Shit just got real
Konnichiwa, Mikuites! K-On! is probably one of those anime that will forever go down in infamy, either for arguably being the most overrated sensation of it’s time or the reason for giving moe a bad name.
Being a fan of moe, I guess you could say my hatred partly sprang due to some people using K-On! as a catalyst to hate on other moe anime that weren’t nearly as bad. Not the anime’s direct intention, I know, but regardless, due to K-On! moe gained an extensively bad reputation. The other half of me simply didn’t think there was anything sensational about it. What’s the point in watching an anime about a high school music club if there’s no music? Technically, you could argue that it falls under the slice-of-life genre, but if I wanted slice-of-life, there are so many other series I could’ve watched instead. What really annoyed me was that the minimal times they did play (practice doesn’t count, if you could even have called it that), their songs were either cut off or interrupted (I’m looking at you, Mio). (Of course the irony in disliking K-On! comes in that Lucky Star is my 37th favorite anime of all-time.)
Yes, I did somehow manage to survive while watching both seasons, specials, and even the infamous Ura-On! (fuck that shit; the egoists at KyoAni thinks they can get away with anything), but only to see what all the hoopla was about. Had K-On! not infested/infected the interwebs with its moe blob juices and memes, I probably would’ve dropped it long before the end of the first season. As an anime fan, I feel I’m obligated to watch whatever the majority of the community is talking about, even if it causes me great suffering (in the back of my mind, I was frequently saying, “It’s going to get better.” It did, but then it got worse again).
I know it’s not just about the music; it’s about the character interactions, After School Tea Time, and “Moe, moe, kyun!!”…but c’mon! Cute high school girls forming a band together, aiming for the top…it seems like a wasted epic opportunity. The again, for whatever reason, K-On! was highly successful, whether you want to admit it or not.
What’s interesting is that I started to like it more after I finished the series. Perhaps because the torture was finally over? Even though I didn’t really enjoy the anime, I do occasionally look at K-On! MADs on YouTube or fan art on Tumblr. Maybe it’s because then I can just skip to my favorite parts with out being bored through lengthy, aimless chick talk. 2DT linked me to an excellent post about Ritsu, and I can’t help but wonder if the same applies to Yui––my 2nd and most favorite character from the anime, respectively. Sadly, Yui’s got nothing on Haruhi’s godlike guitar playing skills. Then again, maybe that’s an unfair comparison. :/
You like “to-may-to,” I like “to-mah-to.” You call it cute, I call it shit. I don’t take pleasure in using this ambiguous excuse, but maybe it just wasn’t my type of anime. Though, those in Mio’s fan club may be pleased to hear that I did recommend the anime to my sister, since she’s big into that guitar and rocker stuff (and a girl); maybe she would understand the appeal more than I did.
In the meantime, I will be awaiting December to see if my opinion changes. It already slowly is, seeing as I did like K-On!! more than K-On! (that’s with two exclamation points, not one!), though only slightly so, and the K-On!! Special gave me a good sense of what the K-On! Movie will be like, so I can only hope that they’ll stay with the same tone.
Anyway, what’s your opinion on the Light Music Club? Like it? Love it? Love to hate it?
i love many an anime i agree are ‘terrible’ if you look at the characters, plot, soundtrack or art style, doesn’t stop me loving them though ^^ (e.g the last anime i watched ‘nyan koi’)
loved k-on pretty much just on chars, think it is very much an anime thats benefited from marathoning (^o^)/
Being a cat lover, I’m probably a bit biased, but I enjoyed Nyan Koi! more than K-On! I felt that it had better focus…well, at least up until a point. Nyan Koi had a goal. K-On! did too, but it was never really actualized. It felt too open-ended. Of course, some people don’t mind watching lazy, peaceful anime days, and I totally respect that. But the very first episode started out with such a great premise, and then it just kinda fizzled out throughout the rest of the series.
I’m actually a big fan of K-On and my most favorite character is Mio actually ^^
As for a reason why a majority of us fans like about this show I can’t speak on behalf of them but I can on behalf of myself. K-On is a slice-of-life with musical influence. Because it’s light and fluffly slice-of-life, viewers shouldn’t really expect too much plot or story behind these kind of shows because you will get disappointed but yes I enjoyed it for it’s light and flufflyness as it was a show about girls and their lives with the root of their friendship being the music club. If you want more music than life then go watch Beck I might say. As for Mio being my favourite, to make it simple, she resembles a lot of my characteristics and personality (besides gender and our level of smartness though I do score relatively high scores, just not as high as she does)
I will say that I could of fallen for the moe trap but either way these are my thoughts ;D I hope in the future you will like K-On more than you do now
I’ve heard a lot of people talk about Beck (a good anime which I’ve yet to see), but I watched K-On! (first) because it did look like a light, fluffy, moe anime. Perhaps I set my expectations too high, because there are moe anime–like Angel Beats!–that really wowed me, but K-On! was missing something. Is was misleading in that I expected some hardcore music anime when instead I got, like you said, a light-hearted slice-of-life about high school and friendship.
I am looking forward to the new K-On! movie since I did like the K-On!! Special. Yui and Ritsu are the main reason why I keep watching. ^^;
I don’t hate it, I don’t love it. It’s just there doing what it does, which is basically the same thing kitten videos do on YouTube (just requiring more patience and not being nearly as adorable to me).
It’s not like I’d want to hang around with these girls – they’re incredibly meek, boring and sleepwalking through their youth. I criticize myself for being much the same as a teenager, but compared to the members of their club I was a thrill-seeking missile.
Honestly, without the shallow moe, there would be virtually nothing left to appreciate about K-On. It’s not entirely insipid, but you don’t have to go far to find a more effective and memorable Iyashikei series.
Still, nothing’s done more harm to my opinion of K-On than it’s proselytizing fans who can’t take a modest opinion of the show. It’s fine to inexplicably like something far more than it deserves, but aren’t there sensible limits to how far you should delude yourself?
If we’re speaking strictly about iyashikei, no offense, but Aria was 10x greater in that sense, though I get your meaning.
I find it amusing that just about any KyoAni series (including Clannad) ends up polarizing the anime fan base. Maybe they find their publicity in purposefully creating controversial series like Haruhi (Endless Eight, anyone?), Lucky Star, and K-On! No publicity is bad publicity, as they say.
As far as where to draw the line, it’s hard to say. For non-anime fans, I would imagine they would say bloggers like us have far crossed it. So, I guess what you’re insinuating is that it’s the fans that are more obnoxious than the actual anime?
That’s an interesting notion. I wonder if K-On! would’ve been more tolerable had there not been so many people touting how great it was; though still, without word of mouth, I have to admit it probably wouldn’t have garnered the amount of popularity it has today. So, I guess they are two sides of the same coin.
Oh, no offense here.. I don’t get offended about anime, though I do get amazed sometimes. I wasn’t talking about Aria specifically, either. There are other iyashikei series, and I’m sure once a person takes off their K-On fan-glasses they’ll find one that strikes more of a chord with them (in private of course).
Yes, I meant that the fandom crosses the line, not the anime. I know it’s 95% “lol, Internet” stuff, but I’ve seen too many good conversations hijacked by KyoAni fans, and too many good anime being considered bad simply because they’re not exactly like a KyoAni anime.
After a while even joking around takes it’s toll, and there’s also a point where you have to consider that there are a lot of KyoAni/K-On fans, so probably a good chunk of them really do feel that strongly about K-On and aren’t just trolling.
As for it’s popularity, you’re right.. the more people tell you to watch something, the more likely you are to do so. Doesn’t change it’s quality, however, though it does make you more likely to pretend it’s better than it is.
And that’s bad. It shelters KyoAni from doing better, because they can always pump out more filler and make a mint just by playing the popularity card. And that’s just considering the effects on KyoAni.
Lol. I wonder how many K-On! fans are willing to admit that it is not the best slice-of-life anime. Well, judging by he comments, many, I suppose. But I totally understand what you mean about K-On! discussions and images seemingly taken up half the Internet, so it surely feels like it’s that way.
That annoys me as well, when people compare any anime to a KyoAni produced one. I mean, I’m a HUGE fan of SHAFT, but I don’t go around saying that every anime would’ve/could’ve been better had SHAFT produced it (although most of the time it probably would’ve xD). Each studio has their own unique style, which is delightful in a way.
Well, like Persocom stated, I don’t really let popularity influence me into liking something. But let’s just say it does help catch my interest–doesn’t mean I’ll like it any more, though.
One thing that annoys me about KyoAni is that it feel like they are resting on their laurels. I honestly hope that the K-On! movie turns out better, and they don’t just release something mediocre because of their sporadic “lol, the fans are going to buy it anyway” mentality.
As you grow older you’ll understand why people like K-On. Its not for the kids (its placed as seinen) though some teens may like the music and cuteness. The truth of K-On’s popularity is absolute positivity and nostalgia. If you ever watch it again in 5 to 10 years, think about those 2 aspects and you’ll get what i’m saying
> The truth of K-On’s popularity is absolute positivity and nostalgia.
I guess being well in my 30s I’m just not old enough to long for such a tediously uneventful life. K-On strikes me as a largely negative show – there’s longing to “return to a simpler time”, for sure, but living the lives of those girls would feel more like torture than catharsis to me.
Yet it compels you to stalk the comments section. Interesting no? People who are unable to be subjective have no reason to be listened to. Bye
Well, thanks for the condescension, anyway.
@Anonomyous I don’t consider myself a kid (nor am I one) and I still don’t perceive those two aspects you mentioned. I guess I have no sense of nostalgia since I never was part of an after school tea club. I might just take you up on your offer, though, and watch the series again in a few years to see if it holds some deeper meaning. Though the realist side of me says their will be much better and meaningful anime by then.
I’ll put it as simple as possible. Behind the over 9000 level of moe goodness, lies a show about growing up in High School with your buddies, enjoying your youth as much as humanly possible because once you’ve reached College, kiss 90% of your free time goodbye (Depending on your motivation that is). SoL fans such as myself already know that “Glenn” Beck is where your hunger for music should be directed towards.
K-ON! is just another one of the many shows about going to High School (Ups and downs, sort of), all the way to college. The joys and sorrows of graduation, starting a new life, etc. etc. etc.
Anyway, Will the road to Budokan FINALLY come to an end this December? That’s what I want to see really.
People who say they are inbetween are fooling themselves. You either love K-ON or hate it. That simple.
> People who say they are inbetween are fooling themselves. You either love K-ON or hate it. That simple.
Why can’t I be ambivalent about it? I like about as much about it as I dislike, so must I truly take a hardline stance?
@Overlord-G Well, for a moment you almost convinced me, but then they should’ve named it the “Light Life Club”! xD
Speaking of college, I’d be really interested to view the girls during their college lives. That may just be the one redeeming factor for me.
I highly doubt it, but it’d be a nice Christmas present, wouldn’t it? ^.^
@Hogart Since we’re on the topic of sweet things, why don’t I quote, “Life doesn’t come in just chocolate and vanilla.” What if I like the moe and music aspects, but hate the superfluous storyline and weary dialogue? Despite my opposing rhetoric, I don’t hate K-ON! 100%; in fact, I’m starting to enjoy it more than I did in the beginning, and I hope the movie continues to change my mind. ^^;
Hey, you don’t like it, you don’t. Doesn’t mean you’re any less of a cool person than I am. I’m FAR from being cool.
Anyway, I’m obviously looking forward to the movie as well.
Well, there really isn’t too much of a mystery to why people like it K-On!. Overlord-G pretty much cleared it up. It would seem that to some people K-On! delivered just the right amount of what Overlord-G listed above..
As far as the storyline, I would argue that Budokan is not the real goal or objective of the series. The music and Budokan serve only to act as the idea that gets the girls together and helps develop the relationship they have with each other. The real point/plot/story is I think best conveyed at the end of episode 12 of season 2, when the girls go to that outdoor music fest. Consider the mood of that scene towards the end of the episode when Yui and the girls are out at night, watching the stars and listening to the music in the distance. It’s melancholic. The last lines of the episode, according to the translation I watched, is Yui saying she wishes they can be a band for a long time and Mio agreeing adding “a long, long time.” as the image moves to the stars above them. What I gather from the mood of the scene is that it is not about fame, money, or even being a successful band- she’s more or less metaphorically saying that she wants to be able to enjoy these moments with her friends for as long as she can. It’s not so much about them working to become pros or trying to get to Bukodan but more of what the dream represents. This reflects on the innocence and ambition of youth and the purity, if you will, of their friendship, which are themes common in many slice of life anime. This is also why Anonymous mentioned nostalgia, as given the melancholic nature of the scene, one could easily remember a time in which they were just as innocent and ambitious, dreaming of being a singer, an artist, a musician, a dancer, etc. This is also why many people find K-On! endearing, because there are scenes like this that hit pretty close to home. But as I was saying, this is more or less the theme/story/plot of K-On! which makes it great as a slice of life anime. If you were perhaps mislead into thinking that Bukodan was to be the climax of the series then I can see how that would disappoint, but after it more or less establishes itself as being about the girls and their friendship/youth/experiences/etc., I found it easier to accept the concert scenes and enjoy the little moments between the characters (even though I too was a little annoyed at how most of the concert scenes were cut off or how they shifted to images of buildings or the outside of their school rather than stay focused on the girls.)
Another thing you seem to take issue with is the “Chick Talk”. I guess this all comes down to personal preference. Personally, I like the chick talk. It makes the characters feel more natural, realistic (as realistic as you could get from a moe show) or relatable. Kinda like the when you are first introduced to the main cast in Tarantino’s “Deathproof”- the scene is just the four girls chick talking at table for like 15 minutes. Some people hated that scene and criticized Tarantino’s overuse of dialogue while others, like myself, found it enjoyable as it made me feel somewhat connected to the characters. Of course the dialogue in K-On! is nowhere near the level of Tarantino’s, but the point is that I feel that the chick talk in the series is a means of try and make the chars more believable/natural/relatable. It works for me, but maybe not everyone.
These tidbits, things like the chick talk, the field trip, the play, though they had nothing to do with their music, make the characters more charming to fans. The question of why people like K-On! is something I can only really answer for myself. For all that Overlord-G mentioned above, I love the show for its moe goodness and for the underlying themes of friendship, the innocence and enjoyment of youth, growing up and moving on and those little moments of nostalgia that remind me of days when. Graduating High School can be a happy time and a sad time for many people. Some things last and some things fade away. But it is shows like K-On! that remind us of the times when we could dream big, hang out with friends and not have a single care in the world about what the future might hold.
I have not watched K-On, so I can’t understand why it’s popular. However, the article is well written^^
But strictly speaking, trying to figure out why things are popular is an exercise in frustration. Why is stuff like Death Note, Bleach, Miku, and Touhou extremely popular? Why is Twilight, Lord of the Rings, Lady Gaga, and Rihanna popular? There are exact sciences and inexact sciences to lots of things–K-On is just one of those inexact sciences where a lot of people love it to death while there are those who can’t understand why it’s so popular. That’s how it always is in entertainment, and it’ll continue for that way for as long as we live.
Thank you! Also, I like almost all the stuff you mentioned. XD Sure, that’s just the way the world works: some people like what other people hate and vice versa. There’s no logical explanation for it. But, being someone who didn’t find K-On! as enthralling as I was led on to believe, the reason for my post is to find out why so many people liked it. For those who did enjoy it, enlighten me as to why it’s so popular. ^^
We all have our own tastes in anime, but I actually found K-On! extremely enjoyable, especially the second season. I don’t really quite agree that it will go down in infamy for being overrated or bad (neither of which I agree with). As I know it, for every person that hates this anime, there’s probably one who loves it. I think in my review for it, I hailed the second season as the best anime of 2010. It’s hard to explain what exactly I love so much about it though, but I want to note, I didn’t feel like the anime is overly focused on fanservicing with moe. Anyway, if you’re interested in why I liked it, here’s the review: http://goo.gl/wWF8o (The comment section gets pretty heated though between the polarizing opinions.)
I also wrote a post on why I think it may have become the massively popular thing it is other than its being awesome: http://goo.gl/q3cz5
For the people who loved it, they will remember it as the greatest thing ever, for those who didn’t, their memories won’t be so kind. I didn’t feel the anime focused on moe, either; that was just the community putting a spotlight on that minute issue.
Thanks for the fun reads. :D
KyoAni succeeding in the animation department is a given, though it seems on a mass scale, their stories and/or characters are not always so universally accepted. XD
I felt that Azusa was the weakest of the bunch, either because she was the newest/youngest of the group (a black swan, if you will ^^) or because she was mostly used for moe service. Although you could argue that she was the glue that held the club together, she just lacked the seasoned aura that the other girls had.
I guess having lived through high school once, I didn’t find anything fresh in having to go through it again. As you said, K-On! was an accurate portrayal of high school life. Although, I do enjoy high school anime––only ones that bring a bit more humor and dynamism to the table like School Rumble. Kimi ni Todoke also gave a similar, nostalgic high school feeling like K-On!, and I preferred that anime.
From reading your posts and other written praise, it seems that K-On! found success in its simplicity––something that, ironically, is lacking from the world of hyper-stylized, hyperactive anime.
Interesting that you mention the “social” experience, because I was actually more roused by the creative K-On! community than the anime itself. :P
Moe is quite a personalised emotional reaction, so there’s little rhyme or reason to whether people are going to like or dislike a show like this. It doesn’t carry interesting content, rather it’s all about mood and connexion, so it all depends on whether you “synchronise” with it. If you do, it’s fantastic, KyoAni really know how to do this stuff, if you don’t, its success is bewildering. But because this depends on reactions deep within intuition and instinct rather than anything which can be easily discussed, it’s very difficult for either side to understand the other. Hence all the internet drama.
Good point. Although, you can say that for just about every anime. It’s hard to say how people will react to something. That’s why I don’t really judge a series until I see it for myself, because you never know how it well resonate with you.
What’s interesting about K-ON! in particular is all the drama that has molded around it. For an easy, laid-back anime about girls living a normal life through high hschool, it sure has created a ton of tension in the otaku-verse. XD Not even other popular anime like Madoka Magica or Angel Beats! has created so much negativity. As you mentioned, KyoAni is usually good with taking a simple story and turning it into something huge. Therefore, I must wonder, concerning all the hate around it, is it the fault of the studio or the fanbase for promoting it as something it really isn’t?
I guess the one real “good” trait to K-ON is that it isn’t trying to be overtly ambitious or anything. It’s just a simple story about some random girls enjoying their high school life, and nothing much more than that. As to whether that appeals to someone or not, it all depends on their preferences in story.
Personally, I think K-On doesn’t deserve the hate that it gets. However, at the same time, it’s not a good series. It’s just very mediocre and average, just the fanbase hypes it up. As an anime, K-ON just kind of sits there, and it’s one of those shows where skipping entire episodes wouldn’t really be noticable because there’s no coherent story or noticable character development.
In other words, I feel that K-on is purely for entertainment, and nothing more. Definitely not watching it for the plot, that’s for sure lol.
But that’s exactly what bothers me, because at the start of series it gave the impression that it was going to try to be ambitious. Here were four average high school girls aiming to form their own band and make it to Budokan.
Whether KyoAni intentionally pulled a 180 on us, I can’t say for sure,
but I’m not the only one who was disappointed by the lack of progression.
Exactly! K-On! would’ve fallen under the radar had it not been for all the hype its fanbase built around it. I believe this is why people either hold a really strong liking or distaste for the series.
Popularity rarely plays a role in how I personally feel about something I watch. It can affect whether or not I try something out, but that’s usually as far as it goes. I watched K-On! because of the hype surrounding it before it came out. While it’s not the best anime ever by far, and I spent many episodes annoyed as hell by the cut off songs and camera panning to a building instead of showing them actually playing, I did enjoy the overall story and characters. I do wish it had been done differently at times, it’s certainly no Beck. But I enjoyed it for what it was. Who knows how I’ll feel about the movie though.
That’s great to know! ^^ I feel exactly the same way. Just because something is popular, doesn’t mean I have to like it, but it does perk my curiosity. xD
I had the same annoyances with the series as you did, though I’m honestly looking forward to the movie, since the further I’ve delved into the series the more I’ve liked it. That’s not saying much, due to after nearly 40 episodes my opinion remains that S2 is only slightly better than S1, but it’s an improvement nonetheless.
Everyone else has already given good reasons so all Im going to add is this;
K-on! reminds me of the good times I spent with my friends in High School, i went to an all boys school so I guess watching girls in school kinda fills that void. Its also just cute and funny and tries to be nothing more than that. It just works no matter how many times you get back to it.
There really is no exact answer as to why people like K-on! its all different reasons for everyone.
Lol, well I will say that the K-On! girls are one of the better looking groups in anime. I’ll most likely re-visit the anime someday, obviously after I see the movie first so I can get the full impression, this time with a lighter heart. I may have been too critical the first time around.
Pingback: Anti-Social Geniuses Reference Resource Mondays | Organization Anti Social Geniuses
I am not sure to be honest. I like K-ON, but I just see it as another slice-of-life title with cute girls. Nothing more. I think their are better shows the same formula, but not sure why K-ON was such a hit….
That is the golden question. As many people have stated, it’s mainly based around your own personal feelings: about the girls’ personalities, about the story’s direction and pacing, the moe character designs, etc. K-On! obviously seems to strike a chord with some people while others don’t see what the big deal is about. I just think it’s ironic that just about every KyoAni series seems to spur this type of controversy. At least with other slice-of-slice series, even if its mediocre, we can at least agree unanimously that it’s mediocre. XD
I liked it at first, mainly because the characters were so cute and adorable. Halfway through K-ON!! (with 2 exclamation marks), I found myself starting to fall alseep during every episode, which is never a good sign. It just lost all of its appeal at that point and I stopped watching it. I don’t think anything really changed though, I just reached my moe limit.
I think the reason S2 has a tendency to become monotonous is because it’s basically a repeat of Season 1. Now, as I stated, I did like S2 a bit more because of the better delivery, but for people who aren’t into that kinda stuff, it’s easy to see how one can get bored. For example, a relaxing anime like Aria–if someone isn’t used to that slow pace, it can get boring after 3 seasons, no matter how good it is. Personally, this is why I prefer short series, because any anime can become tedious if it goes on for too long.
I like it simply because of its slice of life, gentle plot. nothing too drastic, its a series that really hooked me up on a sunday where i can relax from both Uni(School at that time, for first season) and Work.
True, it’s a relaxing anime. If I were to watch it again, I would probably watch during a slow day or in between other series–not something I would marathon. I think K-ON! loses its appeal when you try to dash through it; it’s not that type of anime. At the same time, for this reason it makes it hard to finish, at least for me, since it’s not the type of anime I could spend the whole night watching and still be captivated.
Pingback: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic [Review] | Mind of Miku
I think K-On is overrated. Sure, it redefined moe-blobs with music but all in all, K-On is still a slice of life anime. There is nothing more to it or rather, after season 1, there is nothing more that K-On could offer. It simply became an anime that sold its worth back in season 1 because of its music. In season 2, it’s just your average slice of life anime… There’s no spark anymore, nothing special. Now I don’t know if I’ll come to like the movie. If it ends up playing some music that they already did then it would probably be boring. Sure hope they present the viewers with fresh new tunes like in s1.
Then again, heard it was about their trip in England so I shouldn’t be expecting anything anymore OTL
Yes, I think K-ON! is misleading in that on the surface it looks like a music anime, but at heart it is just another slice-of-life.
I think Season 2 did do a better job expanding on the music element while also adding more emotion to the slice-of-life. But as Nopy explained, it felt like the same thing all over again, which I’m sure put more than a few people to sleep.
I agree with you. I would definitely enjoy hearing some new tunes in the movie, not a rehash of old tunes that we’ve already tired of. I’m surprised they chose England––it’s an interesting vacation spot for an anime (though, on Twitter I heard people joking about the riots ^^;). Unless they due a tribute to The Beatles or something, I’m not really expecting anything fresh, besides maybe a shopping spree and taking pictures at various national monuments, while making jokes about the food and tea.
Pingback: What is Loli? | Mind of Miku
Damn! I like K-On very very much…
Nice element, nice music, nice story, funny & cute character.. OMG!! What else? ^_^
But, too bad, the session was too short T_T
I Hope they make 3rd session (maybe)… *pray
See you guys at 3 – 2 Room XD
A 3rd season might be a bit overboard, but I’m okay with another movie or two…or three. The problem with K-ON! is that there is hardly any progression, so if they made a whole new season I’d be afraid it’d just be the girls doing the same ol’ same ol’.
What the hell? Why is there even a big debate over this anime?
Since people seem so adamant on the subject and I have lots of time to kill from being an insomniac, I’ll try to contribute by giving an opinion FAR outside a anime fan’s perspective. Now, before I even begin, lets figure out where my standpoint is in on the entire genre. Before this year, I was blissfully unaware “moe” was even a genre within anime, as a matter of fact — I was unaware that anime was anything but emotional teenagers shooting lasers from their hands at the undead and aliens. Granted, when I was real young, I can say there was one anime I did enjoy, Dragon Ball (perhaps because that was one of the few I had access to watch, or other animes were just not as entertaining to me as say other western cartoons such as original Transformers, Ninja Turtles and the like) and no, I’m not referring to Dragon Ball Z.
So as many of you above have noted, I would have NEVER came across this anime if it wasn’t for some fanatics posting many a Internet meme-spewed videos up on You-Tube. Actually, the reason I miraculously stumbled upon these meme videos was through a Macross Frontier video. Long story short on why Macross is relevant is because I am a huge BattleTech / MechWarrior fan. (Still trying to keep this short and relevant) In 2009, a cease and desist order was issued to Piranha Games Inc. from Harmony Gold (a company who used to own Macross Frontier) after Piranha Games Inc. supposedly used mecha owned by the Macross universe as concept art. Back when Battletech was young (in the 80′s) it was based heavily off Jap-Mecha, one being Macross.
Anyway jumping ahead because you probably don’t care but within my vast boredom I decided to look up a few Macross videos. Lo an behold I stumbled upon the Macross Frontier video of that green haired girl singing her “Nyan Nyan” restaurant song, one of which I’m sure some of you anime fans have bared witness to. As a relevant video, there way Miku Hatsune’s (shudder) cover of that stupid rainbow nyan cat and then another of Azu-nyans’ , just meowing in Japanese. Either through hypnosis or fascination of how this could be popular enough to make SEVERAL video’s of (and one vocaloid cover of that girl from Macross) I discovered the name of the anime; K-On.
So yes, it was through obnoxious meme’s on You-Tube that I was introduced to this moe anime (and unfortunately all relevant things moe). And yes, I’ve watched both full seasons, and seen some of the specials. But you know what my opinion is on it despite my indifference towards all anime? Its not that bad. Honestly.
Also, touching upon what some have stated in above comments and other criticized it on the most, its lack of story and direction. But honestly, I have never heard of it being advertized as such, or somehow misleading anime fans into thinking it was ever supposed to? Also, while the fans of the series may have given it a bad rap (or its genre as a whole, idc either way) the anime itself I don’t think is to blame. The fans themselves are really the ones doing the damage. The anime (the manga as far as I’ve seen is not much different, just manga form) is just an innocent “easy read” relaxed story of 4 girls (well i guess 5 if you count the one named Azusa) living their relatively mundane life through high school and their music club.
But, what I still cannot understand is why people have such a hatred towards this anime? Hell, I’ve seen it and other “moe” animes and to be honest K-On I thought was (is better really the right word? Nah) more enjoyable? I’ve bared witness recently to anime fans rave endlessly about say Azumanga Diaoh or Lucky Star, but they just seemed kinda obnoxious and even less of a plot. Perhaps because to the anime fanbase it is almost labeled as “The” generic moe anime giving it a reason to be hated for? Personally, I can understand what some of you have said. “Its not the anime to watch and rush through” , “its the not show to have a marathon for” and I agree. As much as I have enjoyed watching it, I couldn’t bare to watch more than maybe two episodes at a time. They’re great to unwind with, relax and enjoy — but I’ll be Damned if I need to experience more than an hour of it within a day. Its good, but I mean its nowhere near amazing.
So yeah, there’s my experience on the series as a “non-anime fan”. K-On really is neither an exceptional series that deserves excessive praise, nor does it deserve the apparent hatred its been getting from all directions. Having said that, the meme’s on You-Tube the FANS are spreading need to stop. Now.
–MwHighlander
I started off hating K-ON! with a passion, I watched the very first episode and refused to touch it for months. But I am so glad that I decided to pick it back up because as of right now I am in love with the show.
But I’ll start off by saying, Yes the show is really, really overrated, However in saying that, the show does not deserve the harsh bashing it receives.
K-ON! to me has an extremely “Feel Good” vibe, every episode I watched I felt allot more happier afterwards which is always a good thing. The musical part of the anime is also in my opinion very well done.
If I was going to complain about anything it would be that in Season 1 some of the more serious dramay parts of the show were almost cringe worthy, but I feel that in Season 2 they redeemed themselves with I think episode 20 where HTT play there last cultural festival and at the end they start to realise that they can’t be in high school forever. It brought a tear to my eye anyway.
is this anime the next Cowboy BeBop or Genesis Evangelion? Hell NO!
That does not mean that it is the worst thing since the Star Wars Holiday Special (now that, that was bad)
With that being said I am on the fence about a third season. It would be interesting in how they handle the college days as well as the next generation of HTT…
As you said in a post a couple of comments back a movie could be good, but I still have to see the newest K-ON! movie so Ill save judgement on another movie for later on.
But there are many possibilities in which they can continue the franchise as far as I know the manga is up to volume 6 so they could get another season out of it.
But I’m rambling.
Cya.
私は初音ミクが非常に美しく、非常に涼しいと思います！