Reviews for K-ON!

Mod Edit: Minor Spoilers mentioned. I'm just going to say this straight away: These kind of animes bring out the silly little girl in me. And as I'm a 19-year old guy, it's kind of an unexpected thing, even for me. And I mean this in the most positive way possible. "K-On!" follows the story of Hirasawa Yui, a girl who lives a life similar to your average person on the net, except for the internet part. It's difficult to explain without using the words "carefree" and "lazy". In a way, she probably reflects a majority of people I know, including myself, except for the fact shedoesn't really have any real life issues other than school. This changes however when she decides to join the Light Music Club, where she now has to learn and play guitar. We also got 3 other characters that will be focused on: Ritsu (drummer), Mio (bass), Tsumugi (keyboard), followed by another one half-way through the first season, namely Azusa (guitar). Inbetween their "goal" to reach fame, they have a few concerts and a lot of fun. Quite lovely.

The story itself is memorable, but unoriginal and consisting mostly of filler to build character. However, I myself don't consider this to be a bad thing at all. With animes like this one, filler is what pretty much drives it, and I love every single minute of it. Each episode being just as silly, and if not even sillier than the other. Although it doesn't beat Lucky Star, but if you've seen that, you know that's a difficult thing to do.

The music itself is great and quite catchy, but I'm not a big fan of Yui's singing. I know this might piss some people off, but hey, it's my opinion, and I prefer Mio on the mic anytime. The first ED is in this case also my favorite song in the anime, "Don't Say Lazy". The instrumentals are great, although not that original, but still enjoyable.

The art is cute and silly, and like I said before, combined with cute voices I often find myself randomly squeeing simply because of how cute it is. If it didn't have that factor, I would be far less interested in this anime. There are animes for all kinds of people, be it sci-fi, action, romance, drama, adventure, etc. But for me, comedies are my thing because they distract me from how stupid life can be from time to time.

The characters in this anime are a lot of fun, and very different in personality. We got Yui who, as we know, is carefree and quite lazy, and tends to be awkward on the weirdest of times, but in a cute way. Then, we have Mio, who's pretty much the opposite of Yui, shy and easily scared. Ritsu is energetic and a bit of a devil when it comes to pranks, especially aimed at Mio as they are childhood friends. Tsumugi, who's not as energetic as Ritsu, but still enjoys the little things in life, and she's also the "rich kid" as you may call her, but thankfully you won't notice that in this anime. And later on we get Azusa, a very serious junior girl, but also easily distracted and really silly at times.

All the characters share one thing: They're happy high school students who like to play music. The bond they have is emphasized in the anime, as each episode tries not to leave anyone out. And once again, that's one of the things I love about it.

"K-ON!" is not for everyone, but if you like cute and silly characters with a cute and silly story, then I definitely recommend giving it a shot. Just don't expect any real seriousness, except for when they prepare for concerts. For me, it's a proper balance of a funny story, with funny characters and fun music. It's definitely not original, but as long as it's executed properly, it doesn't have to be, as long as it's fun. And yeah, like I said pretty much a million times... This anime sure is!

If K-ON! is the future of slice-of-life moe anime, then the genre is dying. Now, I myself am personally a great fan of the niche genre and have delighted in viewing many anime falling under it, no matter how silly or inane. That's because I don't mind having to turn off my brain to enjoy anime, but I expect to be compensated for doing so, be it by making me laugh, warming my heart, or leaving me with something to remember. K-ON! splendidly failed in all three ways multiple times throughout, and came off as a shoddy effort all around. Because a slice-of-life moe series isoften devoid of any ongoing plot of significant importance, it must rely on the day-to-day circumstances of the characters, presenting them in new and inventive, yet somewhat familiar ways in order to keep attention. Surprisingly enough, K-ON! follows a linear, though loosely connected story, but does nothing of interest with the day-to-day circumstances. It's as if the staff decided that it was okay for the girls to be lazy and uneventful because it's slice-of-life, to which I must say "NO NO NO"... had to get that out of the way. I'll be serious now.

Likewise, the characters need to be interesting enough to actively engage in following their exploits. Harsh as it may be to say, it was a waste of time to follow around a main character like Yui. I could rant for hours on end about Yui, but to sum her up, she's a mentally challenged nutcase. Now, I can excuse character stupidity as long as the main character has qualities that redeem said stupidity, be it fierce independence, reliability, or if it's made clear she's meant to be the butt of everyone's joke. Yui has none of these qualities. She is an idiot, and no one ever discourages her from being an idiot. Minor spoiler alert, but it must be said... I am absolutely furious at the gall the staff had to have Yui comment in Ep. 12 about how much she has changed. In the entire series, she does not grow even a little. What a crock.

Enough about Yui though, there are other characters to focus on; all of who range from average to above-average. They're all likeable too, but far too simplistic. With no real inventiveness to the situations they end up in as previously stated, I had expected their personalities to be clever enough to make up for that lack. In this, the staff succeeds to a degree, but nothing comes from it. Everyone is essentially the same at the beginning as they are at the end and there is very little proof that any of them have grown as friends, regardless of what the series wants us to believe.

In the matter of technical aspects, K-ON!'s fluidity is remarkable but the style is such that it comes off incredibly choppy, and at some points downright ugly. It felt as though Kyoto Animation spent a ton on making it fluid and in doing so, took from the budget that allowed for the actual artwork itself, excusing the instruments which often look better than the girls themselves. While this tradeoff doesn't work entirely, it could be far worse. In addition, because this tradeoff comes from animation maestro Kyoto Animation, it is doubly worse.

Though this is a show about a music club, the BGM is boring. Thankfully, a killer OP/ED combo and some fantastic inserts make up for that. On the acting front,the amateur seiyuu all sound like younger versions of already successful seiyuu, like how Mio's seiyuu Yoko Hirasa sounds not-too-surprisingly like a younger Aya Hirano. This isn't to criticize their talents, though. The fact that these newcomers are so lively and fits their character perfectly from the start is a compliment, one of the few I have given the series.

From all of the above, K-ON! to me came off as a cheap way for Kyoto Animation and Pony Canyon to make money. There is little effort, the characters are rather flat and unchanging, and everything in the news about it from merchandise tie-ins to Oricon charts leads me to believe it's one giant marketing ploy rather than an honest effort of a series. For this, I cannot say I enjoyed all of it, though it was good sporadically. However, as I said in the beginning, if these shoddy attempts at slice-of-life moe are what we as anime viewers choose to support and demand more of, we are killing the genre as we speak.

Overall, I give K-ON! a 6 out of 10.

This review is going to be broken down into the 5 parts that MAL focuses on with each section getting critiqued. Story: As you know by the description on the anime's page, K-on is suppose to be about Yui Hirasawa and joining of saving of her high school's light music club, with the problem being that Yui has never read music or knows how to play a guitar. Slowly a few of these problems get cleared up but the main bulk of the plot goes no where whatsoever. You can come in at any episode and still get what's going. The anime is heavy on the theme"light and fluffy." to which when watching it you don't have to know anything nor necessarily be there the entire episode to know what is going to happen and that's the main problem, like every other "moe" anime it's generic and predictable in the events category.

Art:

This is probably the biggest problem with the show in my opinion, the art. Seriously I can guarantee you that the studio used a step by step handbook and stencil set to create yui, mio, ristu and mugi, it's what is seriously killing the industry today in my opinion...generic characters. There is nothing that makes any one character in K-on stand out. The backgrounds themselves are nothing to praise about either as they are the standard school, bustling street/shop and from time to time inside one of the girls home scenes. To sum it up the art lacks originality and there is no direction for it.

Sound:

This is probably the only place that K-on climbs up outta the rubbish category. The times that you hear music made by the club it's actually not that bad and can be catchy at times, and with it's suppose plot revolving around music you'd think to hear it a lot but it's quite the opposite, the girls spend more time sitting around being airheads then trying to do anything music related.

Character:

What can I say,all of the characters of K-on have traits that superficial. They all are generic and no one has anything that makes them unique or stand out.

Enjoyment:

After watching 13 episodes, I can say overall the enjoyment was just another thing including original art and characters that the show was missing...I mean it was boring and painful as well as predictable to watch.

Summary:

K-on is a light and fluffy fan service anime to which it hosts no original art and set of characters. If your looking for something to which you don't need to think or understand maybe you'd enjoy k-on but even then your going to have to endure lackluster scenes of boring pointless conversations to which watching windows screen saver can provide more enjoyment.

K-ON! is inconsequential fluff. One might compare it to popcorn or cotton candy: a tasty treat, but if you're looking for a meal, it will leave you looking for something more substantial after it's done. K-ON! follows the tried and true formula of cute girls doing cute things. Based on a 4-koma comic, the series is about several high school girls who form (technically join, but all the previous members graduated) a light music club and follows their activities. The music itself often takes a back seat to the antics of the girls, and audiophiles may find themselves somewhat disappointed if they go in expecting detailedattention to techniques or references to real life bands (there are a couple, but few and far between). There are two concerts in the thirteen episode series, but neither is as impressive as the one from the Live A Live episode of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (one of Kyoto Animation's earlier shows), but still very enjoyable. The most common scene in the series features the main girls sitting in the club room snacking on tea and cakes while discussing various mundane events, particularly with the more dedicated girls trying to get the rest to practice.

The girls all have their own distinct personality. Yui, the main character, is the some clumsy and adorable airhead. She joined the club hoping to play an easy instrument like the castanets but ends up playing guitar because the club needed a guitarist. Ritsu is the energetic idiot of the show, drummer, and club president because she was the one who dragged everyone else into the club. Mio is Ritsu's long time friend, and the sensible, serious one of the group. She writes the groups songs, and plays the bass. She is also the most moe character, being the prettiest, easily embarrassed, and terrified of ghosts and yucky things. Mugi is the pianist. She comes from a wealthy family, and thus is a source of amusement by displaying the difference in wealth between rich people and normal people. She is also the provider of the tea and sweets that are regularly consumed at the club meetings.

There are a few regular minor characters, too. Ui is Yui's younger, but more mature and reliable sister. Yui has a friend named Nodoka who joins the student council, which means her role is essentially to let everyone know that Ritsu has forgotten something regarding paperwork for the club. Sawako is a music teacher who is recruited as the club adviser in one of the more memorable scenes of the series. Also, a late addition to the cast is Azusa, an underclassman who is much like a miniature version of Mio.

Character designs are generally cute, with the kind of big round faces typical of most Kyoto Animation works. Background art is consistently good, as is the animation, which should come as no surprise. When characters are shown playing their instruments, there is generally more attention to detail than seen in anime to the point where the sound properly matches the characters actions. The singing at the concert features the same style animation as Live A Live, where you can just about lip read the lyrics (if you know Japanese, of course).

The music used in the series can generally be described as light and fluffy, both the background music and the couple of songs the girls play at their concerts, with the exception of the closer, which rocks a little bit harder than rest. The voice acting fits well all around, with Yui being notable for regularly coming off as someone who isn't all there, fitting her character well.

I don't want to close saying this show is like Azumanga Daioh with a music club, but that's about the easiest comparison I can make, and not too far off a description.

I picked up "K-On!" envisioning it as some kind of healing, mundane slice of life in the same vein as "Aria the Animation", something nice and gentle that would help soothe my severe withdraw symptoms brought on by finishing "Hikaru no Go". Even though on the surface I mostly got what I was looking for (it is mundane, and it is a slice of life), the end product was a huge disappointment. It's a bit like one of those twisted fairy tales in which some greedy guy makes wishes to the devil or a genie or something. Even though his wishes are all granted,fulfilling all the criteria that he specified, none of the result turns out to be what he wanted - there's always something very wrong with what he ends up with.

It took me a few episodes to figure out what's wrong with "K-On!". First of all, it starts off disappointingly dull. I'm one of the most patient of viewers, but even I found my attention wandering frequently, and I kept having to rewind to see what I'd missed - and usually the answer turned out to be "not very much". It's rare that I get really bored when watch anime, especially given my fondness for the more mundane slice of life shows, but "K-On!" managed to seriously test my patience (it took me half a year to finish).

And then I realised something worse - "K-On!" is MOE. Not as blatant as "Clannad", but still, it's all about cute girls doing cute things for the sake of being cute. It also serves to explain why I found it to be dull, given that I have no interest in watching artificially cute girls doing mundanely cute things, and there isn't much else to be found in the show. I find it interesting to compare "K-On!" with "Aria the Animation", which is also about cute girls doing cute things. I don't know whether it's because I watched "Aria the Animation" before and "K-On!" after "Clannad", a show that is so moe that it's caused me to develop allergic reactions to anything vaguely resembling cute, but with "Aria the Animation", the cuteness seemed more innocent; the natural calming beauty of the settings also made "Aria the Animation" less one dimensional, and it just seems to have a charm about it that's severely lacking in "K-On!".

As much as I was unimpressed by "K-On!", I must admit that towards the mid-series, the slice of life settings began to work its magic, and I found the series growing on me ever so slightly, I even started finding it mildly amusing and enjoyable at times... and that's when the makers of the show decided the time is ripe to give its targeted audience more of what they want - that is to say, the more obnoxious cliches of anime. Unsatisfied with just having cute, clumsy girls procrastinating over homework and cutely drooling over sweets and "cakies", they started rolling out the dreaded maid outfit and the cat ears etc. The already limited quality of the series took a dip and sunk to a new low as the girls started spending a lot of time inflicting these the disturbing costumes and distasteful accessories on one another. Obviously, the shy characters would meow pitifully as they are victimised, but of course at the same time they also show signs that a part of them is secretly enjoying the experience. Yes, of course they like it deep down - they're moe blobs after all! Anyway I'm sure you get the picture, so lets move swiftly on...

Though "K-On!" is about a music club, they do so little music-related activity that it's easy to mistake it for something else (like, a show about a cake eating club, for example). When it comes to the subject of music, the series is the antithesis of "Nodame Cantabile". The latter emphasises the importance of hard work even when the musician is already ridiculously talented. In "K-On!", however, we have Yui, someone who'd never played an instrument before, but who very quickly started reproducing face melting solos she hears with apparent ease, and is able to immediately master the techniques demonstrated to her. And she does all of this with just a small amount of casual and unmethodic practice. As I am also learning to play an instrument, this complete undermining of the effort required really doesn't sit well with me. I know it's not supposed to be very focused on the music, but come on, they could have at least made *some* attempt to make it seem less like a piece of cake!

The final nail in the coffin actually came when "K-On!" tried to do some character development in an episode towards the end of the series. For the first half of that episode, I was bewildered because the characters were acting quite strangely. Then I realised what the episode was trying to achieve - it was going out of its way to create a rift between a couple of characters in order to set up a kiss-and-make-up scenario. Upon realising this, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the fact that they botched up the attempt so badly that it reached a painful level of transparency. Perhaps the makers were better off keeping things simple and sticking to pandering to the moe crowd as they're clearly incapable to doing anything more substantial

All in all, "K-On!" is an interesting specimen for being a slice of life without a soul. Compared to, say, "Azumanga Daioh", which is not a slice of life (yes I know it revolves around mundane things, but it's clearly very comedy inclined and not too concerned about being down to earth), but radiated that pleasant warmth associated with a good slice of life, I can barely feel anything in "K-On!", and I certainly don't have any fondness for any of the characters. Something feels fundamentally wrong with the series - the creepy elements dispels any sense of innocence and charm it might otherwise have had, and once you strip away those elements, what's left is disturbingly hollow. Perhaps I'm being overly harsh on an anime that I consider mediocre, and sure there are anime out there that are a lot worse (like "Clannad"), but I guess I'm feeling rather grumpy that "K-On" shattered my naively comforting delusion that slice of life shows can't be anything short of pleasant.

Time and time again, Kyoto Animation has gained the hearts of the people and has quickly become a company that seems to turn whatever they animate into an instant cultural frenzy. For K-ON! this is no different. Based on a 4koma manga by Kakifly, K-ON! went from practically unknown to massive super hit in only a matter of days. However, putting aside its massive popularity, how does K-ON the anime fare? Read on and find out. Before I start the review there are some important questions you should ask yourself: 1. Do you hate animes with extreme amounts of moe? 2. Do you hate slice of life animes? 3.Are you looking for an anime with a memorable story?

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, you might as well turn around and ignore K-ON!, and save yourself (and the fans of the anime) some rage.

Story:

+ Even though the synopsis talks about girls trying to keep their light music club alive, allow me to say this now...K-ON'S MAIN FOCUS IS NOT ABOUT THE MUSIC. However, this anime is a laid back slice of life anime about the lives of the girls in the club.

+ Despite being ridden with cliche scenarios and episode themes, K-ON manages to achieve a certain level of entertainment which keeps the viewers coming back to it.

- Like I said before, the episode themes are full of cliched scenarios which might bother some.

- Some episodes repeat the same themes, which can make the show look repetitive at times.

Art:

+ The character designs are absolutely adorable

+ The animation style is easy to digest and simple on the eyes.

- The animation quality however, can sometimes drop significantly and some times look downright bad.

- A lot of the actual music playing scenes are not show and instead we are given shots of still images. Definitely to save some budget on difficult hand movement animation.

- For the standards set by KyoAni in the past, the animation for K-ON! could be considered rather underwhelming.

Sound:

+ Even though music is not the main focus of the anime, the song gives you quite a bit of nice insert songs which are all very catchy and enjoyable.

+ The Opening and Ending songs are both IMO extremely good.

+ For such a relatively new voice cast, K-ON!'s voice acting is superbly done and is sure to put these seiyuu's on the fast line to popularity.

- The actual BGM soundtrack is nothing out of the ordinary.

Character: (don't mind my score...I just love moe and im a fanboy ;_;)

+ Despite being cliched, the characters are just absolutely adorable and loveable.

+ moe, moe, moe, and more moe....thats what these characters are 90% of the time. (and I dont complain)

+ The interactions between the characters provides some very enjoyable comedy and very light and fluffy times. (lol bad joke)

+ Even the supporting cast is extremely likeable and yes....very moe.

- Every character follows a stereotype which has been already overplayed in countless animes.

- If you hate moe, you might DESPISE the characters (most likely lol)

- There is a small unbalance in the amount of screentime and attention given between the main characters.

Enjoyment: I cannot lie, K-ON! is an anime that one enjoys mostly as a guilty pleasure. This is defiinitely not my favourtie anime to have aired on the Spring 2009 season. But its definitely one of the most enjoyable ones i've seen.

Overall K-ON! is an anime which is not meant to break any records or set any standards. The anime is not an epic tale, nor is it a comedy gold mine, this anime is just fun...If you want an anime which is just cute to the extreme and just plain fun to watch, then by all means watch K-ON! I am sure it will not disappoint you.

Before I begin this review it must be noted that I am not a moe hater. Shows centralized on moe are fine so long as it succeeds at its task. What is not fine is a show that is completely false advertising. Coming into K-ON! you would expect to see a show about girls getting into a band and watch them enjoy the experience of learning to play music. While we don't exactly expect for them to get all that dramatic or serious all the time, it's still nice to see the struggles of learning to play music, the effort it takes to get good, andto get the overall culture of it as well.

However what I did see was none of this at all. Much like many other poorly made animes on hobbies and sports, K-ON! did an immense disservice in portraying what it means to be in a band. The dedication, hard work, the love for music, the love for the culture of music, and even the simple know-how of instrument playing was completely nonexistent.

As a viewer, I find this very dissatisfying. Are we to sit here and really believe that characters like Yui can sit around slacking, eating cake, and hardly practicing at all with almost no knowledge can suddenly be this guitar genius on a concert stage playing these songs perfectly? Even as far as musical geniuses go, there was a lot of hard work and toil and passion put into their craft.

But fine. Clearly this anime never intended to be BECK with moe, so it's fine to adjust our perception of this anime begrudgingly so. However, even for an anime centralized around moe, or more specifically for this show "cute girls doing cute things," the show was hardly entertaining. Ignoring the fact that the characters for me were just utterly dull or annoying, the activities and antics of the girls were not really amusing.

An anime that is 1 cour does need two cliche "beach" episodes. Eating sweets the entire show was not "cute," and really the characters hardly lended themselves to being likable due to their utter lack of depth. None of them seem to be anything but 2 dimensional the entire show's run.

There is definitely a distinction between moe shows with depth and subtle complexities and shows like this, which is essentially moe blobs without soul or substance. This compounded with the fact that is false advertising created a horrible viewing experience for myself. If you were looking for a show that was in any way supposed to be about a nice group of girls truly learning the experience of a musical band, this is probably not for you. If however you are satisfied with looking at what you see is cute animated moving images of cute girls doing mundane tasks, then enjoy it as you would like.

All I can say that this show neither succeeds at being a being an anime about music nor at being a moe show, which I would call a complete derailment of what this show is both advertised and presented as.

There are far and few fabulous things in this world. But in the midst of all the moe puke and unfabulous whatever-dere, otaku pandering nonsense comes a series that manages to both please the fanbase and stand on its own two feet. No, I'm not talking about my reality TV show--I mean K-On. Yui, the resident retard-moe, has herself an unfabulous predicament: she needs to join a club. What a coincidence that Moe, the tsundere (i.e. mood swinging bitchy stick in the mud) bassist and her best friend Ritalin the genki drummer have a club that needs members. The light music club. By "light music", thinkof that elevator junk you hear in between waiting to get to your floor and wondering who cut the cheeze. So Mio, Ritsu, Yui and the big-brows rich girl Mugi all get together for moe band sessions. Sounds dumb, right? IT IS. But what makes this anime so good then!?

It does the fabpossible and makes the lives of teenage girls actually INTERESTING. Have you ever been around teenage girls? Gossipy bunch, none as innocent and fun-loving as the keion-bu. Which is why this anime is a work of genius: it's a fantasy! In this fantasy world, it's okay to take the short bus to school like Yui does. It's okay to be a totally frigid buzzkill like Mio because when you got a pair of knockers like those--who cares? This world is full of cake and sparkles...it's almost like the inside of my house.

The characters are a lot to be desired, especially Mio who is undeservedly the most popular girl. If anything, I'd rather chillax with my bro Ritsu or score some preemo you know what from Mugi. Chick's loaded. Only Cuba's finest, from her! Hell, I'd hang out with that Christmas cake teacher because death metal chicks are pretty wild anyway. Azunyan makes a good pet, because really...what else is she good for?

This anime has got it all: blobby cute girls who do all kinds of kyun~. It probably is no better than other exploitative sacks of moe crap when you look at it on a surface level. But K-On does something that makes it commendable: it knocks the competition back by being as pandering as possible in a way that WORKS. For using and abusing the system like that, well, I'm mightily impressed.

It gets a solid nine fabulouses out of ten.

After reading a review of this series while comparing it to Lucky Star, I couldn't help but twitch in all of my facial muscles used for frowning and decided to write my own review. Story: K-ON! is, simply put about a group of four high-school girls who join the schools light music club for various reasons and with various degrees of enthusiasm. However, as members of the light music club, great responsibility is put on them. As of episode 4, nothing seriously mind-bending has happened, but the individual characters drives the story forward in their own fashion, rather than some evil villain who pulls all the strings. Art: Ratherthan making overly complex drawings and animations for a light-hearted series like this, PONY CANYON made the right choice and keeps the drawing simple, filling out the expectations in regards to the theme and mood of the series.

Sound:

It goes without saying that an anime about music should have more than just the regular "run off the mill" music that other series uses. K-ON! does a great job at this, the opening and ending are addictive and stylized while the music they play themselves are rather crisp and somewhat matches what they do in the picture.

Characters:

From the very first episode, the characters are pushed onto the stage, one by one and they entertain you with nothing more than their own personalities and imagination. It hold together pretty well, especially since the whole lot is a blob of moe.

Each of the characters are archetypes and only moderately unique in terms of behavior and looks. However, the well-performed voice-acting gives the characters even more traits and distincts them from each other and other generic anime characters.

All in all, K-ON! is a great series for anyone who enjoys a good laugh, is attracted to moe and doesn't mind the fact that the series is just about a bunch of girls who wants to play music for some reason or another.

:::QUICKVIEW::: Story: 5 ( It almost feels like the show has a bad case of A.D.D. when it skips the important stuff. Trust me, they do it ALOT.) Art: 7 (I believe most of the time and effort and money went in to replicating the girls instruments with their real life counterparts.) Sound: 9 - (If you hate j-pop/rock, feel free to deduct 3 points) Character: 8 (one phrase: Moe moe~ Kyu!, deduct 6 points if you hate moe) Enjoyment: 9 (Its obvious as to why such a short and simple show is so appealing to the masses)Overall: 38/50 points = 7.6 ~ 8.0 (or 4.0 if you're expecting something unique)

...regardless its another pop culture hit in japan. Might as well ride the HYPE train and see WTF this show is all about.

::FULL REVIEW::

Story:

What do you get when you add four cute girlfriends with the desire to form a music band, situational comedy, and every style of moe an otaku can think of? You get K-On! (or kei-on-bu). Just of a group of girls trying to follow their dreams... sounds very cliche' doesn't it? Well it is and this show oozes cliche'. The setting to the sitcom all the way down to the catch phrase onomatopoeia's like kyuun and hyaan. It's very obvious from the start of episode 1, that the story isn't trying to mess with the success of current trends and tries its very best to run with whats popular with the anime crowd.

Don't get me wrong, the set of stories set through each episode are not terrible by any stretch. Its just very "same old same old." If you watch this you'll quickly recognize if you love it hate it after about two episodes. As for me, I love it but can't really feel attached to the storyline considering the amount of parts that are skipped. It almost feels like the show has a bad case of A.D.D. when it skips the important stuff. Trust me, they do it ALOT.

Art:

The art direction has its high points and its low points, but overall the art can't go a little higher than mediocre. Just observe the op/ed theme songs for the show. Typically, the theme songs have higher production values than the actual show itself. They are indeed better artistically, but it still looks very low quality. Another areas that i could not help but notice in the artwork would be the disproportionate loli scenes and the spaces between their hands. You'll see what I'm talking about.

I can't turn down the entire art direction down though, as the style does reflect the manga quite accurately most of the time. But I believe most of the time and effort (and probably money) went in to replicating the girls instruments with their real life counterparts. Mio's vintage lefty Fender-Japan JB62/3TS, Ritsu's Yamaha Hipgig JK6F46MK, Tsumugi's Korg TR76 (which is ~$1300), and Yui's VINTAGE Gibson Les Paul Standard Guitar, are all represented with great painstaking detail. The honey burst colors of the bass and standard guitars, the indentations on the Zildjan cymbals, even the correct amount of knobs and switches on the various Marshall amps (usually the JCM900 is shown the most). They even go far as to showcase even more instrument types throughout various locations like the Sonor Delite Stage 1 drum set in one of the girls summer home. Sadly, the instruments are just mere props that aren't shown in action very often as one would hope in a music-themed anime. But when they are in display, everything else, including the girls, pale in comparison to their details.

Sound:

As usuall, sound is the toughest to score, since its either really good or really bad. But typically its really good, so my standards are set much higher than what most would probably do. The voice acting is above average considering today's standards. Any female seiyuu these days can pull off moe moe voices very easily. As like all the other music anime before it, its main selling point is the music and how its integrated into the series. Now if you cant stand J-Pop/Rock then I'm sure you will probably drop this series. Unless you're a moe otaku and in that case, you'll watch this show religiously. But for a 13 episode series, they play just the right amount of songs, and they manage not to keep playing the same song over and over to the point of insanity like Kirarin Revolution did with Bararaika.

Characters:

The characters are, of course, cute and lovable. Their actions and reactions are all spot on scenes of cute humor. And all the jokes about each other are always sure to bring out a chuckle or two. The chemistry is also a very good mix which proves that the standard 4 B's of personalities (brash, bashful, boorish, and benevolent) can never falter for great story telling.

Everything they see, say, and do is just insanely cute. It might not be of that loli persuasion but its all moe that gradually increases its moe powers even more with every episode. Be that as it may, they are great characters, but they are by no means very original in the character designs. Sadly, I too (as millions of other people have fallen under Mio Akiyama's spell and forced me to give it an 8 out of 10... "Moe Moe ~Kyuun!"

Overall:

I enjoyed the time I spent watching this show. I never felt like this was a waste of time or anything of the sort. Maybe its because I love school comedies or Mio's ability to bring the whole country of Japan (and the world) to its knees. Regardless, its still fun to watch these girls try to get by and reach their goals together. Its obvious as to why such a simple show is appealing to the masses. It has all the right components and the constant bombardment of moe scenes will defintiely make any moe fan's heart flutter. It defintely has its flaws (in some important places) but since it is so short, you get just enough story progression to enjoy it.

I can write many single words to describe my feelings towards K-on, but I'll try to convey them in a small review. Story Story? What story. There is none. It is a slice of life show and I really mean they just take a slice out of anything they find amusing (which I probably didn't) and put it in the show. A day in the life of a high school girl who happens to be in the light music club. Some of these "slices" though tend to lead to very boring and I mean boring episodes. I think I was asleep half of the season watching thiswhich is good because I had more energy then when I think about it. Then they throw in some moeness. How much of it. Constantly. Yup...I mean every episode is a freaking moe blob. I don't hate or love moe, but geezuz guys can you easy up on it for a bit. I'm not Takanashi from Working! here. So for story? A pathetic 1.

Art

Hmmm. At first I thought it was decent, but when I further look at it was pretty mediocre. That fuzziness effect they try to do when moving around is, in my opinion, just lazy animation. It really takes away from what other wise could be some decent artwork. Not to mention the fact that we are constantly bombarded with chibi and moe images. After a while it just plains get you so pissed off you want to step on some ants.

Sound

There were some catchy songs in this show, which is a nice touch for a band/slice of life type of show, but it just isn't good enough to save it from utter crapness of the rest of the show. I give it a decent 7.

Character

Dreadful. None of them have character. They are so predictable and boring, no wonder no guys are in this show, none of them would like these idiots. Just think of them as Kim Kardashian clones without the hot body, that's what the characters of K-on are like. A give it a 2. At least a couple times I laughed...a couple...

Enjoyment/Overall

When I finished this show, I just kind of stood there and thought to myself. Is that it? Is this what people were raving about how "cool it was. blah blah." I think I need to bang my head against a wall a few times to see what these raving reviews see, because frankly, I don't see it. K-On to put it simply, is stupid. Hell it's even worse than the harem anime types or those old 15 fps animes that bombard you with violence...and to think I thought the 2nd season would be better. It was the same lame jokes, characters, etc. GOD almighty help us. K-On is crap. Let us pray there isn't a 3rd season.

As a guy who enjoys many varied animes from Ah My Goddess to One Piece, I'm quite willing to adapt to and enjoy many genres. Many animes have "moe" characters in it to either please viewers or just to add a touch of cuteness. However, K-On misses the point entirely. In fact, as soon as the first episode begins, the "moe" (read: retardedness) seems almost FORCED onto you. By the time I was 10 minutes in, I was drowning in a see of concentrated lame attempts at cuteness. Seriously, this anime will only please girls very fond of "OMG SO CUTE :3". For the rest of usanime lovers, the moe may be just a bit too much.

Stay far away from this.

Some shows have stories that are complex or linear. Some have stories that are downright hilarious. And K-on.......uh......umm.......whats the story again? Does anyone even know the story of this show, anyone?! No, well thats awkward. K-on, the show that has cute ass girl who drink tea, eat and have fun.....and play music. Not really but you could put that in a sense. What is this show about and the point of it? Absolutely nothing, but not in a bad way. This is that type of moe-show thats there in case you wanna sit down and relax, it isn't a show that keeps you on yourfeet, you could close your eyes and still at least enjoy this show.

Story: 5/10

The story as I said, there's none, so these 4 girls have formed a group known as the 'Light Music Club' , their goal is to just have fun and play music I guess. And thats it, we get introduced to a childhood friend, a music teacher with marriage issues and no male character like any where. Only in like one scene, well thats sexist for men.

The whole point here is that K-on dosen't need a story, its cast should keep you going for 13 episodes, the story is just there to tell you whats going on. Its just a show where girls wanna have fun, nothing more than that. And if you don't like that, there's millions of other moe-anime waiting for you.

Art: 8/10

The animation is nice, it suits the show really well, its filled with vibrant and calm colours to let you explore, it shows k-on's world is like a world that has world-peace.....only in an anime world kids!

Sound: 8/10

The OP is pretty damn catchy same with the ED, they really make you hope you get more music like that through the show, but nope, just some tea, well hey at least we have some music here and there....oh wait we get like 2 songs. One generic japanese moe-song and a good attempt at a girly song that does well. Thats all for the music, for a show mainly on the aspect of music, its dissapointing.

Character: 6/10

The chracters are pretty cliche here, you have a light headed girl who's rich (Mugi), the shy-ass girl (Mio), the strong-independent girl (Ritsu), the 'kawaii' girl thats there just to be cute (Azusa) and a retard (Yui).

Each have their own traits but not too much special, its the characters you'd expect in a moe-anime.

Enjoyment: 7/10

Now this is the reason I actually continued this show, the show is so damn cute, and there's downright moments that kill make you either go AWW! or just nosebleed, literally. This is really the point of this show, its fluffy and cute. There's some jokes here and there but they don't make you really laugh, they miight make you chuckle but thats really it.

Overall: 6/10

K-on is a cute and relaxing show in case you need a break after watching something long as hell and terrible, if you're bored or depressed, this show should make you feel all better. Girls just wanna have fun, that is k-on in a nutshell.

Having spent most of my summer engulfed in the world of engineering, I figured a series based on music would be a great distraction. Tack on some hyper-energetic high school girls and a slice-of-life setting, and K-On’s light-hearted charm naturally piqued my interest. This premise is undoubtedly what makes K-On so captivating. As a whole, the show never attempts to step beyond its means; it sets itself out to be simple fun and undoubtedly succeeds. Despite operating off a number of base gags and jokes that find themselves revisited from episode to episode, the series never seems to drag. Ultimately, the musical aspect of the show,while central, pales in comparison to the harmonious play of the characters, and serves primarily as a catalyst to move the story along – the music does not shape the girls, but rather the girls shape the music. I admit this might disappoint some viewers, but it provides K-On with more universal appeal; though it refrains from excelling in any one genre, it dabbles in several quite well, and manages to juggle humor, drama, and music without any sign of awkwardness.

From air-headed Yui to feisty Ritsu to feminine Mio to whimsical Tsumugi, the cast certainly can’t make any claims to originality. In fact, the series sticks so hard to the tried-and-true formula of slice-of-life comedy that its sole claim to uniqueness stems from its inclusion of music as a focal point. While the characters feel like largely recycled archetypes, great lengths are taken to flesh them out to be as endearing as possible. In this way, the series seems – in a strange manner – both fresh and vivacious, and manages to fill its thirteen episode span without much tedium. Just as the antics begin to slip into monotony, the anime comes to a close, wrapping up its finale with an expected, but very fitting, encor

K-On certainly branches out from Kyoto Animation’s standard fare, as although the animation works well for a “cutesy” feel, the level of detail is noticeably poorer. A number of menially important scenes feel washed over in quality, and make the visual production seem rushed. Still, as a whole, the animation generally works well in that it aptly captures the girls’ cheery enthusiasm. Motion and framerates are as crisp as ever, so where the show lacks detail, it makes up for it with raw energy.

Japanese bands should really stop writing English lyrics into their songs. Sure “lazy” and “crazy” might rhyme, but rhyming does not a coherent sentence make. Anyway, aside from that little quip, I can’t think of anything much to say about the music other than that it’s catchy. All the band’s insert songs make you bob your head along with the beat, and the opening theme delivers the free-spirited feel that pervades the entire series. With solid voice acting to boot, the audible aspects of the show play out in much the same way as the visuals: they don’t break any new ground, but they do their job well.

As I mentioned in the story section, K-On’s cast is remarkably unremarkable. Though they all do a fantastic job at connecting with the viewer, they fit the archetypal mold too snugly for my liking. While I found their interplay fun and amusing to watch, I could never shake the sensation that I’d seen this material before but with different faces. Unlike the truly successful comedies such as Fumoffu! and Minami-ke their characters flaunt no memorable twists, which leaves them simply as good. Still, the musical premise gives the series enough edge to allow much of this to be overlooked, as the band environment adds sufficient flavor story-wise to draw the viewer into their experience. In the end, the characters are little more than a bunch of ordinary high school girls getting together to do what they enjoy, and perhaps their largely generic feel is what gives them such overarching charm.

Though K-On is certainly not Kyoto Animation’s best work, it passes the acceptability test by a wide margin. While lacking the originality and flair that have defined the studio’s previous works, the series manages to be entertaining regardless and avoids making any glaring faults. At thirteen episodes in length, K-On makes a point not to overstay its welcome; it’s fun, amusing, and enjoyable for its span, and can easily find its way onto the shelves of fans of many different genres.

A lot of criticism surrounds K-ON! It is usually based on that it supposedly doesn't deliver what it should. Well I'm going to say that's all rubbish. What makes K-ON! stand out is simple: It's refreshing. (A word I will be using a lot in this review) The story is great for providing that breath of fresh air not found in similar programs. The moe aspects are what makes this a really nice watch, and the humour on top is even better. You shouldn't be disappointed because it's going to put a smile to your face. Unless... Unless you were hoping K-ON! was going to bemore music based. Sadly it isn't and I'll be honest I was looking for more of the band playing. There are only 2 real performances in the series comprising of 13 episodes. There should have been more of a focus on the music aspect, but what you get is good enough to keep you happy. The refreshing nature of the story keeps you from wondering if it would have been better if it was more music orientated.

When I started watching K-ON! I was worried that the instruments used would be unliscensed rubbish. How wrong I was. There is so much attention to detail in the guitars, the amps etc. that they make everything look basic. That isn't the case though, character design is fantastic, they all look unique, and the setting used (the school) is refreshing. It really made me happy that Kyoto Animation took the time to make the focal point of K-ON! really eye catching. It is worth watching if you are a music fan to embrace the detail used.

The music used in K-ON! is outstanding. The opening theme is refreshing, the ending theme fun. They are described as the "Light Cusic Club" but this isn't the most accurate western reflection of the term "light." The songs featured in K-ON! is out and out rock and I could not help headbanging a little. It doesn't seem refreshing but when it's all said and done I was very happy at the end of them playing. The voices of the characters suit so well I can't think of anything that matches. The shy but strong Mio who is the most moe of the characters has a voice that really befits how she acts in situations. The bombastic Ritsu has a match made in heaven voice. If it weren't for the voice acting, the relationship between Ritsu and Mio wouldn't seem right. As for the rest of the characters, they have been acted very well on most parts. Some of the minor characters are satisfactory.

The characters are great. I love the contrast between them all. Yui, Mugi, Ritsu, Mio and Asuza all have a uniqueness which is refreshing when they sit around the table while drinking tea and stuffing cake. It enables for varying discussion, which is again, refreshing. (I told I would use it a lot) It's great they paid so much attention to detail to make sure that what each character does reflects not only their personality, but their design. I mean, it would be weird for Mugi to be the dumb one, because she doesn't look dumb, there are other characters for that job. This is something I'm glad of. It makes critics look like they were watching something completely different.

On that note, I'm going to correct the critics. K-ON! DOES deliver what it should! It delivers the refreshing day to day activities of a group of girls, which puts a smile on your face. It is thoroughly enjoyable for it offers unique story, design, and sound which you can enjoy. However I have to look at both sides and agree that a lot will be disappointed by the lack of focus on the music, as some would perceive K-ON! as something that sets out to be purely something dedicated to music. Even so, you'll still enjoy the music that is offered, even if it might not be as much as a lot would want. K-ON! is unique in the slice-of-life/moe genre, and that is what makes it: Refreshing! 9/10

There are anime that build a huge hype around them and turn out below average. Then, there are anime that do the same but they still manage to meet expectations of their fans. Which group does K-On! belong to? In a way, both. While it completely manages to please fans of slice-of-life and comedy manga, even some people that love K-On! admit that nothing actually happens in it. That’s where people that like their anime with plot facewall to oblivion. Story: 1/10 Why such low rating? Because there is nothing to rate. The only signs of story were at the very beginning and even thenit was way below average. Basically, the story is that a new girl, Yui, joins Light music club but can’t do music. Of course, that she is wholeheartly accepted into the club. Why not after all? What would be musicians doing in a music club? Another plot happens, about in the middle, when another girl, Azusa, but this time she can play guitar, joins. That’s it, say bye bye to plot. All they do is drink tea… when they actually do something.

Art: 6/10

Art, the only good thing about K-On! yet it’s probably where people divide into fans and haters. Simple reason, you either love it or hate it. Art, just like everything else, is played for laughs. Deformed characters are in every episode and design is something between a moe loli and Voldemort.

Sound: 1/10

DO NOT go into this expecting an anime based on music. Even though it wants you to believe it is, it isn’t. Practice is very rare to see here and even if it happens most of it is just pointless jamming. Concerts are even rarer (2 in the whole season) and, again, they’re played for laughs so they’re about stage fright (driven into dumb extremes), songs a 5 year old would write (no kidding), the “group” being anything but in-tune, etc.

Characters: 5/10

I hate it when people rage over a show and ignore its good points because they dislike it. Characters were the strongest point of K-On! after art. There aren’t many and while some are similar they still manage to keep their diversity both in nature and looks. However, don’t expect any character development or any characters that would serve other purpose than comic relief. The cast is full of stupid, hypocritical, useless and annoying characters that would be hated until the end of time if they were in a different kind of anime. However, they still have a charm to them and a very strong moe factor.

Enjoyment: 0/10

Even though I have sort of mainstream sense of humour (most of the mainsream anime make me laugh easily), I couldn’t even smile at any of jokes here. Humour is mostly based on a stupidity or awkwardness of a character. Like inteligent jokes? Keep away from this as far as possible. The only reaction I had to these “jokes” was staring at it with my jaw dropped wondering whether it was supposed to be funny or show the characters’ idiocy. I watched this because of boredom and I believed it would get better eventually. It didn’t.

Overall: 1/10

To me, enjoyment, plot and characters make most of the rating, in that order, so art could be perfect and it still would get low rating. (I found the art stupid so it wouldn’t help much anyway) I didn’t enjoy the series but you might. The only thing you should ask yourself if you have a lot of time on your hands and if you enjoy watching moe characters drinking tea. If so, by all means watch this. If not, maybe you should try something else.

Story: 5 K-ON! is a slice of life anime with no real story. Its about the day to day lives of cliche moe characters that form a band and do everything BUT actually play music.......for the most part. The majority of the time is wasted with the characters eating cake and talking about a bunch of random nonsense that isn't delivered as good as in anime like Lucky Star, neither is it as funny, and it gets old pretty fast. The final episode (12 or 13 doesn't really matter what you consider the final) is pretty anti-climatic (like most slice of life series) and just leaves muchto be desired. What a proper ending for a moe, high school girl, slice-of-life anime be like.....I dunno. A graduation?

Since its KyoAni after the OVA you wont see any more K-ON! for a long time so you know this will never get any real closure. Not that these kinds of animes are about that .....but still...

Art:8

As usual KyoAni does a solid job. The backgrounds looks nice, the food (which gets tons of airtime =P) looks delicious, and all the little things are detailed with extra characters all looking different with actual faces. :O

One thing that is either love or hate is those damn blank eyed gooey faces. I cant really explain but when ever they do or say something stupid there's an equally stupid or ugly face to go along with it. Ive seen it before obviously but they spam them in the anime and it gets a bit disgusting instead of cute.

Sound:6

What I found the most disappointing about K-ON! was that this anime, which is about music,has such a weak soundtrack. This is short and simple. The OP was terrible and cringe worthy. The ED was surprisingly decent I'll admit. But none of the insert songs are memorable. They also come off as korny and cringe worthy. Yes I know moe moe kyun anime or whatever but Haruhi and her God Knows performance was epic and a really good song on its own. The same can't be said for any of the music in K-ON!

The Seiyu were pretty solid throughout but some annoying voices.

Character:5

The cast is all cliche female moe characters. Rather than explain em all all I'll just say none of them are interesting. You have definitely seen them in tons of different anime already. Im not against moe or anything like that I do enjoy it. But this is just overload and rather than be cute its annoying. Yui and her stupidity and clumsiness isn't cute its stupid and annoying. Mio and her scaredy cat attitude isn't cute its annoying.

Enjoyment:6

K-ON! is certainly enjoyable but in small doses. I pretty much rushed through the series to get it over with and move on to something new since I originally planned on watching it during its airing schedule. Its not a good anime but its not a terrible anime. Its just there and if you're hungry for moe this is good to satisfy you as long as you take small bites. (Watch 1, 2 eps a week) Running through it will definitely bore you.

Overall:6 (Fair!)

Pretty much explained in Enjoyment. Not good not terrible.

Based on the 2 episodes so far...this show can be summed up in 10 words : Lucky Star without the otaku reference and with music instruments. For a more in-depth look, read on. Story Well...its about 4 girls joining the light music club hoping to start a band of their own and perform in front of a sold out audience (presumably). There is a plot here (somewhat) unlike Lucky Star, but that plot is loose and gets diverted at certain times. In a nutshell, the plot will be followed loosely so if you want a powerful story, you ain't getting one. Art The art is appropriate for this kind of show.Its not mind-blowing nor is it mind-numbing. Simply put, it fits the show and thats all it needs to do.

Sound

MOST. AWESOME. ENDING. SONG. EVER. The opening is good as well, but man, the ending is just addictive. Based on the 2 themes itself, the sound is damn good. It'll be promising should other songs be as good as these two in the later episodes.

Character

Standard Lucky Star character archetypes are used here. The four girls in K-on are basically the four girls from Lucky Star in a different paint.

Technically :

Ritsu ----> Konata

Mio -----> Kagami (with a slightly diminished tsundere attitude)

Tsumugi ----> Miyuki (without the megane)

Yui ----> Tsukasa

Its obvious after the first episode...so listing it down doesn't really spoil anything. (If you have never watched Lucky Star, you wouldn't know what I'm talking about anyway)

Enjoyment

What made me enjoy K-On more than Lucky Star is this :

It doesn't have a crap pilot episode.

K-On doesn't open with a 10 minute long discussion of food so it doesn't bore in the first scene itself. As its just 2 episodes, its pretty darn amusing to see the girls try to form their band

Overall

If you like Lucky Star, you'll sorta like this. If you hated Lucky Star, you should give it a shot anyway, since its better than Lucky Star (yeah,flame me later). I have hopes on this show, and hopefully...it doesn't disappoint.

While it’s common knowledge that all K-On lovers are Satan-worshipping shoplifters who steal spare change from the homeless, I am not without sympathy. Being an evil person myself who enjoys mugging charity workers working for St. Vincent de Paul in my spare time, I can’t help but see myself in their shoes. I will not question the hole in your Mio body-pillow, or the lipstick on her face, or the seven kilograms of cocaine hidden in the walls of your home. I am a very accepting person. We live in a very accepting society. The internet is a very accepting place. We only tell you tokill yourself once a month. We’re very nice people. And K-On is a very nice show. It has a great number of very nice made-up people in its made-up world.

Yui Hirasawa is as dumb as bricks, and the main character. Yui is joined by Mio, a responsible, well-meaning, pretty Japanese girl whose innocence is gradually eroded and work ethic ground to dust by the three stooges surrounding her. Mio’s childhood friend Ritsu is the band’s drummer, and she’s energetic and lively and so on. And there’s also Mugi, who is rich. And! Also! She has a lot of money. These cookie-cupcake Christmas characters comprise the main cast of the show, and for the first couple episodes they do various normal things in a supposedly cute way, and then they play a tooth-decaying, ear-castrating melody. Then they’re joined midway through by Azusa, and then they do the same thing again, only this time Azusa is with them, and Yui says ‘Azunyan!’ every few minutes like the 47-chromosome wonderful human being that she is. From time to time, through the revolving door of their Mickey Mouse club-house, their club supervisor does her very best to corrupt their innocence with her cosplaying fetishistic desire to dress up Mio in as many marketable costumes as possible. And this is moe.

I liked watching K-On, it’s a very comfortable experience to view these girls, animated lovingly by Kyoto Animation, sit and talk and walk around, and buy guitars and eat cake, and live a kind of life that is out of reach of reality. It’s a very nice story about how picking up a new hobby can help you meet new people and transform your life in a way that you never imagined.

Another blockbuster from Kyoto Animation studio. Forming a music band that is a pretext to eat cakes and drink tea in nice atmosphere. Enjoyable and positive comedy with big accumulation of moe. Kyoto Animation has at least two recognizable anime series. After Lucky Star and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya we have K-on. This time we don’t have loli student who talks about food or girl who search for aliens. This time the pretext is… a music band. Yes, Kyoto Animation knows how to attract millions of otaku. For K-on has so much fans as adventures of Haruhi or Konata and the amount of bayedguitars during emission has increased markedly. We have another phenomenon.

Yui Hirasawa is a very lazy and irresolute person. She would like to join same club but she doesn’t have any interests or talents. She arrived to the light music club by accident. The activities of this club fits Yui , who don’t like to overwork herself. She meets tree other girls, who also arrived to the club by coincident. Four of them tries to improve their play on the instruments, but after a moment of practice they sit by the table with cakes and tea. Even when a new member appears it don’t change anything.

There are five members in the music band. First guitar is owned by Yui, a sweet and drowsy but cheerful girl. On second guitar plays Azusa, band’s mascot with large avidness and graceful appearance. The bassist is Mio, a quiet a and shy girl, who get scared vary easily. Percussionist Ritsu is a person with thousand ideas and energetic personality. The last member Mugi, who plays the keyboard is the sponsor of all cookies and tea. We also have four tangential heroines. There are non male characters.

Every character movement or sentence fits the fans exceptions. Girls have very cute lifestyle and are very adorable. Yui sleeps in weird places, eating lots of sweets and acting lazy. Azusa as the youngest member have role of bands mascot, obviously with cats ears. Mio blasts everyone with her shyness and scariness. Ritsu capers around all the time. Mugi is a motherly type from rich family.

Persons who want to watch K-on because of music will be disappointed. The club activities are constricted to eating cakes and drinking tea, rather than practicing on instruments. They won’t write many songs or perform concerts every evening. Don’t expect any masterpiece lyrics either. The band plays very light music with trivial contents, singing about rice for example. It can be classified as sweet pop-rock.

All music theme is contained in short conversations about this subject. Problem with hurting fingertips, controlling instrument or catching the right rhythm are one of those enjoyable additions. That can encourage many people to try some instrument practicing. Besides the portrayal of instruments is incredible. The guitars looks so much genuinely that we can recognize their analogue in real life. The character movement while playing and the instruments images from different angles are also fantastic. Though the concert scenes are limited because of time accomplishment.

What else can attract to K-on besides tons of moe? Namely positive energy which bright up this title. Smile don’t disappear even for a moment. Carefree life of our heroines and the atmosphere will build up everyone’s mood. Days in the club are passing slowly, which is very relaxing. K-on don’t kill with laugh. You can find more funny titles. The humor is light and accommodate in characters of club members. We don’t have stupid gags or punching in the head.

Graphics are done very well, as like as the instruments that I previously mentioned. Colors are lively and apparently sloppy drawn outlines are adding some dynamism in the animation. The facial expressions of characters are also very positive. Even though the club members are in high school they look very young, but it can’t be sead that is a typical loli look.

The background music is very positive and don’t disturb on with any frustrating themes. The opening song is characterized by excessive cuteness and portraits perfectly what K-on is. Quick guitar sounds and squeaky voices can get your mind mixed up. Songs that girls are playing in the anime can be counted on one hand. If sweet pop-rock songs happens to fit someone’s taste there are many albums that contains band’s music not featured in anime.

Someone that don’t want to watch anything with moe will doubtlessly avoid this anime. If it doesn’t bother, many spectators will fall in love with the characters and bias positively with this mellowed title. Regardless, I wouldn’t categorize K-on as a music title this much. The designation that fits it more is “About girls who spend their free time in a funny and enjoyable way”.