Tag: K-On!

K-ON! The Movie Review

K-ON! The Movie Review

K-ON! The Movie anime cover art
K-ON! The Movie

This Is Not a Sequel

K-ON! The Movie (K-On! Movie / 映画 けいおん!) wasn’t the movie I expected it to be. Going in, I assumed that this was a sequel to K-ON!!, the second season of the series. But, that’s not actually the case.

If you’ve seen the series, you’ll know that it ends with the four main members of the Light Music Club graduating. And, not only that, but they all got into the same university. So, I was expecting this movie to follow them post-graduation. That seems like a logical assumption to make.

Of course, I already knew that this movie was about the girls going overseas to London. But, that and the four main girls being in university aren’t mutually exclusive. The trip could happen before they leave for university. Or, it could happen during one of their breaks.

Ho-kago Tea Time traveling to London from the K-ON! The Movie anime
Ho-kago Tea Time traveling to London

Well, as I said, this isn’t a sequel. The movie actually takes place toward the end of Season 2, but not after it. It takes place before graduation. The girls go on this trip to London as a way to celebrate their upcoming graduation. And, naturally, they invite Azusa along, too, even though she’s not graduating.

Now, with that all out of the way, this movie was better than I thought it would be. Though, I guess the average rating for it could have told me that. It has a higher average rating than either season of the TV series. And, I have to agree with that.

The main series is good — especially the second season. I’m not going to pretend that it’s not. But, I can’t remember it making me laugh out loud or anything like that. This movie did. It’s genuinely funny and improves on the series in pretty much every way.

Ho-kago Tea Time Hits London

What’s the best thing about K-ON! The Movie? It’s seeing the girls of the Light Music Club in unfamiliar places and situations. It was fun watching them as they explore a new city in a new country where they don’t speak the language.

Even things as simple as them trying to figure out how London taxis work were enjoyable to watch. To me, it’s those little things that highlight how they’re tourists. And, that’s cool to see. It wouldn’t be nearly as entertaining if the girls didn’t seem out of place in a country they’ve never been to before.

Watching them stumble around London makes me feel like that’s how I’d be if I went to many cities in Asia. Sure, I’ve been to other countries before. But, the people in those countries still generally spoke English. And, the culture wasn’t that different.

Ho-kago Tea Time in a London sushi bar from the K-ON! The Movie anime
Ho-kago Tea Time in a London sushi bar

Why London, though? Obviously, Mio wanted to go there. And, there are a lot of famous bands and musicians who are from there. So, it makes sense as a destination for a music-focused anime. And, that’s probably the main reason for choosing London. But, it didn’t have to be London.

Sure, Mio lists off some places in London that have to do with music that she wants to visit. However, we never actually see the girls go to any of those places. It’s not like we got to see the girls recreate the iconic Abbey Road album cover or anything like that.

If they had gone to New York instead of London, nothing would have changed. The destination didn’t actually matter. What mattered was that they went to a major western city and were out of their comfort zone. And, again, the movie did a great job illustrating that.

The End of the Light Music Club

Let’s move on to the things I didn’t like about this movie. I have two major complaints, and they’re somewhat related to each other. The first is that the movie is too long. And the second is that it retreads content from the series.

So, how long is K-ON! The Movie? It’s 1 hour and 50 minutes. That’s not the longest anime movie I’ve watched. But, at close to 2 hours, it’s on the longer side. And, one of the reasons I don’t watch movies very often is their length.

1 hour and 50 minutes is equivalent to about five episodes. Back in the day, watching five episodes of a single series in a row was easy for me to do. But, today, I rarely ever do that. Though, part of that is because I watch so many anime weekly.

Yui and Azusa playing in their final concert together from the K-ON! The Movie anime
Yui and Azusa playing in their final concert together

The thing is, K-ON! The Movie didn’t need to be this long. They could have cut maybe 20 minutes off the movie without losing anything. Why? The movie also basically includes the final episode of the series in it.

At least, I believe it was the final episode of the series. It’s whatever episode in which the four main girls write a song for Azusa before graduating. Throughout the movie, the girls are thinking about what to give Azusa as a gift. And once they decide on a song, they’re writing lyrics, music, etc. for it.

That’s all fine and it’s a nice sub-plot for the movie that ties into the main series. But, then, at the end of the movie, we see them perform the song and everything surrounding that. Why? We already saw that content in the series. There’s not much of a point in adding it here, too.

Final Thoughts

I ended up giving K-ON! The Movie a 7/10. If it wasn’t as long as it was, it could have been an 8. By the final 20 or 30 minutes of the movie, I was ready for it to end. Once the girls were back in Japan, there wasn’t much I was interested in.

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K-ON! Season 2

K-ON! Season 2

K-On! Season 2 anime series cover art
K-On! Season 2

Season Overview

K-On! Season 2 (K-On!! / けいおん!!) is the second season of the K-On! anime series. It covers Yui’s, Mio’s, Ricchan’s, and Mugi’s third and final year of high school. Importantly, this is also only Azusa’s second year.

So, what’s different about this season compared to the first? A lot of people didn’t like the first season when it aired. But, when Season 2 aired, that wasn’t the case. It was generally loved. Why was there such a different reaction to two seasons of the same series? Is Season 2 really that much better?

For starters, Season 2 is twice as long as Season 1. Season 1 is 13 episodes while Season 2 is 26. That means there’s twice as much development — sort of. It’s still a slice of life series. That hasn’t changed. But, Season 2 does improve upon some of the issues I had with Season 1.

Azusa, Mio, Yui, and Mugi looking at Ton-chan from the anime series K-On! Season 2
Azusa, Mio, Yui, and Mugi looking at Ton-chan

One of the most notable differences is that this season isn’t as repetitive as the first. For example, the first season had 2 different summer training episodes. It covered 2 years in 13 episodes. This season doesn’t even have 1 summer training episode. And it covered 1 year in 26 episodes.

Another improvement is that there was an overarching story told throughout the season. 4 of the 5 members of the club are graduating at the end of the year. Once that happens, Azusa will be all alone and the Light Music Club may come to an end.

To me, this is what makes Season 2 better than Season 1. We get to see how Azusa and the other club members come to terms with the end of their time together. There’s a larger focus on the differences between the grades.

After School Tea Time

The second season of K-On! arguably focuses less on music than the first. If you told me that before I started it, I would have assumed that to mean it was worse. But, that’s not the case. The shift in focus is actually what makes it better.

One of my main complaints about Season 1 was that the series wasn’t building to anything. The climax of the season was the girls playing the same school concert for the second year in a row. They didn’t graduate to a bigger venue with more on the line.

The second season could have solved this by introducing a competition for the band to enter. But, that would have resulted in a fundamental change in the series. It wouldn’t be as much of a moe anime at that point. An actual plot would take away from the moe.

Mugi, Mio, Azusa, Ricchan, and Yui from the anime series K-On! Season 2
Mugi, Mio, Azusa, Ricchan, and Yui

Instead, this season doubles down on the non-music aspects of the series. What do the girls do other than play music? They get a pet turtle, they go on a class trip, and they perform in a play. It’s more about their overall high school experience, not just their music.

In fact, one of my favorite episodes of the season didn’t even include any of the 4 main girls. When the seniors went away on their class trip, we got an episode all about those left behind. It followed Azusa, Ui, and Jun as they did things unrelated to the Light Music Club.

With fewer episodes focusing on music, more episodes focused on character development. And when I say character development, I don’t mean anything deep. I mean we get to see more of the ways the girls interact with each other and their surroundings. They felt more real.

Highs and Lows

The highest and lowest points of the season both came toward the end. Let’s start with the low point because that’s what came first. It’s the few episodes around Episode 20 — I’m not going to go back to find out exactly which ones.

So, what made these episodes the worst part of the season? They were extremely boring. One of them starts off with over 90 seconds of Yui looking at herself in a mirror. No dialogue. Just Yui looking in the mirror and fixing her hair. I actually skipped through this part.

That’s not all, though. We also got to see the band play during their school festival for the third time. And, what was different about the performance this time? I’m glad you asked. Between songs, Yui decided to recap the entire previous episode for us. Again, I had to skip through the episode.

Mugi and Mio laying on futons from the anime series K-On! Season 2
Mugi and Mio laying on futons

I’m not usually one to skip through episodes. I tend to stop paying attention and look at Twitter or Discord instead. But, I couldn’t even do that here. I had to skip ahead for my own sanity. It was mind-numbingly boring.

So, what about the highlight of the season? Well, that actually came after the end of the season. You see, Episode 24 is the “final” episode. Then, Episodes 25 and 26 are flashbacks to before the final episode. They function like normal episodes, though. So, I’m not sure why they’re at the end instead of in their chronological positions.

Position aside, these were the best 2 episodes of the whole series. I especially liked the very last episode. In that one, the seniors visit Sawa-chan’s apartment while she’s out with a cold. It had some of the best character interactions of the entire anime.

Conclusion

In the end, I begrudgingly gave K-On! Season 2 a 7/10. I was considering giving it a 6 like the first season. But, I’ll give it the 7 because I do think the character development in this season was very good. Also, the second ED for this season is the best song of the series.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and Key Mochi for supporting this blog at the Heika and Senpai tiers this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

The review of K-ON! The Movie is available now.

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K-ON!

K-ON!

K-On! anime series cover art
K-On!

Series Overview

K-On! (けいおん!) is a moe slice of life anime created by Kyoto Animation back in 2009. And, despite its age, it doesn’t feel very old. Sure, the girls use old cell phones. But, if you ignore that detail, the series feels like something that could have come out around 2016.

The series follows a school “light music” club. Basically, it’s a high school rock band. And that’s pretty much all there is to the series. It’s cute girls doing cute things — band edition. (Not to be confused with Sound! Euphonium, which is cute girls doing cute things — orchestral band edition.)

I thought K-On! was pretty good. And it seems that the general consensus today is that it’s a good anime. But, I was surprised to find that this isn’t how people felt about it when it first aired. Well, at least the more vocal people online at the time didn’t feel that way.

Mugi, Mio, Yui, and Ritsu from the anime series K-On!
Mugi, Mio, Yui, and Ritsu

I read through some old reviews from 2009 and 2010 and they were very different from what people say today. They talk about how bad the art is and complain that nothing happens in the series. Some even go so far as to say it marks the end of the genre.

“If K-ON! is the future of slice-of-life moe anime, then the genre is dying.”

Splitter, MAL 2009

In case you’re wondering, Splitter was last online on MAL in 2016. Rest in peace, Splitter. I never met you, but you can take this L.

Anyway, I actually rated K-On! the same score that Splitter did. But, unlike them, I enjoyed the series. And the complaints I do have are different than the ones I’ve seen many of these old reviews bring up. So, let’s start with the character complaints.

Light Music Club

Yui Hirasawa (guitar) is the main character of K-On! She’s also probably my least favorite of the 4 main girls. Why? Because she’s actually a shounen battle series protagonist in disguise. She has a “secret ability” that’s randomly revealed. Despite never playing an instrument, she has perfect pitch and can play music by ear.

At first, I thought the draw of Yui as a character was that she’s flawed. She was the one member of the band with no music experience. But, that got tossed aside in episode 4.

Mio Akiyama (bass) is my favorite of the original 4 members of the band. She has the cutest design and I much prefer her on lead vocals over Yui. I get that Yui is the protagonist and Mio didn’t want to be the lead singer. But, Mio is a better lead singer. That’s also why the ED is so good.

Azusa "Azunyan" Nakano from the anime series K-On!
Azusa “Azunyan” Nakano

Although Mio is the cutest, Ritsu “Ricchan” Tainaka (drums) has some of my favorite outfits in the series. She has a good sense of style. Personality-wise, I see her as a worse version of Sakurako from Yuru Yuri. She also might be the most forgettable of the group.

Tsumugi “Mugi” Kotobuki (keyboard) is Ricchan’s main competitor in the forgettability competition. The only reason I’d put Ricchan above her is that Ricchan has the same (close enough) hair color as Yui. Mugi is the rich girl of the group — her family’s vacation homes are used for training camps.

Azusa “Azunyan” Nakano (guitar) is the final member of the band. She’s a year younger than the rest and joined a year after the band formed. With her in the picture, Mio loses her top spot. Azunyan is a smaller, cuter Mio.

Oh, also there’s Sawako “Sawa-chan-sensei” Yamanaka.

Not What I Expected

I kind of assumed that K-On would be a bit more about the music than it was. Sure, I understand that it’s a moe slice of life anime. But, I guess things like Love Live! have spoiled me when it comes to music anime.

With Love Live!, it feels like we get a new song every episode. From what I remember, there were 2 songs the band played in K-On! And 1 of those 2 songs was only played once in episode 12. Also, the songs in the actual show weren’t as good as the OP and ED songs.

However, the K-On! anime is an adaptation of a 4-panel manga. So, I’d imagine that there aren’t too many song performances in the source material. And, while there not being many songs isn’t a huge issue, the somewhat repetitive nature of the series is.

Mugi, Mio, Yui, and Ritsu during a training camp from the anime series K-On!
Mugi, Mio, Yui, and Ritsu during a training camp

To give you an example of what I mean by the series being repetitive, there are 2 training camp episodes. The band also plays at their school festival twice. Basically, everything that happens in the first half of the series happens again. The only difference is that Azunyan is there now.

I may have enjoyed it more if there was a bigger goal the girls were working toward. Or, even if their goal was different in the second half of the series than it was in the first. I guess that’s what the second season is for, though.

And the last thing I want to mention is the final episode of the anime. The final episode was the most boring of them all. That should never be the case. Anime should end on a high note. It’s no wonder the second-to-last episode was titled “Final Episode.”

Conclusion

In the end, I gave K-On! a 6/10. It was an enjoyable episode, and it was almost a 7. It’s right on the edge between those ratings. But, from what I understand, everyone likes the second season more than the first. So, I’m expecting to rate that season higher when I eventually watch it.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And come join our Discord server to discuss anime with other members of the community.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Season 2 is available here.