K-ON!season 2 eps 24

It’s gonna be hard to say goodbye… but then you realize there are two extra episodes left.

The lighting used for most of this episode really set up the mood of the girls’ graduation from high school and also Azusa’s feelings. Splendid job on that one. It was a littler sad that Azusa was spacey in the beginning and then broke down into tears knowing that her senpai are all moving on now. I think throughout the last few episodes, she’s been feeling quite down because of the lack of time she spent with them, almost as if she was separated from them completely. In turn, having the girls write a song specifically for Azusa was the greatest thing they could ever do for her after her support in the light music club.
This particular episode itself had its moments. For instance, Yui trying to keep Sawa-chan’s gift underneath her shirt during the entire ceremony. Would it have really fallen out if she didn’t hold it? Couldn’t just give it back to Ritsu to hide behind her ass back? I think this finale showed Sawa-chan in a better light than any of the previous episodes, and this was delivered through her students’ gift to her. I thought it was very sweet and great of Yui to have given her respect to her by referring to her as Yamanaka-sensei when she gave the thanks card to her. Other than that, it’s kinda strange for me to see such formality in a graduation. No gowns or mortarboards thrown up? Could be just the school’s thing.
I personally didn’t think this was an all too great episode, but the little performance the girls gave to Azusa made the episode for me, and it was a wonderful song. I just loved how there were parallels to the very first episode of K-ON! during this moment. Like in the first episode, the girls played a song for their latest member to listen. Azusa was sitting in the same seat that Yui sat on the first time she heard Mio, Ritsu, and Mugi play. Then at the end, just like the first episode with Yui, Azusa is astounded by the performance but says it wasn’t very good. Adding to that, their song “Tenshi ni Fureta yo!!” was a very soothing, slow-paced melody like the song the girls played in the first episode in insrumental, “Tsubasa wo Kudasai.” But like the vocal version of “Tsubasa wo Kudasai,” “Tenshi ni Fureta yo!!” features all four original girls singing in a song, which was very awesome. In this episode’s case, this is the only time all girls sing during the performance. And finally, kudos to KyoAni yet again for showing them play the instruments. Perhaps not as a spectacular as episode 20′s two song performances, but this one stood out a lot more because of the meaning behind the lyrics and the fact that it was their last time in school together.
The show ends in the same manner as last season’s end: playing “Fuwafuwa time” and the “oshimai” scribble. A nice way of closing everything, but what will happen after this? Azusa will become the president of the club now, and Jun did say she’ll join next year. That could only mean Ui would be recruited as well, so they need at least one other person to keep it alive again (such as, say, another person who has no idea how to play guitar). Next week seems like an aftermath of sorts featuring my favorite juniors, but for now, on with the series review!

Review
It has been a long time since I started K-ON!, back when it started a year ago. I remembered how free and laid-back it was now that I look back. Compared to last season, this one doubled up the fun, but it had a lot of great moments all the same.
Animation for the show went up. I’m assuming all that dough gave KyoAni a bigger budget to work with, as everything looked much crisper, and the fact that the show broadcast on multiple stations in HD. You can clearly see the details in this season because everyone in the girls’ class are fully designed and fully animated even in the backgrounds when the camera isn’t focused on them.
Music, of course, played a major factor and I think they delivered it much better than last season. It took a lot of episodes to get to, but it was certainly worth the wait to hear new hits like “Pure Pure Heart,” “Gohan wa Okazu,” “U&I,” and  even the brief YuiAzu ver. of “Fude Pen Ball Pen.” The OP and ED sequences were a real attention grabber with the zany, fast “GO!GO!MANIAC” and the styling “Listen!!” song. Halfway through the season we got “Utauyo!!MIRACLE” and “NO, Thank You!,” songs with similar sound to the first season’s OP and ED theme, respectively. Again, these catchy tunes became instantly popular. There were also new background music tracks, some of which stood out, but nothing I’d say as really memorable, though they fit into scenes where they should, and that’s what matters.
Back when this first started, I mentioned how the premise of the series was similar to the movie Linda Linda Linda and Swing Girls and that still stands true. Girls with little or no prior experience in music form a band and play and at the same time tackle their school life. Of course, the emphasis always went back to the girls ultimately, and not actually the music, which is one of the faults this show did. But hey, you watch for the premise, you stay for these characters (That’s why we have episodes like Romeo and Juliet). The girls themselves have grown up from last season, but they still have that goofy charm about them, such as Yui. The only additional character this season was pretty much Jun and she quickly became a favorite of mine because of her Mio+Ritsu personality. With the girls graduating, the new generation of the light music club will begin, with Azusa, Jun, and Ui at the helm of it. We probably won’t know what will be of the club (perhaps until the extra episodes air), but I think they’ll do just fine.
It’s amazing how far this show’s gone from when it first aired. The K-ON! boom spread and times were a-changin’ in the anime industry, for better or for worse. But one thing for sure is that K-ON! stands as one of the biggest impacts in anime ever had and it won’t be forgotten for it.