K-On! is quite possibly one of the most “anime” ass anime to ever hit the screens of our world. I mean think about it, what is more commonplace in this medium than cute girls of specifically high school age kicking it with their pals and living up their youth? Yes aside from good ole shonen battle boys beating bad guys with an assortment of martial arts inspired powers the cute anime girl is a defining staple of the art, a instantly recognizable symbol of anime and manga and for better or worse a key selling point to boot. This style of cutesy girls doing absolutely nothing has been given the not so sunny moniker of “moeblob” a term which is used with derision upon many a slice of life series. K-On! is a show I knew of only in that context, it belonged to an era before my own and one which many a matured weeb seems happy to have moved past. There’s just one problem, I am not immune to the charms of a cute anime girl, in fact my all time favourite manga Aria is at least moe adjacent. Okay there’s another problem, K-On! just so happened to be the series directorial debut of one Naoko Yamada who based on her later works like A Silent Voice and especially Heike Monogatari is my favorite anime director of all time. So the stage was set, given my tastes in genre and tone, given my love of it’s series director and the legendary studio Kyoto Animation I personally would have to watch K-On! I simply couldn’t call myself an anime fan without it. So I did and what I witnessed shocked me not in content but quality because dear reader this isn’t a review of some show I just saw, this is a review of what is now my 3rd favorite anime. Period. So pour some tea, get some cake and let’s face the music of a truly seminal work!

The basic summary of K-On! doesn’t really need to be said because if you’ve watched any school SoL you already know it by heart. A ditzy slacker who’s just the most adorable creature ever drawn starts her school life, make’s some friends, builds a band, plays at a school culture festival, hits the beach, checks out the fireworks, figure out ish her future, lives’s up her youth to the fullest and than graduates. Check, check, check, yup we got all the boxes aside from the romance route but K-On! never even considered it so it sounds like yet another anime has successfully been churned out. And you know what I’m not even been clever or sarcastic here, K-On! is indeed a walking cliche of a show that on the surface level really doesn’t differ much from its peers aside from the subjectively cuter girls and the objectively superior production quality(don’t try and dispute this, nobody in the television anime game is comparable to Kyoani). So it must be the nitty gritty details that make’s this work a bona fide masterpiece and my answer is YES…NO?

Here’s where things get tough not on you dear reader but me because I can’t pretend K-On! is fine literature nor can I point to any one element of itssubstantive parts and yell “see!” to gain general acceptance of my feelings, this work isn’t a clear cut stroke of genius but a feeling, pure, all encompassing, esoteric and warm, yet still just a feeling. But I felt more from this show than even such medium defining classics like Violet Evergarden, A Silent Voice, Madoka Magica and yes even Evangelion. I feel truly in touch with the all encompassing vision of Naoko Yamada and her team, it’s gentle plotting standing out to me over all noise of cliches I’ve seen a million times, it’s medium standard setting coming across more alive and more real than most. K-On! is of a genuinely masterful craft that affectingly pushes you to see and most importantly feel the beating heart that is it’s characters as you follow them through their high school days. It’s not perfectly told(to start) but this is a properly robust series and one that I’ll try my best to do justice in writing. Only one thing is crystal clear though, original mangaka Kakifly is not included in this praise, let’s explain that first.

K-On! finds it’s roots in a 4-koma manga written and illustrated by author Kakifly and already I’m both impressed and deeply uninterested. Impressed because I watched the anime first and wow we got that outta this! Deeply uninterested because man 4-koma manga is like the worst my favourite medium has to offer. It’s a quick and dirty storytelling style, sacrificing plot and character on the alter of telling a quick joke with the real joke being how bad every 4-koma manga is at telling said…jokes(too many usages of joke in 1 sentence, bad!). K-On!’s a funny show ok, real funny and alot of that wit can be found in the manga where most of its zingers originate but there’s no grace, no energy and most cripplingly no character to them. I haven’t introduced the main cast so far in this review and I won’t do it in this section either because man they’re shadows of their future animated selves. Series mascot and MC Yui Hirasawa whose face you’ve definitely seen running out her door with jammed up bread stuffed in it just isn’t there in this version(literally her iconic introduction is anime original) and her co leads fare no better. This was Kakifly’s debut work as so his artstyle doesn’t pop in this original run but it’s still cute enough to not be worth criticising and his later spinoffs get better and better though I didn’t read his currently serialised K-On! Shuffle. The best thing I can say about this 4 volume run is that it’s a breeze, each plotless volume being but a mere 120 pages gives it no time to overstay its welcome and thus it avoids a outright bad score from me. It is worth mentioning both seasons adapt exactly 2 volumes apiece, an interesting and probably telling tidbit considering the superior second season has a double length 26 episode run that’s adapting effectively a single regular size manga volume, can you see now why I attribute negligible praise to the OG author!?

Except and this is important, the story of K-On! and the specific characters we’ve come to love from the anime does continue past that versions end in two parallel manga volumes that are noteworthy not only in their novelty as unadapted material but a jump in quality that makes them easy to recommend as an epilogue to an anime watch, regardless of if you read the main series or not. K-On! College follows the seniors into their well freshman year of college and it’s semi more structured than the flimsy original, showing enjoyable growth in the leads like Yui without it being heavy handed, they are slackers at heart after all. They also meet new friends and whups I already forget em, sucks to suck I guess. This volume is improvement but not yet outright good and that’s where K-On! Highschool comes in. This is good, like actually and naturally good as we see what Azusa, the junior of the original crew who was left behind to lead the club, is upto. She’s always been a uptight figure and stood out as the precious feisty one trying to keep everything practicing but as this volume shows her seniors mentality has left a mark. She’s leading a club full of familiar faces like Ui and Jun but also new one’s that actually stand out and fit right into this series. We have Nao the weirdo and Sumire the shy filling in and they’re good fun, Sumire specifically being main series Mugi’s effective sister brings a lot of history and heart with her. This is the most structured K-On! volume I’ve seen(again, didn’t read Shuffle) and while that doesn’t mean much really because this is still a teensy 4-koma story it does make it stick in my memory more and feel actually fulfilling on a characterization front, it was just enjoyable seeing Azusa take everything on in stride as she finds a happy medium between the club she imagined and the club she grew to love. Read K-On! Highschool, it’s actually good.

FINAL RATING: 5/10

Of course it was the anime I saw first and it was the anime I fell in love with so let’s begin the review properlike shall we.

K-On! Season 1 hits the ground running with an opening scene that perfectly displays every single thing that you’ll come to love this show for. As cute anime girl™ Yui Hirasawa hits the ground running for her first day of high school we bare witness to her laziness(she overslept) her close relationship with her sister Ui(who was there to wake her up) her clumsiness and the whimsical animation as she gracefully floats down her stairs to her landing before wiping out onto her ass and most importantly her rare bursts of purposeful energy as she rushes off to take on the world all as the subtle but noticeably more ambitious than usual production values frame her most wonderfully. I was in love from first sight, immediately filled with warmth and joy at this hilarious yet gorgeous spectacle and even without knowing the characters I was on board. That is the power of good, efficient, affecting storytelling and all this was courtesy of a debut series director!

Naoko Yamada is a generational talent who was recognized early on, joining Kyoto Animation in 2004 as an animator it would only be around 4 years later when she would debut as a storyboard/episode director on Clannad and after finishing up it’s sequel in 2008 the stage was set, 2009 would be the year she got the big seat and it would of course be K-On!. The inherent challenge of this project was transforming a 4-koma plotless manga into an actual narrative with character and thematic depth and to say Yamada pulled it off is an understatement, this is an extraordinary debut for any storyteller. She knew that it would be through the characters that she could produce central plot threads and hard hitting moments and alongside Reiko Yoshida as the scriptwriter this world and the characters who inhabit it found life breathed into them far beyond the simple jokes that Kakifly’s versions existed for. So, I guess it’s time to introduce the girls properly.

Yui Hirasawa is quite literally the cutest anime girl of all time and as the proper lead in the anime she shines bright beyond imagination. She’s not literally bright though, no this girl is dumb as bricks and kinda just fumbles through life’s responsibilities before she can get home where she basically exists as a floor mat cared for by her younger sister Ui. She’s not a respectable figure but it’s her ditziness that results in her joining the Light Music Club despite having no musical experience as she just thought it’d be all castanets and harmonicas(note, she can’t play those either). Before she knows it she’s entrapped by this clubs members who need her otherwise they’re getting shut down and it’s here that Yui discovers a love for guitar, it’d be cool if she was good at it to boot but alas she can always practice… if she wasn’t too lazy to practice. Yui gets by in life despite everything purely on well how pure she is, for this girl is the sunshine and everyone else can’t help but bask in her rays even as she burns them.

Yui’s not one to propose good ideas yet and she’s not one to support the smarter ones either as she’ll always go for the most ridiculous one’s simply because they sound fun but that means she can be very motivational and supportive of her peers. Her younger sister Ui who’s basically her mother(their actual parents are always off on some romantic escapade) is never insulted by how needy she is, instead they have an adorably close relationship as Yui is always providing unexpected moments of sisterly affection with the Christmas episode in particular being peak cuteness. Yui’s named after the goat himself Susume Hirasawa which is cool, almost as cool as her budding guitar abilities are because homegirl is a natural talent. In the making. She can’t read sheet music, doesn’t know any terminology and has a habit of forgetting everything she previously learned when something new comes up but her passion is obvious and maybe a bit demented as she’s named her guitar Geeta and sleeps with the poor thing. Yui is played to pitch perfection by Aki Toyosaki who makes her pathetic and precious in equal measure before giving it all in the joke delivery, her hoarse lines in particular sent me. Yui is made the definitive heart of this story by Yamada’s adaptation and is perfect, I promise that if you too love Yui than you’ll love the show no questions asked.

Mio Akiyama looks like the put together ice queen type based on her character design and she’d definitely want you to think that of her but unfortunately she fails at the strict persona, fortunately for us she’s all the more lovable in that failure. Mio’s stoic look slips the moment her best friend Ritsu shows up and in the ways only a true friend could harasses the ever living hell outta her, revealing an insecure scaredy cat whose more pushover than put together. She loves music more than anyone though and thanks to being a complete nerd is a multifaceted talent who can not only play the bass but provide lyrics of Shakespearean quality. If he was a modern teenage girl obsessed with sugar and spice and everything nice. Yeah her lyrics are childish to a maximal degree but it’s a complete tonal fit with the series she finds herself in and realistic for her age so I forgive it. Mio is also one of the more animated characters, liable to respond to Ritsu’s teasing with either a clobberin or just straight up passing out which also happens in social situations because she can’t handle eye’s on her. In the band she does have to face her fears as the lead vocalist and while it takes alot to amp her up(thank god Yui exists) she can sing very well, probably because she’s voiced by Yoko Hikasa! And finally she’s a lefty which I wouldn’t have noticed if she wasn’t so excitable around fellow lefties or better yet left handed guitars, it’s not an actually important part of her character but it does bring her bubbly side out which is always nice to see.

Ritsu Tainaka is the president of the Light Music Club and that my friends is why this is a joke band, not because this is a comedy anime no officer she and she alone is the culprit. Because you see, Ritsu is dumb, very dumb. Scratch that she’s probably worse than even Yui because it’s not like Yui’s failing responsibilities that understandably nobody puts on her, no Ritsu is constantly messing up the band and club overalls trajectory by not doing her job, the job she gave herself no less. That checked out though because in my experience of 1 semester of high school band it’s always the damn drummers who’re upto no good and Ritsu my friends is the drummer and if the College! spinoff is anything to go by maybe not even a good one. But we love her anyway, I mean who doesn’t love a sarcastic joker who can go bar for bar with Yui as the certified straight man of the two braincell comedy duo, they’re dynamic is easily the most energetic and hilarious. Mio’s only here because of Ritsu too and while it’s a miracle the relentless teasing hasn’t driven her away she reciprocates by making Ritsu’s thick skull that bit thicker through constant whacking. Ritsu’s ever present good cheer helps keep the band and club together even in the times where her presidential responsibilities go unfilled and the actual paperwork needed by school administration mysteriously goes missing. Sato Satomi breathes hearty life into this outspoken tomboy and alongside a best of season focus episode(or two!) Ritsu stays on top!

Tsumugi Kotobuki is quite possibly the most innocent creature of the bunch which is why it’s so disappointing how little she’s actually given to work with. K-On! is an inherently ensemble tale that while having a main lead in Yui doesn’t really give her more screentime than her peers because the whole point of the show is their group dynamic but if one character was being served the least its hands down Tsumugi. Mostly just called Mugi by her friends Tsumugi is a wide eyed and curious rich girl who just loves everything around her, mostly because the lives of plebians is most exciting to a girl with a personal butler, several beach houses one of which looks bigger than the damn school and oh yeah she goes on vacations to Finland just because she can. She’s aware of her privilege though and isn’t remotely toxic about it, generously providing said beach houses for club getaways, tea for that most important of club activities and oh yeah she even serves everyone too so while she is in a way out of touch she doesn’t act better about it at all. But that’s kinda the problem, instead of leaning more heavily into her background for character exploration purposes it’s relegated to a joke 100% of the time and with no spotlight episodes, no dramatic exchanges, no special dynamics and worst of all her always servile nature render her set dressing more often than not. She’s always in the background with a cute smile plastered across her face that sometimes shifts into adorable giggles courtesy of VA Minako Kotobuki but otherwise Tsumugi is the odd one out, left behind, nonessential, and I find that genuinely disappointing. Oh yeah she’s on the keyboard and is the composer but again that’s background work.

Other characters fill out the cast like Yui’s own childhood friend Nodoka who as the student council president is a opposite in every way but with Ritsu constantly forgetting key administrative papers having a girl on the inside is a true lifesaver. I also must bring up the one and only Mrs. Sawako who I plan to marry and make happy. Jokes aside she’s a well joke of a educator, constantly moping about her singleness even as she approaches (redacted) years of age and will be set off like a angsty teenager by the mere mention of romance. She’s also like most comedy high school anime teachers in that she’s secretly not so secretly a crazy person who can tell her students apart based on bust size and is liable to drag anyone she can get her hands on off to be tortured with bizarre costumes of her own make. She’s swindled into becoming the club’s supervisor when they discover that a long time ago she was a club member and a hardcore rocker, a dirty secret that would completely ruin her professional appearance that she works oh so not hard to maintain, given all the student harassment. Most importantly though she’s cute as hell and is the perfect wine aunt accompaniment to the ensemble as well as someone capable of decisive action such as creating costumes, naming the band(After-School Tea Time, naturally), harassing kids but most importantly creating ungodly garish costumes. Never change my queen!

Season 1 moves at a fiesty clip which given the lacking amount of material it has to work with makes total sense and this energy is simply infectious. Mile a minute laugh out loud humour interspersed with loud characters clashing endlessly over normal anime material like studying and beachfront escapades propel this show through its casts first year of high school. There is no getting stuck in the weeds, no nitty gritty plots to explore or serious moments to be pondered upon and as such the whole building a band shtick feels like an afterthought which to be honest is the point. This may be the Light Music Club but it’s immediately derailed into the tea and cake hour for the girls, an escape from the studying grind they find themselves in, a safe space of sorts. They individually love music but never practice together and total newbie Yui’s journey to learn the guitar isn’t really a part of this series, she goes from knowing nothing to knowing enough in the space of a few episodes because said few episodes cover a whole year. It’s a rush we can all probably relate to, high school isn’t anything different from elementary in those first 2 years really so it feels ok that they’re not focused on but in retrospect a certain sequel proves more can in fact be better. But we’re not there yet and as the girls freshmen year ends with a band performance, a panty flash(done tastefully in the anime where a bespoke rice bowl gets the idea across, the manga isn’t so gracious) and a super sweet winter break year 2 begins and the next generation arrives with a very special person at it’s head.

Azusa Nakano is the final piece of the puzzle that is K-On! and her arrival makes this series whole at long last. She’s the junior member, the favourite child and finally the one who actually gets stuff done. See Azusa actually likes her senior’s in their band form After-School Tea Time and joined the club excited at the proposition of being able to play with such creative vibrant people. Instead she was met with a let the eat cake carefree attitude that immediately tore her newfound hero’s from their high perch into the lowly level of schoolyard slackers who aren’t really worthy of being respected senior’s. Azusa wants out immediately but Yui latches on to this adorable little creature and simply refuses to let go, discovering that this no-nonsense kid is as susceptible to sweets as anyone and pulling the innocence out of someone hellbent on growing up as fast as possible. So the status quo has returned, right? Well no, Azusa is a force for change and it goes both way’s, her discovering that sometimes just kicking it is what makes you value your time the most and the seniors realise that maybe they should take this band more seriously, seeing that they can have a direct impact is one hell of a drug. Azusa is the feisty lil critter of the group, she’s small but makes her presence known through Ayana Taketatsu loud and proud performance and her consistent friendly antagonism with everyone. Azusa wants to get stuff done, everyone else thinks a good days work is drinking Tsumugi’s tea, combined you have a recipe for a energetic push and pull that will eventually get everyone locked in for band performances and practices and yes also tea. Yui is the least senior of the seniors personality wise but she’s the one who forms the closet bond with Azusa and tries to provide guidance the way I do to my one siblings, by being an empathetic example of what not to do. She breaks down Azusa’s barriers and makes her comfortable which in turn gives Azusa the confidence to make the club her own, giving us the complete After-School Tea Time.

With the gang all together their 2nd year is even more brisk than the first though more focused, Azusa is a big personality and so she brings everyone together in her vision of a more active musical band. It all centers on their prep for their big school festival performance and hey things are actually looking good wait I’m receiving a call now, huh Ritsu’s sick oh no its a disaster! They actually played it like a potential breakup before Mio realises her best buds just sick and so disaster turns into a nice little moment for the longest lasting duo, there’s so much love and history crammed into Mio’s checkup on Ritsu and it was definitely a highlight of S1. Things go smoothly for literally zero minutes because next up Yui’s sick and the deadline to perform has arrived. The story finale arrives with brilliant full circle precision as Yui does actually get good in time to perform but in a anime original kink she forgot Geeta at home and under no circumstances will she cheat on him with those other guitars. We get a sequence directly mirroring her introduction as she rushes enew to school though this time with a guitar in hand and a place to be in her heart before she puts on the greatest musical this series has seen yet and than it closes on Yui yelling that she loves music. What a pitch perfect end, I am fully satisfied… and than K-On! does something I love most dearly, it doesn’t end.

K-On! is a funny story in that it always concludes on a season high episode that wraps up every thread and even gives you the classic “The End” only to have more episodes as epilogues. No I’m not talking about OVAs either though there’s those too, no the self proclaimed season finale’s are always followed up by a self contained and much more casual episode to leave the audience with a little extra treat, S1 has a single episode but S2 has 2 more past their plots actual conclusion with the movie itself functioning in a similar epilogue to the journey experience. It’s the sort of light slice of life storytelling that wouldn’t make sense of a plot driven series but is totally authentic to K-On! and the atmosphere of comfortable relaxed warmth. Better still, Episode 13 of S1 is actually the best episode of the season. It’s dead simple, following Ritsu pondering the potential of a secret admirer, Yui kicking it with her sister, Azusa “Azu-nyan” Nakano catsitting and Tsumugi getting a fast food job. Sounds normal, plain even but the execution is so much more as this is where the artistry behind this series reaches its zenith.

I’m saving a actual discussion for S2 because the production quality is equal across seasons and this section had the big character introduction but just know for now that K-On! is a monstrously well crafted anime and when Naoko Yamada herself heads a episodes storyboard magic happens. Episode 1 and 12 are her work but Episode 13 is her masterpiece, a thoughtful and richly established winter atmosphere dominating the whole thing. The board is crisp, the colors muted, the characters generally separate which invites the viewer not only to focus on the individual but feel them and most importantly feel the cold of the season and separation. It builds methodically, we see a surprisingly self concerned Ritsu and a Azusa out of her depth with the cat though there’s an adorable symmetry in their actions and than when things go worse and the winter air bites hardest they all finally come together and the warmth of their mutual bond is stronger than even the heater of Tsumugi’s fast food restaurant. This episode is artistic genius, it doesn’t have to say alot or really try to get you feeling in a way most fiction just can’t achieve and it’s where my connection to K-On! solidified into something deep and meaningful. The Live House OVA was rather plain though so I have nothing to say.

K-On! Season 1 is about as good as a slice of life experience, nay even just an anime can get. It’s got more charm per second than probably anything I’d seen upto that point and was an instantly appreciable work. It did surprise me though, not just in how funny it was but how touching and focused and actually meaningful it’s subtle but still there plotting and character writing can be, it’s a genuinely well written anime that can stand up with even the most serious of work. Most impressive of all is how first time director Naoko Yamada basically pulled this out of nothing, all this depth and humanity and character is in her adaptation alongside the screenwriters headed by Reiko Yoshida and it basically overwrites Kakifly’s own seemingly thoughtless bit of manga creation. Credits for him to the idea, credit to Yamada for executing it into the stratosphere. With production values that would be top of the pack even in a contemporary season K-On! S1 stands as a truly timeless anime that I can and do recommend to everyone who loves this medium. And the best part is, this isn’t the defining season and this isn’t the peak because Yamada and co were just getting started.

FINAL RATING: 9/10

K-On! Season 2 has the time. That’s it, that’s the source of it all, that’s what I would use to characterize its existence as the latest masterpiece I’ve experienced. Because that’s what K-On! is this season, it’s a full scale medium defining masterpiece that improves upon every single thing about the premiere season and does so with gusto, grace, but most importantly, time. See the episode count has now doubled from 13 to 26 but the actual story content has halved, the timeframe is now 1 school year not 2, the manga’s been half adapted already and so things have naturally slowed down. This pace and the lack of original material is the final bit of freedom Yamada and Co needed to make K-On! their own, make it something more meaningful than it was ever intended to be and this teams vision is a true sight to behold.

PULLING A THREAD

K-On! Season 2(or just K-On!!, cheeky) puts its foot down and gives us the central plot thread immediately, this is the Azusa season and we will cherish it and her like the rest of the cast are hellbent on. It’s also immediately even more saccharine in tone as the seniors last year begins ridiculously well with them all in the same class one last time, lead by Ms. Sawako who might’ve pulled some strings. It’s like a dream come true setup except Yui is increasingly aware of Azusa’s absence and for once thinks of the future and how unless they make some drastic changes to the club their junior will be alone in the coming year. The gang set out to recruit new members with genuine intentions but deep down they all think the current club is just too precious and perfect to risk changing, they all just want to enjoy this last year to the fullest. Azusa see’s this, see’s their selfless actions all for her benefit and decides that no, next year doesn’t matter and the current status quo will be maintained for everyone’s benefit. Man that plotline lasted only 1 episode before getting a very explicit conclusion, what will the series be about now? Well here’s the thing, it never stopped pondering that question of the future and how a lone Azusa will get on but it does so in a much subtler way that I found deeply affecting. It does that alongside showing a pitch perfect final year for the seniors too so we actually get the best of both worlds, a deeper more character rich story yet one even more distilled and unchanging than the rapidly advancing first season. I guess I should illustrate how it does this, though it’s a rather simple answer that yes involves time.

ESTABLISHING DISTANCE

After a couple episodes of pure shenanigans that are noticeably better than S1’s we get a proper standout affair, a field trip dun dun dunnnnn! Understandably it’s a senior only trip to Kyoto so no Azusa, an early example of the story actually depicting her distance with the others that the rapid fire first season didn’t really do. But that doesn’t matter right, there’s nothing wrong with just focusing on the OG older 4 as they make an utter nuisance of themselves in the nicer city, specifically driving Sawako up the wall with their energy. It’s an adorable episode through and through, their glee is infectious and none of them know how to act normal in a new environment so tons of hilarious moments are to be found, alongside Kyoani just flexing with the art direction. My highlight though was when they returned to their hotel and had to go to bed. Obviously sleepovers are where the most shenanigans will happen but just the simple way that Ritsu makes everyone crack up while they’re trying to sleep is so real and immediately relatable, it’s in scenes like this that K-On! feels most natural and earnest and oh so sweet. Oh and the pillow fight was peak, Yui gets absolutely destroyed twice and that first animation cut of her getting sniped is literally my favorite of the series. Like all good trips it’s over too soon and so you’d expect the next episode to be a less loud and memorable one, right?

LEFT BEHIND

K-On! Season 2 Episode 5 is a quiet declaration of intent, an episode that shifts the perspective this series has always had and lays the groundwork for Azusa Nakano’s character arc in beautiful fashion. It’s titled Staying Behind and is all about what Azusa was upto while Yui and the girls were gone off to have all the real fun. Already that’s different, a basically Yui free episode without a strong central gimmick, this is what Season 2 can do with its extended runtime, it can do nothing!? That nothingness, that mundane normalcy is what makes this episode feel profound like Episode 13 of the last season, a simple and singular focus on characters and their day to day existence as people instead of some instantly exciting or hilarious central gimmick to make every episode hit. Season 1 had to do everything, it had to make every episode a banger but Season 2 is in no such rush and understands that the time’s between the excitement are what we generally live through and so it seeks to appreciate those just as much, on top of telling the audience and Azusa herself everythings gonna be alright. With her main friends gone she finds herself hanging out with what was effectively just her “other” friend, Jun Suzuki. Jun wasn’t a real character in Season 1, sure she was around but her main place in the story was to ferry Azusa off to Yui and than disappear but in Season 2 she’s kinda a main character and for good reason, Azusa has a life outside of the Light Music Club and it’s very important to show that. What can sometimes come across as a growing distance between Azusa and her bandmates is really just the expanded scope of the series servicing her character, we see a more multifaceted and fully realized version of Azusa than any other character and because of it that first and seemingly answered question of her future gets it’s real show.

BRIDGING TIES

Jun isn’t just another friend but a guarantee that Azusa Nakano’s future is going to be just as good as her present. While Jun herself isn’t a really deep character that I have much of anything to say about her growing presence slowly but surely displays to the audience that Azusa was never going to be alone in a post Yui world, she already had close friendships and it’s becoming increasingly clear that Jun’s gonna be a club member in the coming year to make sure her bud isn’t going it alone. They’re joined by a third, the one and only Ui Hirasawa who’s quickly becoming a very close friend in her own right and Episode 5 is really just the showcase of intent, it’s all about them and in a much less rambunctious way is as joyous as the previous episode. That episode ends on a Yui centric note as she drags her junior off to give her a matching keychain but the change is clear, Yui isn’t dragging Azusa back, she’s pulling her away from her other group of friends who’re quickly becoming equals in her heart. This is a constant thread, a reassuring thread, and one that gives Azusa probably the most character development out of everyone.

IF YOU LOVE THEM, LET THEM GO

This change in relationships becomes very explicit in Episode 13, a gag episode about Azusa having weird daydreams about her seniors over a hot summer’s day. What is for the most part a episode all about messing with Azusa and the audience’s trust in what they’re seeing ends on a surprisingly poignant note when after having her day with her classmate friends she bumps into the seniors and is excitedly spirited off to a summer festival where everyone’s back together, even Mugi who was supposed to be in Finland. A frog is seen jumping back onto land. The gang’s all back together moment is a bit extra dreamy because Azusa doesn’t trust herself today given all the borderline hallucinatory daydreams today but when the fireworks go off and Yui forcefully grabs her hand again the moment becomes perfectly real…and then she lets go. It was just a minor thing, getting lost in a crown and all but when Yui’s grip slips Azusa doesn’t pursue. Azusa lets this dazzling moment end there and with Ui and Jun immediately back by her side a beautiful melancholy filled me because Azusa Nakano has grown up just a touch and maybe doesn’t need her seniors in the same way and that’s ok. This scene ends on a shot of the frog that in the presence of her seniors jumped onto the land, towards them. This second scene unsurprisingly shows it jumping back into the water, back to where it may be most comfortable. I’m dumb but even I noticed that visual metaphor, god I love this series.

MUGI’S MOMENT

That’s a lot of ways to say K-On! Season 2 is heavily Azusa centric but c’mon we got time for everyone and the seniors aren’t just screwing around this entire time…ok you got me they mostly were but where you doing anything different in your last year of high school, yeah that’s what I thought. The biggest revelation this season is that Tsumugi Kotobuki gets a honest to god focus episode, I can’t believe it took her this long but all is forgiven now that I’ve received it. Was it the greatest character focus episode this series has ever done? Uh no, it was basically a joke episode and honestly didn’t deepen her character much but was it at least a nice time? Yes, yes it was and what more can you ask for(alot actually because this series is a masterpiece but I guess precious Tsumugi can’t catch a break). She basically goes back and forth with Ritsu for the sole purpose of trying to be hit, smacked, whacked, and even slugged not because she’s secretly a masochist oh no but because she’s dumb. She see’s Yui bear hugging Azusa and she sees Mio whack-a-moling Ritsu and in her innocent heart she’s drawn a equivalency between the two actions and feels very out about missing the physical intimacy. Ritsu for her part can’t manage to hit the precious one and her every attempt to subtly get Mio to do the deed only succeeds in her getting hit as a reflexive result. And then it happens.

BETRAYAL

The greatest anime betrayal of all time takes place in K-On! Episode 14 when what was supposed to be a simple relationship building episode turns sideways. The stage is set early when in a aside Yui and Nodoka are studying together which naturally evolves into eating cake because Yui brings that spirit with her no matter what. Her slice is beautifully topped with a singular strawberry, the crown of the cake, the best part! And than Nodoka leans over and eats it. Yui and I have never been more on the same page because the righteous indignation that filled us both at this incomprehensible destruction of social etiquette was immediate and while nobody else seemed to get Yui’s ramblings I was behind her 100%, Nodoka I’ll never forgive you. Meanwhile After School Tea-time gets back together for tea and cake but Tsumugi is still on a mission and that mission currently involves harassing Mio until she can get smacked, as per Ritsu’s recommendation. Mio’s slice has a strawberry, Tsumugi’s actively trying to piss her off, and Yui’s still whining about what Nodoka has done to her. What I’m getting at is that this whole episode was meticulously crafted to make what Tsumugi does to Mio the absolute funniest thing in the whole show and when Mio doesn’t react with violence but a deadpan face that slowly but surely fills with big ole tears the effect is akin to a nuke drop of pure comedic perfection, take a bow K-On! take a bow. Anyway Tsumugi doesn’t get a smack but her bond with Ritsu is stronger than ever so in the end we get a belly full of laughter and a heart singing from the wonderful dynamic we just spent 23 minutes building. And this is what I’d call disappointing by K-On! character exploration standards, in any other anime this level of comedic and scripting brilliance would be applauded.

OH RITSUMIO WHERE ART THOU

Ritsu and Mio aren’t my favorite characters this season but that’s not to say they don’t get some love, in fact lot’s of love, in fact the Mio fanclub get a whole episode outta it. They’re not the beating heart of the more emotional plot this season as Yui and Azusa firmly are but a handful of lighter fun episodes are theirs. Mio’s big bash with her fanclub was a riot, starting with her being stalked Mio was thinking the world was ending when in reality the world(of the fanclub) just really wanted a personal performance from her. Thusly the gang provides but the real target wasn’t the classroom sized club of today but a graduated senior, the original creator of the fanclub Megumi Sokabe. Suddenly the episode becomes relevant to the story at large and moving as we in episode snapshot form follow the story of a graduate and while the focus is all on Mio it’s Azusa that reconnects with Megumi and let’s her know her juniors are doing alright. Mio and Ritsu than get a fun duo episode as they’re voluntold into the class play as Romeo and Juliet, just not as the characters you’d associate with them. Their special friendship is emphasized by how they play their characters best when they are pretending to mock the other, showing the deep almost instinctive bond they have. It’s cute, the excuse to get them into maid uniforms for training is cute and Yui as Tree G is exactly as perfect as you’d expect. Yui in general is perfect this season ok fine let’s talk about our actual MC at last.

SUSUMEYUI HIRASAWA

Yui Hirasawa does not want to grow up. Yui Hirasawa is just about perfectly happy where she is as a senior with a year where everything is going her way. But time stops for no one and Yui Hirasawa does in fact grow up over the course of this season, maturing in subtle ways while her usual braindead front still stands front and center, by the end not even covered with bangs oh burn. Her thoughtfulness as a senior is established in episode 1 as is her focus on Azusa but the majority of her growth happens in the shadow of her junior, purposely so. The story of Yui is the story of how this anime “ends” on one of the most beautiful highs in all of anime, and that story is put into motion in Episode 17 when the girls find themselves without a clubroom. No Club Room as it was appropriately called is less about their short adventure outside of their protective clubroom and more about Yui’s long term adventure as a burgeoning lyricist. Yes, you heard that right, our girl can write bars… oh wait sorry she can’t what do you mean rice is a side dish is the best you can come up with. That joke was a good one but apparently it awoke something in our lazy girl and for the first time in her life Yui became devoted to practice. Practicing writing not band c’mon let’s be serious. This is probably the first time in Yui’s short and sweet life that she’s felt inspired nay even compelled towards her art and actually works on it, day in and day out even working deep into the night in the process. This maturation of spirit doesn’t come through the actual words she puts on the page since all of those are silly but seeing the girl actually be passionate about creating rather than just her ever-present cherishing is an important step for her to grow up and be able to face the challenges of the world. The even better thing is that aside from that silly rice one they’d never play, Yui’s lyricism isn’t sweet yet empty like Mio’s, she’s actually capable of making moving music.

RICE WASN’T JUST A SIDE DISH

When Ui falls ill it’s up to our beloved girlfailure to play the big sister that she’s supposed to always be and here marks the precipice, here marks the moment she grows up just enough to notice. She doesn’t know how to help her sister, makes a right mess of things trying to provide sustenance and just generally screws up, her indomitable spirit not being able to overcome her abilities as a permanent child. In this moment Yui finds a song in her, one that actually uses her lived experiences and most cherished bond to create a genuine and moving piece of art, titled most cutely U&I. Yui is officially a grown up girl, or at least on the path to it. The payoff to all this comes in the next school festival, HTT’s last where Yui officially debuts as a songwriter with… Rice is a Side Dish!? When I say this was probably the most triumphant moment in all of K-On! thus far you’ll have to trust me because I thought the joke was over, they’d laughed down this song, it’d never be played and than bam here it is and oh my it’s a banger to boot. This grand and exciting final performance ends with U&I and with that bang HTT walks off the stage and huddles together the sunlight of their clubroom. This moment, this culmination of a journey most of them didn’t take remotely seriously hits hard as they realize they’ll never perform again and so in tears, good company and the most glowing of sundowns their youth ends. Than right after we get an episode all about Yui cutting her own hair and it’s as disastrous and funny as expected, my girl officially looks as dumb as she is!

MY ANGEL

Melancholy and distance set in following the last school festival as the seniors have to shift focus from practicing and Azusa towards their own future, also known as entrance exams. Azusa, always keenly aware of their distance yet not really basking in it finally awakens to their inevitable parting, her seniors distance increasing as they focus on studying over drinking tea. Azusa wants to close this distance more than ever and spend every last second she can with them, but she can’t. The winter cold sets in and the time comes to say goodbye. It’s graduation day, and it’s Azusa who acts like a junior at last. She’s matured alot this season, has made a whole set of new friends and while have a club to come to next year but it isn’t her club without Yui, Mio, Ritsu and Tsumugi. They, acting as seniors at last have prepared for this goodbye though and it’s here that Yui’s newfound talent for songwriting reaches a zenith as they unveil Tenshi ni Fureta Yo. Touched by an Angel is the english translation of that title and yeah, this song and the sequence it’s attached to are easily the highlight of this franchise. All the care spent building up to it makes it feel bigger than the characters and while it was written for Azusa the audience also feels the warmth and love that these characters and the people that made them are emanating in this moment. The way the sunlight warmly glows on Azusa’s face, the drawings which reach a series thus far high with their gentle detail, the final sung line being “we’ll always be together forever” oh it’s such a perfect goodbye. And it is a goodbye because the story of K-On!! ends here with episode 24.

THE END(WHAT’S THAT)

Anyway this anime doesn’t listen to the whole The End shtick because we’ve got not one but 2 bonus episodes plus the ova of course! The actual final episode of S2 is welcome though as Sawako gets her own time to say goodbye. By having her space invaded by a buncha loud kids which is every adults favorite thing. Sawako is sick and with a yearbook in need of her approval the girls set off to see how this mysterious teacher with a dark past lives. The arrive at her door with heads abuzz with conspiracies and Sawako responds by closing her door in their annoyingly cute annoying faces. They bust in anyway and make the place their own as they commit shenanigans around yearbooks of the past and present before eventually actually trying to be nice to Sawako. She falls asleep and awakens when the sun has achieved its now trademarked glow and with this framing them she smiles up at her students, remembering her own days as a rapscallion. The soft drawings and their orange glow make this moment stick with me, make Sawako stick with me as a person rather than just a silly sidekick and it’s this ever-present feeling of humanity that made K-On in the hands of Naoko Yamada greater than just another CGDCT show, more than moe this is a meaningful story. The final shot of Season 2 ultimately is a fitting one, the girls jumping into the sky over their school lawn, embracing their futures with the audience at their back. They leave us here, for now, and the greatest slice of life anime of all time actually, for real this time, concludes.

CRAFTING K-ON!

There’s just one unanswered question now, uh what does this show actually look like eh. I’ve talked about the brilliance of the story and characters that 100% belong to the anime adaptation but the actual execution I’ve kinda forgotten to bring up so nice and quickly here goes. K-On’s 2 seasons have aged like a fine wine this past decade and a half and it’s not surprising in the slightest given how their studio and director would continue on after it. On an art front Yukiko Horiguchi’s work as the character designer and CAD stand tallest, her designs reaching a perfect point of visual depth and artistic elasticity. Everyone’s big round faces are honed to create an instant adoration in the audience while the individual animators get to play by squashing, stretching, and doodling them all up to whatever is most necessary and funny in any scene. Character acting is tremendous throughout to the point the eventual movie literally couldn’t outdo the anime in consistency which especially for the 2 cours of season 2 is crazy. The backgrounds are all pristine, blending realism and painterly expression exceedingly well, especially on that trip to Kyoto. What seals the deal the most though is the compositing and lighting, a final generally forgotten step that is simply to present and powerful to ignore here. Naoko Yamada is a filmmaker at heart and with newcomer Rin Yamamoto they created one of the most enchanting visual languages in anime. Color and image clarity are played around with a ton to create a wide arrange of tonally cohesive moods, from striking white and washed out schoolyards for day’s that just feel off to fluorescent blue nights by a concert, cold and crisp winter morns and finally that trademark orange dusk that’ll make the characters glow, this is a rich and evocative composite every bit as playful and important as the animation. All combined you get a always affecting, always playful animation sandbox that is just as potent today as the day it aired, a true testimonial to the genius of those who worked on it.

When one make’s a dumb Blu-ray special the possibilities are endless and the budget is nonexistent. In this specific case the many possibilities must surely have been conceived on a late night drinking binge where Reiko Yoshida stayed valiantly sober, jotting down everyone’s dazed fantasies and drunken dreams about the most pressing matter of the Blu-ray specials and upon returning that night with a set of completed scripts handed them to whoever hadn’t escaped the studio in time. Working through the night and probably also drunk this solitary soul who might not even exist completed a set of short “animations” and when everyone showed up the next morning there sat their Blu-ray specials, completed. Here be ungodly drawings, unfathomable circumstances and a vibe of utter carelessness, here be K-On!: Ura-On!

Anyway that’s my best guess at whatever the hell these are, feel free to corroborate or correct me later. I also considered ghosts but these are surely drawings borne from genuine human insanity.

FINAL RATING ???

PART 5: The Movie

TIS A MOVIE INNIT

K-On! The Movie is many things not limited to being the big budget theatrical adventure we’ve all been waiting for as well the ultimate epilogue to the series but to me it’s context is where everything coalesces. This is by its very nature the single least important work of the anime franchise(Ura-On isn’t real, Ura-On can’t hurt me) but by that nature it is also one of the most important anime films like …ever? Here’s the simple truth, for a series all about saying so much so humbly this entry’s own emotional core rings a bit flat as it retreads the ground of the actual finale to serve that moment, almost to the point of overshadowing its own potential. Is that the wrong call though, is the strong self serving beating heart actually what makes this film soar over other such original film additions to famous anime franchises? That is the question of the day because the other one I’ll answer here, just for you. If K-On! was the debut of one of modern anime’s greatest directors and if K-on!! was her maturation then stands her next step as Naoko Yamada helms her first ever anime film. Which if you didn’t know is kinda a big deal. But you already knew that and so without further ado get your ticket, this plane’s going straight to the land of cloud and rain also known as the UK!

LIGHTS!

First thing’s first let’s get our makeup on and see what the deal is with the whole theatrical production nonsense, what could possibly be improved on from one of the most beautiful anime of it’s day. Short answer: Not a lot actually. Long Answer: The devil is in the details, oh so many details. Naoko Yamada is a simple woman who very much enjoys cute girls and the medium of film and now that she has that very project in her hands she pulled out all the stops to make the work she had always dreamed of. She took the storyboarding incredibly seriously and personally, handling the vast majority herself with Tatsuya Ishihara assisting making for a big difference in authorial control as S1 had 7 separate storyboarders and S2 jumped slightly to 10. K-On! was always her baby and now she was holding it all in her hands. What this means in tangible terms is that Yamada finally gets to play with the “lense” that she has seemingly always sought-after as this films main artistic improvement is neither the art or animation but how it’s captured via the photography.

CAMERA!

Rin Yamamoto has always done a great job as the director of photography for the entire franchise but here she finally gets to be the star. The opening moments show the soft almost cold comp that this series has always had but slowly opposed by a very out of character hard rocking the details start to come in focus a bit more and than quiver as if handheld, especially when we enter the clubroom alongside Azusa and see everyone fighting. Oh no what is this drama doing in my cute girls show, is the band about to break up!? Naw actually they were just taking the piss as you do, more specifically just paying tribute to Death Devil. This scene and the credits that follow introduces the subtleties of the theatrical production on display, a style both more rich in detail and playful with the idea of the tactical camera while avoiding any jarring or significant changes from the season that came before. K-On! the Movie chooses to wear makeup instead of slathering on a new coat of paint and I think that’s just swell. The characters benefit the most from the makeup approach as without losing their blobby and animated designs they do when appropriate get lavishly detailed drawings the likes of which we’ve never seen in the show. It’s in these glimpses of ultra composed and detailed character art and acting that we see Yamada’s future most clearly. Beyond the boundary(heh) of Tamako and it’s equivalent staff we see glimpses of Futoshi Nishiya‘s young Shoko Nishimiya(though he never worked with Yamada before that film) and Kazumi Ikeda‘s Euphonium cast, echoed here mainly in Yui who has a stranglehold on the films defining drawings. Kyoto Animation of the 2010s and beyond is defined by its realistic character art and sharp photography and in 2011 Naoko Yamada started that race with this staff and this film.

WHAT’S THE ACTION?

Anyway pretty pictures were a guaranteed asset but what’s the story here, what’s the selling point of this final epilogue for a series that never wants to say goodbye. On the surface you’d assume a trip to London would be all there is and all that is necessary to justify it’s existence, I mean I sure thought so going in but Yamada and her sole screenwriter this time had bigger ambitions. Picking up after they pass their exams and using the OVA as a springboard this vacation is actually a retelling of the end of the series from the POV of Yui as she sets out to write her most important lyrics yet, the one we all know to be Tenshi ni Fureta Yo. This is how this film manages to evoke its genuine emotional power as we all know what’s it’s building to but only now get to see how sweetly we got there. The “problem” is that this plotline is familiar enough to not feel truly exciting and that this is what the film is all about, not the vacation.

MORE THAN A VACATION

A buncha dumb as rocks cute anime girls hitting the streets of London is the shenanigans I signed up for with K-On! the Movie and it’s here where I leave unsatisfied, possibly even disappointed. The first third of the movie is spent fully on the ground Japanese style and would you believe it is the final third, leaving us with barely a vacation to the Big Ben like I’d hoped to see. Time is never wasted though, just spent differently and so while my greater hopes were not met my heart was fulfilled from beginning to end. The first act is all about building up the trip in true After School Tea-time fashion, also known as not doing anything. The clubroom scenes are delightful like always with Yui getting some all timer skits in their with her big budget animation like her failed attempt to hijack the location planning resulting in her getting “the face”. Throw in her not understanding that London is in fact in Europe and her heroic attempt to catch a falling guitar, framed like an action movie and everything and you have all the Yui you could ever desire. It’s in these silly little slice of life scenes that the actual story Yamada and Co. wants to tell finally takes shape, the aforementioned writing of Tenshi ni Fureta Yo. Yui’s Season 2 arc involves her coming into her own as an artist with her lyricism and this film is razor focused on the process behind her masterpiece and believe it or not, hijinks ensue. To London we march!

TEA-TIME THE COUNTRY

Even if it ended up being the means to a greater end than the focus there’s no denying that every minute spent abroad is about as fun as it possibly could be. It’s a big world and our cast is small, spirited and stupid, the perfect surrogates to explore the mystical land of British Teeth. Yui has one job, write Azusa a song and only 1 rule to follow, don’t let Azusa know about it and would you believe it our girl succeeds. At failing about a half dozen times but luck would have it Azusa never clues in fully. Instead she gets stressed about this sudden secrecy which exacerbates the regular stress of navigating a foreign city without the necessary brain cells to fully beat the system. Hotel, who knows where. Dinner, how about an unpaid music performance that does not in fact result in dinner. Racial profiling though, check because when Yui see’s an Indian man you bet she whips out Curry Nochi Rice to great fanfare but still, no dinner. After 20 minutes of shenanigans with the cast and crew firing on all cylinders(no seriously the art direction is immense) the gang flops onto their hotel where Yui proceeds to explode… an appliance. They fall asleep but Azusa awakens just to peer at Yui and that sketchy notebook which has since become sketchier, whatever series Yui is hiding is deeply disturbing.

AZUSA AT A LOSS

Day 2 is filled with even more pretty escapades and poop bin admiring(Yui nooo) but my favourite scene is when they return to the hotel once more and Yui positively pounces on Azusa who promptly and in dramatic slow motion bodyslams the creeper. Now on the floor Yui continues to reach but now we see it was Geeta she wanted to snuggle. Their usually obsessive if a bit one sided relationship is being tested by Yui’s secret and Azusa finds herself feeling embarrassed rather than admired, their distance begins to hurt. The two continue to miss what the other is putting down quite literally when they involuntarily begin a chain of losing each other in between the 2 rooms the group shares, it’s all simply and silly fun but it does build on the character arcs and feelings, unsurprisingly this series remains casually airtight in it’s execution. Before they leave London they perform one more set below the Eye, one where Sawako magically makes her appearance because she has the power of “adulting” and can just do that, also she saved the day so maybe the plotting got a bit silly there but hey, K-On! With that flourish we return to Japan and the actual story the movie most wanted to tell returns to motion.

NOSTALGIA

Vacation times over, we got a song to write and the people desire another performance and unlike Kitauji High’s fraudulent band our own HTT never misses an opportunity. Unfortunately it’s illegal to perform a sudden classroom set so it’s up to Sawako to save the day again and delay any above board onlookers from the most enjoyable musical sequence of the movie. The girls play with desks as their stage, their audience hungry and excited, the close proximity making it feel more intimate than their school festival performances even if the animation isn’t as impressive, all intercut with Sawako trying and failing to stop an accepting teacher from getting a glance. After that whole big bang up performance is done the focus shifts to the writing of Tenshi ni Fureta Yo proper and the film takes on a gorgeous, almost melancholic appearance, the lighting contributing to the ethereal buildup to a moment we all know is coming. We get a nostalgic montage of scenes, every character given the spotlight in their own world as they work towards this singular purpose and the new future promised after. Maybe my favourite scene of the entire movie happens here, on the precipice of the ultimate song the seniors go onto the roof and this entire sequence is just an expression of pure artistic joy. Taichi Ishidate’s joyously expressive running animation, the clear sky bordering between washed out and glowing, the hushed, gentle voice acting and the improved character art all catching the heart. It’s a perfect, unforgettable moment and a warm portent for what comes next.

GOODBYE K-ON!

The emotional climax of K-On! the Movie revolving around a scene we’ve already seen is both to it’s possible detriment as a standalone movie and a natural continuation of the show’s pesky inability to stick to its goodbyes. That is not to say the 3rd act is repetitive because it isn’t, we get tons of new scenes to wrap around the beating heart that is Tenshi ni Fureta Yo but the motive is interesting to me. We the audience didn’t need this again, even with the added context the experience of watching the movie doesn’t build up to this moment with the same power as the original’s 24th episode. But to a crew that had worked on this for years, yeah maybe they needed to say goodbye one last time. The scene reuses the anime’s footage but intercuts it with a collage of other moments, focusing less on this singular beautiful expression of love and friendship and more on the journey they took to get there, how the seniors themselves finally brought this song into shape and how they bonded over their shared love of Azusa and how they’d get to say goodbye. The film itself says goodbye to Azusa at the end of this song, a particular outside shot literally framing her through a window separate from everyone and when it cuts they’re walking away, only 4 pairs of legs. Naoko Yamada says goodbye to the characters that kickstarted her directorial career in a way only she would choose two, a minute long leg focused shot that really makes you believe in her fascination with their expressiveness. Leading the way into a glowing pastel pink evening is Yui and with this most gorgeous sequence K-On! the anime franchise ends. Aside from the gorgeous ending sequence stylized as they always have wait oops I was trying to say goodbye there, I don’t want to though. But this time there is no epilogue of OVA waiting, Naoko Yamada’s K-On! had finally found a way to say goodbye, she could finally let go. To a familiar but fully original place she would continue on to, but that’s a story for some other time.

FINAL RATING: 8/10