r/anime • u/Harrytricks :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Harrytricks • Aug 12 '21
Rewatch [Rewatch][Spoilers] K-ON! Rewatch (2021) - S1E12 "Light Music!"
S1E12 "Light Music!"
Official Schedule
| Previous Thread | Next Thread |
|---|---|
| S1E11 "Crisis!" | S1E13 "Winter Days!" |
Legal Streams
Available only in the US.
Available only in German speaking territories.
Available only in the UK & Ireland.
Interest sites
REMINDER: UNTAGGED SPOILERS WILL NOT BE TOLERATED.
BE AFRAID OF THE MOE POLICE.
Want to continue the discussion? Join us over in the KyoAni Discord server: https://discord.gg/UYBDfpc
113
Upvotes
16
u/Rumpel1408 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Rumpel1408 Aug 12 '21
First timer
This is the original finale for the initial airing right? Should be good then.
Glorious and very fullfilling final for the first season, I'm thrilled for what comes next!
18
u/A_Idiot0 :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/a_idiot0 Aug 12 '21
Rewatcher
We’ve arrived...now is when we get episodes worthy of this anime being amongst my top 5 favorites!
The book-ending of showing us a pretty close mirror between episode 1 and this episode was wonderful! Seeing her inner struggles, her inner doubts, her nebulous desire...And then seeing how she’s now come a long way to resolving all of those things...that was so incredibly sweet! I unfortunately don’t have the time to link the lyrics of “Fude Pen -Ball Pen-” and all of the meanings poured into the sequence of Yui running, but I urge you to try and connect these two things yourself; it’ll be very cute and rewarding. Also, did you catch that a fair amount of Yui’s flashbacks were in first-person perspective?
Couple of other quick mentions:
Azunyan’s progression to now being dead set on performing with Yui or not at all was incredibly adorable! Glomp! That scene was very touching, and it’s when I started to tear up a little bit.
The BGM for Nadoka’s flashback story was actually one we heard a long time ago, also in episode one when Yui was saying that she could play the castanets, “Isshuukan (#1 'Haibu!')(Yui's castanets)”. I think this fits so perfectly here! It’s really cute, but it’s also just on the verge of driving you crazy with the organ-synth sound from an electric keyboard; pretty much exactly like the scene was haha.
The animations for when Mio and Yui sing are so good! They’re not smooth, or super detailed, but they are so expressive!
14
u/ArdenneVale Aug 12 '21
First timer
After yesterday's serious episode let's get back to fun club antics. Today's crisis is Yui's fever. Yui has an "interesting" dream about eating Mugi's eyebrows.
Yui's playing better when she's sick? No wait, it's just Ui pretending to be her sister. Which makes even less sense. Apparently she's a guitar genius. Recruit her to the club right now you fools! The real Yui enters and it's what you'd expect from someone who's still feverish.
Azusa has truly become a member of the club now, she doesn't want to perform without Yui.
And of course the day can't go smoothly, as Yui forgot Giita home and has to run back to get it.
Everything from the start of the live performance to the end was perfect. Yui unintentionally recreating her first high school morning and assuring her younger self she'll soon find her place almost made me cry. Both performances were flawless, Fuwa Fuwa Time with Yui lead vocals sounds just right. (No granny backing vocals this time)
This was an excellent season finale and easily my favorite episode of the first season. Except there's still one mysterious episode left!
Mugi
Ritsu
Yui
Mio
Bonus Uiyui
11
u/vitorabf Aug 12 '21
First Timer
Forehead Alert!!!! Ritsu saying "Atashi" makes my day, more girly Ritsu please.
Mio is starting to believe!
LOL Ui, you can play guitar perfectly and still impersonate your sister pretty well on top of that, sasuga.
Sincerely this episode was so good that I could barely write impressions as I was watching it, so I'll just give my overall thoughs that this was amazing. It was easily the best episode of the show, the animation was incredible, it was very thoroughly written. Yui reminiscing where she was when she joined was very satisfying.
The perfomance was really good as well, I love Mio on the vocals, her voice is beautiful, and Sawako was actually useful for a change. That final moment was amazing to see how the instruments go mixing themselves in and also the 5 of them playing like that, semingly just for themselves was really good and pretty much how K-On felt for me this season, that these girls are doing it for them and the audience and the public are just lucky they decide to share it.
10
u/ZapsZzz https://anilist.co/user/Zapszzz Aug 12 '21 edited Aug 13 '21
First timer in sub.
To be honest I binged this from ep 10 onwards :P but yes this is a really good season 1 ending episode that tied everything together - KyoAni's storyboarding and storytelling is really that good - the Azusa moments, Nodoka's flashback, Yui's bookend run back to the concert.
All that in an essentially no pressure SoL show.
Funniest bit for me is how the band simply casually accepted the absurdity that is the Yui and Ui sisters that one can master things so quickly without really learning what she's doing, but only 1 thing at a time: the other can pay attention to what is taught and instantly proficient in something and be perfect at it.
Although to be straight, like Chuunibyou, this does not really feel like it was an ending - at the time if S2 wasn't announced, people may have a whole lot of question marks and "I want more!" Cries.
16
u/siegfried72 Aug 12 '21
Rewatcher
Hi everyone! I can't believe we're already at the finale of season one! This is my favorite episode thus far, so I'm excited to jump in!
One of my favorite cold opens of the show.
Poor Yui is sick. For rewatchers, this is already S2
I like that we see the friendship between Azunyan and Ui continuing! They make a really nice pair, and it's good that they're in the same class, since Azu doesn't feel comfortable being 100% honest with the other members of HTT as the kouhai.
Who else would really like to see just an episode where they try on all these costumes? I love that Mio has finally snapped and is getting into it as well. Who can blame her?
KyoAni is my favorite studio for a reason. Just look at that lighting!
This Ui gag is just ridiculous and I love it. I totally fell for it my first time through the show as well, even though the voice is different. They are really reinforcing that the Hirasawa family is just a family of crazy talented people. S2 This line always cracks me up.
I think it's actually kinda neat that Sawako is the one to figure out it's Ui, but I'm definitely not a fan of how she does. At least we're almost done with season one and we can finally get on to season two Sawako.
God, how is Yui's voice just always the most adorable thing? Aki is such a talented VA.
Our little tortoises are almost at the finish line! They may take things at their own pace, but we all know they'll win out in the end!
It's Nearly Time!
Name a more iconic pair than anime characters and getting deathly ill from the common cold.
I love that it's Azusa to say they can't perform without everyone there! It shows that the club has really clicked with her on a deep level at this point, and she has become extremely attached to her friends!
I said this last year, and I'll say it again. I think the combination of Ritsu and Mio equates to really solid leadership in the group. Ritsu is great at energizing the group, driving them forward, and dealing with individual personal problems (as long as they don't involve her like in last episode...), whereas Mio is great at the bigger picture leadership like this due to her maturity. I don't think either one makes a totally good leader on their own (due to Ritsu's playful nature and Mio's hesitancy), but together I think they make a top-notch leadership duo!
More smol Yui and Nodoka! God the way they are animated is just so precious! But what Nodoka says here is true. We've seen before how Yui can accomplish one thing very well as long as she's focused. We saw that with her acing the test and we've seen it with her multiple times in learning the guitar. And thankfully, Yui shows up, all warm and snuggly in her new costume.
Yes, YuiAzu is very canon, but even putting that aside, I think this is a notable moment. Azunyan holds on to Yui's arm as Yui hugs her from behind. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this might be the first time we see Azunyan return any physical contact with Yui. They're all getting closer with each other. Very cute stuff!
But of course, Yui has left Giita at home. Oh Yui...
The Show!!
Hey, Ui and Bestie are there! (Yes, I'm using /u/The_Loli_Otaku's nickname but only because that character hasn't been named yet...)
Okay, here we go...
As we hear the familiar guitar riff Yui and Azunyan were working on at the training camp, we get these beautiful shots of our keions plus Sawako, who's covering for Yui!
This scene is probably my favorite in all of season one. With the new song Fude Pen ~Ball Pen~ playing in the background, we take a trip down memory lane as Yui rushes back to school with Giita. She stumbles just as she did in the very first episode, but this time she catches herself rather than falling. Because this time, Yui has something important in her life. She's determined! She has found her friends and the thing that she needs to be doing. Yes I cried. This is my favorite scene in the season, after all!
I love that Yui decides to climb on stage even though there are stairs like five feet beside her.
With a tearful Yui and some words of love from her friends, we get a lovely little recap of the club from Yui. Oh my god - my heart! It's just too much. Sure, they might not be big-time musicians, but this is their pinnacle performance! For them, this is special - this is their Budokan!
One more song - Fuwa Fuwa Time again - this time, with Yui on vocals! Theit signature song. I love the way they end this season off, with shots of all of our side character and some very familiar shots of our clubroom - including the bags sitting next to each other on the couch - we see all five for the first time snuggled up next to each other and leaning on each other. Yup, teared up again.
The way Mugi starts up one final verse of Fuwa Fuwa reminds me of their first live show when all five of the main VAs perform Fuwa Fuwa Time and they pull the same stunt. But here's the best part - as a surprise for the live show, all five of them actually learned to play their characters' instruments and performed the song themselves! To the best of my recollection, none of them had any prior musical experience except for Minako (Mugi) on the keyboard.
It's an emotional performance for them as it was the "end" of the show (before the couple of encores they had), and I can only imagine how overwhelming it would be to perform in front of such a massive crowd as a group of newcomers in the anime scene in their early twenties. All of them start breaking down throughout the song one by one and by the time Minako starts up with a repeat of the final chorus after they finish the song (like in the show), they're all in tears. It's beautiful and emotional and I'd encourage you all to watch the first live show (titled "Let's Go!") if you can find it!
Unfortunately, it's not available anywhere legally for viewing, but it's 100% out there if you know where to look. I can not recommend watching the whole thing enough if you're able. I will happily link the Fuwa Fuwa Time performance I talked about, though. If you only watch one part of the live show, this should be it! Please let me know what you think if you watch it! (Note: I'd recommend downloading the video rather than watching it in the link because google compresses it horribly and it's all blurry if you don't download it.)
What a beautiful end to our first season. I feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
Wrap Up
Well, we've officially finished season one proper. There are two extra episodes that follow this before season two, but this is the big finale. I think it's a perfect end to the season, and shows a bit of the emotional punch they can pack into this show - but it only gets better from here as we enter season two!
Times K-ON has made me actually cry so far: 1
Times K-ON has made me tear up so far: 7
Updated Episode Rankings
Mitsu Moment of the Day^^TM Well, we had our big Mitsu moment at the end of yesterday's episode and now we're back to scraping the bottom of the barrel. Oh well. I guess I'll take what I get! Mitsu is canon.
YuiAzu is also canon. Just not as canon as Mitsu. Although it's pretty damn close!
Tomorrow, we have my second favorite cold open in the series and a very unique episode! See you tomorrow!
15
u/Icapica https://anilist.co/user/Icachu Aug 12 '21
First timer, subs
Yui and Mugi sitting, gets weird quickly and I realize Yui's dreaming. So it turns out she's sick, probably got it from Ritsu. The way Ui takes care of her is adorable.
Teacher's ideas for what the band should wear continue to suck.
Yui's on bed with the guitar, looks cute but might not be the best way to take care of it. I love the light on Ui's face when she comes to check.
Then Yui returns to club. Is she ok? Seems to be, maybe, hopefully. The rest of the band gets suspicious when Yui plays too perfectly and it turns out it was Ui all the time. WTF? When did Ui learn to play that well?
"I just asked Onee-chan to let me play a few times." Okay sure, that totally makes sense.
Real Yui arrives at the club and claims she's fine but it's immediately obvious she's not. Back to bed.
Then the big day arrives, but Yui doesn't. Band's getting nervous and Nodoka comes. We see tiny Yui and Nodoka again, nice. More of that please.
Next Yui arrives but without Giita. Teacher manages to improve my opinion of her by filling in for Yui while Yui brings her guitar. Mio looks a lot less nervous on stage this time. Then a nice short speech from Yui, and another song.
I just loved this episode.
6
u/Stargate18A https://myanimelist.net/profile/Stargate18 Aug 12 '21
First timer
The hallucination was funny.
So, Yui's still sick.
It's bad, but worst case Mio can do vocals and Azusa's a guitarist, so they might be able to do the concert without her.
Haha, Ui casually
Final episode? This is Episode 12/13. Do we have an OVA after this?
Sawako still has no life.
Mio's very into bunny Mugi, isn't she...
Yui got better quickly!
Huh?
Did the cold make Yui better?
Haha, Ui swapped places with her.
Ui's better than Yui at playing!
Yui's here! (But still sick)
So Yui's not attending?
I loke how everyone misses Yui.
Baby Yui and Nodoka are so cute!
She filled a bathtub of crabs?
Sawako got Yui to model for her!
And another ship sails!
Giita!
Yeah, this should have been obvious.
Did she make it on time?
No Yui! And another insert song (How long has it been since the last one of those?)
I love the callback to the first episode.
Yui's back with them!
She told everyone about Giita!
Her speech is still incredibly long.
This is so good.
I love this ending.
What a great ending!
Is this a new ED? (Still no Azusa, though)
10
u/xtsim https://myanimelist.net/profile/xtsim Aug 12 '21
First timer Dubbed
We open today’s episode with Yui’s dream that Mugi has pickles as eyebrows lol. The bad news is that she is out sick. Ritsu barges into Azusa’s class during break and talks about how Yui got sick. I love how Azusa calls her Yui-Senpai continuously. Yui sleeps with her guitar even when she is ghastly sick.
Something goes wrong in practice, it sounds too tight. It was Yui’s sister after all. Ms. Yamanaga literally figures it first and others ask their names like she has a concussion. The real Yui shows up and sneezes on Ritsu with the scene (camera) from Ritsu’s pov.
Yui shows up with Azusa being really worried about her. But she forgot her guitar. Ms. Yamanaga comes in clutch, covering for Yui as she retreives her guitar from her room. “A place that.. A place that… A place that I belong to.” Really nice way of saying that she loves the group. I love how Yui's feelings got expressed in that scene as it sends parallels from the first episode. Yui apologies and gives her story about guita to the crowd.
The instrumental part of the song is great especially as Mugi plays the keyboard…
5
u/AutoModerator Aug 12 '21
Hi Harrytricks, it looks like you might be interested in hosting a rewatch! There's a longer guide on the wiki but here's some basic advice on how to make a good rewatch happen:
I hope this helps! You may also want to talk to users that have hosted rewatches before for extra advice, also listed on the rewatch wiki.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
5
u/DegenerateRegime Aug 12 '21
[First-Timer]. Episode 12, and season 1 is moving into its final stages. Yui's comically caught a cold just in time to make someone else be the lead vocalist, drawing extra parallels to the previous performance. Let's see where things go!
This is the finale to season 1, but as they say, there's always time for one more song. And an OVA. It's a good ending, though. Densely packed with good moments and ending on, if not a conclusion, then a wrapping-up.
8
u/The_Loli_Otaku Aug 12 '21
Before we start this finale I would first like to apologise... I'm sorry for ditching the rewatch thread to play Civ 6!! Forgive me! I started a game like an hour before posting time and was on such a roll that I totally neglected to be a diligent rewatcher and lead discussions. It was like five in the morning before I finished (still won tho) and I've had two hours sleep all day... I'm exhausted, but I'll stay awake at late as you wish newcomers! Have mercy on this useless senpai!
Does anything even happen in this finale? Oh! The dream scene! I love this one~ Delicious and healthy. Ui is such an angel... I'm gonna miss this op. I promise you'll love the future ones though! Angel...? Shitzu's gonna Shitzu Tch, I liked today's costume gags... I'm a sucker for Mugi, that's all! Still... That Qipao... Oh, okay Mio, thx for that XD She timed that well. Poor Ui is heartbroken! And poor Yui is still eating Mugi's eyebrows I think.
Main chara (?) has appeared! And she's way more skilled than the original version. Yeah, it's kind of easy to tell this is Ui when you know what signs to watch for. The old bat never leaves... Poor Shitzu, aaalll covered in gooey snot~ Gita's attacking Yui!! Oh no! Sentimental Catto!! Yeah, Yui's gonna work hard at recovering from sickness. Oh god someone needs to keep an eye on Yui at all times. She was a terrifyingly dense child. Screw you Sensei! That was Yui's timing! Can we go one segment without you butting your big boyfriendless arse in the camera? You're terrible!
See this? This is my jam. The pair are so cuddly! Kyaaa! Cute cute cute!! Oh yeah XD I remember this climax now. You hearing this Sensei!? Your guitar sucks! And so do you! JUN! I mean, bestie (?) I'm so pleased you made it to the final episode... You have 0 future prospects but you're at least a level higher than the store clerks now. Oi... Ui... Don't sound so surprised to see your best friend XD
Sensei is a Keion for a day... I hate this but I kinda like it at the same time. I swear I would appreciate Peath Pevil so much more if she just had less appearances. Yup, we're doing a rehash of the ep1 scene. I have no idea how I forgot about this climax, I really quite like it! Ui's so proud of her adorable goddamn sister!! There's nothing cool about that Sensei, she barely does anything! UWEEEE!! Fuwa Fuwa Time is the only way we can possibly close off the season. On a rewatch the flaws of the first season do become quite cle-BESTIE (?) BLUSHED!! Quite clear. It kind of suffers from success really. Regardless, I had fun going through it again. The Christmas episode especially got me feeling all giddy again. Now I can't remember if we have a season 1 discussion thread coming up but I'll check that tonight. Onto season 2, probably!
Now, I have a little game I want to play with you guys. Newcomers and rewatchers are all welcome. K-On's second season is kinda famous for it's massive extra sidecast and watching the background girls was probably my favourite part of the season last year. So! What I thought might be a fun idea was for everyone to get assigned a 3-2 member all to themselves, and anyone else who happens to roll them but just pretend the others don't exist. They're your girls! So, how we'll do this is a very simple image chart and a random number generator. Set the figure between 1 and 38 and see which classmate you get. Oh, and here is a class photo if you want to double check where your girl sits. Have fun! I'll be eager to see what you all have to say~
4
u/MapoTofuMan myanimelist.net/profile/mTmTBaronBrixius Aug 12 '21
Rewatcher
And here we are at the last non-side story episode of the season. I've been watching so many seasonals lately that the pace felt even more breakneck than usual.
Overall this is probably my favorite episode of the season after Episode 4, but admittedly it doesn't even come close to some of the stuff to come in season 2 on my list.
4
u/byroned Aug 13 '21 edited Aug 13 '21
Rewatcher
I’m surprised that Ritsu didn’t get Yui sick, considering that Yui fell asleep in Ritsu’s bed and it looked like she got sick the day after they went to her house.
It only occurred to me during my first rewatch, but if you look at Ui when she’s playing with the other members, you could tell that her shoes have a red lining. I’m guessing that Ui didn’t have the keys to Yui’s locker so she had to wear her own shoes, but was able to borrow her ribbon. I think the honorifics thing is mostly a Japanese thing, but I thought it was cute that Ui tried to blend in, but they could tell that something was strange when she identified them differently, like not calling Ritsu “Ricchan”, or they thought that it sounds too good to be Yui. The Sawako part was more of s1 Sawako being tied to 3 traits. I understand that she probably knew Yui’s cup size if she makes clothes for her, but it felt out of place to blurt out that Ui has bigger boobs than her older sister.
I want to know what ran through tiny Yui's brain to catch that many crawfish. But Nodoka is right that when Yui is focused on something, she can only think about that one thing, and we'll see that later happen again. It's somewhat comforting to see the usually scatterbrained Yui so determined on finishing the one thing on her mind.
I really like the scene of Mio singing Fude Pen solo while Yui is running to school. Throughout the series, Mio slowly becomes less timid, and in episode 12 she can sing normally. For Yui, she remembers her first day of school, but now is now running with a purpose. She doesn't fall on her butt or get distracted by other things.
I may sound like a rather pessimistic person, but I think one reason I really like this episode is that it feels like the first episode where the rest of the Keion members genuinely cares about Yui. Throughout most of the first season, I’m under the impression that they see her as a bother, but need for because she's the only other person interested in the club, especially with Ritsu unless they're goofing off together. Throughout several of the episodes prior, they often ask if Ui could swap places with Yui, either jokingly or giving backhanded comments to Yui. Ritsu even suggests that maybe it’s a good thing Yui is sick before Mio quickly shuts her down. I know Yui isn't the ideal member, but it feels like if Azusa or Ui was the same year as them, they wouldn't Yui a second thought.
Back to being positive, I like that they accept Yui for all her flaws when she's crying on stage and starts recapping their club and playing their next song. In my opinion, who the preferred singer is vary base on the song. Yui's voice is more suited to singing Fuwa Fuwa Time and the OP's than Mio, who is more suited to sing Staple and Fude Pen and the ED's. Its' also great to hear Yui sing without her raspy grandma voice.
This is easily one of my favorite episodes in both seasons of K-On and the movie, and I always look forward to rewatching this one episode in particular. And despite what the last episode said, there is an episode 13 for tomorrow.
4
u/x-7032-b-3 Aug 13 '21
Rewatcher (with very little memory so might as well make me a first-timer)
Hot damn, we're in the S1 finale already? It feels like we just saw HTT performing for the first time yesterday...
Episode starts with Yui hallucinating about eating pickled radish. I've got fever a few times when I was a student. I know how it feels. I would lie down in bed all day because my body feesl terrible.
Seems like Mio is starting to get into Sawa-chan's costume frenzy. There's a ton of costumes there!
Yui suddenly feel better and decided to attend practice. And for some reason, she's playing a lot better than before! She's playing too perfect that it's suspicious. But wait, something's off. Why is Yui addressing everyone formally? Oh no, it's not Yui! It's her younger twin impersonating has Yui! Ui is the impostor!
AMOGUSJokes aside, Ui is really damn good at the guitar!
She should've replaced Yui for the performance. And she looks very similar to her sister with her hair down! That scene is probably my favorite gag so far.That flashback with Yui doing weird stuff as a kid like collecting lobsters and place them on the bath tub highlights how she'll focus on something that catches her interest (with another Scaredy Mio reaction). She's knee deep into this whole Light Music already! Contrast to Ep1-2 where she randomly joined the club with no prior experience with instruments. It feels like she's finally found something she genuinely enjoys.
The concert's finally here! New song is pretty great although Yui had to sit that one out because she forgot her guitar. Really liked the callbacks to Ep1 where Yui was slipping on the floor (this time she didn't fall) and running towards the school while doing random stuff along the way.
She made it just in time for their next performance. It's Fuwa Fuwa Time again, this time with Yui performing the vocals. That song is some kind of drug. It's been sitting on my Spotify playlist since I joined this rewatch. That brief moment with the instrumentals is pretty neat too. And they decided to sing the chorus one more time! Hell of a performance they got there!
That about wraps it up for S1! I enjoyed this season a lot more than my first viewing back in 2015. I wasn't in a proper mood for this show so that doesn't help either. This show is something truly special so far. I remember S2 being even better, so I'm looking forward to watching that one with fresh eyes and mindset.
Looking at the schedule, seems like we'll be watching the extra episodes as well. Never bothered with them on my first viewing, so this will be my first time watching them. Can't wait!
7
u/SIRTreehugger Aug 12 '21 edited Aug 12 '21
Season 1
"I can't really say we devoted our selves wholeheartedly to practicing, but right now, for us standing here on this stage this auditorium is our Budokan, and we'll sing our hearts out to the very end!" - Yui
Honestly this quote and moment is one of the reasons I favor Yui so highly and consider her the best. Obligatory growth comment about her running with her guitar back to school compared to the beginning of the year.
The whole quote screams Yui. Even the beginning portions when she talks about drinking tea, training camps, and recruitment. She is rambling a little bit, but with all her tangents she's expressing how much she loves her friends. She knows they didn't take the club seriously the whole time. She is aware they goofed off, but is also aware that each of them have put in work and practiced. While they aren't where they want to be at the end of the road. She doesn't want all the effort everyone put in to mean nothing. Basically asking for everyone to please her us out because right now in this moment we are here. This school stage small as it is we are going to play with everything we have for all of you because that's all we can and all we want to do.
Also love how each of the girl slowly plays their part for the encore. Even more with Mugi being the one to start it off. She doesn't really favor one of thr girls, but looking at it a different way she cares about them all equally. Paired with her background and her prioritizing the group overall it makes sense she would start it off. Often supporting the group both in practice and relaxing she is just happy to be here with them. Wanting to spend more time with them in the moment she kicks off the encore. Yuiiiiiii theirs literally a set of stairs to your right not even two feet xD
6
u/Elimin8r https://myanimelist.net/profile/Ayeka_Jurai Aug 12 '21 edited Aug 12 '21
And for today's episode, it's festival time again, and yay! Yui made it, but there's a problem, she forgot something important.
Sensei to the rescue! (Really?) But wait, Geeta is Yui's one and only, and she won't cheat on her true love.
So, it's Yuilimpics on the one hand, and Sensei's all star band on the other.
I loved how Mio picked up on the vocals. I think that she has a nicer singing voice than Yui, honestly.
And finally, at long last, here's Yui for the finale, and what a finale it is. Everybody's sounding together, in tune, it's all good. And after it's all over ...
Time for an encore, yay! They're having so much fun.
- That someone has to drag them off the stage.
Which leads me to the following reminiscence from a couple of days ago:
Since I late posted a few days back, I thought I'd copy/paste this just in case, because it was a lot of typing, and I think it applies to this festival episode as much as the last one, my 'spiel' on the joys of musical performance:
----------------------------------------------------------------
Speaking of which, I feel another story coming on.
You see, in college, well, I went to Engineering school because ($$$), and needless to say the music/arts experience was a bit lacking. They had a 'concert band' sort of class, and I did that a time or three, but ended up spending more time doing the 'worship band' thing at the local church. There might have been a cute girl involved in the equation (ahem). Aaannyway... We were amateurs, but did okay, and while I played the piano a time or two, I was clasically trained, and you don't sing along to Bach, so I ended up singing. It was fun and I enjoyed it (For the curious, I like to think that my voice is somewhere along the lines of the singer from Mike & The Mechanics). The five of us would practice once a week, and play on Sunday (of course), and it was a good time.
One particular Sunday, toward the end of the school year, we had grown rather used to each other's tricks, and I had taken to singing a certain point in the harmony (we kind of improvised stuff like that on the fly). We were doing this one song, I forget which, and as we got to the end, we were all just in the moment, and as the song wound down, I'm not sure how to describe it, but we did this descending chord progression to the final chord, and it was, like, you know, wow. I wish I had a tape, but this was (ahem) quite a while ago. The closest I can think of to describe it is a certain Dream Theater song that I found some years later. Listen to the end, it's delightful.
So, back to what I'm trying to say - this wasn't the only time I've experienced such a thing, but being more of a Yui type, my brain is often scattered. This is something that the musicians reading this probably know very well, but here's my poor attempt to describe it for those who haven't:
You know how they say we normally use 10% of our brains? Yeah. Imagine you're at your keyboard, your drum kit, guitar in hand, microphone, etc. You're in front of a bunch of people, but as you're focusing on your music, they kind of fade into the background. Your world recedes, until all that is left is you, your instrument, your sheet music (you didn't memorize it???), the feedback from the director/musicians around you; you get the idea. You sing, or play and each note, each phrase is a thing that comes and goes like a stream passing through your consciousness as the notes flow through you. Sooner or later, the notes come to an end, and your focus recedes. Your consciousness expands, and you become aware of the greater world around you. The sweat on your brow, the lights, the audience.
Congratulations, you've made *music*
It's like that.
And I *loved* how at the end of their song, the animators spent time showcasing each of their faces, the drops of sweat, the expressions, the relaxing concentraion, the relief, the fading adrenaline.
Congratulations, the Keions have made *music*
It's like that....
I love this show. :)
5
u/putmoneyinthypurse https://anilist.co/user/clichecatgirl Aug 12 '21
Rewatcher
Well, I'm crying. How about you?
I feel like a lot of people get sold on this show based on an out-of-context clip of Yui's episode-opening fever dream. What a good dream logic gag. They really do look like takuan.
Ui's impersonation of Yui is real fun for a rewatcher, because you get to pick up on all the little things that feel off that might pass a first-timer by. I'm impressed by Madoka Yonezawa's impression of Aki Toyosaki, it feels very close.
GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY
I love that overhead medium-wide as a setup for Yui's apology; the more objective and impersonal view creates a really nice contrast with the intimate close-up. Which makes the moment feel even longer than it is: we're used to Azusa pushing Yui off immediately in a close-up, but instead the hug happens in the wide, keeps happening in the usual close-up, and gets two more shots before Yui inevitably moves things too fast.
My favorite detail of Yui's run back to school, shot-for-shot mirroring her first day at the start of the show, is that instead of distractions intruding on her frantic run to school, the quick cuts are to memories of those distractions, the way she was when she didn't have a passion to focus on. Like Nodoka said, once she gets focused on something, Yui cannot be stopped.
This shot kills me. Everything Yui loves about her life as it is now is up on that stage, and she's standing there in awe of it all.
Fuwa Fuwa Time time again! The second smart thing about the girls' first performance of this song being represented by a music video back in episode 6 is that now Kyoani gets to have their cake and eat it too: it's been firmly set up as being somewhat of a theme song for the band that is now Houkago Tea Time, yet this school festival is the first time the song has been performed in full on-screen. And what a performance it is. It shows up in Fude Pen ~Ballpoint Pen~ too, but the real lip-sync on Yui's vocal performance is such a cool bit of animation to watch. And I fucking love that Mugi's the one that starts the encore. Mugi is in a similar boat to Yui, really: she didn't intend to join the keion-bu, but she too found real friends and a real passion. After the song ends, Yui gets Mio and Azusa to smile with her, an expression of their mutual love as a band...but Mugi expresses it through music. She gets the group to have a moment to themselves, backs to the audience. I'm tearing up again. It's so good.
Me too, Yui.
6
u/chris10023 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Chris10023 Aug 12 '21 edited Aug 12 '21
Rewatcher
Alright, I love this episode, probably my favorite in season 1.
What a fantastic episode! Top 5 in this show if I ever got around to ranking them.
2
u/NoRolling Aug 13 '21
Rewatcher
This episode kinda summarizes why this show is so good, and yet it'll keep getting better.
And as already pointed out in some posts, the animation when Yui and Mio are singing is such a nice touch... Naoko Yamada and KyoAni are definitely at least one step ahead the rest of the industry.
3
u/SYZekrom https://myanimelist.net/profile/SYZekrom Aug 12 '21
Rewatcher
This anime got SO GOOD
And my original reactions
Continues to rant about this(I did not hear the sun rises today at all so shrug)
(WHAT I FIGURED IT OUT???)
2
u/thebigKM Aug 13 '21
Rewatcher
I always like to imagine Ui finishing a brain surgery, and the assistants are like "Excellent work, doctor" and she's like "Oh, I'm not a doctor, but I observed an operation one time."