K-ON! The Movie!

Having successfully passed their University Entrance Exams, Yui Hirasawa, Mio Akiyama, Ritsu Tainaka, and Tsumugi “Mugi” Kotobuki are on a direct course for graduation.  That means it’s time to celebrate with a Graduation Trip.  That’s right, After School Tea Time is going international.  Their destination, London-The Birthplace of Rock and Roll.  It’s the trip of a lifetime and Yui, Mio, Ritsu and Mugi are determined to live it up and spend time with their beloved underclassman, Azusa Nanako.  Their time as members of the Light Music Club might be coming to an end…but the adventure isn’t over just yet.

K-ON ended on a pretty definitive note at the end of its second season.  In fact, I thought the ending was just about perfect.  Was there any story left to be told besides maybe doing a flash forward, maybe a year later, to see how everyone was doing?  Turns out, there was one more little tale to squeeze in.  Hence, we have K-ON! The Movie!  Is it a necessary chapter in one of the greatest feel good Anime sagas of all time or a simple victory lap?

Taking a page out of Cowboy Bebop: Knockin on Heaven’s Doors playbook, K-ON! The Movie! takes place towards the tail end of the series, sandwiched in between Episodes 22-24.  I think the movie starts off a little…odd.  One thing most will notice is that a lot of familiar ground is retreaded throughout, especially in the feels heavy second half.  The very beginning is kind of a slough though.  After seeing the girls reenact a Death Devil song (surprisingly well) we get a pretty generic Anime opening theme that’s…well not very K-ON.  What was the point of that?  How about one of the bands more popular titles, or even Cageyake Girls (The Season One intro, that would’ve made things feel more full circle)? I also think that the first twenty five minutes could have been cut down considerably.  The slow burn to the London trip might’ve been done on purpose incase new viewers were stepping into the K-ON series through this film.  If that’s the case…there are better starting points, like the whole of Season One.

However, once the girls started on their trip, it truly was K-ON! The Movie!  Stepping into a new country, lost in translation and getting into hijinks while performing shows and visiting landmarks like Abbey Road or 221B Baker Street, it felt like K-ON’s magic had been dialed up to 11.  It was everything and more Yui, Ritsu, Mio and Mugi deserved after three years of hard work together.  I would say the animation doesn’t look that much different from the TV show.  But one, it does in some spots to fit a more feature length film vibe.  And two, the series itself always looked gorgeous as it was, so no need to do a lot of tweaking.  There’s no need to make the film feel more heavy and mature (like transitioning from other Kyo Ani property The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya to The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya because that’s not how K-ON does.  I’ll get more into the rehashed themes in a moment but if you love the feel good vibe of the TV Series, it’s here in spades and you’re gonna love the new ways Yui and the girl make everyday life feel like the ultimate adventure, especially in a trip overseas.

So, retreading old ground.  The Movie covers the events in between EP 22-24 but also does mini stories alongside those episodes, showing us some extra snippets we might not have seen during the TV Series.  This means one of the best musical performances in the entire franchise that I am glad I got to see.  Actually, all of the music is great but that’s no surprise.  Back on topic, I know that setting The Movie so close to the end of the TV Series, it was impossible not to avoid taking another look at Yui and the gangs feelings about moving on from high school and the fun they’ve had together during it.  One of the movies central plots is the girls working on the song they wish to present to Azusa as their farewell/love letter song to the girl who has been the reason they’ve found so much success together. So, typing it all out like that just now, yes it’s a repeat of familiar storylines.  However, it also feels like a nice expansion of said storylines.  I still think the TV Series ending is a perfect gem but it was good to see the final moments from another angle (a Movie) and dig a bit deeper into why K-ON ended as strongly as it began. 

In the end, the TV Series wrapped everything up nicely.  So it’s a miracle K-ON! The Movie! works on so many levels even with some initial stumbles and a feeling of “Havent we been here before?”  The London trip was worth the hype, the girls sound as excellent as ever as a band and the finale is given one last touch up.  If you’ve seen the rest of the series, The Movie is your victory lap.  For everyone else, it’s a nice showcase of all the ways K-ON has become such a beloved Anime throughout the ages.  Is truly necessary?  Maybe   Come for the music, stay for the antics, leave know that whenever you hangout with Yui, Ritsu, Mio, Mugi and Azusa…everything’s gonna be ok.

8.5/10