k-on! 2
Categories: episodic review, k-on
Tagged: k-on, k-on:mio, moe:meido, moe:nekomimi meido
34 Comments »
Ugh, I hate blogging anime that’s airing 4:3. I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place: if I wait the three weeks for the HD version to air, I’ll be three weeks behind. I don’t mind being behind except I have certain annoying readers who like to post comments about episodes in the future and thus spoiling stuff for others. There’s not a lot to spoil for K-On! except Meido Mio, but let’s not take chances now, shall we?
This episode just involves the girls trying to help Yui buy a guitar, and we’re firmly entrenched in moe girls doing moe things. This show really does remind me of the original To Heart in how so little gets done in so much time. I think this episode covered like ten 4koma scripts… while the first episode of Cross Game covered 200 pages of manga. You either like the moe slice-of-life genre or you don’t. Fortunately, I do like this genre… but will K-On!, Hidamari Sketch, To Heart, Lucky Star, Hyakko, etc ever make me forget about Maria+Holic, Great Teacher Onizuka, or Gurren Lagann? Doubtful, but a show like K-On! is servicable and fills a niche. Just don’t think it’ll be very successful on Adult Swim.
But K-On! has Mio. The last time the anime community has been so smitten by an anime character wasn’t Tsukasa. It was Kyonko. The explosion of Mio fanart and Mio rantings has almost caught up to Kyonko’s debut. Now that’s impressive. I’m going to kill myself now.
(Sadly, Yui is the main character, and I’m evaluating if Mio can instantly enter the Nayuki All-Stars even though this isn’t a harem anime. The disparity between Yui and Mio is as large as Ayu and Nayuki, and this has to be addressed somehow.)
Sheba: Mio is definitely not tsundere, I don’t know how people get that idea.
This issue definitely needs to be addressed. Mio is all deredere, much like how Matsurika is all tsuntsun. End of story. But can we combine the two characters somehow? Wouldn’t this combination of Mio and Matsurika create the ultimate prototypical haremette?
Ties: “The meido guitar scene is just tremendous. (Now I want Yui to play meido Mio in K-On!)â€
Ask and ye shall receive. Not quite Meido Mio but close enough XD
So close, yet so far.
Though I like the Detroit Metal City parody just as much. The location of Yui’s mouth is what’s truly impressive.
(Though the next image in this series has to be a Haruhi parody, right? Either that or Macross 7? Or Beck?)
Yui spooning her new guitar… still can’t get Fuko out of my head when I see Yui. I half expected a starfish.
Mio is shy. Ritsu is outgoing. I can’t wait for Ritsu to start pimping out Meido Mio. This needs to happen. Though as much as I enjoy Mio overheating, she’s not in the same league as Kanako’s overreactions. Kanako’s doing her Dikembe Motumbo finger wag at Mio right now– “Tsk, tsk!”
Reliable imouto 4tw! It’s not like Ui’s going to be better guitarist than Yui… OH SHI-
The lack of costume rape disturbs me. A wasted opportunity.
You know why our economy is in the tank? We don’t have enough impulse shoppers like Yui in the economy anymore. Out of her price range? Way over budget? That’s the kind of shoppers we need again. (Needless to say, 2 and a half more months till the return of Horo~n!) Even though Yui eventually got what she wanted because Mugi’s family ate the cost difference of the guitar, Yui did buy way outside of her means.
Now here’s a prudent shopper, staying within her means, and thinking things out carefully while giving us a delightful Mio in different clothes montage. Now only if she added one ponytail per day to the montage, it would have been perfect. Not that I’m nitpicking.
I like Mugi too. Her clothes and Mio’s are always so stylish. The sweater and hat combo works so well… wait, this is blog好ã and not Fashionista, right?
(I used to complain about how anime characters never changed their outfits and always thought it was an animation limitation until Haruhi Suzumiya really kicked off the new clothes trend. I’m glad to see K-On! and Maria+Holic taking things to greater levels.)
(Actually, this gives me an idea. For anyone talented enough for this and is interested, I’m looking for a fashion expert for blog好ã. Basically, I’m looking for commentary on things like outfits, school uniforms, and both good and atrocious fashion choices. Ideally, either a woman who has Fashionista in her RSS feed or a former cast member of Queen Eye for the Straight Guy. E-mail me if interested.)
Ritsuo’s hat matches better with Mio’s sweater… see, this is why I’m not looking for a typical male anime fanboy for the fashion expert post.
Ritsuo looks like me when I’m playing Peggle DS. Great, I now have Olde to Joy stuck in my head again… I love me some Peggle.
Why are windows always on the left side of anime classrooms? And why do the main characters always have the best seat (towards the back, next to the window)? What was the last anime with a main character stuck first row center?
Chipmunk!
34 Responses to “k-on! 2”
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This show makes me dawwwwww
…you’re not serious about the fashion expert, are you?
I have a real difficult time imagining Yui having enough focus or concentration to actually learn a musical instrument. Maybe more like K-ONcentraton! I’m going to lie down now.
>> The lack of costume rape disturbs me. A wasted opportunity.
Sadly, Yui dont have the evil genius of Kana Minami and Haruhi Suzumiya.
I wish I had a Les Paul Studio Custom when I was starting out. Actually I wish I had a Hamer Studio, but beggars can’t be choosers now, can we?
Incidentally, I think Mugi is best.
Okay, that’s how it is, Jason. I see you for who you are now.
Psh. Sheesh, do you know how sexist you’re being!? [/sarcasm]
In all seriousness, I can help with the whole fashion thing, I can seriously pick out the wardrobes for any of my female friends and do it well.
*shrug*
Your choice.
A possible reason why everyone loves Mio is that she has the tsuntsun appearance with the deredere personality. You get the best of both worlds at the same time without the constant messy switching.
Or it could be because she exudes the Kotomi Ichinose “Bully me please” aura.
Or it could be the part in the ED where she’s practically giving her bass paizuri.
Just sayin’.
” And why do the main characters always have the best seat (towards the back, next to the window)?”
So they can escape when the hordes come? Or so they can take the most damage when they come in?
Ummm. One of my dreams is to become a humble fashion designer who just owns a little boutique. I also really appreciate anime that offer a multitude of outfits, and I’m serious about always wearing a coordination of my clothes that I haven’t before when I get dressed. I do have strange fashion taste though, I’d rather wear what the girls are wearing in the ED than during episode time in K-ON XD. Oh I also work at Victoria’s Secret, that should get extra points, right, right?
And a friend of mine actually thought that the number of Mio fanboys would be a lot lower than the Yui’s by the end of the second episode. tsk tsk sad mistake that cost him. XD
I remember when I first watched the first episode, I thought she was going to be the straight man (girl) of a group of wakkos. Kind of like what Yomi did for Azumanga Daioh, and what Kagami did for Lucky Star. Well, I turned out to be wrong in this case. The group is too tame to even need a strait man anyways.
I remember in Strawberry Marshmallow, the main characters always sat in front row, center. Wasn’t that recently? Lemme check…. 2005?!?! How old am I now? *checks identification* holy crap… I need to find a job.
And a friend of mine actually thought that the number of Mio fanboys would be a lot lower than the Yui’s by the end of the second episode. tsk tsk sad mistake that cost him.
No kidding. Even Yui became a Mio fanboy at the end of episode 2.
Mio is so cute xD love her deredere-ness. Also the ED helped boost my liking to her. Yui’s too much of a ditz in my opinion. I keep questioning: Do ppl like this REALLY exist?! D:!!
i had to LOL at Mugi’s trademark family “eyebrows”
“Why are windows always on the left side of anime classrooms? And why do the main characters always have the best seat (towards the back, next to the window)? What was the last anime with a main character stuck first row center?”
LOL i think maybe Rental Magica? I can’t remember if Itsuki was situated in the front or not, or was it the middle of the back row?… also, does school rumble count? tenma was stuck in the front for that one episode hahaha, o the classics. Windows always on the left coz they enter through the doors on the right 8D And the characters have to be at the back next to the window so they can see stuff outside *o* it sometimes triggers they storyline to pick up :p also.. maybe corners are easier to draw? LOL
o wait i remmeber toradora no one’s really at the window cept kitamura up front and the rest all spread out from the middle towards the door. from window to door: o damn Amin’s at the back – Kitamura – Ryuuji – Taiga – Minorin
sorry i just babbled from that one comment, lol. Back to K-ON! Ui is such a reliable imouto! LOL it reminds me of mikan from TLR
As to fashion… i loved the multiple shots of Mio in diff clothes. It’s awesome seeing different clothes for characters, wish i could come up with it myself. meh.
“UDE” —- O Yui.
Mr. Fox beat me to it, I was going to say Strawberry Marshmallow for the main characters sitting up front. Wasn’t an OVA episode just released? If so, then it’s recent.
I think a fashion column would be a good thing to see.
I seem to recall that most of the Azumanga cast was in the center or in Tomo’s case, near the door. I think only Sakai was near the window (and generally staring outside.)
The only show I recall which has the characters sitting by the hall side of the classroom is Eve no Jikan, and that was needed to advance the story line in Ep. 1. Anyhow, the two of them spend most of their screen time at the cafe.
“What was the last anime with a main character stuck first row center?”
Kodomo no Jikan
I can’t understand why Mio is so popular, both her personality and character design are boring and generic. Mugi is probably the only character with more than a hint of originality
K-ON is totally a harem anime.
It’s Ritsu’s harem.
“Chipmunk!”
Now in FMP if Gates had been watching that instead it wouldn’t have insighted the “squirrel pron” comments…..
K-On’s been some sort of weird understated explosion I guess. It is not entirely the best show ever, but it isn’t boring either. There is just something about it that draws people in. Unlike Haruhi which gave us a “What the hell is this” effect/explosion + bunny girl/combat waitress Mikuru, K-On hasn’t hit that hard.
Though somehow I get the feeling the end music video should have a credits on it:
“Produced by Sunrise. Directed by Haruhi Suzumiya.”
I’d also like to note, as a musician, i’ve the same fears about the plastic covering on pickguards. I nearly fell over laughing at how they put that in. I’ve got a 79 strat that I put a new pickguard on that I won’t take the plastic off, my bandmates are always trying to take it off while i’m not paying attention, it’s a game. I also have one of those paisley tele reissues I got new, and that still has the plastic, and the tag hanging off the tuners i’m such a freak about it.
1 exmaple of main characters sitting center front row are:
Ichigo Mashimaro’s Matsuri Sakuragi and Ana Coppola
I was actually afraid Mugi would turn out to be another Momoha (so awesome, yet so little screentime). Luckily, it looks like that’s not going to happen.
Go Mugi bargaining skillz!!!111!1!oneone!
The Mio argument can stem from her actions in Episode 1. You get a very strong Lucky Star vibe between Ritsuo and Mio, though Mio has a harder time controlling her mate. She also sets herself as the Critic of the group. You get your only true sign of her softness when she gets kicked under the table. No anger, enough pain to make you go “OMG, the poor thing”, and she’s recovered next time you see her.
Quick add-on: Her ‘look at you with a calm smile’ face look just SCREAMS Kagami at me.
Lastly, the ED and OP made me go O.o when I saw how passive Mio looked. I just couldn’t think of her that way.
Then EP 2 came along. You now have a black haired Kagami that’s more passive and abusable than Mikuru. It’s hard to shake the link so you just cry out tsundere. And there we go.
You’re right, though: she’s NOT typical tsundere. I don’t think she’s purely passive though. Watch her CLOSELY in Ep 2 when she speaks: at times you spot the Critical Strait Man in her along with a few attempts to speak against her less focused comrades. It’s like she wants to be bossy but cringes the second the spotlight is on her. Almost a reverse tsundere: up front soft, deep and growing hardness inside.
I’d be a fan too if Mugi’s fluffiness and willingness to be compelled (against Haruhi’s costume suggestions, she’d just say “Oh, that’s so quaint” then put them on) didn’t hook me.
As for the show itself.. I watch two episodes and, one day after, go back and watch them AGAIN. #&(*#% I’m posting on a blog disecting it and I think it was just an excuse to watch them over and over! Not ONE show, EVER had me doing that (note: I dropped Lucky Star about 3/2s in). Addicting just doesn’t explain it.
While Mio’s definitely a moe favourite, Yui crossing the street sealed the deal!
I have the same opinion as dakarian, I dropped lucky star around ep 8 or so. In the episodic wacky antics department, Minami-ke and Azumanga were better.
Feared K-ON! wouldn’t be my cup of tea, but now it’s a definite must. Yui’s sister’s too nice, and she’s not the “in-a-bag” variety either :(
Ohh, what if Mio had a sister? o.0
>> I’ll be three weeks behind. I don’t mind being behind except I have certain annoying readers who like to post comments about episodes in the future and thus spoiling stuff for others.
So you watched the Clannad 4:3 version, and posted spoilers in non-Clannad related posts. Hypocrite :p
(Though the 16:9 subs seem to have stalled again, so I haven’t seen whether it was accurate or not yet).
Mio is MOEEEEEeeeeee~~~~
Definitely a strong contender for saimoe ;D
>>What was the last anime with a main character stuck first row center?
Wasn’t Yuuto in about that position during Nogisaka Haruka? Of course Haruka had the prime seat, but Yuuto was still a main char.
In today’s other news, everything we’ve ever wanted has been announced:
http://www.moetron.com/2009/04.....kyous-arc/
The Kyou Ending.
screw saimoe, let’s blogsuki for SaiMio 2010!
>>What was the last anime with a main character stuck first row center?
LAIN perhaps? It’s the only one I know for certain.
YUI is teh moeist ^^ Yui ftw!!!
A lot of men have already succumbed to Mio’s moe overdrive. But I’d go with the very energetic type– their drummer. Tainaka was it?
>>What if Mio had a sister?<<
That would bend the law of moe physics…
Front row center? Do Pani poni dash and Zetsubou Sensei count (they cheat by having a classroom full of “main characters”)?