k-on! 6
Categories: episodic review, k-on
Tagged: k-on
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Meh.
That’s my review for this episode: “Meh.” I’ve never really been fond of this whole episode-by-episode blogging thing, and I’ve always viewed it as a necessary evil. The format lends itself too much to the “Greatest. Episode. Ever.” or “Worst. Episode. Ever.” magnification effect. There’s also less material to work with, which makes writing a good post harder. There’s no way I could have written any episodic post that could have surpassed “paint it red”.
I find the same troubles for K-On!. It’s one of those series that I know I have bits and pieces of material from every episode– from Mugi’s preferences to Mio’s Mikuruness– that would be better if I had waited. Eh, oh well, meh. That’s how I feel about this episode. It’s a meh episode with a meh blog post and soon riddled with meh comments. Meh.
Only… there’s a problem…
This shouldn’t have been a “meh” episode. It should have been an easy lay up, and instead looks more like a broken play with Marbury tossing up a bad three from the outside corner. Let’s see… the original material had the pop music club performing on stage in outfits that can be best described as “cute crashes into goth” and had an epic Mio panty flash. Not only that, it’s a band performance scene with a ruined for marriage moment. Who else does either better than Kyoto Animation? Maybe the expectations were too high, but it felt like they could have done more. Let’s start with the song…
I’m still not sure of what the name of it is supposed to be. That’s a problem. I blame Ritsu’s poor MC job of not announcing the song’s and band’s name.
(Oh wait, she didn’t MC? No one MC’ed?)
The music video sequence confused me. Was Kyoto afraid that people would be bored staring at Mio singing and sweating? Did they need to apply that weird shading filter? What’s with the futuristicish-retro outfits combined with the Thelma and Louise backdrop? Was the original Sawako-approved cute goth outfits not good enough?
More importantly, why was Yui singing backup during the song? This made no sense– her voice is as cracked as the kneecaps of a cocaine dealer who just failed to pay his Mexican cartel overlords. So she can’t sing the main vocals, but she does backup? You have Mio’s lush vocals and then a split second later Yui’s broken voice? Why have Yui sing at all? She doesn’t sing in the manga.
(I’m sorry. It’ll be another six months or so before I associate “____ and peace” with anything other than meido guitar.)
I’ll never look at a bowl of rice the same way again.
(Kyoto’s been gun shy with their fanservice since Nayuki took off her shirt back in Kanon. Kyoto, you gave us countless amounts of joy with topless Tessa, disrobed Chidori, and purring Mao. Then you gave us a cornucopia of Mikuru and Haruhi. Don’t get shy on us– keep the fanservice rollin’. Dance with the one who brought ya.)
(We’ll forgive you for keeping Kyou fully clothed… what? She was fully clothed. Ahem, we’ll forgive you for keeping Kyou fully clothed for the gym locker scene, but at least give us the Miolicious fanservice that the source material calls for.)
There’s still a slim possibility that we do get that fanservice shot in the widescreen version. Have I mentioned how much I dislike 4:3 recently?
(Or do I need to wait for the 21:9 cinema version?)
I hoped you enjoyed this week’s edition of Mio’s cowering.
(Mio is the evolutionary Mikuru. She’s almost like the missing link between Mikuru and All-Woman Mikuru.)
A Mioblob is purdy darn cute too. Damn, if JC Staff made this show instead, we would have gotten a Mio-tan DVD extra where she’s in a band with Shana-tan (guitar), Index-tan (keyboard), and Potemayo (drums)… and Ritsu would have been a vengeful DFC. Uh, maybe it’s for the better they weren’t involved.
(Mmm… K-On! and Eden of the East crossover… I can imagine Mio’s dialogue… “Wait, how am I supposed to save the world? It’s too embarrassing! Ritsu, you do it!” I feel like this shit just writes itself sometimes. I mean the dialogue, not my blog posts… or was it the other way around?)
Still as moe as a Tsukasa assaulted by a reindeer.
(This would a great shot for a wallpaper…)
Ritsu’s mushroom reminds me of the mutants from Drifting Classroom. They’re safe to eat… safe to eat…eat eat eat and be full…
So while I was on the east coast, I had some time off one afternoon, so I wandered around the downtown of a large east coast city. I ran into a guy with Bleach‘s Kon hanging out from his backpack and a blue-haired lady with him (I’m guessing Scar-tan), so it was then I realized I was in the middle of an anime club meeting… in broad daylight… in the middle of a major metropolis. That’s the 21st century for ya. And not one of these people were dressed in a series that didn’t feature powering up and endless fighting.
(Another random item: apparently, Mio is a company that sells GPS-enabled electronics. I did a double take after seeing a “Mio’s Moov S501 and S401 finally go legit” headline on Engadget. I thought the Moov S501 and S401 were her right and left buttchecks respectively and not a GPS device. Though reading Engadget’s writeup, it doesn’t make me want to abandon my Garmin for a Mio unless that Mio gave directions like Mio… “But I can’t go on US 101… it’s too scary!”)
Mugi 4tw! Always dependable and a great follower. She’s the Itsuki to Yui’s Kyon.
Southpaw 4tw! Just adds to Miolicious’ appeal… bass paizuri… cowering moe mode… barnacles… perfect meido figure… hopes and dreams… and almost utter domination on gelbooru. The 5/8 stats are: Mio at 866, Yui at 460, Ritsu at 344, Mugi at 322, and Sawako-sensei at 17 with K-On! sitting at 1334.
Sawako-sensei (or Sawa-chan) reminds me more and more of the manager from Detroit Metal City. I can’t wait for her to barge into Mio’s room and start “redecorating” it in a manner for fit for whom we want Mio to be.
(Of course, I’m just looking forward to Yui’s epic sale of Mio to Sawako-sensei… “You can do anything you want to Mio for 24 hours!” I feel like this could also be a DVD bestseller. Hell, I even have a pre-order down for this imaginary product at Amazon.)
Sawako’s got some good taste. We need to hook her up with ef‘s Kuze…
(When I first saw this scene, I thought Mugi and Yui were going to chest bump in celebration. I was disappointed that they didn’t.)
I’ve been enthralled by this show on E! called “Fake or Real” where a panel of judges have to guess which one of three contestants have what plastic surgery done. For the most part, most of the people look like they have a bit too much work done. Most of the bodies are to human form as is what Code Geass is to philosophical anime. The judges are also trying too hard to crack sarcastic non-jokes. All-in-all, a fantastic waste of time, especially since it’s been airing after The Soup.
Anyway, I was delighted by last week’s episode where they marched three women on as contestants: one black lady who looked like a dude, one English woman who had teeth that should have, in my opinion, be censored, and an Asian girl who resembled Mio. Long black hair, slender, face with some baby fat, healthy red hue on the cheeks, and melonpan outside the normal measurements of a girl that size… so I thought at first it was a fake breasts episode. Nope. Wrong. It was to guess which one of these three used to be a guy. I said right then and there that it had to be the Asian girl since she had “anime proportions”, and, ten minutes later, I was right. Bottom line is that I went to sleep sobbing that night, which is what probably Mio did after the concert.
And, finally… shouldn’t they have used a striped pattern instead of polka dots for a Mio fan club?
21 Responses to “k-on! 6”
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I was really let down this episode, I agree there was no reason for that music video bit and I felt that they paid a little too much attention to Mio’s cowardice. Of course that could be because the episode was more or less focused on her due to the fact that she was forced to sing. But, I really enjoyed Mio’s voice in the song, the funny thing is that I’m sure that Yui will become the real singer soon but I think I’d rather just let Mio stay the singer, she has a much better voice IMO (and yes I’m comparing to Yui’s sans-sore throat voice).
For a ” meh ” episode, you’re sure got a lot to say. As for Mio’s trembling face, I like. I kink of wish for Sawako to costume rape Mio for now on. Then it will be a great episode.
I agree episode was ‘meh’. I think the video was well done but couldn’t they have done that for a PV, instead of wasting valuable Mio in Gothic attire?! And now I want a Sawako-sensei x DMC Manager scene damn it Jason.
I think what happened was that they wasted to much of the budget on the Straight-to-DVD Mio vs. Barnacles Full Nude Special that will be coming out in between FMP and Haruhi.
See what I did there.
i feel bad for dwight howard, only 10 shots in the entire game, and stan van gundy is a bad, bad coach.
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hmm mio is a lefty, what about the other 3? i dont remember
kyoto animation sure loves lefties, konata/kagami/tsubasa/miyuki are all lefties, feel free to add more
Pre-note: I demand the spam protection be fired and replaced! It expects me to understand its confusing lines, but complains if I reply with “e1ght”? OUTRAGEOUS!
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On a more “Not Exposed to Minami Family” note, I actually found it to be a good episode. Plenty of laughing moments for me.
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>> I’ll never look at a bowl of rice the same way again.
Ahh, those sort of pics. The type which take a perfectly innocent thing and ensure that every time you see it you think of something far from it. I like to term them “You cant un-see this” because once you see them, you will keep seeing them. over and over and over and over and *distracts self*
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Sorta how I cant listen to certain perfectly good songs without almost bursting into tears just because it reminds me of an anime scene. Makes driving harder.
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>> There’s still a slim possibility that we do get that fanservice shot in the widescreen version. Have I mentioned how much I dislike 4:3 recently?
I swear, that scene was Kyoto Animation trolling us in 4:3….
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They really did turn up the Mio cowering for this one. I wont complain.
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>> Still as moe as a Tsukasa assaulted by a reindeer.
>> (This would a great shot for a wallpaper…)
A Mio wimpering on Ritsu’s legs, or a Tsukasa assaulted by a reindeer?
(Or a Mio wimpering on a Tsuakasa with the assualted by a reindeer look.)
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(Crap. I want that one now.)
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>> Ritsu’s mushroom
Its been so long since she used her brain, fungi is growing on it…
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>> Sawako’s got some good taste. We need to hook her up with ef’s Kuze…
Must admit, I felt blood vessels about to pop when I saw that in the episode preview last week. Episode was more Meh. Though points for randomly managing to work in Mugi in a nurse outfit.
(Hmm…. Sawa-chan brought in costumes like that for the girls…. Maybe she wants to see them dressing up in them…… Mugi and Sawa-chan bullying and cosraping Mio?)
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>> It was to guess which one of these three used to be a guy. I said right then and there that it had to be the Asian girl since she had “anime proportionsâ€, and, ten minutes later, I was right.
Your affinity with the Trap is high… In time you will learn to accept your gift… …while wearing meido….
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>> And, finally… shouldn’t they have used a striped pattern instead of polka dots for a Mio fan club?
Maybe… Maybe not… I do know a similar joke has been done before….
http://www.onemanga.com/Tenshi_Nanka_Ja_Nai/1/21/
http://www.onemanga.com/Tenshi_Nanka_Ja_Nai/1/22/
http://www.onemanga.com/Tenshi_Nanka_Ja_Nai/1/23/
http://www.onemanga.com/Tenshi_Nanka_Ja_Nai/1/34/
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I managed to make a fatal move. My sister asked me for help with something and was sitting behind me. Bored of the lack of good music, I opened up K-ON! 6 in the corner of my screen. She saw the main lyrics of the insert song…. for the next half hour I was bombarded with a peppy “Light and Fluffy Time!” at random moments….
Actually, I thought the whole retro music video was rather genius. Since there isn’t really any way to meet the overinflated expectations of practically everyone following this series, KyoAni just decided to go in a completely different (and really quite artistic) direction. They’re saying “look, we aren’t even going to try”, “use your own imagination”, and “just have fun with this” all at the same time.
While it’s sad that we don’t get to see more goth-cute Mio, it was yet another wardrobe change and quite definitely fits the style and theme of the series, and more importantly, of the song. I do admit that it was somewhat jarring in the sense that it took the viewer out of the moment (unlike the the epic Live a Live which completely brought viewers *in* to the moment, and all the MacrossF bollywood-style song and dance that was fully integrated into the soul of the series). It felt a bit like a way to sell another CD, but it showed the girls having fun playing music. After all, that’s the heart and soul of the series and not quivering Mio. I know, I know, heresy. To redeem myself, I went back and counted the number of meido cafes appearing in the episode. There were 2; and a total of 4 meido. We’ll also have to wait around a thousand years before we’ll see Mio at the Budokan.
(as a sidenote, Sawa-chan is amazing. She even accounted for a hairclip and hairband change for Yui and Ritsu! She’s like an older adult Mikuru seeking revenge and inflicting surgical cosraping on a younger generation with precision and sage experience)
SPOILER ALERT BY THE HOARY HOSTS OF HOGGOTH IT’S A SPOILER ALERT, MKAY?
The part of this episode that floored me was when Mio lamented “No one will want to marry me….” Clearly, she has never been to this site.
Though if she does find it, she’ll never stop cowering/moeblobbing.
I’ve never really been fond of this whole episode-by-episode blogging thing, and I’ve always viewed it as a necessary evil. The format lends itself too much to the “Greatest. Episode. Ever.†or “Worst. Episode. Ever.†magnification effect. There’s also less material to work with, which makes writing a good post harder.
As that may be true, I hope you continue to do them.
These posts make my laugh so much it brightens up my entire day.
That and I almost feel that I am in some kind of special club
because I understand almost all of your references and analogies.
Either way, great job!
Considering it took 6 episodes for them to actually play music in an anime about music this episode, their first actual performance, was extremely lacking. There was no tension, except with Mio but Mio’s whining has been thrown in our faces so much I’ve become desensitized to it. Now whenever she’s cowering in the corner the first thing I think isn’t ‘aw, how sweet’ but ‘how old is she again?’. And that much was dispelled with a few words from Ritsu. And then they pulled everything off without a hitch until someone had the bright idea to say that Mio’s problems were over. Biggest. Jinx. Ever.
I thought the episode was fun (not as good as the beach ep. certainly), but I kinda figured it was couldn’t live up to everyone’s expectations. Which is why I smiled when they did the switcheroo and bailed on animating the show in favor of the music video. It was a classic “gotcha” toward the fans, followed up by a “nice bowl” gotcha. (And apparently the widescreen will show more, but not much, if you can trust the rumor mill.) So, the only trainwreck was to Mio and her emotional stability, which we will all enjoy more of later on. (And I thought Yui singing was pretty hilarious. It was competely in her character. She wanted to sing and once she got up there, she wasn’t letting anything stop her if she had a mic in front of her. I was impressed the voice actress kept up the crazy voice so well.)
torinostu351,you said it.
‘Sides,it’s just a show. I should really just relaaax.
*twanng*
When I first saw this I started praying for the widescreen too.
As for the music video, when it came on, I just went “lolwut?” Really didn’t expect/want that. But I am glad Yui sung, and like torinostu351 said above me, kudo’s the voice actor for keeping up that voice.
Great, now I have to go find video clips of this “Trap or Real” episode, thank you for derailing the rest of my day.
Should have kept Yui as the main vocalist and done black metal at 300 beats per minute instead of generic J-Pop. I’m sure Sawako could have helped with that.
I’m still holding out for widescreen episodes…my patience was broken once or twice.
and then they hide the pantsu. bleagh.
Nice bowl.
I, for one, am looking forward to the Christmascosrape episode.
http://www.hongfire.com/forum/.....1241878014
… Okay so its a photoshop. But it is hope i suppose.
Also i really enjoyed the way they had fun with Yui’s voice for the ep. The sumo thing Yui and Ritsu did while she was working the table was funny and i thought her grating backup vocal for the song was funny too. I think people were expecting something along the lines of Haruhi but that is a little ridiculous. Its like going to a baseball game and expecting to see a no-hitter every time.
Ugh.. the spam protection assumes I can ADD!
Anyway, fun review. And what some folks forgot about this episode is.. it is a fun show, not Nana. Just enjoy the ride, keep your hands and feet in the cart.
I enjoyed this episode, just don’t overthink it!
>>… and an Asian girl who resembled Mio. Long black hair, slender, face with some baby fat, healthy red hue on the cheeks, and melonpan outside the normal measurements of a girl that size… so I thought at first it was a fake breasts episode. Nope. Wrong. It was to guess which one of these three used to be a guy. I said right then and there that it had to be the Asian girl since she had “anime proportionsâ€, and, ten minutes later, I was right.
Tsk tsk. You tease us with that but don’t include any links or pics? Say you’re facepalming all you want, but you’re really just trying to keep all the Mio ladyboys to yourself aren’t you?
Forgive me Jason, when you said, “Meh,” before the bump, I thought for a descending series of seconds that you were referring to an issue of NINJA HIGH SCHOOL. I’m sorry.
By the way – We got ROBBED by the HD version.