k-on! 12
Categories: episodic review, k-on
Tagged: k-on
20 Comments »
Dear God, please give us the dream time that only belongs to us!
Just a fantastic way to go out. We’re given a healthy dose of Yui being Yui, Ui being Ui, Azu-nyan being Azu-nyan, Sawa-chan being Sawa-chan, Ritsu being Ritsu, Mugi being Mugi, Nodoka being Nodoka… and, of course, Mio being Mio. I enjoyed K-On!. A delightful low calorie snack… except for a few spotty moments, it pretty much delivered what it set out to do: moe girls coming together to form a rock band.
Take a bow, K-On!. Take a bow.
Loved the final concert, since it delivered everything (except Mio fanservice) that the first one should have delivered. Though it’s weird hearing Yui belt out the main vocals for Fuwa Fuwa Time with Mio on backup. Still enjoyable. What do I like about it… mmm…
Yui looks fucking happy during the concert– almost pure glee– basically, us after seeing Haruhi costume rape Mikuru again. I loved that. To top that off, she’s strumming Gitah properly during the song. That’s why Kyoto is tops. Not because they do more lines per character or how detailed their backgrounds are, it’s the small things. They just do the small things extraordinary well.
“It’s time to write smoothly with my love“… I also loved Mio’s lead on Brush and Ballpoint Pen… especially as the song went on, she got sweatier and her hair became more frazzled. The lyrics are also fantastic; I want Staples to hire Mio as their model/songstress. And, my gosh, those “fufu”‘s were damn sexy. I also want a bonus OVA that’s just a straight K-On! concert. Like you wouldn’t watch that. And sing along. (And Kyoto doesn’t just loop the footage. Watching Mio and Yui belting out Fuwa Fuwa and Ballpoint Pen… it’s like watching Sunrise animate a giant Gundam battle. Just unparalleled when done right.)
Normally, I’d complain about all the Yui shots interspersed… but…
… it serves a purpose in trying to link the story back to the original premise of a girl who was lost, but she found herself in the rock band club. There’s not exactly a lot of plot going on in K-On!, but it’s still an attempt to bring the story full circle. (I like full circle stories. It’s an effective plot device as it reinforces the beginning at the end.)
So when I think of anime that has a girl furiously running out the door at the very end, I’ll think of Evangelion first, Toradora! second, and K-On! third? Is this the proper hierarchy?
(Everyone else wears normal socks, but Yui goes for the full stockings. Not bad. But riddle me this… what if… get ready for it… what if Mio wore loose socks? Did I just blow your mind?)
Loved Mugi starting up the encore… she hasn’t been doing much lately, but she always delivers.
(Needs moar MugiVision™!)
But a Mugi fashion show is fine too.
Yes, they took all of these from the manga except for the bunny girl, where Kyoto decides to cover up Mugi’s ample cleavage with a vest. This is an outrage. Imagine the rioting that would be going on right now if Mikuru’s bunny girl figure were covered by a vest. I’m outraged.
The classic “Mio is broken” scene from the manga. Loved it. I’m totally for Sawa-chan breaking Mio.
(Still shaking my head that Kyoto left out Yui selling Mio to Sawa-chan for a day. Mmm… which of the following OVA specials would you rather watch? Simon and Nia’s 7 days? Or Mio and Sawa-chan’s 24 hours?)
So when I was writing that last Haruhi post, I realized that early on during Haruhi Suzumiya, the only mention of Aya Hirano were that she was (a) a no-name seiyuu whose only notable role was from Kiddy Grade thus far and (b) had magnificent Engrish. She didn’t make the jump really until Live Alive when she broke out like MJ in the 1991 playoffs.
So I smacked myself. Episode 12, and I have barely mentioned K-On!‘s Aki Toyosaki and Yoko Hikasa besides that they’re no-name seiyuu who are only working K-On! because Aya Hirano is too busy recording Haruhi Suzumiya. But they’re both fantastic. Aki has a distinct voice, which I can only describe as a more tolerable Fuko. And Yoko… wow. After comparing to Aki’s rendition of Fuwa Fuwa Time, Yoko has good range and great pitch but not as distinct of a voice. I’d say maybe K-On! are Aki’s and Yoko’s Hedo and Ariza of the 2009 playoffs. No, that’s not meant as an insult to anyone.
(I sure wouldn’t mind if these two voiced Sasaki and friends in season three of Haruhi Suzumiya, eta 2013.)
Yui being Yui.
Mio being Mio.
(I was watering my garden this morning when I noticed a ton of slugs hanging around my garden hose. It was very icky. I immediately thought of Mio… and not Mikuru. Warrants mentioning. Though my second thought was, “Damn, I forgot to pick up the copper tape from Lowe’s last weekend.”)
Definitely evolutionary Fuko. Just replace a disturbing and zealous love and fondness for starfish for a disturbing and zealous relationship with Gitah.
Extrapolating from how devoted Yui is to Gitah… well… she could be a devoted waifu… but…
… Ui is just so awesome too. I especially like the part when Sawa-chan rats her out based on her cup size being superior to Yui. Mmm… even I’m not that perceptive. So if you’re keeping track at home, Yui gets 1 waifu point this episode with Ui picking up 10 and Sawa-chan 3.
Though do you think you could ever win Ui’s heart from Yui? I don’t think so. I cannot think of any other anime character so destined to end up with her older sister. And if any man (or other woman) got between Ui and Yui, I can definitely see Ui going yandere and slicing off Johnnies. It would be like Nodoka getting between Mio and Ritsu, only with a Higurashi-type ending.
(Do you think Ui gets, uh, excited wearing Yui’s clothes?)
Azu-nyan being Azu-nyan, filling in the DFC tsundere role nicely to the end. I wanted to see Ui steaming as Yui tried to kiss Azu-nyan.
Objection!
I would love to see a Phoenix Wright-type trial with Haruhi as the defense attorney and Sawa-chan as the prosecutor. The witnesses would have to be Mio, Mikuru, and Ryou…
Think I’m going to go into o_o withdrawal after K-On! finishes. Fuck. I’m just getting over Bible Black withdrawal after Minami-ke Okawari.
(And, guys, the o_o are everywhere in the manga. Kyoto’s playing it right, though they could have tossed in a few more Bible Black faces, and I know I wouldn’t complain.)
Think I need a psychoanalysis czar for what it means for Yui to dream about eating Mugi’s picked radish/eyebrows as a side dish for a giant bowl of rice… a giant bowl of rice that once had meaning in K-On!.
(You know my analysis? Yui wears polka dot panties.)
Ironically, Yui wanted to wear the Yukata the most… yet doesn’t wear it at the end. Why couldn’t she have run back wearing the Yukata? Wouldn’t changing clothes be slower than any speed penalty incurred while sprinting in the Yukata?
This week’s gelbooru count. Things are still trending the same with Mio and Azu-nyan getting the bulk of new images, but Ritsu has pulled away from Mugi, leaving Mugi in the worst shape of all K-On! members. This is horrible. Mugi deserves better.
Know what else Kyoto does well? Waterworks. They’re the Saudi Arabia of moe girls crying.
Wait, an extra episode? With Mio on her MacBook? If on a scale of 1 to 10, with finding out that there’s a Kyou OVA at 87, I’d probably score this development a 30. (Just hope it isn’t mostly a recap.)
(No seriously… between her headphones, her bass, her camera, and now her MacBook, only in anime can such a female with such awesome technolust/style exist.)
20 Responses to “k-on! 12”
Leave a Reply
Your heirarchy is correct. “I guess i was gay all along” trumps everything else you can throw at it.
BONUS EPISODE <3
Mugi in that bunny suit reminds me of Hell’s Bunny.
Needs more Mugi dammit !
I realized that Ui was in her own uniform, just with Yui’s style pantyhose and Yui’s class’ ribbon. She still has on her own indoor shoes (red as oppose to Yui’s class’ blue).
.
Also Mio wasn’t in fear of singing this time around. She didn’t even try to get Azunyan to sing at all when Yui might not make it at all. Only for her to learn the lead guitar part. I wonder if Azunyan was playing the lead part in that first song while Sawako was playing second part (normally Azunyan’s part)?
.
The eyebrow gag cracked me up. It was the first joke I saw from the manga when people started talking about it and I’d wondered just how of if they would try to stick that in someplace. I wonder if they will attempt to use the other eyebrow gag, or if that is just something the viewer will have to notice on their own (the shape of Mugi’s eyebrows changes depending on her mood if I remember correctly).
Its done. I’ll miss K-On!
“because Aya Hirano is too busy recording Haruhi Suzumiya.”
And Queen’s Blade.
Overall I liked this show. I laughed enough to fill the comedy quota, I dawwed enough to fill the moe quota, I tapped my feet enough to fit the music quota, and I refreshed this site enough to fill in the ‘Goes well with Jason’s commentary quota.’ Unfortunately, while it certainly does what it intended to do, I kinda wanted it to surpass that. I’m waiting for the next Melancholy, the next Gurren Lagann still, and while I didn’t expect this to do that, I was kinda hoping it would pull a Live Alive off at the end. Either way I enjoyed it’s run and I’ll be happy to watch the extra episode next week. Here’s hoping something awesome comes out of 2009 (hopefully Haruhi pulls through!)
I’ve been wondering whether Mugi’s eyebrows would get used for some sort of FLCL homage. Nice – and appropriate – to see it happen in such a symbolically ecchi way!
“I realized that early on during Haruhi Suzumiya, the only mention of Aya Hirano were that she was (a) a no-name seiyuu whose only notable role was from Kiddy Grade thus far and (b) had magnificent Engrish.”
Hirano Aya also played Mamori in Eyeshield 21 (yes, I did watch this show coz it was fun), her longest lasting role I might add ..:p
She’s got a great worried voice.
One of the earlier episodes had a special where it showed the 3 main seiyuus were at a football match. Aya was sooo loli back then!
Did a nice ED there as well on the show (though this was after Haruhi1 ended)
Regarding K-On!, yay extra episode. Pretty sure there’s gonna be a DVD bonus ep though.
Oh, I want a sequel where they actually do perform at budokan. (grown up azusa mmmm….)
I would think that Mio would have objections over the yukatas. The bottom parts form an umbrella shape that her dress in the last live had. If she were to trip and fall again…but Kyoto would never animate that…
Ui definitely moved up a few ranks in this episode. But if she can play the guitar so well, why isn’t she in the K-On club with her sister? They definitely need the members b/c when the original 4 graduate, it will only be Azunyan.
But in the end, Mugi is my fav. She is the enabler of the group. W/out her, it would have taken forever for Yui to get her guitar, there would be no funny cake scenes or reason for Sawa-chan to willingly stay and no training camps in luxurious coastal villas. It’s just too bad that we didn’t get more MugiVision. To sum it up, Mugi is fearsome.
This is why I like her.
I’m more amused that it was Miss “I-Refuse-To-Do-Silly-Cosplay” Azusa that picked the outfits. Sawa-chan has broken her well.
All in all, I’m finding myself enjoying this series despite its many, many flaws. Definitely going to pick up the Blu-Ray set when its out.
>> Mmm… which of the following OVA specials would you rather watch? Simon and Nia’s 7 days? Or Mio and Sawa-chan’s 24 hours?
Mio and Sawa-chan’s 24 hours hands down!
I was actually hoping that they played Don’t Say Lazy, but Brush and Ballpoint Pen + Fuwa Fuwa Time works too :P
Still would have been much more awesome if they played Don’t Say Lazy though. Unless of course, they’re saving it for the future XD
God Dammit, all the Yuri potential Mugi can give, and no one is exploiting that? WTF.
It was a decent ending. Nice seeing Sawa-chan, even though I don’t think “Brush and Ballpoint Pen” was really her style.
Keion daisuki! It will be missed.
I was expecting Mugi to go Mugivisionâ„¢ when Yui hugged Azu-nyan, that was strangely ecchi O_O. Ui as Yui was great, Mio being Mio was great, Ritsu didn’t actually do much, and the Mugi fashion show was a good touch. Off to finally read the 4koma.
Personally, I think the polka dots belong to Mugi. I can’t see Yui in anything that doesn’t feature teddy bears (or maybe penguins?)
Shame how Mugi isn’t used. All of the Yuri Potential wasted.
Pretty good ending. Loved how it basically repeated her first run to school.
“(the shape of Mugi’s eyebrows changes depending on her mood if I remember correctly).”
OMG THEY DO! Look at image 9 and 10 (mugi on piano and waitress-mugi respectively). You can also watch during the scene where Ui tries to act as Yui. They finish playing the song for the first time with her, she cries out “Here”, then it cuts to the band and the background turns black.
calm mugi, with normal eyebrows.
http://tinypic.com/r/33jhbth/5
concerned mugi, with inverted eyebrows.
http://tinypic.com/r/2n0u22q/5
You even have ‘focused/serious’ mugi on the OP with inverts and a ‘V’ shape, and when she was frantic after noticing the ship during the second training camp (where her eyebrows just went..well.. broken)
http://tinypic.com/r/4lva1/5
Meanwhile, the costume montage….how in the WORLD can she lose the fanart count? There should be memes of girls comforting each other with mugi in the background (ala: http://tinypic.com/r/33cygy9/5). The internet has failed me until THIS becomes a reality.
All that Mugi fanservice at once hit me so hard, I fell out of my chair.
So what’s up with those fanart stats? I thought otaku always preferred mother-types over bratty-types.
And being a keyboardist must mean she has really nimble fingers…did I type that out loud?
Did anyone else notice Kyon watching the concert?
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Yho-.....-44912.png
Overall a good episode and a good end- think the key part of Yui’s run was hwo she didn’t fall down at the bottom of the stairs this time- a sign how she’s grown and become more reliable perhaps?
Andy