K-ON!! – 27 (OVA)

Episode 27 – Plan – 計画 (Keikaku)

Well, we got another episode of K-ON, and at this point it’s pretty obvious what to expect. We got the Houkago Tea time members, as usual, slacking off to their own goofy tune. This time it’s about their random adventures in deciding a location for an overseas vacation, and the “oh so exciting” process of getting a passport (=.=);

While I’m not really the biggest fan of this series, I will admit that I got a few good laughs here, especially at some of Yui’s antics near the middle of the episode. In the end, this OVA is pretty much the typical slice of life episode that this series is well known for.

The characters remain as quirky as ever, with the air-headed antics of Yui and the rest of the cast as prevalant as before. The story could be pretty much summarized as “everybody goofs off”, and the slightly depressing thing here is, this statement probably applies to a majority of the entire series.

Either ways, in the episode there are suggestions at flying off to New York, to going to England to drink some afternoon tea, to going to eat ice cream at Hawaii, and even visiting Finland; the HTT members pretty much were being very indecisive on where in the world they’d like to go. And on top of that, the HTT members did a great job at prolonging the process of getting a passport by playing little pranks on each other, ordering little brothers to retrieve forgotten ID cards, and in the end, eating ice cream (the last one sounds pretty good though). Yea, story here was your typical slice of life fare.

Anyways, aside from my little bit of typical K-ON bias kicking in here (which tempts me to critique this show into oblivion), this felt like your any old typical episode of K-ON. There were some warm and fluffy slice of life moments mixed in with a lot of downright silly stuff. The episode was surprisingly hilarious at certain points, especially during the part where Yui began speaking some really horrible engrish (her way of saying it got me laughing, I’m such a horrible person), as well as Yui’s moment where she imagines Ui as a guy. That, and there was those other questionably idiotic antics of Yui were so out there that I either facepalmed, or chuckled at the sheer level of silliness to it.

Of course, Mio, Azusa, Mugi, and Ritsu had their fair share of silly moments too. The cast remains as charming (or innocently idiotic, whichever you prefer) as ever, which I doubt will change much in the announced manga sequel to K-ON, where we see everybody’s college lives.

Overall Enjoyment: 3.5/5

P.S. I honestly think Azusa is the best character here, mainly because she is pretty much the only character who actually seems to know some common sense amongst the cast. No offense to the rest of you fans :3

Screenshots are later in the post.

K-ON!! – 26 (Special 02)

Episode 26 (Special 02) – A Visit! – 「訪問！」 (Houmon!)

It’s another special episode of K-ON!! and probably the last one in the series. (If you exclude the Ura-ON!! series, that is.) At first, we get to learn how the blu-ray covers of K-ON!! (Vol. 2, Vol. 5, and Vol. 7) were made by the HTT members. Basically, it turns out that they were promotional photos for the club in the graduation album. (Also, we get learn about Yui’s obsession with a floating orange trick).

The main story in this episode is actually about a visit to Sawako-sensei’s home (she’s not at the school due to a mild cold), as Yui is not satisfied with her portrait (I think she still looks cute with that hairstyle, just as Sawa-chan stated) in the graduation album and wants to get permission from Sawa-chan to retake the photograph. Even though the girls did not initially want to disrupt Sawa-chan’s privacy, they had high hopes that Sawa-chan might have a hidden boyfriend and that she might be living in a death-metal-themed room. Well, it turns out there was none of the above things going on, and the girls were just happy with the fact that Sawa-chan looked better than they had expected.

Other than that, it felt like just another typical episode of K-ON, as it was peppered with amusing jokes and some nice and warm slice-of-life moments, such as the HTT members doing laundry and making dinner at their teacher’s house or Yui generously allowing Azusa to use the band-room with Ui and Jun for a music session. Anyways, the ending of this episode felt very much open-ended, and I think it was a sound decision from KyoAni since it was a special episode taking place chronologically between the graduation photo session and the graduation ceremony.

Overall Enjoyment: 4.3/5

Screenshots are later in the post.

K-ON!! Movie Announced

Surprise, surprise! This is Kyoani’s official announcement at the end of K-ON!!’s 26th episode. No other details available yet. Can’t say I’m exactly surprised by this announcement.

Ura-ON!! – 03

Episode 03 – I want siblings – ｢きょうだいほしい」(Kyoudai Hoshii)

Ura-On is a series of special of K-ON! featured on DVD/BD releases. They’re very short (only 2 minutes 30 secs) and the quality of the pictures isn’t always pleasant, so just take it as pranks courtesy of Kyoto Animation.

Basically, this episode is about imaginary case of if each member of HTT had a sibling. Apparently, most of them are from mischievous Ritsu’s imagination… Check the Screenshots later in the post for a picture by picture summary of the episode.

Overall Enjoyment: 3.5/5

Screenshots are later in the post.

K-ON!! – 25 (Special 01)

Episode 25 (Special 01) – Plan Meeting! – 「企画会議！」 (Kikaku Kaigi!)

Wow. I thought this was going to be a typical filler episode that was meant to kill my time before the start of the fall season. But it turned out to be a good mix of quirky humor and reflection on the past episodes of K-ON!. There was also some noticeable moé fanservice, dedicated especially to Mio and Azunyan fans like myself, which actually turned out to be quite refreshing as such moments were very rare in the second season of K-ON!.

The episode itself is about how the girls (plus Sawako-sensei) are trying to figure out a way to produce a promotion video for their club. My favorite plan was obviously the first one, which was Sawa-chan’s imagination of Keion-bu in hard-core Hollywood style, with Mugi going through the most dramatic change. On the other hand, Sawa-chan’s cosplay fetish suddenly awakens and she attempts to dress up the girls with this atrocious-looking costume(…).

In the end, we get to see the highlight of the episode, which is the final promotion video itself which the girls manages to finish with Sawa-chan’s superb video-editing skill. I’m actually surprised how Sawako is talented in so many areas like music, costume, computer, etc. It did complicate how other students thought about the HTT members (there was one imposter who made fraudulent comments though…), but in the end it was a great way of showing how much the influence the main characters had in the rest of the school.

I was quite surprised how much effort KyoAni put in for a special episode, as the production quality from the last episode remained almost intact. Indeed, there were some drops in quality between around Episode 20 and Episode 24 and I thought the reason was probably due to some kind of senioritis, but this episode tells me that KyoAni was trying to leave a good final impression on the fans as this series comes to a close. KyoAni are going to face a challenge of adapting a brand-new manga series called “Nichijou” in the winter season.

Anyways, the next and the final episode of this season is probably going to probe into Sawa-chan’s private life, as the title suggests that the girls might make a surprise visit to her apartment. Again, I’m really looking forward to another special episode of K-ON!!.

Overall Enjoyment: 4.4/5

Screenshots are later in the post.

K-ON!! – 24 (Final)

Episode 24 Final – Graduation Ceremony! –  「卒業式！」 (Sotsugyou Shiki!)

The second season of K-ON! is now finally over (at least story-wise) with the graduation of our four seniors, consisting of Yui, Mio, Ritsu, and Tsumugi, leaving Azusa behind. Just as expected, the episode ended with Azusa crying at the end, but KyoAni did a good job of producing a much happier ending compared to how it was portrayed in the manga version. In particular, I think the insert song “Tenshi ni Fureta Yo!” was full of love and hope dedicated for Azusa.

Obviously, the focus of this episode was on Azusa, who will be left behind all alone in the beginning of next year’s Keion-bu, but I was kind of surprised at how Sawako-sensei has also received just as much attention in this episode. Perhaps, it was a way of paying tribute to her as she was the spiritual backbone of the club, though she did have some negative effects (like her obsession with moé such as maid, nekomimi, etc) on the members.

On a side note, I think the bandage on Azusa’s forehead (and subsequently replaced by a new one with Yui’s care) had some kind of important symbolic meaning. Perhaps, it portrayed a small bruise on Azusa’s mind as she has realized the fear of being left alone in the club, but I think we should ask KyoAni for more exact interpretation.

Anyway, I hope Azusa will be able to recruit new members for the club in the next year, possibly Ui and Jun, otherwise she may end up playing solo along with little Ton-chan(…). Of course, what will happen to Azusa (and the four other graduates) in the future is up to the viewers’ imagination, because there won’t be third season of K-ON!, since the manga was also recently completed with the graduation ceremony.

Anyway, there’s still two more extra episodes left and it looks KyoAni will be preparing some new original stories filled with the usual jokes and funny moments. This could have been a smart decision, as ending the season with the graduation ceremony episode could have caused sugar-crash-like effects (like Azusa in this picture) to K-ON! fans.

Overall Enjoyment: 4.5/5

Screenshots and Insert Song are later in the post.

K-ON!! – 23

Episode 23 -「放課後！」 (Houkago!)
“After School!”

After final exams are over, the four girls are having trouble figuring out what to do before the graduation ceremony. I the end, they decide to recollect various traces of their school life around the campus. (For Yui, it was more like retrieving the bits of scrapped paper under her desk…), and cleaning up in the band room before their last houkago tea-time, and, finally, recordings of all their music on a cassette tape.

The pink cassette tape is the same one that’s been shown in the middle of each episode during the commercial break, so it all makes sense now. (On the other hand, I wish they used something better than such an obsolete medium that is more than 40 years old…)

I like the inclusion of Sawako-sensei during the recording session, as it mirrors exactly what she did with the music that she played as a member of the “Death Devil” band. (Do you still remember the cassette tape that suddenly freaked out Mio in the first season? :))

Even though there is really nothing much going on in this episode, other than the music recording session, there were plenty of funny moments when the four girls were goofing around during the school hours, like Yui playing as a student council member, a lovely reunion with Azusa during the lunch time, or even the moment when the girls’ tea-time conversation was being recorded.

Perhaps, the most prominent moment in this episode was the brief silent moment among the four girls, when the end of the class hour was announced on the classroom speaker, signaling beginning of the final after school session, which had some elements of sadness in it.

In the next episode’s preview, we’re actually not given much hints about what is going to happen. From this, we can sort of speculate that there’s going to be a big tear-inducing moment during the graduation ceremony involving Azusa that KyoAni wanted to deliberately hide from us.

So, let’s imagine how KyoAni is going to handle the final climatic moment of K-ON!!.

Overall Enjoyment: 4.2/5

K-ON!! – 22

Azusa's Super Cute Moe Moment!!! >_<

Episode 22 -「受験！」 (Jyuken!)
“College Entrance Exams!”

This week’s episode of K-ON!! covers two topics at once: Azusa’s preparation for Valentine’s Day and the college entrance exams of her senpais. Since the show takes place in a girl’s high school, the focus of this episode isn’t really about romance. ( it seems like that the hints of a potential Yuri relationship between the HTT members, especially with Mugi, have died down after the first season.)

Instead, there is an awkward moment where Azusa is the only one practicing playing her guitar in the band room, while the rest of the members are studying for college entrance exams; it temporarily leaves Azusa “out of the loop”, which is also the reason why she was so hesitant about handing her chocolate present to her senpais. Luckily, the senpais figure this out and gladly accepts the chocolate cake without attaching any serious feelings to it, thus making Azusa feeling more comfortable with the situation. And don’t forget the candy that Yui gave to Azusa as an expression of gratitude. It plays quite an important role later in this episode. 🙂

After watching this episode, I felt this episode could also have been a good way to end this season of K-ON!!, just like episode 20, with the news of Yui and her friends’ acceptance into the same college and Azusa’s priceless expression on her face. That gave this episode the “last episode” feeling that would’ve been a perfect way to finish things off.

However, we have not yet seen their actual moment of graduation, which will probably be another tear-inducing climax of the show. Anyways, it looks like the next episode will focus on the senioritis of Yui, and it should be interesting to see how Yui and her classmates will deal with their lack of motivation.

Overall Enjoyment: 4.3/5

Screenshots are later in the post.

When you merge K-ON! + Bakemonogatari characters…

Result: You get a new kind of moe characters. Now, Which one is your favorite character? 😀

Source: 2ch

K-ON!! – 21

Episode 21 -「卒業アルバム！」 (Sotsugyou Arubamu!)
“Graduation Album!”

After the climactic episode last week, with the live concerts of the school festival and a brief moment of tears, K-ON!! returns back to its slice of life genre setting. This episode focuses on Yui’s concern about their high school graduation photographs and what they are going to do after graduation.

I think it wasn’t just due to the intensity of last episode that this episode felt much more relaxed and peaceful. In the beginning, Yui literally spends several minutes trying out different hair styles in front of a mirror. Later, the show pokes fun at the similarity between the two sisters, Yui and Ui. Also, there was KyoAni’s inclusion of a small fan-service scene, as we get to see Azusa without her signature twin tails, which actually looked cuter in my opinion. Of course, the highlight of the show was the moment when Yui cuts too much of her front hair, making her look like a completely different character. The casts’ reactions were priceless.

On the other hand, it looks like Yui, Mio, Ritsu, and Tsumugi will be attending the same women’s college after graduation. I heard some people were wishing for a third season of K-ON! anime, but that would seem quite unlikely as the original K-ON! manga ends at the fourth volume (to be released on Sep 27), which covers the school festival we’ve seen in the last few episodes.

However, we still have five more episodes to go and it looks like Yui will somehow miraculously grow her front hair back in the next episode. 🙂

Overall Enjoyment: 4.0/5