K-ON!

[Melon]

K-ON! is a very cute anime about a group of high school girls and their life centered around their after school club. My brother said I'd like this show so I checked it out. I adore it! Like always, it has been a long time since I adored an anime, probably since Haruhi even, but this show has the right balance of comedy, fanservice, slice of life, and characters to make it worthwhile. Yes, I'll say that with three episodes aired. So for a jaded semi-anime fan like myself, this show is good, so give it a try!



Here are the girls:





Yui is the "main" character of the show. She's your typical anime airhead - young, naive, clumsy, stupid, yet a redeemable determination and ability to do the impossible when needed. She is learning the guitar throughout the show, so the band's progress is dependant on her. In the OP she does the main vocals, in the ED she does backup.











Ritsu's personality is best described as energetic, brash, and carefree like Yui, but not in the extreme. I'd call her the leader because of her determination and being the only dominant personality in the group. She decided to play drums because they "looked cool and wiggling fingers fast is not her thing" haha! She's the founder of the club.









Ah, Tsumugi. Now Risa, if you want to do an "eyebrow beam" you best be sporting some killer brows like Tsumugi! She's your typical quiet rich girl who joins the group to get more life experience because we all know rich girls are completely lacking in any sort of friends or wisdom. Sarcasm aside, she's the sweetest girl of the group and coincidently bringer of many delicious sweets. She's played the piano her entire life and thus has the most musical experience of the group. Despite her wanting to join choir club at the beginning she does not assist in any of the vocals on the OP or ED.









Mio is the most "moe" character in the show. She's painfully shy to the point of doing things where she is forced to interact with people causes a breakdown. But her shyness makes many cute blushing moments (especially about things she shouldn't be embarrassed about) so I won't complain. I would call her the "mother" of the group and she counterbalances the "reach for the skies" Ritsu with a levelheaded thinking. The ED animation is interesting because it's not her character at all to be in the front or be so expressive.







So far the girls haven't really made music, due to Yui's ability at guitar, but I have a feeling as the show progresses we'll have more music which will be awesome. I'd really like it to have more than one "show" song, but knowing anime it'll have one insert song at the end of the series. Beck was another music anime I never finished but I think they did more than one insert song so I have hope they'll be more songs. It is still very slice of life with a side of music. The first episode is about the girls meeting (naturally), the second is raising funds for Yui's guitar, and the third is raising Yui's grade so the club won't be forced to breakup.



I'd also like to comment on the animation. So far it is very nice. The music playing animations are nice, with the closups being especially well done. The lipsyncing is great. Yui's movements are very expressive as well. From the first scene where she falls on her bum to her simple walking movements to her clumsy "running into strangers" moments. It has a very delibrate and bouncy feel. I hope it keeps this quality of animation throughout the series.



The OP and ED are cute catchy tunes, the ED moreso. The lyrics are very cute and schoolgirl like, if that makes any sense. I think I'm a sucker for girl bands no matter what form, haha. Anyone else watching?



Links:

Anime Official Site

(It looks like they ran together, but OP and ED names are youtube links)

OP single "Cagayake Girls" buy yesasia buy amazon.co.jp (no cdj link)

ED single "Don't say 'lazy'" buy yesasia buy amazon.co.jp



Animesuki Links (it's the first show on the page, so I won't bother with individual links)

[Shoujo Q]

I adore K-ON!



I'm hoping they will extend the ending for a future dvd release, it's pretty awesome.

I don't normally watch the opening and endings of anime, but I find myself continuing to sit through the opening and ending of K-ON, I really like the series.



But then I'm a whore for anything Kyoto Animation releases so I'd probably love it anyway. After a whole lot of Clannad, this is a nice different pace.



Hashihime An anime voice actor blog gave some behind the scenes info on all the main actresses voicing in the series. It's pretty cool that most of them a relative unknowns. It's been said that they are also learning the instruments their anime counterparts are playing so a live concert could be in the future. (I said that in a previous post already, just thought I'd say it again and hope it comes true? <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... iggrin.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lmfao:' /> )

[al kusanagi]

Nice find. I haven't watched anime in forever, until Macross Frontier came along, but I do love me both girl bands and movies/shows about bands in general. Got the first three episodes so far. I've only had a chance to check out the first, but I'm already in love with Ritsu. It's like Tomo from Azumanga reborn as a drummer!

[Infinite Loop]

It's pretty rare that I check out anime these days (usually requires very frequent recommendations and/or brow-beating ), but I am sold. Episode 1 starting now <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... nceman.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lmfao:' />



Edit: Hooked.

[Melon]

<img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... umbsup.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':wub:' /> It's addictive, isn't it? Haha



The OP and ED singles are out and uploaded to Member's Territory.



My comments on the singles:



OP Cagayake GIRLS!



01. Cagayake GIRLS! - When I first heard it, it reminded me of chatmonchy or Pink Panda. I like the extended song, it's very catchy. NON NON NON!

02. Happy?! Sorry!! - Whoooa, I was NOT expecting that! I swear they're channeling other famous girl bands with these singles. This one reminded me of early GO!GO!7188 with keyboards.



ED Don't Say "Lazy"



01. Don't Say "Lazy" - I think I figured out why I like this song so much. It reminds me of Janne da Arc minus You's awesome guitar.

02. Sweet Bitter Beauty Song - And this one adds a jazz element and kind of reminds me of old rock songs. But it also lacks the energy of the other three songs.





If I ranked the four it would be



01. Don't say "Lazy"

02. Happy?! Sorry!!

03. Cagayake Girls

04. Sweet Bitter Beauty Song



I'm rather sad this is just an anime band because they rock and I would totally buy their album releases. These were more like double A-side singles to me.

[surasshu]

Yeah I've been watching this show as well, solid stuff (as expected from KyoAni). I almost feel like it hits right in the middle of the meaningless meandering of Lucky Star (all the schoolgirl slice-of-life stuff basically) and the "normal" moments in Suzumiya Haruhi (with the forming of a club and everything). I actually changed my avatar to Yui some weeks ago but then I lost internet due to moving to a new apartment and the broadband company screwing up the appointment, so nobody saw it. :<



Also, Ui is the cutest~



EDIT: And I actually like the OP way more than the ED, although they're both good. I like to think that they're both songs that they wish they could play, like an elaborate cooperative fantasy.

[Sabaku Ika]

Another K-ON watcher is me. It is cute and sometimes that's enough, but I can't yet tell if it's actually good.



How did Yui become better at guitar playing during training camp when she wasn't actually practicing? Same problem with the makeup exam. As far as I could tell, she should have failed again. It's like this show trying to make its viewers lazier.

[Joel]

[quote name='Woestijn Pijlinktvis' post='64050' date='Apr 25 2009, 09:46 AM']Another K-ON watcher is me. It is cute and sometimes that's enough, but I can't yet tell if it's actually good.[/quote]



Same here. However, episode by episode, it's been growing on me. Time to watch episode 4!

[surasshu]

They've started showing widescreen versions of the show on BS-i! Finally~

[Tallgeese]

Not a groundbreaking series by any means but it has several things going for it: 1) KyoAni - on a tear ever since Haruhi. Whatever they touches turns to gold 2) Cute, likeable characters - always good for selling to fanboys and otaku. At the same time, the writers are conscious that they are playing into the usual anime stereotypes. 3) Good soundtrack - The OP and ED did really well on the charts. I thought it would take a bit longer to get popular, actually



One thing I have liked so far is that from what I gather, this was a 4-koma with a limited plot (a la Lucky*Star) but it seems to have been fleshed out a lot more in the anime. BTW, I thought the Budokan thing was just a joke one of the members said, but from EP 4, it is pretty clear that it is the ultimate end goal of the series, as much as Koshien is the goal of any baseball anime series.

[Melon]

[quote name='Tallgeese' post='64120' date='Apr 27 2009, 01:06 PM']BTW, I thought the Budokan thing was just a joke one of the members said, but from EP 4, it is pretty clear that it is the ultimate end goal of the series, as much as Koshien is the goal of any baseball anime series.[/quote]



hehe, I didn't think the Budokan was a joke at all. In nearly all musical comics/anime I've seen the "obviously no talent" one that joins with experienced members always has a surprising talent, be it voice, learning ability, or raw skill when they manage to pay attention. I knew Yui was going to become good at the guitar rapidly, but I don't really know how they're going to progress with a "dream" of Budokan without getting out of the school setting. Unless Tsumugi's father is actually a big shot in the industry and they get a deal and can continue with school, which I doubt because that would be extremely cheap, plot wise. Unless, of course, they relay through the school year and do a time warp or dream sequence at the end of the series. A "concert" final episode would be awesome. Or the school life is only part of the series and they expand on life after that...but then there's no point in calling it Keion. It's still too early to tell.

[Shoujo Q]

From what I gathered this was a limited series, meaning 13-14. So they would have to cover a LOT of ground to be able to fit in a OMG they made it to Budokan episode.

[Sabaku Ika]

Episode 5 has erased my doubts about the show. It still doesn't make sense, but I no longer care.

[BeForJess]

I was reluctant to try it because I've been so jaded by shitty anime lately... It has just felt like nothing but crap has come out for years, you know? But I looked up the OP and ED on Youtube and I loved them (especially the ED). So maybe I'll give it a shot after all....

[al kusanagi]

I was in downtown Kyoto today and I had no idea how huge this show is becoming. All the music shops have huge displays for it, especially since the third single (the culture festival song) comes out next week and the first full album is due out in a month. One of the anime shops even had an area in the front just for the series explaining what it was all about and even with pictures of the real areas that were apparently used as backgrounds for the show. There's also tons of stuff coming out next month like posters, t-shirts, guitar cases and whatnot. I'm kind of sorry I'll miss it all since I'm finally leaving Japan in a couple of weeks. The full blu-ray release list for the series is already out and there are seven disks with two episodes each, so it looks like the series is now halfway over.

[aine]

From the looks and sound of it I'm very interested in watching it. But knowing myself I'll get around to it in some 2 or 3 years. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... hahaha.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':crazy:' />

[Shoujo Q]

This week's episode, episode 7 "Christmas" was so chalk full of Moe. I didn't think you could stick that much "cuteness" into an anime episode. D:



And OMG it's like Christmas in July but it's only May! xD I love random Christmas episodes whenever.

[Sabaku Ika]

Are there real people with the name Ui?

[Melon]

[quote name='PQ' post='64624' date='May 16 2009, 03:06 PM']This week's episode, episode 7 "Christmas" was so chalk full of Moe. I didn't think you could stick that much "cuteness" into an anime episode. D:[/quote]



Yeah, I awwed more times than a girl should be allowed, hahaha.



My new theory (if they go the budokan route) is that the "videos" playing in their songs are really their future videos. But to hell with the future of the show, give more more cute moments :3 I am such a sucker for cute stories that it's embarrassing.

[surasshu]

[quote name='Woestijn Pijlinktvis' post='64687' date='May 19 2009, 02:24 AM']Are there real people with the name Ui?[/quote]

It means onion in Dutch! I guess that doesn't answer your question. She's really cute though.

[Sabaku Ika]

[quote name='///' post='64697' date='May 18 2009, 10:55 PM'][quote name='Woestijn Pijlinktvis' post='64687' date='May 19 2009, 02:24 AM']Are there real people with the name Ui?[/quote]

It means onion in Dutch! I guess that doesn't answer your question. She's really cute though.

[/quote]

Have we seen both of Y/Ui's parents? One of them might be Dutch and really like onions.

[Snowman]

So I decided to check this Anime out seeing as all of you guys said nothing but good things about it. I'm three episodes in and I find it pretty interesting. I'm most interested in the development of their band. From the first episode I instantly fell in love with Mio. I'll give more comments when I finish watching it. It's just 13 episodes right? shouldn't take long.



EDIT



I just noticed this thread has been dead for a few months lol I'm pretty late.