K-ON!eps 9

Azusa clearly speaks out her mind and is quite possibly the most mature of the group. I love how she blew up and pointed out everything that’s totally off with the light music club. Up until she joined, the light music club was really lacking in terms of commitment, especially with the current members on board. Funny how it’s taken so long for someone to finally say something about it in the show, and who better than Azusa? Actually, speaking of blowing up, it was really hilarious when Sawa-chan shouted immediately once Azusa started playing the guitar. Scared the crap out of me, but it was goddamn hilarious.
Things got quite heavy near the end when Azusa was unsure about the club. Probably the only serious situation this show could ever be in, but the execution was nice, and it said a lot about Azusa’s character. It’s no wonder why Mio and Azusa are so popular in the fandom. Now that everything’s so neatly resolved, not to mention in record time, that hopefully means a more dynamic approach later. When it comes to K-ON! though, you have to have your doubts though. After all, ladies first.
So I’m a bit disappointed that KyoAni were being “lazy” with the added changes. Azusa gets her own clip, extra guitar added to the opener, and she’s even added to the jamming scenes plus the series logo ring, but that’s pretty much it. She wasn’t added in any of the background settings or anything, which makes her look neglected for most of the OP. It’s a bit of a shame that the “octave jump” scene was removed for more Azusa. But wow, she’s just so cute there… Also, if you’ve noticed, the theme song does have a little tweak by adding a second guitar track, most notably heard around Azusa’s clipshow. Nice touch there, but that’s still not quite enough, KyoAni. Needless to say, they were even more “lazy” with the ED and didn’t bother changing it at all. I suppose that would take a lot more effort, but who doesn’t want to see Azu-nyan in gothic attire?
Another guitarist? I’m not too versed with the music world but that seemed like a good thing judging from Ritsu’s comment. Well the light music club has their first member in a while and not surprisingly the new girl is pretty weirded out about how the club rolls. Yui has taken her sempai role almost immediately upon her arrival. Actually to me, “onee-sama” feels more appropriate here. Yui has almost complete control over her, tempting Azusa with sweets and making her dress up. Of course, one important condition for being a K-ON member is the moe factor and Azu-nyan passes with flying colors. The phrase “so moe I thought I was gonna die” could never be more appropriate.
This was an overall enjoyable episode featuring Azusa and her getting used to the light music club. I particularly liked the scene where Mio gives her answer on why she joined the band in the first place instead of an outside one. The answer was simple yet it had a big impact. Regarding Azusa’s decision to joining, the whole situation came off a bit rushed for me. I think it would have been better for the problem to expand into the next episode. Or maybe root the problem towards the beginning. It was over as fast as it was introduced. One could argue that it was hinted throughout the episode with Azusa’s desire of wanting to practice and doubts about the club’s carefree nature, but there really wasn’t much built around it making her emotional scene feel a bit over the top.