I know I’m a bit late with this, but I figured better late than never, so here goes.

It’s hard to really describe K-On. Some may dismiss it as a random moe show filled with pointless content, but I really think it’s much more. Sure it may be true that there wasn’t a lot of serious in depth talk. They didn’t have drama about the girls practicing or not being able to play good enough. No real earth shattering problems between them that threatened the band. It simply took things lightly. Now, some may say that is a bad thing for the show, but I disagree. The show isn’t about the band; it isn’t about learning to play an instrument. Not at all. The show is about the characters and about simply having fun. You really got a feeling that these characters were having fun. Sure sometime someone would get annoyed, another may struggle, but it wasn’t serious. The show boils down to simply being about friends who are in a club together.

This show really was a great example of an easy going slice of life show. It didn’t have drama or romance problems, it didn’t try and be simply a comedy routine, it combined comedy in there yes, but that wasn’t its focus. It was simply to show these friends having fun playing their instruments together. It is rally inspiring in a way. Sure there are troubles in life and things aren’t as easy as depicted here, but in a way its inspiring to see such a take on life as simply enjoying what there is. I’m not ashamed to admit it but this show has absolutely pushed me to buy a guitar for myself and learn to play it. Not because I want to be like the characters but the show inspired me to do something I’ve always wanted to do by showing how much joy can be gotten from it. I loved this show, and don’t give a damn what people who think differently say. It’s a shame they can’t learn to enjoy things, because this show was really very enjoyable.

There is something else that Azusa brings to the series though. It’s not just her character and personality, and the fact she is the first real loli like character we’ve had, but there is something else that actually makes an impact. Although it may seem like it was just to give this episode a purpose or a conflict to overcome she really brought up this question on the balance between playing seriously and goofing off. Her dilemma on why she was brought to the club, why she liked the performance, was quite interesting. It really was because although they weren’t playing seriously, they were having fun.

That’s why I think Azusa brings up the issue of what this series is really about. She didn’t understand it and she was bothered by not understanding it, but she recognized it. It’s not about the band, it’s not about the music, and it’s about being together with friends when doing something like that. I really don’t think Azusa is going to change the show much with her presence, she isn’t going to make them all serious, but I think what she really did was bring up Mio’s speech that sums this up. It’s just about having fun playing music together and hanging out. That’s what the whole series really is and it was interesting to see it shown in this way.

Well the title pretty much sums things up. What now? I was surprised that so soon they came to this kind of climax point in the show. Obviously the show isn’t over yet. Hell, I like the show enough to really want it to have 24-26 episodes, but I have a feeling it’s only going to be 12. Still, forming the band, dealing with real life problems while in the bad, and practicing and having fun together have all been handled in a rather impressive pace. This episode kind of took all that and made a nice almost ending point. They were able to pull together and do a concert which everyone really liked. Now, the preview talks about a Christmas Concert, and I’m sure there are other small events that they can practice for but I’m just wondering what else they can do now. As far as the bad stuff goes they seem to have covered a lot of the important points in preparation for this concert. What, if anything, are they going to do in preparation for the Christmas concert?

I do have to say that although I kind of made it sound like I just want them to do the serious stuff that focuses on the band and getting ready for concerts I really do love the parts of this series that focus on some lighter moments. I think we’ll be seeing a lot more of those in the following episodes simply because as I described, there isn’t too terribly much else, but that may end up being a good thing. Getting some of the heavy and more serious stuff out of the way now may just lead to more of the episodes with that slice of life aspect I really liked.

After watching the beach episode of K-On!, one of the latest episodes, I feel comfortable that I’ve really come to a good understanding of the series. I really liked it from the start, so it’s not like I was unsure whether or not I liked the series. I’m a big fan of KyoAni work and I love charming shows that aren’t necessarily serious, but I wasn’t quite sure which direction it would go in. I thought it would mainly be comedy and while that is pretty much what it is there is an essence of “slice-of-life” to this series that just comes though even when it’s just flat out being comical. It isn’t slice-of-life in the same manner that other shows are, like a serious focus on problems with love or what to do with your future, but it has a much lighter yet still real element to it.

This isn’t the first show to have something like this, but this slice-of-life element about just everyday activities with friends, really seemed to come through in this beach episode. The previous episodes seemed to really be about actual problems with school or introducing the characters and what they are doing but even though this episode had some focus on them wanting to practice or get better it just seemed to have a feel to it. It may not always be the most hilarious thing, but it’s just kind of heartwarming to watch. Seeing characters just goofing around with friends, there’s something to it and I think this episode showed K-On can do it well.

I’m just going to flat out say that I liked this episode and have hopes of liking the rest of the series. With a show like this there is always so much crap talk going on about comparing it to other works, Lucky Star and other KyoAni work focusing on comedy shows but honestly, I don’t care about the difference in hype level and initial reactions comparing the two and whatever the hell people come up with to get attention about whining about shit. I liked the show; I found it funny and the characters charming so I’m going to continue to watch it. People need to stop dissecting shows on a level like that. If the first episode is good and charming and funny who gives a crap about comparing it to other stuff or expectations, it’s good, period.

The ED to this series, I must say, is just absolutely incredible. I’ve literally been listening to it over and over again for the past 20 minutes. Right after I finished the anime I’ve been listening to it, while writing this and everything. It’s pretty damn good and I can’t wait until the full version of the song is available.