Yui Hirasawa has just started high school. But the loveable airheads attempts to join an
after school club are failing. However,
one club is in dire need of a fourth member to stay afloat: the Light Music
Club. Though she’s never truly played an
instrument in her life, Yui is lured to the club with the promise of snacks and
good company. Soon, Yui finds herself
teamed up with bass player Mio Akiyama, drummer Ritsu Tainaka and keyboardist
Tsumugi “Mugi” Kotobuki. Together, these
four will take the school by storm with a sound never heard before…if they can
find time to stop eating tasty snacks, study and practice a little bit.
Every once in a while, I like to take a break from the
hardcore action, scifi and fantasy shows or movies I’d usually cover here at
the Gundam Anime Corner. That kind of
Anime is still my favorite (especially scifi).
However, I do like to dabble in territories where something doesn’t go
“boom” (as my Dad would put it). In the
past here on the blog ive ventured into shows like Bamboo Blade and Love Hina
with varied levels of success (loved Bamboo Blade but not as loving of Love
Hina like I once was). Which brings us
to today, the start of K-ON!. It’s a
show about four cute high school girls who come together to form an after
school band…and that’s kind of it, at least coming off of the first four
episodes. Basic, yes. Deep?
Not really. Promising? Despite a
very glaring issue (depending), absolutely.
For a show that is advertised heavily in regards to the
kick ass jams associated with it, the debut set of episodes of K-ON! Actually
feature very little of the core group playing music together. Sure we get Mio, Ritsu and Mugi putting on a
very short demo for Yui but other than that there’s the practically blink and
you’ll miss it moment of Yui strumming her guitar…and that’s kind of it. Based on that observation alone…yeah, id
believe it would be tough to sell you on reasons to stick with K-ON!. BUT there are reasons in those first four
episodes. There’s not a lot of music,
yes. However, if you look past that and
focus on what the show wants you to focus on, you might just see that this has
the potential to be the most “feel good” Anime of all time.
Let’s meet our players, shall we? K-ON!’s core quartet of high school girls is
diverse, loveable and offered plenty of time to shine alone as well as
together. From Yui’s aloofness and
clumsiness to Mio’s mature but delicate mannerisms to Mugi’s humbleness and
Ritsu’s ball of highly caffeinated energy, this is a combo that works on so
many levels. The bond between these four
is instantaneous, going from complete strangers (almost. Ritsu and Mio knew each other well before
now) to putting everything on the line to help Yui pass her midterms and earn
money for a guitar. It might move a bit
rapid fire but you grow to love these girls all the same for their individual
quirks as well as the team they become over the course of a few short
episodes. Mio is my favorite, partly
because she’s voiced by Cristina Vee in the English Dub. She’s also the most mature but prone to freak
outs of various kinds, either due to social anxieties or Ritsu poking her fear
of anything terrifying. But like I said,
everyone gets to shine. Yui’s a bit of
an airhead but determined to play guitar and keep spending time with her
friends. Ritsu is the beating heart of
the team, never stopping in her quest for…well anything she sets her mind
to. And Mugi, I love her humble
nature. She’s uber rich and influential
even if she doesn’t realize it or wants to make a big deal about it (like I
said, humble). Her successful attempt to
“haggle” for Yui’s guitar was one of the biggest highlights of the opening
set. Feel like I’ve rambled. Short version: I love this crew and I’m gonna
love every moment of their adventures. I
also liked that supporting cast members Nadoka and Ui, both Yui’s best friend
and little sister respectively, got ample time to stand out.
Adventure is a good way to describe each episode thus
far. The lack of music can be seen as
disconcerting but we’ll get there. K-ON makes
it clear that the music numbers are the destination but it’s the journey to get
to them that it wants to focus on. And
no, that doesn’t involve practice (much to poor Mio’s disappointment at
times). It involves…a lot of other
things. There’s the aforementioned quest
to get Yui’s guitar that results in a brief part time job stint. There’s a cram session to make sure Yui
doesn’t touch her guitar in order to pass an exam that will keep her with the
club. And there’s the beach episode
cause this is an Anime with an all female cast.
Thanks to the undeniable likeable chemistry between Yui, Mio, Ritsu and
Mugi, none of these premises’ ever feel stale and I never felt like time was
ever wasted. It was fun getting to know
the girls a little but while also establishing some long term goals: Ritsu’s
wish to play during a huge rock concert and Mio wanting to see the group play
at their own school festival. Point is,
if you’re not just enjoying chilling out while watching these girls get into
some wacky situations this might not be the Anime for you. K-ON! Is living in the moment and there are
plenty of good moments.
That’s not to say that the premiere is totally devoid of
jamming tunes. The opening and ending
themes for this season are some of the best I have ever heard in Anime. “Cagayake Girls” is the blood pumper and the
announcer of good times to come in a thirty minute episode and “Don’t Say Lazy”
is the more mature and signs of potential in the girls ability to play together
as a true band (signs of the future maybe?).
If the OP and ED sound this good, and they’re played by a band that
never practices in the first four episodes, just imagine what theyre going to
sound like when we do get to see them play live. Two songs in and I already feel like K-ON!’s
soundtrack deserves a spot up there with the best of them like Akira and Ghost
in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.
Though devoid of tunes to practice, the debut adventures
of the Light Music Club placed K-ON! Immediately in the category of “Anime for
a Rainy Day” category. A colorful and
fun cast and a positive energy that cant be denied dominated a set of episodes
where very little happens to advance the plot but at the same time, I didn’t
care. This is the club id want to sign
up for in high school if I wanted to play an instrument (and not because of the
four pretty girls that run it). I’d love
to hear an actual song from Yui, Mio, Ritsu and Mugi at some point this season
and I’m sure we’ll get to that sooner than I think. For now, the journey of K-ON! has begun and
already I wanna give the series a 10/10…cant say that often about a show but
damn this beginning was promising. See
ya next week.
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