"Fun things are fun" – Hirasawa Yui.
Disclaimer: this is a review of the entire K-On franchise, minor spoilers ahead.
Almost everybody, including myself at one time, is so narrow-minded when it comes to cute girls doing cute things in cute ways anime, whether we enjoy them or not, that we don't expect anything else than moe, comedy and fan service. In a result, we don't really pay attention to the real quality of this kind of show.
At first, I saw Keion as an extremely entertaining moeblob series, without being able to explain why. In retrospect, I thought that it started out being a decent one, that
...
became fairly good and even somewhat believable in the late second season. After quite a lot of research and thinking, in addition to a rewatch, I realized that Keion actually has a solid narrative, that characterization and character development are more than satisfying, and that the amount of effort put into details is insane. Don't get me wrong, this isn't Disappearance, it's still a fun series with a high iyashikei potential.
Dropping this anime after a couple of episodes, simply because you can't see past the moe and think it's going to be another generic school life for male otakus, is a shame. That was to be expected, though, since KyoAni is well-known for animating stuff like Lucky☆Star and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Additionally, the original manga was aimed at the type of person mocked by Welcome to the NHK. Moreover and more importantly, the narrative and character development are pretty subtle: you will miss it if you're not attentive, along with tons of cool details, and think that nothing happened.
As Digibro said, "this is a story of how each of these girls finds their place in the Light Music Club". This is the story of their relationship, and ultimately an innocent, adorable and universal story of friendship. Bonus: the second season takes it to a whole new level, but more about that later, I didn't even introduce the characters yet.
The first episode opens with Yui, a lazy, carefree, and airheaded girl entering high school. Yui, who literally did nothing in her life, struggles to search for a club to join. This brings us to the energetic and careless drummer of the series: Ritsu, who desires to form a band with her childhood friend Mio, a beautiful, shy, reserved and mature bassist. Tsumugi, a gentle and sweet pianist who comes from a rich background and has always dreamed of experiencing a normal rose-colored school life, quickly decides to join their band: the Light Music Club. Later on in the series, the serious guitarist Asuza is struck by the performance of these girls at freshman welcoming ceremony, but doesn't understand their appeal, and ultimately joins it as well.
I'll say it again, dropping this anime after a couple of episodes is a shame. At the end of the first one, it's perfectly understandable if you're skeptical about this show and don't know why you should stick with K-On!, neither Yui knows what to do. She doesn't know what the Light Music Club, "K-On" in Japanese, really is about, nor whether she should join it either. While not being astonishing, the beginning makes sense in term of narrative, and Yui could be considered at some level as a metaphor of the viewer, which is pretty nice.
There is no such thing as cheap and easy way to portray inner thoughts, dilemmas, and emotions in this series. For instance, Yui won't say out of nowhere "Damn, I just realized that I was being egoist and didn't take guitar seriously, I feel bad for other members." with a melodramatic song. It was never stated by any characters: it's up to the audience to understand it. To be honest with you, getting a glimpse of her feelings through her reactions, tones, body language, etc. isn't hard... as long as you're paying attention. I love how this anime is full of this kind of details and subtleties that nobody in the show points out.
If you have already watched the first season and think badly of it, you might be wondering "what are you talking about, characters are generic and not developed at all, plus Yui is autistic". Then as you have already guessed, I'll tell you that you missed lots of meaningful details and subtleties... even though that you aren't completely wrong. This season mostly sets up the characters, their club, and the world they live in. In short, you get the basis of what Keion is. And sadly enough, it's rushed as hell.
In point of fact, K-On! focuses way more on establishing the setting and on the comedy, than on this franchise's biggest asset: the characters. Their characterization is pretty weak and they hardly ever feel human. At the end of the 13rd episode, while they definitely have changed a little, you won't notice huge differences in their simplistic and moe personality. It's easy yet important to understand how much they love each other and feel comfortable in the Light Music Club, though. The humor is another problem, by frequently feeling cheap and forced ("Moe Moe Kyun~"). As for Yui being an airhead autistic savant, it's notably used to show us how incredibly she can get serious for her friends, and of course as a joke.
The second season improves upon like, everything. From characterization to lighting to animation to direction to comedy to activities. The animation is more lifelike and detailed than ever, colors feel more natural and refined, backgrounds are more realistic, and on and on. While the first season covered two years in only 13 episodes, the second, completed by an OVA plus a movie, benefits from 26 episodes to follow the senior year of Yui, Ritsu, Mio, and Tsumugi. This slow, realistic pace allows to characters way more time to interact naturally with each other, and grow up as people. That's considerable, since while the setting set by the first season was perfectly believable, thanks to the amazing work of Kyoto Animation, characters weren't yet.
Visuals put aside, what really struck me in at the beginning of K-On!! were the changes in nature of humor. This season isn't entertaining solely because of the moe anymore (even though its predecessor had its moments as well), it's amusing because the comedy which involves and relies on cute girls, with their colorful and distinct personality, is genuinely funny. Moe definitely has become an integral part of their characterization, but at the same time, jokes are more mature and sophisticated. For instance, Yui wouldn't have commented on Sawa-chan's love life with a mean undertone in K-On!. It might sound silly, but I think that lots of comedy scenes could only work in this series with these particular characters.
If I had to describe K-On!! in one word, other than "fun", it would be "healing" (then "immersive", and last but not least "creative"). The comedy in Keion has never intended to be over-the-top, nor it should have. Indeed, quite a lot of moments don't aim at making you laugh, KyoAni doesn't force the girls to go out of their personality to make hilarious things happen. While being both, seeing these friends interact with each others and react with various believable situations is often more heartwarming than amusing. You're more likely to find you smiling during the span of an episode and have a good laugh now and then, than dying laughing every minute. Some could argue that Non Non Biyori is better as a relaxing anime, but that would be overlooking the fact that iyashikei is just a part of what makes K-On!! stand out from other moeblob anime.
While Asuza could almost be merely defined by "moe" at the end of the first season, which left little to no room for character development, she becomes much more human and is given more depth in the second one, at the same time as Yui and the others. The episode where she wonders to what extent her friends influence her, and whether she's still herself, is especially interesting, her relationship with Yui being the key of her development. Being the only underclassman of the Light Music Club, Asuza is going to be left alone by the time the seniors graduate. For the viewers, this season may be all about the dynamic between the characters, but for our lovely girls, this is all about accepting reality and growing up.
During the first half of K-On!!, they're too busy to enjoy themselves and making the most of their youth to be concerned about this fact, though. As mentioned before, this season focuses heavily on these five girls interacting with each others. Everyone has experienced a couple of things of what the characters live in the show, from sleeping with friends to studying to graduation. By portraying it in such a realistic yet slightly romanticized and funny way, Keion speaks directly to the heart of viewers. All of these natural interactions and subtle reactions create a deep sense of immersion and ultimately lead to their development.
In real life, people rarely do a 180° in personality from one day to another. They gradually change, grow, evolve. Do not expect a character development like Simon's from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, but rather few subtle, believable and logical changes in their personality all along the show. Being the pivot in the dramatic progression, Azusa's development is quite special, her attachment to the club and especially toward its members continually growing as graduation is approaching.
Speaking of, even though the story ends up mainly resolving around Azusa, the other keion girls have lots of opportunities to grow out of their moe archetypes as well. In a result of being a part of the Light Music Club, even the character with the weakest and most overlooked development, Tsumugi, gradually becomes much more proactive and involved in the life of the club than before. Azusa's personality, development, and conflicted feelings are explored through her interactions with her friends, as well as the other girls, together with few sweet scenes of introspection. All of that naturally leads us to the episode twenty, both climax and payoff of season 2. This episode shows us their last school festival performance, then finally the girls intimately realizing how much they loved their time together, and about graduation.
The more you connect and become attached to the characters, the more the episode twenty will resonate with you and might become one of your favorite episode of all time (alongside the last battle of Gurren Lagann and the end of The Tatamy Galaxy for my part). Even if you don't care much about these characters, you can still enjoy this episode from a narrative standpoint and for its masterful execution. Along with a stunning animation and great accurate playing, you get a near-to-perfect artistic direction, an amazing sound design, and awesome insert songs. The best part is how Kyoto Animation utilized all of these elements in harmony to create some of the most powerful, emotional, heartbreaking and beautiful scenes I have ever seen, across all mediums. Though a little personal bias might have affected my judgment. I'll say no more but one word about this episode: "lycopene~".
Episode 24, the last one chronologically, and the second climax of the series, made me tear up as well. But again, it is not forced and tearjerking like Jun Maeda's shows (e.g. "please cry now it's supposed to be a sad scene" with overblown sad piano and sad violin). These two episodes couldn't have had such an impact on me if this franchise wasn't as I described above. The final arc, with its melancholic atmosphere and tone, is the most logical way to conclude the story given what came before, and thus is the ultimate proof that Keion's narrative makes sense and follows a logical progression.
It's really important to understand that these episodes don't come out of nowhere. They're so great because of the solid and believable foregoing. To speak only of the graduation, lots of shows make clear of their characters' emotions prematurely ("oh my god it's our last year together I'll miss you so much... is that sad piano am I hearing? Let's cry!"). In real life, just like in Keion, people tend to put off this kind of problem and emotions until they no longer can. Not to mention they don't randomly force themselves to talk about it for the pure sake of drama.
Something Keion does better than most of the shows I've seen, is creating a believable world, a world that feels alive, a world that works on its own. I won't put it on the same level as Cowboy Bebop's world building, but it's still nice to Yui's classmates acting like real people for example. It might feel a little contrived how much everyone cheer for the Light Music Club, though. It's worth mentioning that some recurring side characters, like Yui's sister, Azusa's friend Jun, or Sawa-chan-sensei, are given quite a lot of screentime and a proper treatment. KyoAni's attention to such details helps to build the consistent world I love.
Additionally, in a result of depicting the daily life of the keion girls with Naoko Yamada's style, this anime is extremely immersive and atmospheric. The complete lack of fanservice contributes significantly to maintaining the suspension of disbelief. While both seasons indeed have scenes with the girls in cute bikini and having reflexions about Mio's or Azusa's chest, they don't exist solely to please the male audience, they're genuinely immersive. You could totally imagine real teenagers wearing this kind of swimsuit and making such friendly mean comments (the few ones in the second season aren't even necessarily explicit, you know, just like in real life). Characters are not sexualized in the least, and the only things that could be considered as cheap fanservice, in its wider meaning, are silly "moe moe kyun" jokes from the first season, and Sawa-chan's passion for cute outfits. It's actually quite funny to see the girls' skirts to systematically fall between their legs when they sit down. This is moe at its purest form. That's just how much KyoAni's staff love their work and respect its characters.
One doesn't have to be an anime veteran to understand the complaints about the lack of creativity of studios when it comes to moe. While Keion doesn't stand out that much in this area, we still should give KyoAni some credit, which definitely get out of their comfort zone in the second season, by not always following the same recipe and trying to keep renewing themselves. Regarding openings, even though I tend to prefer Go! Go! Maniac! to Utauyo!! MIRACLE musically speaking, the last one is really emblematic of what the show has to offer in term of fun and creativity. The latter adjective applies to the legitimately awesome endings as well: Don't say "lazy" (the most memorable), Listen! (my favorite), No, Thank You! (the best).
Don't forget Keion is, for the most part, a show about cute girls doing dumb stuff. I am obviously not saying crap like "at the end it's still just a moeblob anime, it cannot possibly be good". My aim here is simply to bring to light what this series intended to do and how great the execution is. Being bored by all of these silly characters and lazy afternoons is perfectly understandable, and not the end of the world. Keion may simply not be for you, but hey, there are tons of great shows out of here, just try to keep an open mind.
Just a few words about both OVAs and movie, even though the latter definitely deserves a review on its own. The first OVA takes place after the events of the first season, on the New Year's Eve, and could belong to the second one, with the girls stepping outside of their club and the fun mainly coming from their natural interactions. The second mostly prepares the ground for the movie. Despite being a great condensed version of the second season with truly excelling production values, K-On! Movie is still slightly inferior to the series, in my opinion, the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.
Things are sometimes more than they seem, but at the end, fun things are fun.
Dec 12, 2015
"Fun things are fun" – Hirasawa Yui.
Disclaimer: this is a review of the entire K-On franchise, minor spoilers ahead. Almost everybody, including myself at one time, is so narrow-minded when it comes to cute girls doing cute things in cute ways anime, whether we enjoy them or not, that we don't expect anything else than moe, comedy and fan service. In a result, we don't really pay attention to the real quality of this kind of show. At first, I saw Keion as an extremely entertaining moeblob series, without being able to explain why. In retrospect, I thought that it started out being a decent one, that ... |
