What’s the show? K-On!
And what’s that supposed to mean? Keion!
And what’s that supposed to mean? ‘Light music’.
Right. Now that we’ve got that sorted, what’s it about? It’s about five high school girls who start a ‘Light Music Club’ and eventually form a band called ‘Afternoon Tea Time.’ And it’s also one of the most wholesome anime’s ever made; it’s just so damn precious. *heart eyes*
‘Light music’, sounds kind of dull. You bite your tongue heathen! ‘Afternoon Tea Time’ legitimately rocks, like this isn’t bubblegum J-pop with instruments of questionable existence, they play their instruments, you hear every instrument in the band and the music is so very good. I don’t normally do this but here’s a link to one of my favourite songs (it’s also the end credits song for season 1).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN-ov_YQqmA
Wow! That was really good; they rock more than Nickleback (not that that’s difficult). I don’t know what that is.
Consider yourself lucky. So who are these girls? Didn’t you watch the whole video?! It introduces them all there!
I meant what are their characters, not just what instruments do they play? Fair enough. The protagonist is Yui, she’s lead guitar and lead vocalist (but not the vocalist of the song I linked – just to confuse you a bit!) she’s clumsy, a total air-head and not a very diligent student. Mio is bassist and second vocalist; she’s incredibly shy, easily spooked but very popular with other students due to her beauty. Ritsu is the drummer and president of the light music club (self appointed) she’s energetic, jokey but forgetful at times. Mugi is the keyboardist; she is kind, gentle, eager and comes from an incredibly wealthy family. Azusa is the rhythm guitarist and a year younger than the other four girls; she is very serious and focused at times, reserved but has also a lot of insecurities.
Great, so the show is a…? Slice of life, while there’s exceptional attention to detail with the animated rendition of the instruments and they do occasionally practice and play music, the majority of the show is just the girls talking and eating fancy cakes and drinking tea in their clubroom.
So pretty standard slice of life fare? Exactly! In other words… bliss.
Right. So no complaints about the show then? Oh I have a few, at least as far as this first season is concerned. The pacing is a bit off at times; some episodes have less going for them than others and the comedy can be a little inconsistent and pedestrian.
Hmm, didn’t expect that. Isn’t this show kind of highly acclaimed, is it underserving of such praise? Of course not, besides season 2 is a literal masterpiece, and improves every single issue I had with the first season, but let’s leave that ‘til another review!
And now we present the award for ‘best girl’ *drumroll* *opens envelope* and the winner is… Mio-chan! As if there was any doubt…
Well we’re kind of out of things to discuss, and we’ve got like 7 questions left, what should we do? When in doubt, do as the K-On girls do, eat sweet treats!
Oh that looks lovely *anime eating sounds* Mmm, give me some too. *more anime eating sounds*
How about some of this? Don’t mind if I do!
*anime eating sounds* *anime eating sounds*
Mmm, that was delicious! We should do this more often! Yeah, I mean I’m sure the people reading this don’t mind that we wasted their time because we couldn’t think up more questions!
Oh, right. The readers, haha, forget they were there… hello! Sorry for wasting your time! Please address all complains to the site admin @Cactus_Matt on twitter.com
Well, final verdict please? If you haven’t watched this classic slice of life anime already then you owe it to yourself, if not for the perfectly likable characters, charming setting and relaxed atmosphere then the legitimately awesome music which runs the gamut from cutesy to cool. It’s not without its flaws but it’s easy to overlook the flaws when taking into consideration how amazing it gets in season 2. If that sounds like an odd recommendation, it’s because it is and this has been an odd review. Anyone else hungry? Make sure to make room for seconds, 84 out of 100.
Anime QandA 