K-ON!eps 12

First of all, LOL @ takuan. I was wondering if that part was gonna get animated. So it was the final episode, and everything’s been building up to the second school festival. Was it worth the wait? Hmm…. I’m gonna have to say not really, but I did enjoy the performances a lot. For one thing, we finally get to see full-on music performance animation instead of fancy PVs. Yui’s dilemma was a bit too incidental, but things like that do tend to happen for inexplicable times. I found Ui absolutely adorable and hilarious for pretending to be her sister. I agree with Ritsu; perhaps they should’ve stuck with her instead of Yui. Kidding, but Ui’s really good, so why didn’t she join the light music club too? Seeing parallels to episode 1 gave me nostalgia. It’s almost as if it were yesterday and I saw Yui falling on her butt, running with bread in her mouth… you know the drill. I think it’s a bit too irresponsible for even Yui to forget her guitar. While she was running, I was thinking who was playing in her place, or if they didn’t have anyone at all. I was quite surprised that Sawako was subbing for her, but she did well in Yui’s place. As expected of the former Death Devil star, right? Gotta admit, Mio’s love for using school utensils and items as songs is peculiarly unique, but it sounds so good. Fude Pen, Ball Pen (Calligraphy Pen, Ball-point Pen) is probably their best song I’ve heard. Either that or Watashi no Koi wa Hotchkiss (My Love is a Stapler). The performance appropriately ends with an encore Fuwafuwa followed by Yui’s exclaim for her love of light music. That was quite quick. Like Yui said, “ehhhhhhhhh?”
This was a pretty nice finale. I remember back during the early episodes when they announced they were going to Budokan and I was expecting something epic at the end of the series, something like Beck’s Greatful Sound arc. Well we didn’t get anything close to that (not even God Knows level) but that didn’t stop me from loving this episode. It was really Yui’s “This is our Budokan” line that did it for me. She reminded me of how far these moeblobs have come and what the light music club means to them, especially Yui. The parallel with the first episode seemed a bit forced. Even with an airhead like Yui, forgetting your guitar is a bit much.. Though as a result we got Sawako playing the first song which was a nice touch. The song “Fude Pen, Ball Pen” is, like the rest of Afternoon Tea Time’s songs, incredibly silly. But is catchy and keeps you listening and maybe even bobbing your head. Their songs are really a reflection of the K-ON bu and maybe even the show itself actually: silly, yet you can’t help but enjoy it.


REVIEW
Youko: Well, it’s been a fun ride with K-ON!, but it’s not quite over as there is the extra episode. Considering how this is labeled the finale, it’s more than appropriate to review the series as a whole now. So first of all, when I heard about this series, I didn’t know if this would go to A-1 or KyoAni, but I was convinced it was A-1 because of the coloring. Not only that, but as a story about music, I expected Yamakan to be directing it. Turns out KyoAni grabbed it first (and that’s why they’re getting bit in the ass with Angel Beats!, right?). In the hands of KyoAni, it was inevitable it filled the void that Lucky Star left after its complete airing. Pretty much as I’ve said before – a mash up of Lucky Star for the female cast, Beck for its music interest, and then a premise quite like Swing Girls and/or Linda Linda Linda. Although, unfortunately, the girls spend their leisurely time relaxing instead of practicing. Personally, I didn’t really mind it all because I was expecting this to happen. Considering its based on a 4koma, K-ON! is nothing but slice-of-life, and is not meant to have a full-on story that one would perceive. Of course, many people probably don’t know that, and that’s why a lot of them shun the series in the first place. The real point was the interaction with the characters, I’d say. One complaint I have about this is that Azusa’s character was not really expanded a lot ever since she joined the club. She appears in less than half of the show’s run and I would’ve loved to see more of her. The show could’ve done a lot better if there were was some actual animation going on when they’re playing. I’m assuming KyoAni saved it for the last episode, but even then, it wasn’t that much.
Gene: Before Spring rolled in, K-ON! was one of my more anticipated shows of Spring ’09. KyoAni + music sounded like a great idea. I was expecting Beck with moeblobs. But I ended up with only moeblobs. I think the biggest problem I had with this show at first was that it wasn’t what I expected to be nor did the show know what it wanted to be. There was really no strong focus at all on the music until like in the later half of the series. This really just left most its audience confused as to what they were really watching. Was it a show about music or moe? Though I’m sure most kept on watching anyway because of all the HNNNGGGG going around. The balance started getting better near the latter half when their first concert was held. I’m sure everybody just woke up one day and remembered suddenly that they’re in a band.
The production values for the show are pretty top notch with Kyoto Animation orchestrating the whole thing. From animation to sound (especially the god tier ED), it stands above over many of the other anime from Spring. The characters are incredibly lovable for their character archetypes. The four girls have personalities that have easily attracted the masses so it’s no wonder KyoAni picked this up. The story is… well I don’t think I can say that K-ON! has any sort of plot at all sometimes. If I were to identify the show’s genre, slice of life would definitely be it. While I do like slice of life, it’s pretty much the opposite of what I expected this to be.
Instead of me keep talking about what I expected K-ON! would be, let’s talk about what it really is. At it’s core, it’s a cute slice of life show about a band. And at that, it excels well. You’ll laugh. You’ll HNNNGGGG. You will not think. K-ON! is mindless fun and as someone who has been blogging this anime from the start, I can honestly say that I had fun. So from that alone, I think K-ON! was a success. KyoAni no doubt has another hit on their hands which I can tell from the fanbase, fanart, and merchandise, so a second season is almost guaranteed. And I’ll be there once again wanting to watch more of those girls’ antics.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Youko: So while it probably had little to do with music, it was still quite enjoyable and hilarious most of the time, due in part by the colorful cast. Yui, Mio, Ritsu, Tsumugi, and Azusa were the band of girls that made it possible. Then there’s Sawa-chan-sensei, the teacher with a tragic past, and Ui, the lovable and reliable imouto. The series is probably a huge hit or miss, depending on how you perceive the whole show. It’s really not something you should check out if you’re expecting full-blown music, not like a concert. It’s too bad it didn’t top God knows… or rather, it’s kinda hard to top that at all, but nonetheless, K-ON! is a cute show that anyone looking for a nice slice-of-life show can enjoy.
Gene: Unfortunately, in the end K-ON! isn’t something I would recommend for music aficionados out there. And I really wanted it to be. If you’re looking for something that will make you laugh and your heart burst out of cuteness and silliness, the show will give it in spades. But if you’re looking for something even remotely mind stimulating, don’t even touch this.