K-ON!season 2 eps 14

[ Episode 14: Summer Classes! ] (I swear, most of the time these titles aren’t even the point of the episodes)
Opening Theme: 「Utauyo!!MIRACLE」 by HO-KAGO TEA TIME

It’s like the third season just started or something. Now that K-ON!! is halfway done, what better way to start the second half with a new OP? Yui (Toyosaki Aki) back on the vocals, and it’s as jeery as ever with an in-house live in the clubroom. Impressive imagination quality here. The crowd moving, the girls playing the instruments, the confetti coming down. A lot of movement and motion going around, and it’s a fun one. It doesn’t have the scenic stuff like the previous OPs had, but in this respect, it’s really good, and I really like this one, though it doesn’t change the fact that I still like “Cagayake!GIRLS” above the other OPs.

I think a Mugi-centric episode has been long overdue, so this episode really helped put Mugi back in the limelight and is sure to attract the attention of Mugi fans. First of all, great to see another takuan joke, and I loved the use of protractors as well (saving Mugi from literally melting into moeblob). I’m betting any semi-circle objects can be Mugi’s eyebrows. This was also one of the few instances where Mugi and Ritsu hang out together, which was another nice touch. The interaction was pretty amusing as Ritsu was like the city kid that knows the neighborhood while Mugi was like a foreigner. It’s all definitely because Mugi has been kinda sheltered and doesn’t do much outside her home aside from school and vacationing. Seeing her in a sort of sugar rush for the arcades, sticky pics, and candy was a blast.
As I mentioned about Mugi, she was probably raised very well and never a spoiled brat. Assumingly so, she’s never once been hit or punished. I can see where Mugi is going, but it’s a little weird that she would want to get hit. The ideas she and Ritsu came up with to get herself whacked (by Mio mostly) was good in theory, but I highly doubt Mio would even hit Mugi, even jokingly, because Mio and Ritsu go back since their childhood days. In the end, Ritsu gave Mugi a good whack in the head. I guess she achieved her goal after all. My favorite scene was the one in which Mugi snatched Mio’s strawberry off her cake and Mio just sat there frozen in tears.
Speaking of strawberries on the shortcake, Yui’s involvement in this episode made me sigh in disbelief. It’s hilarious how she continued telling everyone throughout the entire episode that taking the strawberry of the cake that was offered to you is weird. That seemed more like a ruse and Yui was just upset because she wanted to eat the strawberry.
Ending Theme: 「NO, Thank You!」 by HO-KAGO TEA TIME

Just when I thought KyoAni couldn’t get any better with the EDs, they got better with the EDs. “NO, Thank You!” starts out with a lullaby-like tune, but overall has a very punk-edge feel in the song, and even the girls have that sort of punk-edge schoolgirl feel, especially Mio with the hoodie and spray paint can (Wow, haven’t seen that shit since Bleach‘s “*~Asterisk~”). Mio and Ritsu definitely look stylish, as do the other three, though I preferred their attire from “Listen!!” instead. I thought the visuals were pretty cool, with the sky and the clouds moving at an accelerating rate, the girls performing, Mio spraying paint, followed by dramatic jumps. The “PV” is directed in almost the same fashion as “Don’t say ‘lazy’” such as the end with Mio up close and then leaving the screen. Love it.