K-On! is a four-panel comic strip manga written and illustrated by Kakifly that was serialized by Manga Time Kirara since May 2007 issue. It was adapted into a 13-episode anime by Kyoto Animation best known for their work, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. The 13-episode anime focuses on the earlier chapters of the manga. A sequel of the said series will air this April 7, 2010 entitled, K-On!! (With two exclamation marks).
Yui Hirasawa, a first year high school student wants something new in her life and she decided to join a club, but which club will she join? Meanwhile, Ritsu, who wants to join the Light Music Club, discovers that the club is closed for now because all the members of the said club graduated last school year, because of this, she dragged her friend Mio into joining the said club. And so, the Light Music Club has two members, which later added with Tsumugi better known as Mugi who is a prodigy in keyboard.
Let us go back to Yui. She sees a poster of the Light Music Club in the bulletin board thinking that Light Music is about playing “light” instruments such as the castanets. After she applied for the club, that were she found out that playing the castanets is not applicable for the said club! Yui decided to go to the clubroom and apologize to the members.
After the other three girls learned that their last member wants to quit, the three decided to convince her, by the sweets Mugi always bring to the clubroom, until finally, they were able to convince Yui to stay in the club by playing their music, which impressed Yui and finally, joined the club. They asked her if she knows any instrument, she replied she does not know how to play any instrument. Ouch.
As the series progressed, Yui learns how to play the guitar and later, became the lead vocalist of the band. After series of practices, it is time for the club to shine, but there is one problem, they do not have an adviser. After discovering that Miss Sawako was a member of the Light Music Club back in her day in high school, Ritsu blackmailed her into becoming their adviser if she didn’t agree, Ritsu will spread the word that behind the demeanor of a kind-hearted teacher is once a member of a metal band back in her day. With no other choice, Miss Sawako became the club’s adviser.
As the girls bond getting tighter, on their second year in high school, they were added with a new member, Azusa, a first year student, who plays the guitar longer than Yui thanks to her parents’ musical background.
On to the review, to be honest, what shines in K-On! Is not their performance onstage but the events that happened backstage. K-On!, if you remove the music, the band, it will be a regular teen drama about four girls and their dream of becoming famous someday. If you ask me, it is too ordinary, but what K-On! did is different, what they did is they decided to make the lead character, in the person of Yui of someone who has no aim at first, into someone who has a goal in life, to perform in a large stage with legions of fans supporting them. K-On! is the coming of age story of Yui Hirasawa from an air headed, irresponsible elder sister to Ui into a person who has a goal in life with her friends behind her along the way.
Now, the animation of the show, what amazes me with shows with music as their theme is that how the animators did their job in animating the instrument playing sequences, in K-On!’s case, the instrument playing scenes is well animated.
In terms of the show’s music, let’s just say, most of their songs are inside my head for more than 3 days after the first time I heard it. I mean, Yui’s vocals on their song, Light and Fluffy Time is stuck in head! Plus, the show’s ending theme, Don’t Say Lazy is stuck for days, heck, I am singing it inside our bathroom!
In terms of voice acting, each VA did a good job in their character. Yui’s VA did a good impression on her character’s air headedness. One thing I have to praise in the voice acting is Sawako’s voice acting, she did a good job in portraying her two personalities! Boy, I love her metal scream in one of their songs!
Overall, for a thirteen-episode show, it really did a good job in terms of story and animation, it is probably one of the most successful thirteen-episode anime shows since The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Because of the impression this show left, I am convinced to watch Beck: The Mongolian Chop Squad, another anime that involves a band. Now, all I have to do is wait for April for K-On!!
