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Looking at the score, you might think I belong to the 'Anti K-ON' fraction. I am not necessarily a hater, since in terms of slice-of-life genre, K-ON is better than most anime out there.

If you want to look at this series on the positive light, think of it as a filler. Think of it as a plotless story with cute girls gathering and playing around. Think not of it as a story about the birth of a band.

There is almost no character development nor conclusion. K-ON simply offers light and fluffy heart-warming skits for your pleasure. Yet, the characters of K-ON sufficiently meet the ... expectation, especially for the male audiences. I mean, who will not be enthralled by seeing a girl as cute and seductive as Mio? Will there be any lolicon (sorry) out there be not thrilled with Asuza?

How unrealistic and forgettable K-ON is, it is still an adequate entertainment to spend your free time. It is nothing sort of Beck, which is indeed a true music anime. It wants to achieve the excellence of the likes of Lucky Star and Azumanga Daioh, yet it is still missing an emotional element that all otakus out there need: the interaction with the audience. K-ON never attempts to break the fourth wall and make fun of popular culture. Its music is okay for the standard of J-pop but not that impressive.

Overall, it is 'easy come, easy go' for the five girls of the Light Music Group. Nothing more, nothing less.

The moment I saw the few first scenes in the first episode, I was rather puzzled and bewildered with the seemingly abstract visual arts and random fan-services. Despite that, as the series progressed, I realized that this series is basically an experiment.

The way the animation goes, it reminds me of 'Serial Experiment Lain', although both series are not comparable in any sense. However, SHAFT obviously went through some difficulties in catching up with the airing dates. Many incomplete scenes are instead replaced with 'black cuts'. It is really a minus point and sometimes annoying, evidently in Episode 10.

Still, the strongest point of this series lies ... on the characters. Senjougahara has become my instant favorite. The way she anticipates everything with her utmost calmness and coolness (except at few very emotional moments) ensnares any guys who are looking for the inner beauty as well as the outer beauty. She might be labelled as 'tsundere', but she is the least bit unrealistic compared to any mainstream 'tsundere' characters outside there. Moreover, she has witty sharp tongue and plain sense of humour which never fails to bemuse and amuse me.

Our main protagonist, Ararararugi (sorry, I misspell), is my second favorite. He is quite wise and well-behaved for a typical harem guy. Unlike other harem guys, he is good at difficult subjects like maths (even though he nearly fails all other subjects) and still sticks to his family despite all troubles and decaying bonds. Nevertheless, the series has not revealed what stands behind that calm mask of his. He is an unlikely perfect match for Senjougahara.

Other characters, such as the lesbo athlete and ponytail ghost girl also warm up the lengthy dialogues and the relatively slow pace. While the planning of the arcs is not the best ever (some characters regretfully do not show in few arcs, notably Senjougahara), the plot is concluded nicely and very sweetly with a unconventional date between both protagonists. Thus, this story of exorcism and supernatural phenomena is wrapped up in an unlikely manner, a typical teenager romance, but still much better than most series.