Welcome Dear Readers to our first series to be covered in
2020. And I gotta tell ya, im kind of
happy ive decided to jettison my Gundam Seed/Seed Destiny review project in
favor of this. But first, a little
history as to why covering Season 2 of K-ON is such a big deal for me. I first found out about K-ON back in 2011
during Otakon. It wasn’t the kind of
series I’d be into considering it was a high school Anime about girls in a rock
band…but damn if they weren’t a cool crew and damn they couldn’t play some
rocking music. It also helped that I got
to meet the English Voice Actresses during an autograph signing (including
Stephanie Shae and Cristina Vee), so that gave me further incentive to give
K-ON a shot. Unfortunately, I was only
able to get the first season on DVD before Bandai America closed it’s dubbing
doors in 2012. The K-ON series as a
whole was later picked up by Sentai Filmworks but those blu rays were hella
expensive and sold so quickly that they became really rare. Well imagine my
surprise when I found that Netflix had decided to post both seasons of K-ON
plus The Movie on their catalogue last fall.
Sure it was all on Hulu but I really wanted to hear the English Voice Cast
again. Anyway, the prospect at finally
getting a chance to see Season 2 aka K-ON!! (with 2 exclamation points) was too
good to pass up for review. Speaking
over, HISTORY LESSON DONE LETS GET TO THE REVIEW ALREADY!!!
At the same time, it feels like nothing has changed with
K-ON. The Light Music Club Room is still
inviting. Yui, Ritsu, Mio, Mugi and
Azusa are still as welcome and infectiously fun as always. They aren’t really practicing or playing many
music gigs. Yep, it all feels like the
perfect homecoming. And yet, Season 2 of
K-ON and it’s extended run promises that while things might look the same, big
changes are on the horizon and it’ll take a while for it all to sink in for the
girls and their friends. But the girls
of K-ON mostly love to live in the moment and that’s never a bad thing.
So it’s Senior Year for Yui, Mio, Ritsu and Mugi and
there’s a clear sense that this is somewhere in their minds but not quite at
the forefront…yet. The future does get
brought up a couple of times throughout the first four episodes, from Yui’s
late night realization the end is approaching for the band or the girls
desperate need for new club members so Azusa isn’t alone when they all leave. I
don’t want to get too deep into this just yet but I do sense that Yui and
Ritsu’s continuing to grow manic energy and short attention spans might be
their way of trying to hold back time.
They want to take photos, see all of the sights, just plain have fun. And for the moment, everyone else is willing
to accept that…cause they want to have fun too.
Azusa wants to keep playing and work Yui hard to get better. Even Mio eventually lets herself giggle at
the prospect of being lost in Kyoto because it’s an adventure after all. Like I said, this group makes living in the
moment the most magical practice of all.
Speaking of changes, it’s good to see Nadoka and Sawako
getting some possibly beefed up roles.
Thanks to Yamanaka being promoted to Home Room Teacher, she was able to
squeeze most of the principal cast into the same classroom. My continued Ritsu has a crush on Ms.
Yamanaka theory continues to roll strong as Ritsu notices Sawako looks prettier
now that she’s become a full fledged teacher (not so sure about that…she’s
always been pretty hot). Nadoka didn’t
get to do toooo much but was instrumental in helping the girls reunite with
their class during the Kyoto trip. I
like the continued focus on her friendship with Mio, who seemed down that
Nadoka could be one of their roommates during the classtrip. Even Yui knows Azusa feels a bit down not
having any underclassmen to mentor as they have done for her since her
arrival. So I’m guessing we’re gonna see
more new arrivals in Season 2 and eventually see the forming of a whole new
Light Music Club headed by Azusa. I mean
it’s not like the show would end on a sad note of the girls not finding any new
members right…right?
As I mentioned above, we don’t really get to see the
girls play any new tracks during this opening set. While I am always going to miss the original
opening and ending theme songs, the new intro is a good follow up to the Season
One classic. Its’ wild, it’s eccentric
and best yet features everyone at their posts pumping out the jams. That’s not to say that music wasn’t out of
the picture completely. Ristu’s attempt
to try new instruments and instead rediscovering her love of drumming was very
well done and it helped inspire Mugi to work on notes for a new song while she
and Mio work on lyrics together. Also
shout out to Yui with the “Shine on you Crazy Diamond” Reference (Pink Floyd)
and Ritsu for checking out an old The Who concert for added inspiration.
By this point, if you’ve come to K-ON expecting a non
stop rock concert…well you’ve kind of come to the wrong place. This isn’t just an Anime about girls who make
awesome music. It’s about five best
friends (and their teacher) who get into random adventures and just enjoy
spending time with one another whether it’s eating in the Club Room, a field
trip to Kyoto, or Mugi’s first time in a Wal Mart. If Season Two is going to be about anything,
it’s about simply enjoying the journey and not about getting to the
destination. Cause really, who would
want all this fun to end?
Also “Join the Light Music Club…we have cookies.” Best
slogan ever. See ya next week for more
K-ON!!
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