuff (I'll just cite One Punch Man, where many scenes are taken seriously by the characters whereas it's just plain stupid situations... and that's why this show is so funny!).
- Characters interactions : there is so much to say on that : the fact that Ui (Yui's little sister) is actually mature (when it should be her big sister who takes this role), the fact that Ritsu keeps teasing Mio, the fact that Mugi is impressed by anything normal (as a rich girl, she didn't live a normal life, thus she loves having the opportunity to do "normal stuff" like going to a cheap store or eating at a fast-food), the fact that Azusa, which takes music seriously, winds up in a lazy club like this, and so on.
- Ordinarity : yes, seing something ordinary can be funny. It can be funny to see a character struggle with problems that we had before. It can be funny to see a character in a situation that we have been in before.
It is just appealing.
CHARACTERS :
Overall, there is few development on the characters, as there is no story to make them evolve. That doesn't mean there is nothing though : Yui learns to get over her clumsiness (although just a bit), Mio learns to get over her shyness, Mugi learns to "live normally", Azusa learns to be less strict, and the best of all, Sawako learns that her past is not that shameful...
No, we definitely can't say that there is no development at all. But that's simply not the point of this series.
I think I talked about everything. Sure, "K-On!" is simple and cliché, and there is almost no story in it. But it compensates for it with almost everything else : enjoyable characters, great visuals and songs, and hilarious situations. This is more than enough to make it memorable and fairly enjoyable.
