WWHCurrent Anime & Manga Blog: Past Animes Review: K-On! / けいおん!

Hi again!

And Happy National Day Singapore!

Oh here we go, wasn't sure of how to write on the first review for the VERY FIRST anime i watched.

Yes from that you can draw how young my anime life is!

From all the mass of K-On! (けいおん!) merchandise and wallpapers, all my otaku friends will definitely agree. A must watch. At the time I JUST started watching anime, i was not very sure of the standard, so i couldn't make a value judgement. But now I can!

In essence, K-On! is a very simple an ideal representation of school life with music. Possible the FIRST in innovating a student band group. K-On's direct translation is "Light Music Club", but of course, it isn't. Their music features what i like to call "noisy" and punk rock. :P

The story all begins with Yui Hirasawa, a normal student just beginning high school life. The problem is, she doesn't have a club that she likes! That is, until Tainaka Ritsu and Akiyama mio come in. They have been trying to revive a club that is about to be terminated. K-On, DUH.

Yui joins the club, and meets Tsumugi Kotobuki, who was "forced" by Ritsu to join. The stage is set, for the new light music club! Yui feels that it would be a perfect club to play castanets, but the club thinks she is a guitar prodigy!

Is K-On going to survive?

The win-win situation for this anime is MOST probably due to its theme and that its associated with music. The simple theme of growing up, girl's life and running a music club, along with exploring music culture in Japan, and moe?

You have to give it to the producers of this anime. They KNEW what they were doing. Everyone is so cute!

Season 1 starts with the girls in their 1st and 2nd year as high school students. The music pieces in the anime are cute, but the EDs are always hardcore.

And the main characters are:

Yui Hirasawa, the most energetic girl in the club, who plays the lead guitar role. She uses a Gibson Les Paul Standard Electric Guitar, which is A VERY EXPENSIVE guitar, and names it as Gita (Pardon if i got it wrong). Though she is easily distracted and likes to laze around, her intentions are good and she is able to always show a cheerful face. She works extremely hard to learn the guitar, which pays off later in the season.

Akiyama Mio! The shy girl who plays bass. She plays a Fender Jazz Bass, which is also named; Elizabeth. She is was forced to join the Light Music Club by her childhood friend, Tainaka Ritsu. She gets embarrased EASILY and is scared of a lot of things. Oh, and she has a fanclub, of which how it was formed i probably shouldn't say.

Tainaka Ritsu. Yes! The K-On president! (*cough* Self-Proclaimed *cough*) She has a similar personality to Yui, energetic that is, and plays the drums! Yamaha Hipgig Drumset. Though she is always energetic, she often... rephrase. Always forgetting important dates and forms that the club need. And she is probably the reason why Mio is so shy, due to her teasing.

Tsumugi Kotobuki, the ojou-sama in this anime. Honestly, without this girl the club wouldn't even exist. She is a piano prodigy, which explains why she plays the keyboard. She plays the KORG Triton Extreme 76 keyboard. With a cheerful and bright personality, she often is a mother to the club, making tea and snacks, and also providing them with villas to stay at when the club goes on vacations. However, she is weirdly excited when two girls get together. (YURI?)

Azusa Nakano. OMG is that the cutest thing in the world? Especially with cat ears, *fainting from moe*. Azusa joins the club the following year, as a kouhai (junior) and says that the K-On club's music moved her. She idolizes Mio for her maturity. Like Mio, she also tries to get the club to practice, as they laze around all day, but is often teased at instead. (Feel very sorry for her). She plays a Fender Mustang Electrical Guitar, which she calls Muttan.

Sawako Yamanaka
Aye... This woman, is probably the most confusing and misleading character in this anime. Definitely due to her double personality. Originally the wind club instrument's advisor, she was blackmailed into being the K-On's one as well, foe a dark secret she had before... All I have to say is, is she really the kind and passionate teacher that everybody in school views her as? 0_o?

K-On!, surprising for its lack of a strict plot structure, manages to score very well for its music (DUH) and creativity, for the fact that it managed to impress me very much with its unique plot and development. Well a school-based structure may be not very unique, but a club which plays music for concerts is.

Though the anime is mostly a story about slacking members trying to gain fame by playing well, it features other values as well. It manages to bring out the ordinary life of a high-school girl and their different takes on music. Friendship is an ongoing theme in this anime, and so is camaraderie. Though its certainly seen in many other animes, the style in which K-On! presents it to us is just simple simple, and superb.

Many a time some animes get us aggrevated, some have intense plot structures with a sudden climaxed or anti-climaxed ending, some have no sense whatsoever, but K-On! is different because it just aims to please. No bs, no complicatedness, just "watch" and enjoy the show.

Some of you might ask why music gets such a high score, and the very simple reason I can give to you. The OPs and EDs are badass. Though I don't like some of Yui's songs, the majority of the songs featured in the anime are very nice, and all have a certain warm feel to them.

Certainly a must watch. And for me, certainly an unforgettable first anime ever watched.

K-On! aired in 2009 with 13 episodes, from April 3 to June 26. It also has an OVA in DVD. It also has a second season K-On!! which aired the following year. (Review will be done soon)