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K-ON!

Review: Pure Pure Heart Insert Song Single

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General Information

Album Title: Pure Pure Heart
Artist: Houkago Tea Time (Toyosaki Aki, Hikasa Youko, Satou Satomi, Kotobuki Minako, Taketatsu Ayana)
Catalog Number: PCCG-70075
Release Date: June 2nd, 2010

Tracks

1. Pure Pure Heart
2. Sakuragaoka Joshi Koutougakkou Kouka [Rock Ver.]
3. Pure Pure Heart (Instrumental)
4. Sakuragaoka Joshi Koutougakkou Kouka [Rock Ver.] (Instrumental)
5. Pure Pure Heart (Instrumental [-Guitar1])
6. Pure Pure Heart (Instrumental [-Guitar2])
7. Pure Pure Heart (Instrumental [-Keyboard])
8. Pure Pure Heart (Instrumental [-Bass])
9. Pure Pure Heart (Instrumental [-Drums])
…

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K-ON!! Second Season – Episode 8 – Yui’s “Undecided” Future

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Unfortunately, Yui and Ritsu didn't submit their career plans…

Senior year… Time to think about what college you are going to… But Yui have not decided what she is going to do.


Talking about colleges and admission exams….

It's blinding me!

In my senior year, I knew what I wanted to be… an Accountant, but I haven’t applied to any schools since I haven’t finish taking those SATs and ACTs… I didn’t get in the school I wanted at first, so I had to transfer in after sophomore year. Not only that, taking these tests are pain in the ass.

Yui quickly faces her decision on colleges and her future, but she doesn’t know what to be… A NEET? Good idea, but do she really want to be supported by her sister and parents for rest of her life? Most people wouldn’t like to live with their parents for rest of their life… it gets pretty embarrassing.

How about “undecided”? You cannot be undecided on colleges because she has to go somewhere. Most of the time, students in college have a “undecided” major simply because they don’t know what they are going to do. Once they become “decided,” some of their courses won’t count and they have to take even more courses.

Ritsu and Yui gets called down to the facility office and of course, rejected and they try to ask about Sawako’s past. If she looks perfect, why she doesn’t have a boyfriend yet? Maybe because of her outrageous past? I don’t know…

The story on how Yui met Nodoka is pretty funny.

Crayons aren't food… Don't do this or you end up having a mark on your face.

They are usually in the same class… Some more troubles:

I don't think this is the right way to cook it.

She forgot the octopus for the recipe…

Don’t depend on Yui with anything… she manages to forget the octopus and…

Tako-less takyaki! You can laugh all you want because its so funny.

but people manages to forgive her because of her innocent looks. Don’t worry, she improved a little bit…

There is another funny moment in her life when Yui wanted to be a Kindergarden Teacher in this writing assignment assignment:

My dream is to become a kindergarten teacher. I want to become a kindergarten teacher and play with kids forever.

And the whole class laughed at her… even though she didn’t notice and yes, that is so like her… Even the other jobs are unsuitable for her including an office job.

Mio was more shyer than she is now in her childhood:

More like a bookworm at best…

Ritsu picking on Mio as a child… like she always done…

My sister was pretty shy when she was young, but it took awhile to break away from it. Ritsu have teach her well to overcome the fear of speaking to an audience for her piece of writing she got a reward on. Pretty amazing, although not everything that Ritsu teaches is useful.

Yui tries to write Musician down and hand it in and the paper got rejected because notice that she put it in the wrong area… It was supposed to be in the bottom section silly.

And yes, that make her laugh… and the first time too!

This episode is pretty enjoyable not because of some character development. It relates to my time when I decided on my future plans. I’m sure other high school seniors, college students and graduates have the same feeling. The question remains… What will Yui eventually decide on her future for real next time? I guess we will never know…

Verdict

8.75/10

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K-ON!! Second Season – Episode 7 – The Mio Fanclub Legacy

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Beware, this episode has a lot of MugiVision…

I bet all those Mio fanboys are raving this after they had a tea party commemorating Mio.

Fangirls are fascinating creatures…

Fanboys and Fangirls are facinating creatures that seems to love and be so passionate what they like way too much. In real life however, these Fanboys and Fangirls can get so annoying to fan haters that the fan haters and the fanboys/fangirls go out on an all out war. In K-ON!!, they seem to not show that negative aspect. No matter how much those Mio fanboys want to be at the tea party, they can’t go since it’s an all-girls school.

Considering how popular Mio is after that pantsu Nice Bowl incident doesn’t help the fact that she is shy. Not only that, she generated a lot of fans that she thought they were stalkers…

Caught Red Handed!

In a past incident, the former student council president, Sokabe Megumi is actually behind the Mio Fanclub! No wonder she knows how to make tea! Also, Ritsu tried to add some Mugivision while Mio was telling about what happened with the Mio Fanclub which I found rather funny. Not only that, the whole club plays for Megumi before she graduates… and the club gets handed down to Nodoka although she doesn’t want to…

Megumi is the biggest Mio fangirl out there that she could surpass all those Mio Fanboys in real life. Not only that, she wants an autograph from Mio signed as Mio-tan… I laughed.

Now onward to the party:

Holy crap! Mio themed items!

The speech isn’t much of a speech with Mio biting her tongue, lips and also with someone saying Shish kabob that makes Mio laugh. Fangirls love it when they see her quirkiness.

Azu-nyan and Mio cutting the cake with embarrassment.

Fangirls are still squealing…. Not only that, the cake looks nice.

Ritsu and Yui is having a field day with this…

Although Mio doesn’t like Ritsu and Yui asking about scary stories…

The fangirls are… They will be satisfied with anything…

Not only, they take advantage of this by asking Mio embarrassing questions. Also, do I smell some Mugivision going around here

They look so cute… Also, why Ritsu is in every picture? It's her pictures, obviously…

When the fangirls look at the sideshow…

They are liking it.

Mio afterwards share a very strange poem that sounds like a love poem… ouch… Next, they play “Pure Pure Heart” which sounds really good, on the same level as Fuwa Fuwa Time from the last season. At least its better than the mediocre music I had listen from Girls Dead Monster…. Ugh… Not only that, the insert single is releasing in another week, so I will probably get a chance to review the full song. Will it be better than Fuwa Fuwa Time? We will find out soon.

When they take group pictures with Mio and the fangirls, Azusa sends a group picture to Megumi who can’t come to the party. Look at how much she grew in the last scene:

Oh look how much she changed after she graduated…

Girls grow more mature and beautiful once they graduate and enter their adult/college life. Also, the last scene as pretty heartwarming indeed… especially when she is the #1 fan of Mio… Take that Fanboys~

Even though I am not a Mio fanboy, I found this episode rather enjoyable… This episode pretty much done it for me along with Episode 4 and others. It makes me wonder… What will happen to the Mio Fanclub once Mio graduates? That will leave us speculating about it until the end of the season.

Verdict

8.9/10

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Midseason Thoughts: K-ON!! Second Season and Working

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Yes, this is a trap….

It’s about that time again where we are midway through the Spring 2010 Anime Season. Working!! and K-ON!! is closely compared as they are both slice of life comedy anime. However, which one I think is better so far? You will find out soon enough.

Working!! is supposed to be a fresh new experience with the setting mainly taking place at the restaurant. So far, Working!! is not delivering because of the content. The problem I see is overused jokes or using them way too fast that they get old pretty quickly. Most of the comedy I see is slap stick or the running gag such as Inami’s over exaggerated Arrhenphobia to the point where it gets completely annoying. Because of this, Inami is the weakest character in the whole Anime and the most unliked. The only characters I like is Popura, Kyouko and Yachiyo, and there is not enough of Popura, even though Shouta seems to like her the most…. What happened? Did she became unPopura or something?

Unlike Working!!, K-ON! does not suffer this problem. Yes, the beach scenes were a bit redundant last season, but from the second season, it remains fresh to me and I still enjoy it a whole a lot more than Working!!. K-ON! is simply more polished because Kyoto Animation had experience with comedy anime in the past. The problem I can see is that A-1 Pictures doesn’t seem to have any previous experience with comedy anime. They will hopefully gain more experience once they pick up a few more comedy Anime adaptations in the future.

Now to K-ON!!. Besides from the not so good opening, I quite enjoyed it. It is slightly better than the first season and I continue to enjoy every bit of it. I have nothing else to say…

If someone saying that K-ON!! is outdated sh** and Working!! is better… That is simply bullsh**. Working!! needs to solve its flaws to be better than what it is right now. I know it has potential, but I am simply not seeing it. This doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy it. It’s just that I am not enjoying it as much as K-ON!!. It’s simply an average comedy slice of life that is stagnating, not improving on its content…

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K-ON!! Second Season – Episode 6 – Rain Worries and Naming Instruments

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I think I got a nosebleed here…

Yes, it’s rainy season and it sucks badly… April seems to be the month where it rains so much that you need to wear a raincoat or use an umbrella. Not only that, outdoor after school activities get canceled or put indoors because it is so wet out. There was a few occasions in my life where I stood out in the heavy rain for an hour. After going inside, I was all soaking wet, even when I have an umbrella and jacket on. Yui is the same way, trying to protect her Gitah. Getting wet by cars splashing water, puddles, a dog and falling down to the ground. This is a reason why Yui is wearing this maid outfit. I wished she kept it on since it looked so cute, but oh well…

Is this some kind of ritual?

This is a funny thing since hardly anyone would dry their clothes in the dark music room. Well, you have to put it somewhere so it could dry. However, Ui never broke the news that it was Yui’s and it left hilarious reactions on Azusa’s and Jun’s part.

You wonder where Azusa got this?

Azusa discovers online shopping where she bought various things for cheap such as a guitar raincoat that comes with a guitar desiccant, a wall mounting guitar hangar, finger trainer and a training CD. Azusa really loves to buy random things online. Buying online is usually beneficial as it costs less and you can buy items that is normally not sold in stores in the comfort of your home, but some might get too overboard and then have their place filled with unnecessary things lying around the house or apartment.

When Yui starts replacing the strings in her Guitar, the funniest scene happen when Azusa said that Yui shouldn’t talk so dearly to her Gitah every time. This makes everyone else think that Azusa is jealous of Yui and saying it is a love triangle. I laughed.

How she is going to take this off when inside?

Musical Instruments are very delicate and very sensitive to temperature and moisture. I know this because my Clarinet is made out of wood. However, I won’t go so far and wrap it with plastic and tape. It is pretty foolish because it’s hard to take off. This is why all the members decided to leave the instruments at school, but…

Yui misses Gitah.

There are some people that are emotionally attached to their musical instruments like with Yui. This is because Yui brings it home every day so that she can practice on it and even sleep with it! Normal people won’t do that with their instruments, unless they are like Yui…

Oh my! Mio is also naming her instrument.

There is some things in life that some people give names to… Computers, cell phones, instruments, Weighted Companion Cubes (no, I’m just kidding about the cube part)… you name it! I even name my computers and my iPhones after my favorite anime characters such as Fujibayashi Kyou on my Unibody Macbook Pro. Laugh of me if you want, but I am proud of it.

Yui suggests naming her bass “Elizabeth” which Mio refuses to call it by. However, Mio calls it “Elizabeth” by  the end of the episode, with the others peeking at her and giggling. Azusa also calls her guitar “Muttan.”

In the end, this was a pretty fun episode with the girls doing some funny stuff… To my surprise, what will Ritsu and Mugi name their instruments?

Verdict

8.7/10

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One Year Later, I still enjoy K-ON!

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No, it's not because of the pillow fight that Mugi started.

It has been nearly one year ago since the first season K-ON!. When I first watched it, I actually enjoyed it and more so since in 2009, I was already in college and graduated from High School. I still enjoy the second season of K-ON! as much I did with the first season. So, how come I still enjoy this moeblob, music slice-of-life anime? For several reasons.

First, It brought back past memories on how my high school life wasn’t great compared the girls in K-ON and how they are enjoying school. I have attended a public high school where some or most of the students are from higher class families. The school I used to attend didn’t have a good environment because there were some students who do drugs, going out drinking, and obsessed about relationships for example. I was one of those teenagers that don’t do these activities. I had friends, but gradually I stopped talking them when college started. I was a minority in the school and the school was not a multiracial school. As a result, I was picked on and bullied in high school. These were the reasons I didn’t like my high school years compared to college years. Now looking back at K-ON!, they don’t suffer the problems and it seem that the girls actually enjoyed going to school and having fun after school and eating cake and drinking tea. I wished my high school years was like this… less teenage rage and more on enjoying school and having fun with after school activities.

Second thing I can relate to K-ON! is the music aspect. Yes, half the time spent on the whole season is watching them drink tea, eat cake, socialize, and etc, but they actually play. In middle school, I enrolled into concert band since 7th grade up to the last year of high school. I played Clarinet back then and gradually, I started to get better with the lack of practice since I spend time on the computer. Although I never got first chair in my high school years, I did enjoyed playing music. The same happened with Piano. Ever since I started when I’m young, I hardly ever practiced. However, I managed to play those pieces with some minor mistakes. I am talented like the girls in K-ON! who manages to play the songs perfectly without any practice. It was quite amazing. Since college however, I haven’t really touched the Clarinet and the Piano, but I should start playing again with Anime Music of some sort.

Lastly, K-ON! is not all about the moe factor or moeblobs. There is always going to be moe-haters, mecha-haters, action-haters, romance-haters, you name it! Deep down from the shallow perception of moe, K-ON! has what all the qualities slice of life anime have. Slice of life stories relates back to your or anyone’s life and past experiences. Although K-ON! may not a masterpiece, it is still a pretty good and well balanced slice of life Anime that most who can enjoy that enjoys the genre. Then again, isn’t a slice of life story supposed to be a mere image of everyday life? We may not see a person like Yui in real life, the character personalities can be a possibility.

Life experiences and the music is what makes me watch K-ON! like I do with the slice of life genre. While some people may not like this genre because of the lack of plot, I think most people would enjoy it as there is other elements in slice of life such as comedy, drama, romance, etc.
Attribution Information

Fanart used in this post is made by 眼鏡虫

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K-ON! – Episode 5 – Girls Night Over

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No really... Doughnuts are so overrated that Jun only took one bite of every one of them.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t be taking a bite of every one of them if they aren’t so closed… No, I’m just kidding.

This is obviously the story of Ui, Azusa and Jun who are left behind since they are not on the trip. Compared to the trip, this looks less fun, but still enjoyable.
…

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Weekly Anime Roundup: Net Idol Traps, Smartypants Cooks and Senior Field Trips

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It has been a very slow week with Anime since releases for shows I’m covering didn’t come out until the end of the week. Nevertheless, I decided to cover them in one post with some real life experiences along with the usual thoughts on the Anime itself. This includes Kaichou wa Maid-sama, Working!!, K-ON!! Episode 4. This post is paginated by each series. If successful, I may do this in the future to leave room for more editorial posts.

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Review – K-ON – Listen!!

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This is the last of the Anime Music reviews for a while… until the Angel Beats! OP/ED comes out or some Insert Song Album shows up. Further ado, now onward to the K-ON!! ED Single Review, Listen!!

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General Information

Album Title: Listen!!
Artist: Houkago Tea Time (Toyosaki Aki, Hikasa Youko, Satou Satomi, Kotobuki Minako, Taketatsu Ayana)
Catalog Number: PCCG-70073
Release Date: April 28, 2010
Tracks

1. Listen!!
2. Our MAGIC
3. Listen!! (Instrumental)
4. Our MAGIC (Instrumental)
General Thoughts

It has been proven that Hikasa Youko is a better singer overall compared to Toyosaki Aki. Proven with the single, “Dont’ say lazy” that was released last year. Not only that, she managed to pull off Fuwa Fuwa Time pretty well and bring out a very fluffy and catchy song that brought out her character’s “cute” side. Does Listen!! delivers on that consistent quality the last two single albums have done after the disaster called “GO! GO! MANIAC.” We will find out soon enough.
Listen!!

Listen!! has energy, but not as much as the predecessor, “Don’t say lazy.” They seem to play it safe after the big disaster they had experimenting with GO! GO! MANIAC. The vocals are more present, similar to the style in “Don’t say lazy” and also, very catchy. Some may find the longer version better than the TV version… It is obvious that Hikasa Youko is a lot better than what I have seen with GO! GO! MANIAC.

Nevertheless, it was pretty damn close, but only a bit off of being just as good as the predecessor and is still a good addition for this season.
Our MAGIC

A bit slower than the last side and is more of a pop song that has a 60/70s feel as some people say. In contrast to the B-side from the “Don’t say lazy,” it is very different as it doesn’t have the rock feel. Our MAGIC is a very catchy song. As they say, this song sort of didn’t suit Mio’s character just like “Hello Little Girl” from Mio’s Character Album that released last year. Perhaps it could of suit Kotobuki Minako better, which had a pretty good singing voice from my experience… but I don’t know… Despite that, Hikasa Youko has done a pretty good job with this song.

Overall, Listen!! is definitely a better single album than GO! GO! MANIAC and a decent addition to K-ON!. It may not be on the same level as the predecesor, but it was pretty damn close. This pretty much proves Hikasa Youko is simply a better singer than Toyosaki Aki… As always, the animation of Listen!! is top notch just like “Don’t say lazy” from the first season.

And wait… Didn’t Hikasa Youko sing songs for Chu-Bra!! a long with Kotobuki Minako? Well, yes… of course. Although I didn’t heard any songs from that Anime since I have no interest in it, I’m positive that it is probably around the same level from my assumptions. I may be wrong, but oh well.
Verdict

8.5/10, Outstanding, but barely.

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Review – K-ON – GO! GO! MANIAC

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General Information

Album Title: GO! GO! MANIAC
Artist: Houkago Tea Time (Toyosaki Aki, Hikasa Youko, Satou Satomi, Kotobuki Minako, Taketatsu Ayana)
Catalog Number: PCCG-70071
Release Date: April 28, 2010
Tracks

1. GO! GO! MANIAC
2. Genius…!?
3. GO! GO! MANIAC (Instrumental)
4. Genius…!? (Instrumental)
General Thoughts

K-ON! in the first music had a very good amount of good pop music that sounded very good and very catchy. Did Go! Go! Maniac fulfill the promise to be better than the opening of the first season? Far from it since from first time listening to the TV version, it was a complete mess. However, does this album fixes that messiness. Not a chance… and you will find out soon enough.
GO! GO! MANIAC

Well, in comparison to Cagayake! GIRLS from the first season, GO! GO! MANIAC is two leaps backwards. The problem? The vocals are sadly a big mess. Toyosaki Aki’s vocals were a big mess compared to her first single, love your life, which sounded a lot better than this… The problem is that the messiness comes from the lyrics being sung way too fast and causing some squeakiness. I think the trend of Kyoto Animation providing not so good opening themes is becoming a reality since Suzumiya Haruhi S2’s opening theme, Super Driver, was also considered a disaster because of the not so good singing from Hirano Aya.

Oddly enough, taking the vocals away makes the song less cringing… but it doesn’t change the fact that the song was ruined by the vocals.
Genius…!?

Genius…!? sounds better than the former and Toyosaki Aki’s voice not nearly as bad, but fits in and pretty catchy. However, as with the overall horribleness of the opening song, this song simply doesn’t have the energy and sounds pretty simplistic.

From Toyosaki’s performance of these songs, the overall performance of the songs in the album was average. The problem is the opening song is obviously a big mess to make the song slightly unlistenable. I have heard a a lot better from Toyosaki Aki from the Houkago Tea Time Album and also Yui’s character Album. GO! GO! MANIAC did not deliver at all and was actually worse than the former OP in the first season. Even Toyosaki’s version of Fuwa Fuwa Time sounded better than this… Way better. From my impressions, it is clear that Hikasa Youko will perform better on the ending theme, Listen!! which I will review next time.
Verdict

7.2/10, Average

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K-ON!! Second Season – Episode 3 Thoughts and Impressions

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Look at this cute turtle!

No, this episode is not about this turtle you are seeing here… it is about Ritsu…

Although I’m not a big Ritsu fan, this episode was enjoyable. Well, it is tough that you never be in the spotlight, but trying to do something else won’t help either because the bottom line of doing what you want to do is not all about the popularity favor, but if you enjoy what you are doing. Ritsu gets tired for not being in the spotlight, so she tried the guitar and…

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She isn't cut out for it... sadly...

Well, it seemed that it was too difficult and Yui seems to be glad to have Gitah back (lol). She becomes jealous at Sawako’s shining appearance that she also tried doing the keyboard like shown below:

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I think I can do better than this...

Be amazed that she can make the keyboard talk, not make actual music. Well, after playing Piano for several years, I think I still know how to play the keyboard at least… more so than Ritsu by what she does with it. Putting her in front of the band or shining the light on her also didn’t help… Of course, popularity isn’t everything as she remembers why she played the drums in the first place… And yes, it only took the watching of The Who (yes, the actual band) and Keith Moon (who is part of the said band) on DVD… After all, The Who is a very influential band.

Funny, isn’t it… Ironicly, the person who really wanted to shine aka Sawako went too extreme and well, yeah…

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Experimenting has dire consequences...

If you cover your face with something, it is quite obvious that you went a bit overboard. Anyways, another factor is Yui… Yes, I know she doesn’t seem to be like Fuko, but I still find her rather cute and very funny despite this. literally, my intelligence fells when I see Yui doing something that a normal person won’t normally do, but it is all good. Also, Mugi figured out another song thanks to Ritsu fooling around the keyboard… Can’t wait to see how it sounds like next episode, if she does sing…
Verdict

8.4/10

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K-ON!! Second Season – Episode 2

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This episode is probably the most funniest one compared to the first season, thanks to Ritsu. They clean out that messy closet and they found a really heavy, pristine guitar that looked like it was never used. Actually, it was Sawako’s and she doesn’t want it anymore and wants them to pawn it and use the money for the club. They end up in the shopping center where Ritsu and Yui fools around while Mugi becomes amazed because she really wanted to go one of them (for herself being a ojou herself have never seen one for herself). They finally pawned the guitar at the music shop and they got 500,000 yen ($5,500 USD in current exchange rates) for the whole thing and the other girls except Mugi becomes obsessed on how to use to money. They clean up and Sawako comes and Ritsu lies about the money. Then, Sawako wants the reciept and she ate it until Sawako takes it out and finds out it is 500,000 yen. She takes the money back and later the club decided on buying that turtle at Azusa saw… Although disappointed at first, she finally makes it her friend and it was cute!
…

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K-ON!! Second Season – Episode 1 Thoughts and Impressions

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So heavy....

K-ON is back… well, this time in widescreen… which means no more waiting for several weeks to get the widescreen edition. TBS must have learned its lesson. The five girls are back and the four, Mio, Ritsu, Tsumugi, and Yui are in the same class after Sawako pulled some strings to put them in the same class, along with Nodoka… Yes, they were crying for joy… but realized that when they graduate as seniors, Azusa will be all alone, so they attempt to find new members through all means as dressing up as animals, stalking people’s clubs and stuff, but failed. They do a performance and still… no new members, although Azusa is okay with it, but she is going to be even more stricter than before and Yui now wants a new member again…
…

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Spring 2010 Preview

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But it’s Winter! Why the hell you be posting a Spring 2010 Preview?! Well, because everyone else is. I will be covering two new spring shows and perhaps another old one after the Spring Semester ends… The picks are:

Thoughts: It’s been a year since a Key anime have aired (the last being Clannad After Story) and they are really good at story telling, although some may not agree. The surprise that KyoAni isn’t doing this. PA Works, which have done some rather good adaptations of True Tears and CANAAN… Heck, why not? From the looks from the trailer, the show looks very promising.

However, compared to earlier works, the characters are already dead. 😮

Thoughts: More of this stuff? Well, suck it haters… I will do it anyways because I have enjoyed the first season. Sure there is a lot of moe compared to other series, but it’s something just to enjoy. Besides, I liked the first season since brainless entertainment makes me relieve stress from my college work and who doesn’t like girls eating cake all day and play music?

Although, Sora no Woto so far is alot better at story telling than K-ON!… But then again, the main advantage of K-ON! is MOE!

Not to mention, they had to take the naming conventions from Hayate no Gotoku Second Season… They just added another explanation point at the end of K-ON! Makes sense, but they could of be more creative.

Older Series

I won’t start these series until May 2010 and by then, I will have the DVDs to start covering them.

Thoughts: I was looking at this anime for quite awhile… but when someone actually made a blog post on it, well… I’m convinced because Kampfer disappointed me and I felt like watching more trap animes… they are quite funny if you ask me, but I won’t start this until I obtain the DVDs for this series.

Compared to Bakatest’s Hideyoshi, it’s obvious that the main character obviously wasn’t forced into girls clothing…

Thoughts: I haven’t seen a mahou shoujo series for awhile since what have hit me. Somehow, this interested me since it had moe magical girls fighting whatever… Well, I find out when I actually start it in May/June.

Well, there you have it… Like with the Fall 2009 Season, this list is subject to change since one day, something can interest me and I decide to watch it. Up to date info can be seen at “Upcoming Anime” on the top of the blog.

All the info are pulled from Melative and WP plugin, melative-link.

Read moreSpring 2010 Preview
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K-ON! – Episode 14 (OVA) Thoughts and Impressions

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Seriously, does this patch go on the case or what? Nope... 😮

This is a rather refreshing episode to get back on the K-ON! mood since after all, there is another season… Wait? Another season of K-ON! So, more cake eating and tea drinking, cosplaying and beach scenes than actual practicing?

Hold up… We are not there yet. They decide to do a live performance at a Live House, although Azusa and Mio doesn’t want to, but they give in. With their first time, Yui is so excited for it that yeah… her usual personality. Sticking the backstage sticker all over the place, asking for help with the performance sheet and other things that causes the viewer to have a moe~ nosebleed. They got too excited and nervous, that they messed up the first rehearsal, but with the help of the other bands, they got it just right for the live performance. Ui, her friend, Nodoka and also Sawako…

After their performance, they partied all night until midnight, where they slept.. They go see the sunset without Sawako and Yui notices that Azusa’s tiger ears were still on… Moe~~~~~

What? Azusa is still wearing the tiger ears?

Overall, besides the moe, this was a very enjoyable and fun episode… a thing that relieves stress from college work. If you contrast with Sora no Woto, I can see the difference clearly… K-ON! is moe~, Sora no Woto is not… and difference in character designs… So yeah… this should make most people excited for another season… yet it feels so nostalgic. Can I survive another season after watching this? YES I CAN!

Verdict

8.7/10

Read moreK-ON! – Episode 14 (OVA) Thoughts and Impressions
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Moments in Anime of 2009 – The Bad, The so-so and the Good…

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2009 was a pretty dismal year for the economy in general, but not for Anime… I will be discussing several moments in Animes I watched that were good to the ones that are horrible. Let’s start with the bad, shall we.
…

Read moreMoments in Anime of 2009 – The Bad, The so-so and the Good…
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The Music of K-ON! – It sounds so good!

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Maybe K-ON! strongest point is not the story, but the music… With all the albums sold up to this date, 552,491 albums, about half a million are sold up to date since 5 months ago when the first two albums are sold… which is impressive compared to how many albums are sold in the time period for Suzumiya Haruhi in total (this should make the Haruhiists jealous)…

Here is the rough data of how much are sold:

Death Devil – Maddy Candy – 15464 total sales, #31 for the week
Don’t Say Lazy – 161163 total sales, #59 for the week
Cagayake Girls – 144909 total sales, #79 for the week
Hokago Tea Time – 100221 total sales, #37 for the week\

Fuwafuwa Jikan :  77804 total sales (current, was not in top 100)

Mio Character Single :  51897 total sales (current, was not in top 100)
Yui Character Single : 50196 total sales (current, was not in top 100)

Data is gathered from this thread and CDJapan.

The music is pretty much the strong point of the anime… Rarely, the ED doesn’t give that much attention, but Don’t say “lazy” became insanely popular after the first episode that many people like with Hare Hare Yukai started to imitate it or even try to play the piece. If you were to search on Youtube, you will find a good amount of people playing it or even MADs that have it.

Also, believe it or not, Cagayake! GIRLS is also popular as well… Although not as popular as the ED, it’s still pretty popular that some people plays it… In my opinion, both of them are just as good… I really don’t have much of the preference…

The next album is Fuwa Fuwa Time (Lit: Light and Fluffy Time) and there are two versions of it, the first with Hikasa Youko (Voice of Mio) and second with Toyasaki Aki (Voice of Yui). Fuwa Fuwa time pretty much brought out a lighter side of Mio, however, after hearing both of them, Yui’s version was a little bit better since her character suits her for that song alot more and in my opinion, on the same level as God Knows and Lost my music… Also in the Fuwa Fuwa Time album is Tsubasa wo Kudasai performed by all 4 voice actors of the K-ON! Club and sounds pretty good…

Next is the character image album… The only ones that I heard so far are Mio’s and Yui’s and most of the songs sound pretty good as well. The only song that didn’t fit well is “Hello Little Girl” in Mio’s Image Album, but still sound good… The favorite songs from both of these albums are Heart Goes Boom!! from Mio’s Image Album and Sunday Siesta and Guitar ni Kubittake from Yui’s album… They sound great… but I can’t give a final verdict on these since I haven’t heard the rest of the image albums (I expect that they will be good.)

Also, the recently released image album,Houkago Tea Time with the full versions of Watashi no Koi wa Hotch Kiss (lit. My Love is a Stapler) by Toyosaki Aki and also another song, Fude Pen ~Ballpoint Pen~ (lit. Calligraphy Pen ~Ballpoint Pen~) sung both by Yui’s and Mio’s voice actors… Also included is Yui’s version of Fuwa Fuwa Time as mentioned earlier. Both of these songs undoubtedly sounded great… but haven’t heard the live mix yet.

Overall, the K-ON! music is what make K-ON! what it is… Even if you think the story line might not be the strongest… you have to agree that the songs in K-ON! are pretty appealing… more so than Super Driver and Tomare! which is terrible or average sounding at best (Again, this opinion is not meant to offend Haruhiists. I have to agree that although Hirano Aya is a good voice actor, she isn’t a great singer, but some of Haruhi S1 songs are pretty good). The songs sound good that it ended up on the top ten on my Last.fm charts:

chikorita157’s Music Profile – Users at Last.fm copy

Note, Top 11 was added due to a duplicate.

chikorita157’s Music Profile – Users at Last.fm

Yes, I have to admit that I am also a big fan of I’ve Sound/Key Visual Arts stuff and also Lia… mainly because her songs sounded beautiful (Tori no Uta, Light colors and Toki wo Kizamu Uta).

Note: K-ON! soundtrack isn’t mentioned since it doesn’t really have anything that interesting and it will probably put me to sleep (more so than the Visual Novel BGM (like Kanon and others of sort), which is alot more exciting) and Kyoani isn’t great at making BGM.

Read moreThe Music of K-ON! – It sounds so good!
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K-ON! (First Season) – Final Series Review

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4883199
Notice: This is a review of the first season of K-ON I have written two years ago, not on the second season. A full review of the second season will be written in the near future.

After watching all 13 episodes of K-ON!, it is probably the most enjoyable slice of life/comedy/music anime so far in the spring season. Despite some drawbacks in a few episodes, the content of the series is pretty good and paired up with better animation than Lucky Star, K-ON! Is probably the 2nd best Kyoani comedy/slice of life series behind the Haruhi series.

Content

K-ON! Anime adaptation is adapted from the 4 panel manga which two are published so far up to this date and still continuing. The story involves with a new freshman named Yui and don’t know what club to join. Meanwhile Ritsu and Mio wants to join the light music club, but since there is a lack of members, the club was almost about to be cut. Soon, Tsumugi, a high-class girl who owns a music shop joins after changing her mind about joining the chorus club. Then, After Yui saw a poster on the light music club, she decides to join, but not able to play the guitar. After she obtained the guitar, over time she got better at playing. Club activities usually involve having tea and cake after school and cosplaying by Sawako towards the middle of the season. Next year, Azusa joined the club and soon they perform at the 2nd festival and named the band “Afterschool Tea Time” (or something like that)
Although there were a few instances of the beach episode being complete rehashes, the most of the series were different and also enjoyable with good comedy. In some report, the anime series cover 90% of the manga, although some of the content is made up to fill in the missing parts like in Lucky Star, it’s still good.

Animation

The animation style of K-ON! Is a mix between Haruhi and Lucky Star, but K-ON’s animation was a lot more detailed compared to Lucky Star. However, the animation is lacking a bit and not up to the beautifulness of Kyoto Animation’s Air, Clannad, and Kanon remake and the awesomeness of Haruhi and FMP.

Characters

In K-ON! We have the four main girls, including two others who play a part later of the series and also the irresponsible teacher, Sawako-sensei who rather drink tea and also cosplay with other members.

Many will find who watched Lucky Star that the character designs are very similar with some exceptions. Ui, Yui’s younger sister who is a lot more mature than Yui and takes care of her and Azusa-chan, a Tsundere, but not that much… and have a very timid personality.

Lucky Star to K-ON! Character Comparisons (for comparison
sake):
Tsukasa -> Yui
Kagami -> Mio
Miyuki -> Tsumugi
Konata -> Ritsu

Music

Although some will find the background music somewhat bland, the performances are the selling point of K-ON! The performance music and the single albums of K-ON! sound outstanding although there are a few instances. Another thing is that the OP and ED sold over 100,000+ copies within a few weeks which means that it’s proved as a success.

Conclusion

K-ON! is a great, lighthearted slice of life/comedy series that most people who are a fan of slice of life/comedy series should watch. However, some naysayers continuously said that the series is horrible… which isn’t the point. K-ON! may disappoint some because it’s not like Beck which have music performances frequently also with some fights, but if you look for what it is and have a open mind, you may end up enjoying it. Although some may be bothered by the moe factor in K-ON, the moe don’t bother me nor I have praised it because it have moe. However, if you enjoyed Lucky Star, you will definitely have no problem enjoying K-ON! Like Lucky Star, some people might want another season… but with the fate of FMP so far, not for awhile.

Overall Rating:

8.8/10, B+

Read moreK-ON! (First Season) – Final Series Review
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K-ON! – Extra Episode Impressions

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You didn't realize that Mio is using a Macbook!
You didn't realize that Mio is using a Macbook!

K-ON! Extra episode pretty much gave the same results as the Haruhi S2 Episode 2, Endless Eight with various people in the light music club doing their things which caused Yui to wanted to make a hotpot all alone with her younger sister, Yui during winter vacation. This involves with Azusa-chan taking care her friends cat, Mugi getting a part time job, Mio going to the beach and try to make up lyrics for the next song and Ritsu babysitting her younger brother. IIn the second part, they started to have trouble and eventually Yui texted all of them on hotpot ingredients and her getting a reply. In the end, all of them meet up at the fast food restaurant.

The episode was enjoyable and also somewhat mediocre like the Endless Eight, but it was still not a bad episode as some naysayers make it out to be. However, this episode is a lot better than some of the Lucky Star episodes.

Verdict

8.5/10

Final review on the whole K-ON! Season will be posted in the next post.

Interesting Findings

The computer Mio is using is the White Macbook which is made by Apple. It seems that K-ON! have alot of product placement throughout the series. A comparison

K-ON-epbonus-scr2IMG_0138

Another finding is that Ritsu looks wierd with the bangs down.

She almost looks like Yui... with the bangs down
She almost looks like Yui... with the bangs down
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Is K-ON! another Lucky Star? Somewhat, but not really…

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4765988
Missing Artist Infomation: help us out!

With K-ON! ending soon, another question arises… is K-ON! another Lucky Star? This have been debated before, but now after looking at 12 episodes, K-ON! is vastly different from Lucky Star besides a few simularities:

K-ON! and Lucky Star have a mostly all female cast: Besides from Minoru and Konata’s dad, Lucky Star had a mostly female cast… but in K-ON!, the whole cast mainly consist of girls since the story takes place at an all girl’s school (no kidding)

K-ON! and Lucky Star are both popular: You might be wondering why such a story like this could be so popular… Well, both Lucky Star and K-ON! orginated as a manga series and are both 4 panel manga which are published in magazines. However, the anime made it more popular with is the case with both Lucky Star and K-ON! and managed to sell alot of albums.

K-ON! and Lucky Star have moe: You might be wondering why some people hate the series with passion or like it so much… Both seems to put emphasis on the moe factor for some reason. Also, you may find that the characters of Lucky Star are very similar to the ones in K-ON!.

Differences:

Lucky Star have alot more references than K-ON!: Besides the references to famous musicans in K-ON!, there is a lack of references opposed to Lucky Star which have a boatload of references pertaining to Anime, Manga, Japanese Culture, etc. Not to mention, there is alot of Haruhi references in Lucky Star.

K-ON! have alot more music/performances: Well, duh! keiongaku is “light music” in Japanese… and why wouldn’t there be music if there is a light music club.

Different focuses: K-ON! focuses more on friendship/having fun while Lucky Star… have a completely random focus… not to mention… Lucky Star have no plot line at all.

Ending Themes: K-ON! like most anime stick with the same ED, while Lucky Star changes it every episode.

Animation Style/Quality: K-ON! have better animation/style compared to Lucky Star… it’s no comparison.

Read moreIs K-ON! another Lucky Star? Somewhat, but not really…
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K-ON Episode 12 – END

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K-ON-Ep12-scr1

This is the final episode of K-ON (story wise, there are two more episodes, one airing next week and one on a DVD/Bluray) and the finale was done pretty decent dispite not pleasing some people who watch K-ON! for the wrong reasons which I will explain in a different post… but most will enjoy this light hearted series… never the less.

The Good

Ui looks almost like her sister.... it's very difficult to tell... except...
Ui looks almost like her sister.... it's very difficult to tell... except...

Ui impersonating as Yui: This is probably the funniest part in the first half of the episode… Yui’s younger sister, Ui look very similar to each other despite having very different personalities and Ui… surprisingly plays perfectly compared to her older sister.

Ui plays perfectly which surprises the light music club members
Ui plays perfectly which surprises the light music club members

However, her cover was blown after saying Azusa’s, Ritsu’s and Tsumugi’s name.

Yui’s obsession of fishing lobster: Nodaka tells them a story about Yui acting strangely and fishing for baby lobster. After Nodaka goes into the bathroom, she finds the bath tub filled with them… It’s pretty eccentric behavior to me… and also, hilarious.

If you wondering what Yui is doing with that bucket... don't ask
If you wondering what Yui is doing with that bucket... don't ask
It's a bathtub filled with <strike>miso soup</strike> baby lobster.
It's a bathtub filled with miso soup baby lobster.

Yui’s singing of Fawa Fawa Time: If you thought Mio sang that song well… I seem to like Yui’s version alot better… It kind of reminds me of Kyon’s Imouto singing in her Character Song Image album…. Not to mention, the performance was done pretty well…
K-ON-ep12-scr6

And lastly…. Tsumugi’s picked radish eyebrows:

Now to think about it... it does resemble picked radish
Now to think about it... it does resemble picked radish

Now… The Bad

Slow Start: Although the second part was more exciting, the first part was a bit slow… until Ui impersonates Yui which is funny…

Unnecessary Cosplay scenes: Yes, I would count these cosplay scenes as fanservice, but wasn’t necessary for the final episode.

Ending Thoughts

Dispite a few things that bother me, the finale was outstanding… and it’s almost on the level of awesomeness of Haruhi’s performance…. However, some people might miss K-ON! like people missed Lucky Star soon after the season end and people who like this show will probably want more… just like the Haruhi fans want a second season which came true and hopelessly, the FMP fans who want a second season but haven’t got one… However, the manga of K-ON! is not ending yet… and more is coming so it’s highly recommended to read the manga to ease the pain of K-ON! ending… K-ON!, to me was a good experience with it’s flaws, but it’s a great lighthearted show after watching something tragic like Ef or any of the Key anime adaptations.

Verdict

9.4/10

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K-ON! Episode 10 Impressions

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K-ON-Ep10-scr1
Azusa-chan ironicly having fun instead of practicing.

Since I’m two days late on the post, I won’t be doing a typical summary post and reaction… I’m just going to post my thoughts about this episode. The episode was alright and we learned more about Azusa’s “dere side” of Azusa’s personality, Episode 10 is a rehash of Episode 4 all over again with 20% more new content and differences from Episode 4. Yes, Mugi made the sandcastle again and Mio scared of barnacles… but what disappoints me the most is the lack of originality to Episode 4. What they should of done is make it a bit different and more interesting…. like have them actually practice more..

I pretty much agree with this author who pointed out the same thing to a certain degree…. Although I sorta enjoyed the episode, I was a bit disappointed to the above reason… they can do better than that… Yet”s hope the last three episodes don’t disappoint me towards the end of the season.

Verdict

8.3/10

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