K-On!

Constantly getting told this is good but I'm not interested in what the storyline seems to be about at all :| ..
 
I just spent my christmas holiday watching K-on! and it was exactly what I needed. Lighthearted, fun, cute and no serious plot you have to concentrate on to remember. :)
I have heard a lot of references to this series in other threads and I finally got around to watch it myself so I also know what everybody else is talking about. Now I know! :D

Mio is so cute and Yui the airhead have her moments as well but I really wonder how on earth she could manage high school with that attention span... ;)
The music in the show was good but I really didn't like the OP or the ED for some reason...
 
Is Tsumugi caucasian?

Just curious, since she's blonde-haired & blue-eyed & visits Finland a lot, and k-ON! is one of the rare normal-hair-and-eye-colors slice-of-lifes. Well, mostly (*cough* Ritsu bright yellow *cough*).

Or, since this IS anime, is she just the "token blue-hair"?
 
The first episode was entertaining, although it doesn't seem like a very thought provoking series. A lot of moe, school, slice of life elements and I'm excited to watch it. I get the impression it's very relaxing :)
 
I've heard so much about this series, I'm a bit excited to watch this as part of a FYAB group! Today we've scheduled the first two episodes, so will post my impressions as I view them.

Episode 1
OK, don't know what I was expecting, but this isn't what I thought. Maybe I was thinking Lucky Star or something... I'm glad it isn't, however. (Nothing wrong with Lucky Star, but I wasn't in the mood for a poorly done LS clone.) This doesn't seem as random and seems like the story will actually follow some sort of plot. I thought I might have a problem with Yui, but so far, she's not super annoying; none of the characters are. (At first, with all the exaggerated klutziness, I was a bit worried.) I may end up liking this!

Episode 2
Can't believe they are all willing to buy Yui such an expensive guitar. And she, special snowflake that she is, won't even look at other options.

Mugi is the company president's daughter?! I don't like coincidences like this - hope this isn't chock full of other suspend belief moments...

NOW, Yui is starting to annoy me. She's being ditzy, but not in a cute way. Just a self-absorbed, entitled brat? And the scenes don't look promising either - she's "forgetting" (too lazy) to practice. This isn't precious and adorable to me. It's not cute to me, either... *Fingers crossed that something makes her a better character, if she's going to continue to be a hopeless ditz.*

 
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Since we're watching this for FYAB, I thought I should leave my impressions as well. I've been hearing about K-On! for almost as long as I can remember and it's been on my list of things to watch eventually for a while now, but I had no idea what it was about, besides having something to do with music.

Just for reference, I did decide to watch the dubbed since it was available for the first season. It might not be the best dub I've ever seen, but it isn't terrible and I wanted this show to be something I could just relax and watch without having to read subtitles.

Episode 1:
Being made by Kyoto Animation, it gives me a strong Haruhi Suzumiya feel, which is always positive in my book. I'm actually really liking all the characters so far, including Yui. I guess it's been a while since I've seen something with an "airhead" main character and it almost feels like a breath of fresh air. I can't say I've seen an anime that made music a big aspect of the story, so this could be interesting.
Episode 2:
Are they really gonna help Yui buy that guitar?! I know they're serious about getting their club going and all, but I doubt people IRL would be willing to work multiple jobs to help someone they just met buy such an expensive guitar. I didn't like how Mugi just so happened to be the president's daughter and waited as long as she did before trying to help lower the guitar's price. Honestly, I wouldn't mind them going through another episode of working odd jobs and have Ritsu eventually "haggle" the owner to lower the price to around half the original price, like she did to get her drums. Yui isn't the best character, but I don't totally hate her. I totally get where she was coming from with not wanting to play her brand new guitar. I'd probably be the same way!
 
MrTripStack said:
Just for reference, I did decide to watch the dubbed since it was available for the first season. It might not be the best dub I've ever seen, but it isn't terrible and I wanted this show to be something I could just relax and watch without having to read subtitles.
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I watched the first episode both ways, subbed and dubbed, and figured since there wasn't (to my mind) a significant difference, I'd (also) go with the dubbed version so I could watch it and pay more attention to the action on the screen rather than diverting some attention to read the subtitles.

MrTripStack said:
Episode 2:
Are they really gonna help Yui buy that guitar?! I know they're serious about getting their club going and all, but I doubt people IRL would be willing to work multiple jobs to help someone they just met buy such an expensive guitar. I didn't like how Mugi just so happened to be the president's daughter and waited as long as she did before trying to help lower the guitar's price. Honestly, I wouldn't mind them going through another episode of working odd jobs and have Ritsu eventually "haggle" the owner to lower the price to around half the original price, like she did to get her drums.
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Exactly how I felt!

MrTripStack said:
Yui isn't the best character, but I don't totally hate her. I totally get where she was coming from with not wanting to play her brand new guitar. I'd probably be the same way!
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Yes, but at end of episode, she -did- start playing it and so has no excuse for what I saw in the scenes: she "forgot" to practice. Maybe when I watch the entire episode, it will find a way to make this forgivable. I hope.

 
It's Wednesday, so it's time for another two episodes of K-On! I have to say, the more I hear the opening and ending, the more I'm falling in love with them. I'm enjoying this show a lot more than I honestly thought I would! :laugh:

Episode 3
So, it turns out that Yui wasn't practicing much 'cause she didn't even know how to read music. Why am I not surprised?

I was already expecting Yui to fail the midterms, but Ritsu passed? I think Yui explained my thoughts exactly; "That doesn't really fit your character!" Now Yui has to study for a retake and if she doesn't pass, their club might be disbanded, but she continues to get distracted by her guitar when she should be studying. I'm not surprised that Mio ended up helping her cram the night before, but Yui should've seriously left her guitar with one of the other members after she realized it would be a problem after her first night of "studying".

In the end, Yui passed, which was expected, but she forgot all the guitar cords she learned in the process? You have to be joking!
Episode 4
This episode started with them playing on a beach? Random. I had to back out for a minute and make sure I was watching the right episode. I seriously thought I had skipped an episode by accident!

Oh, and they weren't kidding - Yui really did forget all the cords! I'd be seriously frustrated if I was a member of that club. Though I would prefer Yui's idea of a haunted house. I've seen a few maid cafes done in anime already, but never a haunted house as far as I remember. I think that'd be pretty interesting, actually, even if Mio would be traumatized.

It turns out that Mio wants to have some summer practice camp, but the group doesn't have enough money to afford something like that. Surprise-surprise, Moogy just so happens to have multiple summer homes and the one they visit has a pretty well-equipped music room. Man, where were these rich kids when I was in high school?

After they spend plenty of time playing, Yui is suddenly pretty good at guitar and can even replicate a song by only hearing it once. Let's not forget that she had forgotten all the cords at the beginning of this "practice camp". I guess this was better than having another episode of her relearning cords!

Also, that outdoor bath looked an awful lot like a normal pool with hot water.
 
Here are my thoughts on these episodes. Unlike you, Trip, I don't find the OP and ED songs to this show to be special. Although, they are starting to grow on me. At first, they sounded mediocre and undistinguished to me. Now, I'm beginning to identify the specific songs with the anime, instead of them being random generic theme music... Maybe as I hear them more, I'll like them more.

Episode 3
Yui is redeemed. I'm not irritated by her character as I was last episode. She isn't pulling the lazy, self-absorbed "I forgot to practice" trick at all.
MrTripStack said:
Episode 3
I was already expecting Yui to fail the midterms, but Ritsu passed? I think Yui explained my thoughts exactly; "That doesn't really fit your character!"
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Really? I wasn't surprised - I fgured she is the type to accomplish what she needs/wants to do - look at her forming the club, after all. I'd only see Ritsu failing if it was something unimportant to her.

MrTripStack said:
In the end, Yui passed, which was expected, but she forgot all the guitar cords she learned in the process? You have to be joking!
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I -was- surprised she pulled off a perfect score. And what was up with her melodramatic sad entrance???! Did she want to give them all the impression she failed, so that her accomplishment would seem even more amazing? I guess she needed the extra drama queen act to get them to forgive her for not retaining a single chord.

I also find this unbelievable, especially since she was air-guitar practicing with her friend Nodoka when walking home from school.
Episode 4
A trip to the beach. Although Ritsu and Yui don't seem very interested in their club at all, and keep forgetting the purpose of their trip. I find Mio's over-reactions to her fears a trifle overdone, but I guess I'll have to live with this as part of her character design.

And Yui has the talent to play something if she hears it played? Even though she can't even memorize individual written chords? Another suspend belief moment to disrupt my enjoyment of the show.

 
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Reply to Sianeka!
Sianeka said:
Really? I wasn't surprised - I figured she is the type to accomplish what she needs/wants to do - look at her forming the club, after all. I'd only see Ritsu failing if it was something unimportant to her.
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I didn't think she'd be an absolute failure for the sake of being an absolute failure, but I was thinking that she only cared about forming the Light Music club to fool around with a couple friends and play the drums. I didn't expect her to be serious about school. Then again, I guess she doesn't care about school all that much, 'cause she did end up cramming with Mio the night before too!

Sianeka said:
I -was- surprised she pulled off a perfect score. And what was up with her melodramatic sad entrance???! Did she want to give them all the impression she failed, so that her accomplishment would seem even more amazing?
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I meant that I wasn't surprised about her just passing the test period, since the club would've been disbanded otherwise. I definitely wasn't expecting her to pull off a perfect score! But yeah, she could've just been acting all depressed to make them worry a little before revealing that she actually passed with flying colors. I've certainly done something similar in my time! Though I'm not sure why she would put on that same act for her teacher when she passed her in the hallway.

Perhaps she was just so in shock and disbelief that she had gotten a perfect score that she seemed outta it? Her old friend did explain that she once found one of her old tests in a stack of paper she brought her from school while she was sick, so as far as we know, it's possible that she hasn't done incredibly well on a test in a long while and could've been surprised by the perfect score herself.

Edit for 3/7/14:
It's Friday and time for another two episodes of K-On! :smile:

Episode 5
So, Ritsu forgot to turn in the club application form and their Light Music Club still isn't an official club. I guess they were technically just chilling in the music room after class, but I'm surprised a teacher hasn't said anything after all that time.

Ms. Yamanaka seems like a weird character, but I guess she's alright. At least they finally got the club adviser they needed, even if they did have to blackmail her into it. It's good that she was part of an older Light Music Club though and can actually help them, instead of being an adviser that just sits around and observes. She decides to help Yui practice playing guitar and singing simultaneously, but Yui ends up losing her voice and can't sing after all. Big surprise there! *sigh*
Episode 6
I'm happy that we finally got to see some sort of haunted house, but it ended up being kinda lame. Though I thought Ritsu was the one who originally wanted a maid cafe? I guess I can't complain.

I was fully expecting Mio to practice too much and end up losing her voice as well, but I'm relieved that didn't happen. I wasn't really feeling the song they played, but I'm glad we finally got to see them preform together, with vocals included. The little "music video" shown was kinda neat and caught me off guard. Mio ended up doing well after some encouragement from her friends and even seemed to get over her shyness a bit, before tripping and totally embarrassing herself within seconds. I guess Mio will remain the shy character of the group, but I'm fine with that.

Also, doesn't Ms. Yamanaka seem to be spending a lot of time with their club? She said that she was busy with the band club (I believe?) and Ritsu even said that she doesn't have to be around; just sign the paper so they can be an official club. I remember them saying that she's been training Yui every day for a week and she's been hanging around a lot these last two episodes. Maybe she just feels more of a connection to the Light Music Club and started ignoring the band club instead? I hope she was just around to help them prepare for the concert and things'll go back to normal now. She's not a bad character, but I wouldn't want to see her this often.
(I just didn't feel right double-posting. xD)
 
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MrTripStack said:
Reply to Sianeka!
Perhaps she was just so in shock and disbelief that she had gotten a perfect score that she seemed outta it? Her old friend did explain that she once found one of her old tests in a stack of paper she brought her from school while she was sick, so as far as we know, it's possible that she hasn't done incredibly well on a test in a long while and could've been surprised by the perfect score herself.
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^^ This, probably.

MrTripStack said:
Reply to Sianeka!
I didn't think she'd be an absolute failure for the sake of being an absolute failure, but I was thinking that she only cared about forming the Light Music club to fool around with a couple friends and play the drums. I didn't expect her to be serious about school. Then again, I guess she doesn't care about school all that much, 'cause she did end up cramming with Mio the night before too!
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No, I'm not saying that Ritsu passed because she cares about school and is surprisingly a dedicated student - because I don't believe that at all. I just feel she is the type to go after what she wants, and a passing grade is obviously what she wants since she bothered to take the time to cram with Mio the night before. (See, I "read" that differently than you - you feel that since she didn't study and ended up needing to cram, she didn't care about her schoolwork, but I feel that since she realized she wouldn't pass unless she crammed, she cared enough to take that extra step to ensure she did pass. Thus indicating that she -does- care a bit about how she does in school.

Episode 5
AND Ritsu will even resort to blackmail to get what she wants (get an advisor for the Light Music club.)
MrTripStack said:
Ms. Yamanaka seems like a weird character, but I guess she's alright. At least they finally got the club adviser they needed, even if they did have to blackmail her into it. It's good that she was part of an older Light Music Club though and can actually help them, instead of being an adviser that just sits around and observes. She decides to help Yui practice playing guitar and singing simultaneously, but Yui ends up losing her voice and can't sing after all. Big surprise there! *sigh*
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I'm not liking the Jeckyll/Hyde character of Yamanaka and Mio is still paralyzed by all her fears. So all-in-all, not my favorite episode. But, I agree she will probably end up being a good choice for being the LMC advisor.
Episode 6
MrTripStack said:
I'm happy that we finally got to see some sort of haunted house, but it ended up being kinda lame. Though I thought Ritsu was the one who originally wanted a maid cafe? I guess I can't complain.
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Funny, I thought Ritsu -was- the advocate for the haunted house all along??? I thought Yui wanted the maid cafe? Wish we had gotten to see more of the haunted house to judge it better.

I was encouraged that they were showing Mio having realistic fear reactions - her fear of spooky haunted houses and stage fright felt real - none of that curl up in a ball crying and paralyzed crap - and I thought the show was making progress with her character. But no, episode ends with Mio in another ball of paralysis. *sigh*

MrTripStack said:
I wasn't really feeling the song they played, but I'm glad we finally got to see them preform together, with vocals included. The little "music video" shown was kinda neat and caught me off guard.
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I thought the song they performed was actually a catchier tune than the OP or ED themes, but vocals in it were not good at all. I wish they used the quality of the theme songs, but I get that they were demonstrating that it was a first performance by this novice band. The music video played with it also caught me off guard, but I thought it was totally lame and I was all WTH is this??? So again, we have a bit of a disconnect, Trip.

Next up: Christmas memories episode. I'm hoping I'll start enjoying this show again better soon.

 
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Episode 7
Now I remember that preview for this episode showed it will be a Christmas episode. I really thought young Yui -would- knock over the tree while attempting to put the star on the top...

Oh, now -that- was cute - Yui creating a white Christmas for her sister.

Party time with the Light Music club - I enjoyed this episode.

Episode 8
Yui's responsible little sister Ui joins the cast as a member of the same school now. I wonder how this will change the dynamics of the show? Depends upon how important a role Ui is given to play in this...
Poor Mio, separated into a different class than her friends. Oh good, SOMEONE she knows!

*grinning* The girls are realizing/figuring out that dressing up in animal costumes is scaring away potential members rather than luring them in. Good for them for realizing it, but points deducted for not remedying the situation.

A happy mistake leads to dual vocals on one song - I hope they realize how much better that is.

And a new member joins the club - more about her next episode, it appears. She kinda looks like Mio, and is shy like Mio also.

 
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I watched these two episodes late last night and went to bed soon after, so I'm posting a bit later than usual. Regardless, here's episode 7 and 8. :drinking:

Episode 7
I was a bit concerned before it actually showed Yui and Ui as kids, 'cause I could only hear their voices at first and they sounded different than I remembered. That made me feel a bit silly. xD

I always enjoy a good Christmas episode, so I'm glad this show got one. It's also refreshing to see relatives get along so well in an anime, since it seems like they usually don't get along or aren't close enough to spend a lot of time together.

Sianeka said:
Oh, now -that- was cute - Yui creating a white Christmas for her sister.
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At first, I was just thinking "that's not really enough snow to be considered a White Christmas" and wondering why there was only snow in such a small area in their yard, but I couldn't help but smile once she realized that Yui used stuffing to fake a White Christmas.

Episode 8
A new club member? We don't really know much about Azusa, so I can't really say whether I like her or not. According to A-P, she's another guitarist, so my guess is that Yui is gonna focus more on vocals from now on and be a more backup guitarist while Azusa becomes the main guitarist, which I'd be alright with. I guess we'll see how this turns out.

Sianeka said:
Yui's responsible little sister Ui joins the cast as a member of the same school now. I wonder how this will change the dynamics of the show? Poor Mio, separated into a different class than her friends. Oh good, SOMEONE she knows!
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I'm actually pretty excited about Ui possibly getting a bigger roll in this anime. I really like the interactions between her and Yui. I certainly like her character more than their club adviser! Also, I know how it feels to be in a class with nobody you really know and I felt really bad for Mio at first, but I'm glad there's somebody there she at least knows a little.
 
MrTripStack said:
Episode 8
I'm actually pretty excited about Ui possibly getting a bigger roll in this anime. I really like the interactions between her and Yui. I certainly like her character more than their club adviser!
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I'm close to my RL sister, so I always like to see sisters that are close. Ui is a FAR better character than that inane Miss Yamanaka. <-- I had hopes for her at first, but they've been dashed to the point where they are now non-existant.

Episode 9
Asuza added now to the opening. I rewatched opening from Episode 5 to make sure she wasn't there before and I just missed her, but nope, she's newly added. Funny now, to see the Asuza-shaped spacing hole in the band in Ep. 5 opening that I never noticed...

Why is Yui pretending she is better than she is? Just to keep being called "Sempai" -- she should know the truth will out, prolly sooner rather than later. Besides, if Azusa is so good, she's prolly also good at assessing talent and she's already seen Yui's capabilities during the show she saw (even though it appears she doesn't remember much)

Perhaps the club should be renamed the Light Music Tea and Cakes club?

Preview scenes for another training camp. Wonder if they will train as hard as when they went to the beach? LOL
Episode 10
Asuza -still- doesn't know this group if she has expectations of them training hard at training camp.

Yep, as expected, a typical Light Music Club training camp ... only this time with Asuza with them.

 
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Oh my so Mio v2 (A**** Nyan ) has joined the club?
Ull probs like her char :P
 
Wasn't sure if I should do three episodes today instead of two, but since Trip is still only posted at Ep. 8, I will hold off on last season episode till Monday viewing. What's next? Specials or season 2? Going by release date: K-On! Ura-On! is next?

Episode 11
Just another day in the lives of the Light Music Club. This episode, Ritsu catches a cold, Yui's guitar needs maintenance for free, and Ritsu gets jealous of Mio's other friends. Oh, and the LMC band gets a name!
Episode 12
Yui catches Ritsu's cold and there's only four days until the festival. Will she recover in time to perform? Friendship fixes everything!
 
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