Anime Introduction: K-On! (けいおん）

Based on the four panel  manga by Kakifly, K-On! tells on the story of four high school girls (later five girls) who make up their school’s 軽音部 or light music club. The manga appeared in print in Houbousha’s seinen manga magazine Manga Time Kirara Carat between 2007 to 2010, eventually becoming a full anime with thirteen episodes in 2009. The first season was later followed  by a second season with 26 episodes and a feature film all produced by Kyoto Animation. (Wikipedia) The shows was broadcasted weekly on television. The show focuses on the friendship between the girls and the everyday lives between classes, club meetings, and any other situation that they get themselves into. With the light-hearted nature of the show and focus on the daily lives of the characters, this anime would be described as a slice-of-life anime. 

The anime focuses on four girls all entering Sakuragoka Girls’ High School. The first character revealed is Hirasawa Yui. Yui is shown to be a sweet girl who enjoys eating, sleeping, and cute things. Yui is shown to be the ‘normal girl’ of the series since she shares the characterization of many other ‘average’ girls in anime. This includes waking up late, having an affinity for sweets and cute things. Yui learns the guitar throughout the series and becomes a rather accomplished guitarist. Another main character in the series is Tainaka Ritsu, the self-proclaimed leader of the group and president of the club.  Ritsu is very spirited and excited character. Ritsu plays the drums which match her loud personality. Ritsu’s drive to play in a band lead her to keep the club together as it was disbanding. Akiyama Mio was the other character who saved the club as it was disbanding. Mio is portrayed as mature and cool, but yet she has an immature side, especially when she interacts with Ritsu. Mio’s calm demeanor is shown in her choice of instrument: the bass. Mio also acts as the vocalist in many performances, despite her shy personality. The final character that makes up the group is Kotobuki Tsumugi. Tsumugi is portrayed as an upper-class girl with a gentle personality, affectionately called ‘Mugi’ she becomes close friends with the others. She is plays the piano and joined the club because of the close friendship of Ritsu and Mio and her desire to have such close friends. In the second season, the character of Nakano Azusa is introduced. When the Yui, Ritsu, Mio, and Tsumugi are second years, Azusa joins the group. Azusa is shown to be quite serious, but still gets along well with the rest of the group. These five individuals together make up the group called　放課後テイータイム (Houkago Tea Time) or After School Tea Time. 

 Hirasawa Yui

 Kotobuki Tsumugi

 Tainaka Ritsu

Akiyama Mio

The first episode opens with a picture of girls at a junior high school graduation, a stuffed animal above the bed, a school uniform hanging from a book shelf, a school bag on the desk, and tights on the desk chair. These items are shown to portray the owner of the room as an ‘average’ high school girl. The various items may show how relatable the character is to a potential audience. Soon after, an alarm is heard and a young girl who is wearing the school uniform shown the first picture is seen. She calls to her older sister who is in bed. The older sister wakes up and distresses over how late she is. The next scene we see the girl leap from the stairs and slip on the floor beneath her until she falls. She runs past a breakfast on the table 

and the next scene is her running out the door with a piece of toast in her mouth. This trope is widely used in many anime, a student usually a girl runs out of the her home with a piece of toast, too late to enjoy the breakfast that has been prepared for them. As the girl runs, she greets an older woman, on the street who calls to her. The girl continues running, but constantly gets distracted by a cat, an old woman, among other things. She finally arrives at school, but realizes that she has made a mistake about the time. She is next shown anxiously sitting in pews with other girls. There is the voice over with her voice announcing that she in now a high school student. Later the girl, Hirasawa Yui, is seen walking among blooming cherry blossoms. She then is bombarded by a group of students who ask her to join their club. She is walking among the cherry blossoms. However, this time the blossoms are beginning to fall. The Japanese school year begins in the April when the cherry blossoms are in bloom, and as Yui is a new student should be recruited to join many of the clubs on campus. In the next scene, Yui is at her desk attempting to decide on which club to join. Her friend Nodoka, comes to her and is shocked to discover that Yui has not decided yet. Yui feels the need to join a club, but has no idea which club to join. 

In the next scene, a yell for Mio is heard. Ritsu runs to Mio and asks Mio to come see the club with her. However, Mio has already decided to join the literature club  and shows the Ritsu her form to join the literature club. Ritsu then rips the form in half. Ritsu and Mio are shown running down the hall, with Ritsu leading Mio. Later Ritsu and Mio are in the teachers’ office when they discover that the light music club will soon be disbanding due to lack of members. Yui enters the office and calls for the teacher that Ritsu and Mio are speaking to. Yui notices Ritsu and Mio, only to drop the papers that she was given by the teacher. As Yui and the teacher walk to class, Yui muses what is light music. Later Mio and Ritsu are waiting for potential members to join the light music club. After while, someone does arrive, expect to observe the chorus club. Mio expresses the concerns about the club and tries to leave. Ritsu attempts to guilt Mio into staying with a promise that Mio made to Ritsu. Mio reminds Ritsu that the promise never occurred. The exchange shows a closeness between Mio and Ritsu, hat making a band was deep promise that they share. Watching this exchange between Mio and Ritsu, the girl that arrived earlier, decides to join the club. With the new member of Tsumugi, the light music club has a planning meeting at a fast food restaurant, where Tsumugi expresses her happiness over being offered fries. Tsumugi reveals that is her first time in a fast food restaurant which further characterizes her as an outlier among the group. The club makes posters for new members to join, and Yui sees the poster and misunderstands what light music is. Yui attends the club anyway, and when it discovered that she cannot play the guitar, she asks to leave the club. However, before leaving the club she listens to the a short performance of 翼を下さい (Give me Wings) by the club members. She is so inspired by their performance, that she decides to stay in the club and learn how to play guitar. 

The style of K-On! is similar to many anime that have appeared recently. The larger heads with large eyes show emphasis the cuteness of the characters. Also the characters in general seem soft rather than hard. The soft, cute style of animation made be used to engage a larger audience. While the anime has an overtly cute style, there is some aspects of realism. Many viewers may connect with plight of Yui, over not knowing which club to pick, or the scene where she is asked to join the various clubs. These scenes were most likely based on the everyday experiences of new high school students. The soundtrack of the series was made for the anime, since it is about a band. These songs would later be sold to fans of the anime.

The anime delivers various messages to it’s audience. The foremost may the friendship that is evident between the girls. The whole series is spent on how close these characters become through music and spending time together. However, there is an amount of fan service which appears for fans as well. While the anime is enjoyable, it may not be that significant in the anime world, but it may be the beginnings of the school-idol genre that is slowly growing. K-On! does reflect well on the genre of slice-of-life, the episodes are light and enjoyable. The chemistry between the characters is well done and it flows nicely, with the only criticism may be there may not be enough music. K-On!’s success did reflect well on the production company, Kyoto Animation. Soon after completion of the anime, the team that created K-On! went on to make another anime, Tamako Market. I would recommend this anime to anyone that enjoys cute slice-of-life anime with some enjoyable music. 

Citations

Wikipedia,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K-On!, last updated September 16, 2014

Link for K-On!: http://www.animefreak.tv/watch/kon-episode-1-english-dubbed-online-free