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(This review includes my opinions on the first season as well, as it seems pointless to split it up.)

Never before have a cringed so many times at a show that I enjoyed in my entire life. Now, obviously this is kind of a paradoxical statement so allow me to explain.

K-On! has pretty much no over arching plot until it comes time for the school festivals or the end of the series, and it is jam packed with overly cutesy characters doing ditsy things that kind of just make me want to stop watching. But no matter how ditsy the characters were, or how pointless an ... episode plot was, or how many times I cringed, I enjoyed K-On! from start to finish.

Now, this isn't to say that the show is so good that I can look past it's flaws altogether, because no show is. But, I can make a great deal of exceptions with a show like K-On! for one reason or another. K-On! may not be the best anime ever, not by a long shot, but it has it's own unique style and charm that makes it so enjoyable to watch. Its the type of show that doesn't really need a big overarching plot like say Fullmetal Alchemist or Mirai Nikki. It's just a nice happy go lucky slice of life show that will have you smiling at least once or twice, even if you are dead set against cutesy stuff. I mean hell, if it could get me, a 19 year old uptight guy to laugh and smile and say d'aww, I'm pretty sure it could have that affect on anyone. That is of course until you get to the last few episodes when it feels like the show has formed a lance made of pure concentrated sadness and threw it right through your very heart and soul, well at least that's how I felt. But the OVAs and movie bring the smiles and cutesy stuff back to make the ending very bitter sweet, which is something I rather enjoy.

The characters themselves aren't really that multidimensional to be honest. I mean of the five mains you have the; ditsy girl with her head in the clouds, the forgetful tomboy, the shy straight A student, the rich airhead (who actually isn't full of herself for once), and the uptight one who has to act as the straight man for at least 3 out of her 4 senpais. I'm not going to pretend that these characters are deep and emotional, but they serve their purpose well enough for what the show is, so it doesn't really bother me. In fact I don't find that the characters have to be that multidimensional in a show like K-On! and the few times the characters deviate from their usual selves for the episodes plot, it adds an interesting new dynamic to them so they don't feel so plain.

Given that the show is all about music you would hope that there are plenty of good songs in it, and there are. I mean, unless of course you weren't expecting corny cutesy lyrics, then it might bother you. But honestly, when you ignore how cheesy the lyrics are, which I would imagine are much more, for lack of a better term, sensical in Japanese than they are when they are translated into their English equivalent, the songs are quite entertaining. One that really stands out to me is the a one they write for one of the characters towards the end of the show, not to give too much away, which is probably the most meaningful (this is where that lance of sadness I talked about earlier strikes you, well one of the times it does at least.)

However, when you get down to it, my opinion is, and always has been that the most important factor in how much you like a show is your enjoyment. And personally, I had a lot of fun watching K-On! Yes, I cringed quite a lot, yes the lack of plot was obvious, and yes some of the actions of the characters were pretty stupid, but K-On! is so happy-go-lucky that I can't help but feeling good when I'm watching it.

So, while K-On! might not be the greatest thing I've ever seen, but it has a style and charm all it's own that make it so much fun to watch, even for a uptight 19 year old college guy.

What I expected to be a stereotypical high school drama turned out to be one of the most charming, entertaining, and funny series I have ever had the pleasure of watching.

I first discovered Toradora! through a forum post and thought I 'd give it a try. To be perfectly honest I wasn't expecting much. Seeing the words "high school, romance, and comedy" all together makes me think that it will just be something that takes things too seriously when it doesn't need to and takes things too lightly when it shouldn't. Toradora! however, does the exact opposite.

I won't go into the story for the sake ... of not giving anything away, however, if you've ever seen a romantic comedy, you can see the ending coming from a mile away. But trust me when I say that this doesn't subtract from the enjoyment of the show at all.

The art of the show is very high quality. It doesn't deviate too far from the traditional anime art style, but at the same time the show manages to have something unique about it. It is very colorful in all aspects, from backgrounds to the characters themselves, even the title card shows this trend. However, nothing ever blends together, which is essential for this type of art style to work. I can't complain about anything in relation to art really.

For sound, I will assume this category refers to soundtrack and voice acting, both of which Toradora! excels in. Both opening and ending themes are very pop-like (for lack of a better term) which I didn't like at first, but they grew on me to the point of them becoming some of my favorite openings in any anime. As for the voice acting, personally I watched the show in English (I know I'm not a real Otaku and Senpai will never notice me) and I absolutely loved the voice acting. None of the characters had an unfitting and/or annoying voice, which usually tends to happen in English dubs unfortunately. The entire cast performs excellently. No complaints in this department what so ever.

Now on to my favorite part of the show, the characters. By far, at least in my opinion, the characters are the absolute best part of Toradora! None of the characters are boring at any point of the show. They aren't one dimensional or dull in the slightest and don't just fall into typical character stereotypes, except for perhaps Taiga who is pretty much just a tsundere character but even then there seems to be an extra dimension to her character that is difficult to explain without spoilers so I'll let you find out for yourself. Even the characters I dislike, I do not dislike them because they are boring or not fun to watch, I dislike them as if they were a real person, for who they are. Not to give anything away but Ami is an example of this. I dislike her most of the time, but the extra dimension she has makes her motivations clear and she ends being entirely different than originally portrayed. I apologize for the vague and all over the place description, but I don't want to give anything away. You should truly experience the characters yourself.

Overall, I enjoyed Toradora! enough for it to become my favorite anime, which says a lot considering I wasn't expecting anything from it. I was honestly disappointed when the show ended, not because I disliked the ending but because I didn't know what I could possibly watch that I would enjoy as much as my first watch through of Toradora! The rewatch value on the show though is incredible, and I never get bored of it.

I would highly recommend you watch Toradora! if you haven't already. I can almost guarantee you will not regret it.