k-on! 13
Categories: episodic review, k-on
Tagged: k-on
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In this rock band club, we obey the laws of thermodynamics!
Sigh. Kyoto and their sugar-free, fat-free “extra” episodes. I would have loved for K-On! to end on a high note, like their recent concert or Mio getting trained or Mio getting lesbian stalked, but, no, we’re getting a K-On! re-enactment of Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya 9. Though I like having more material, I just wish the material was… uh… better.
(I was listening to a Frank Rich, a popular Broadway reviewer, interview on NPR today, and he mentioned that he loves writing good reviews for good show. He says that great performances brings out the passion in him– I fully agree. I like writing good reviews for good shows as well. He also mentions that bad reviews for normally good actors, directors, and writers are hard, and he likes writing these the least– I fully agree as well. But then he drops a bit that he loves ripping on really bad, horrendously bad shows, train wrecks if you will– I enthusiastically agree. I have no idea why this paragraph is in the middle of a K-On! post… oh wait… I think I do… probably because it’s been a while since I watched anything from Sunrise.)
While this episode wasn’t as big of a tone shift as the Ritsu jealousy episode, I think this episode proves that K-On! is at it’s best when its working in its clever gags that really bring out the personalities of the characters. Kakifly has just been awesome at it in the manga, and I’d rather see more of that goodness than Ritsu going love struck.
Thermodynamic rape!
(I saw this scene, and immediately “thermodynamic rape” popped into my head. Needless to say, I hit pause, grabbed my writer’s book, and jotted down “thermodynamic rape!!!”.)
Too bad Yui didn’t get her cold hands on Mio’s warm thighs. That would have been to thermodynamic rape what the Prius is to hybrid cars.
(And, yes, Mio’s squeal is now the ringtone on my iPhone.)
“You disappoint me, Gloves-chan.”
Such a Fuko move. I’m not sure what spin-off series I want more… the Mikuru and Mio become runway models idea or a spin-off series that’s a Laverne and Shirley remake starring Fuko and Yui.
Listening to her iPod while drinking a milk tea… at least Mio’s keeping up with Mikuru in the Waifu Power Rankings&trade. Though I can’t imagine Mio in Mikuru’s red dress (oh crap I just did… gonna take a 30 minute break from this post… … … … … … … … ok back…) nor can I imagine Mikuru travel by herself. Though it makes perfect sense Mio has gone Mac, I’m surprised she doesn’t have an iPhone.
My old Core 2 MacBook is finally croaking under some of the new high quality fansubs. I was almost going to buy a new Mac Mini until fansubbers started using the newest evil in fansubbing: ordered chapters. Thanks guys. Nothing on the Mac side supports it, and only experimental builds on Linux support it. I really don’t see the point of ordered chapters… files are already pushing past 300 megs, why bother skimping 50 megs? Reminds me of the early days of fansubbing when groups cut the OP/ED of an episode to save space, which makes sense when everyone is running 56k or crap DSL. Now… not so much.
So is that what Tomoyo was doing at the end of After Story? She’s writing lyrics! It all makes sense!
If you saw a cute girl by herself bundled up and alone on the rocks… sounds like the beginning to an anime. Not the end. Like she turns out to be an alien, time traveler, or esper or something.
Is this the first male voice that we’ve heard in K-On! since… uh… I can’t recall. It’s almost as big of a drought as Big Papi’s home run drought. The only other anime I can think of that had such a deprivation of male voices is Maria+Holic, which got resolved when Father Kanae shows up.
Properly drawn cabbage! I’m so giddy, I don’t know what to do with myself! Oh wait, it’s just lettuce. Boo-hiss! I am disappointed we didn’t see the Curry Fairy in this grocery store. That would have been awesome. And I’m disappointed that Yui doesn’t have a Tsukasa or Bonta-kun cell phone strap.
(When everyone got a text message, in their “darkest” hour, from Yui, I thought of Guitar Hero World Tour’s intro when all four band members got the Guitar Hero text to save the world. Irregardless, I still think a Guitar Hero Anime Edition would be a huge moneymaker. Like you wouldn’t want to play Don’t say “lazy” or Rinbu Revolution.)
An audiophile’s dream… I wonder what Azu-nyan’s parents do to impart such a love of music into her? And I wonder how epic fail they were to not give her a “Azu-nyan” nickname since birth. If the evolutionary Fuko can think of it, I’m sure two normal IQ people could too.
(Unless Yui is an idiot savant when it comes to nicknames… though Gloves-chan and Gitah! doesn’t help her case. I need more evidence. I want to show Yui some footage of Hedo Turkoglu and Ricky Rubio to see if she can give either a better nickname.)
Why is Ritsu angry that Mio gave her lyrics that were definitely a sign of Mio’s affections? I mean… come on… those were more than mere lyrics. Part of me thinks that the two will deny their love for each other up until senior year of college, and then the next thing you know, they’ll be moving into the same apartment complex in Holland with Saiyuri and Mai… and Kotsetsu and Hermione.
Crush into Mugi and spill a drink… that should be a K-On! fundraiser idea. Watching Mugi work at a fast food place reminded me of Mark Cuban working at Dairy Queen. And watching Mugi fall apart at the end after a great start reminded me of the 2005-6 Dallas Mavericks.
(I wonder if Mugi’s family owns this fast food establishment. Heck, I wonder if they own Budokan.)
I get the feeling that Mio’s notebooks will be regarded in Mikuru’s time like how we regard Leonardo DiVinci’s notebooks today.
Probably my favorite scene of this episode.
I have my own theory as to why Mugi’s hands are so warm. This way she can have an excuse for being touched by cat-like high school girls. I’m surprised that Mugi didn’t go into MugiVision™ mode when everyone was touching her hands… is it because she likes seeing other girls and not actually participating herself? Is it more of a voyeuristic quality?
I can see the image boards having a field day with this one.
Somewhere Sawa-chan is crying for being left out of this episode. I’m crying because while there’s thermodynamic rape in this episode, there’s no costume rape.
(Yui’s and Ui’s scarves and jackets are just too cute. Why couldn’t Saki have worn clothes that look like this in Eden of the East?)
I like this school that makes the girls still wear mini-skirts even though it’s like minus ten degrees outside. No wonder Mugi goes to this school. And I won’t be surprised if Roy Mustang were the principal of this school. Absolutely won’t be surprised.
Cue Don’t say “lazy”… and… we’re out!
Take a bow, K-On!. I really enjoyed the series, and I hope Kakifly whips out more volumes of the manga. And while Kyoto has removed more Haruhi Suzumiya from my wishlist, I’m going to add more K-On! (especially the Mio stalking thing) to the wishlist. Come on Kyoto… get busy. You have a shit ton of Haruhi Suzumiya to animate, followed by ridiculous amounts of Full Metal Panic… and then more K-On! goodness. I just hope when that time comes, you won’t ditch the almost legendary mini-top hat ED for one that might causes seizures in little kids.
25 Responses to “k-on! 13”
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OH GOD. The scarves are just too cute, it kills me.
Speaking of Rinbu Revolution, Japan has remastered UTENA. Which is wonderful considering how bad the quality of the American DVDs are. I’ve been re-watching the show now, I just wish I had the will to set things up so I could watch it on my new HD tv.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pA_VaAEFgXQ best quality youtube has to offer of the remastered OP.
Pony tailed Mio at the lappy is great. And the all-huddled-up “Mio on the rocks” is fine too. I’d drink that every night. I especially liked Mugi rushing to the window to ice her hands after the “cold hands, warm heart” comment. I got tired of the love letter thing, but loved the stretching/yawning thing. I fully expect her to have her own cat next season.
“Thermodynamic rape” will be added to the list of concepts banned from eroge shortly.
I wasn’t a big fan of the drama either. I’m glad I stuck it out and got to the climax (and finished the episode) – trolling at its finest. I’ll repeat what I said before- I liked the original “big hands” bits in the manga much better. In the manga, it was Yui who pointed out Mio’s big hands, in a not-so-sensitive fashion, then in the anime they changed it to Ritsu making a different crack. Except they forgot and switched it back to Yui in the last episode, and Mio’s lament doesn’t make sense chronologically either.
I’m willing to wait three years for more K-ON, just as long as there are no fake announcements. >_>
‘rudy’ rubio? gah. Plus the use of ‘irregardless’ in one post? Need an official fact-checker in addition to an official fashion czar. :)
I would totally buy any guitar hero/rock band game that contained “Don’t Say Lazy” and “Rinbu Revolution”. And the matched cat/human scene happened in What’s Michael? as well, at least in the manga. (Neither the human nor the cat were as cute as the two Azu-nyans, though.)
>>ridiculous amounts of Full Metal Panic
Damn right. So much material to work with, and they’ve done nothing. It saddens me.
Though given the treatment KyoAni has given K-On I wasn’t really expecting it, I sorta wished Yui’s line about every home needed a Mugi-chan had played out like the manga, where Yui says it while burrowing her head in Mugi’s breasts.
K-On! totally needed more Ritsu minus headband footage. But alas, it cannot be. The best guy in this series is obviously the one with the camera, during the concert, many episodes ago. Camera flashes speak louder than words.
Tomoyo. Mmmmm.
So much untapped potential either left to be tapped (future volumes) or wasted (like Yui burrowing herself in Mugi’s breasts), but would we want another studio to make K-On? The only other studio I would see doing a proper job would be Bones. Would they keep all of the fanservice? Could they elevate K-On even higher like what they did w/ Ouran? Would we see the rice bowl properly depicted if Bones had done this series?
Another thing I am also curious about is who Ritsu thinks sent her the “love letter”. She goes to an all-girl school, and when she was walking alone was she expecting it to be a girl? The possibilities of the Ritsu and Mio running to Holland are getting better. I think Mugi owns a vacation house there, so she can “help” w/ the move.
“Why is Ritsu angry that Mio gave her lyrics that were definitely a sign of Mio’s affections? I mean… come on”
My personal theory is that, while Mio is fine for costume/thermodynamical raping, Ritsu’s true love is Mugi-chan. And that trio is the perfect setup. Ritsu gets Mio to play and Mugi gets to watch.
>> I still think a Guitar Hero Anime Edition would be a huge moneymaker. Like you wouldn’t want to play Don’t say “lazy†or Rinbu Revolution.)
While short, Kanako’s impromptu “Cosplay Angel” song has gotta be one of the best in anime.
The WS versions seem to contain more Mugi:
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http://www.syu-ta.com/blog/2009/06/28/065100.shtml
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(Click on the yellow “cache” links).
“…the next thing you know, they’ll be moving into the same apartment complex in Holland…”
If they did, I’d like to see them ’round here.
I’m surprised there’s no Guitar Hero Anime Sountrack Edition yet. One would expect it to be a no-brainer marketing concept.
Why not both at once? Although in that context, Fuko and Yui would be more like Lenny and Squiggy, dropping in with whatever harebrained idea they’d have at the time.
Since Lenny ended up being David St Hubbins in Spinal Tap (Michael McKean) I think that makes perfect sense for Yui.
“is it because she likes seeing other girls and not actually participating herself? Is it more of a voyeuristic quality?”
I have always seen Mugi’s quirk this way. Everyone jumped into the full-out lesbian theory too quickly. Ambiguous quirks are always better.
“Reminds me of the early days of fansubbing when groups cut the OP/ED of an episode to save space, which makes sense when everyone is running 56k or crap DSL. Now… not so much.”
Oh god, this. I wonder where the kids pushing for chapters were back in the early days of fansubbing. In one year (two tops), disk space won’t be that much of an issue. HDD’s are getting bigger and cheaper quite quickly.
.
Also, there will be 7 DVD volumes of K-ON!, which might (MIGHT) mean they are putting an OVA in one of them.
I loved Azu-nyan’s reaction to the cat’s dea- hairball. For some reason, that moment was really suspenseful for me. And, I mean, we knew Azu-nyan’s parents were in a Jazz Band, but srsly, that’s a little overkill.
“Though it makes perfect sense Mio has gone Mac, I’m surprised she doesn’t have an iPhone.”
http://twitter.com/akiyama_mio/status/2235513284
Maybe we’ll see it next season!
That was kinda anti-climatic. They didn’t even had their hotpot :(
But you never say no to more K-On!
If they actually had Guitar Hero/Rock Band Anime Version, I might actually consider giving the game a go lol
When Ritsu took off her headband, I was thinking ‘hey not bad’, then seconds later, ZOMG, she looked like a gender-swapped Itsuki in the mirror. I simultaneously was giddy and horrified, and then I thought to myself: Well played Kyoani, now could you work Kyonko into some some DVD extras?
@shineyshiney:
There was this post in the genderbending images thread:
http://forums.animesuki.com/sh.....count=4086
“I wonder what Azu-nyan’s parents do to impart such a love of music into her? ”
Azu-nyan’s parents are musicians. she wanted to be in the Jazz club because her parents are part of a Jazz group. It was covered in, I think, Episode 9.
Mio needs to hurry up and get an iPhone – shes going mac :o)