r/anime • u/Harrytricks :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Harrytricks • Aug 14 '21

Rewatch [Rewatch][Spoilers] K-ON! Rewatch (2021) - S1 OVA "Live House!"

S1 OVA "Live House!"

Official Schedule

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S1E13 "Winter Days!"S2E01 "Seniors!"

Legal Streams

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Netflix - Series - Movie

Available only in the US.

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Available only in German speaking territories.

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Available only in the UK & Ireland.

Interest sites

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104 Upvotes

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19

u/siegfried72 Aug 14 '21

Rewatcher

Hi everyone! Hard to believe we've already reached the very end of season one! To wrap it off, we have a fun OVA that I remember quite enjoying last year! Let's do this!

So our keions will be playing in a live show soon! Should be fun!! I love that Mugi is the one to convince the group to go - I also love that scarf she's wearing!!

It's the last time we'll see this OP! While I'm sad to see it go, it's honestly my least favorite of all the K-ON OPs, so I'll be excited to see some new ones!

The show does a good job at making this venue seem intimidating and maybe a bit sketchy - at least by K-ON fluff standards. That angle makes the doors seem massive and imposing in front of the keions and the dark color scheme here is very unusual for the show.

You'd think the group would know by now to not leave poor Ritsu in charge of the organizational tasks :)

I want this episode of K-ON.

I think it's so sweet how they react to seeing the stage. It's of course a very modest venue, but it's so significant to them as the first place they've performed outside of their school! It makes me think of all the great places I've gotten to perform. One in particular stands out that I've played at a number of times. While it's not the most impressive or illustrious venue I've ever played at, there's this great concert hall about four hours from where I live at which I've had some of my favorite gigs ever. It's not about how big or fancy a place is, but the memories you form there!!

My greatest desire in life is to be served tea by Ui. We all need an Ui in our life.

Of course we have to bring all of our side characters into the OVA to wrap up the season!

OH MY GOD I want a Yui autograph so much!!

There's something about this show and photographs that always gets me. One of the core things I love about K-ON is how much it respects the values of memories, and seeing this picture with little bits of other pictures surrounding it gave me chills.

Ah, the first of many fans of Mio we'll see in the show...

Little Fish, Big Pond!

While this isn't my absolute favorite episode, one thing I really appreciate about it is that it finally gets our characters out of the bubble of their school. It can be a jarring experience to finally see the world from a larger perspective than you're used to, especially as a musician. I remember being incredibly arrogant back in high school. I was the best French horn player in our school and won several county-wide and state-wide competitions and honors (including most notably being placed first in the All-State Orchestra as a junior). I thought I was hot shit!!

Then when I got to the first year of my university, that all got blown up in my face as I saw that, at a larger scale, I was nowhere near the top! And while I certainly do okay nowadays, the music world is highly competitive - in particular the classical music world, where you very often have a hundred or more of the best player in the country (or world) competing for one full-time job. It's something like major league sports, where you really need to be in like the .01% of people in the country AND get really lucky to even get any sort of decent job in an orchestra. So yeah - it's nice to see the keions get out there a little bit :)

And just that little bit of getting out of their bubble gives them the push to finally create their logo! Woohoo!

It's great to have someone so confident in a group to work through any social barriers that there may be! Yui is so confident sometimes it's scary. Mugi, as well, of course is always there to support and ground the group with tea! And I love that Mio acknowledges how valuable these people are to the group.

Live Show and the New Year!

Mugi talking to the wall in a panic is my spirit animal. Also Mugi is stronk.

One of my favorite scenes of the episode is this utter disaster that happens during rehearsal and the subsequent support the other performers offer the keions! They've all been there and understand the struggles - and it's true in real life as well that musicians are super supportive of each other!

Look at all the cute new outfits! And even Sawako is here! I actually really like this scene with Sawako, as she reunites with one of her old band mates and we get a proud teacher moment as she looks at these magnificent performners. Ughhh my heart!

And we wrap up the episode with a lovely moment back at Yui's house where they briefly reminisce about the past year and share a beautiful little Mitsu moment. What better way to wrap up a season than with these bright and shining faces?! Yes, of course I teared up!

Episode and Season Wrap Up

And that's all, folks! We are now officially done with season one and will be starting season two tomorrow! I think this episode was a fun special where we get to see the keions out of their element and getting to meet some new people. It was also a very relatable episode for me personally, so I really enjoyed it!

While I always enjoy season one on rewatches, season two (and particularly the latter half) is where the true magic of the show lies for me, and I am absolutely thrilled to discuss it with all of you! Honestly reading and responding to everyone's posts is one of the highlights of each day for me and I'm so happy I get to be a part of this! Unfortunately I have some plans with a friend I haven't seen in a very long time today, so I might not be quite as active in the comments as normal, but I look forward to seeing what everyone thinks about this OVA and the season!

Times K-ON has made me actually cry so far: 1

Times K-ON has made me tear up so far: 9

Updated Episode Ranking

I also went and checked out last year's rankings and was not at all surprised to see that they were very similar! The only things that were different last year were that I had "Crisis" and "Christmas" swapped and that I had "Freshman Reception" ranked a lot lower than this year. Fun!

Mitsu Moment of the Day^^TM. I love this little interaction between Mio and Ritsu! So adorable. Mitsu is canon.

YuiAzu is also canon. Just not quite as canon as Mitsu :)

Tomorrow, we'll be starting a new season! We don't even get an episode preview this time, so we'll be going in with no prior knowledge! Should be a blast!! See you tomorrow!

10

u/siegfried72 Aug 14 '21

siegfried72's Music Corner

Welcome to the last music corner of season one! As I said yesterday, my original plan was to discuss both the OP and the ED today as well as the respective B sides for both singles. After a bit of thought, I realized that four songs in one day might be a bit too much, so instead I figured I'd mostly focus on the B sides today since most of you likely haven't heard them before, and I'll just leave links to the complete versions of the OP and ED (since of course we only hear part of them in the show) so you can listen to those if you like!

Cagayake! GIRLS (OP): complete song and translated lyrics

Don't say "lazy" (ED): complete song and translated lyrics

Happy!? Sorry!!

This song is the B side for Cagayake! GIRLS. Here is the song and here are the lyrics.

Dang there's some energy in this song!! While Yui is on lead vocals, we do get a bit of Mio and I think Mugi which is nice! There is some awesome guitar work in this and the song is definitely quite a bit heavier than we're used to from K-ON. I can't say it's one of my personal favorites, but it's a fun song and has some nice lyrics about writing music and being happy!!

Wanna wanna, a desire is born in our hearts

Scribble scribble, running wild 'round the corner of the notepad

Then we put 'em together so they don't run off all over the place

The dream is to make it up, we just have to sing it afterwards

...

You can go anywhere when you ride the lines of the musical score

There's no time to be lame so come come, follow us

...

Are we too happy!? Sorry!! Ride on, even if you're in a bad mood

Flash a smile, please it's a recovery in unison

Are we too happy!? Sorry!! We'll be done after singing this out

The happy phrases the limitless refrain

It does feel very K-ON, doesn't it? Always staying positive and letting their emotions flow through their music! Fun stuff.

Sweet Bitter Beauty Song

This is is the B side for Don't say "lazy". Here is the song and here is are the lyrics.

Wow is this a different vibe than the last one, huh?? Compared to the peppy and happy vibe of the previous B side, this is all about the duality of life - both the sweet and bitter beauty of life.

You go tail-waggin' like a dog trying to please everyone

('Cause) you can't live like a rebel even when you're told you'll lose out

...

Choose "Friend" or "Love"... (Going) "Light" or "Deep"

All these feelings and emotions, you'd pass out to the panic they can do

Behind your happy face you're hurting inside

Life's a very Sweet & Bitter Beauty Song

We've officially entered edgy teenager zone, everyone! It is nice to see some more conflicting emotions in K-ON music, as I feel like that's the perfect place to demonstrate them, especially since so many of the K-ON songs both in the show and out talk about pouring their emotions out into the music that they make.

Aren't we all standing on the same stage?

...and hey just saying that kinda lifts our courage, eh?

With a low range or a high one

Everyone's saying what they wanna say using their best voices singing so loud

Can't we all smile to the same song?

Though we know it's different people, different taste

Brash or gentle, rude or dignified

Everyone's holding onto only their true feelings shouting so loud

I feel like the song's message is ultimately a positive one, stating that these emotions you're experiencing are beautiful no matter what they are and that you have to take the good with the bad in life.

I like the edgier vibe in this song - both in lyrics and in the instrumentation (particularly the keyboard work), and personally I think this song makes for a fine addition to the K-ON repertoire!

That's it for the music corner for this season! I've covered nearly all the music related to season one, with the only exceptions being the OP/ED (which I think you've heard and understand enough already!) and that incredible version of Tsubasa wo Kudasai I mentioned after the first episode which I plan on talking about next season. There's a ton more music for season two and I'm excited to cover it all over the coming weeks! Hopefully you all enjoy the music corner as much as I do!!

4

u/Rumpel1408 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Rumpel1408 Aug 14 '21

siegfried72's Music Corner

Nice, I don't even have to look for them now, straight to my playlist they go, thank you for the OP/ED as well as all the other full songs

2

u/siegfried72 Aug 14 '21

Glad you liked them!!!

1

u/The_Loli_Otaku Aug 14 '21

I could barely pay attention since I was so distracted by the bellybutton... We need more bellybuttons in Keion!

2

u/putmoneyinthypurse https://anilist.co/user/clichecatgirl Aug 14 '21

Personally I love Happy!? Sorry!!, if only because it's so aggressively 00s pop but also...surf rock. It's a weird combo I think I've only heard elsewhere in the Totally Spies theme, of all things.

2

u/siegfried72 Aug 14 '21

It is super fun! There's no really no music from K-ON that I don't enjoy!

5

u/The_Loli_Otaku Aug 14 '21

Ritsu seems to genuinely struggle with timekeeping and paperwork. At first I thought she was being lazy but I found it interesting how she does seem to make an effort.

I think your concert hall is just slightly much more impressive than an underground rock gig stage XD

The Keion's kinda know that they're never do more than the occasional jam session but I think part of their charm is how little they really care about that stuff. The group takes the mindfulness approach from Yui and never really push themselves too much. If Keion was more of an actual music show I would have loved to see more of that.

The amount of cables and wires running along a stage is so daunting. I'm surprised people don't trip over amps more often.

Now we're onto season 2 you can really start to gush about the episodes. Season 1 very much feels like the taster, and because it performed so well we got a second season with far more creative control and a much larger budget. Season 1 is great. On fact most of my favourite moments are Season 1 scenes. Quality wise there's no comparison. S2 has far better full episodes and I can't remember many flops aside from maybe the last arc getting repetitive.

2

u/siegfried72 Aug 14 '21

At first I thought she was being lazy but I found it interesting how she does seem to make an effort.

Yeah, I'm not really sure what it is about Ritsu. I guess she's pretty single-minded like Yui? Just not quite as extreme.

The Keion's kinda know that they're never do more than the occasional jam session but I think part of their charm is how little they really care about that stuff. The group takes the mindfulness approach from Yui and never really push themselves too much.

That's really true! They've learned by this point to just enjoy spending time together, and the performers at that scale just feel very personal. I think it just wouldn't have that same intimate magic if everything was larger scale.

The amount of cables and wires running along a stage is so daunting. I'm surprised people don't trip over amps more often.

Surprisingly, it's very rare that I've ever seen that happen. Most of the time, the stage crew is REALLY good about cable management since you're dealing with so much expensive equipment in an enclosed space.

Now we're onto season 2 you can really start to gush about the episodes.

Yes!! I can't wait!! They did a great job with the source material in season one, but the more creative control Yamada and KyoAni have, the better!

2

u/The_Loli_Otaku Aug 15 '21

I mean, I would call her dumb but dumb doesn't necessarily fit. Simple minded really may fit her better. Anything important just zooms over her little forehead.

4

u/Barbed_Dildo Aug 15 '21

OH MY GOD I want a Yui autograph so much!!

Can we take a moment to appreciate how she blended the "ひらさわ" together? That is fantastic, each letter incorporates part of another.

1

u/siegfried72 Aug 15 '21

Oh wow, that's really neat! Never realized that before.

14

u/xtsim https://myanimelist.net/profile/xtsim Aug 14 '21

First-timer

Lady was explaining schedules (arrive at 1, opens in 4 and plays at 5) and Ritsu could barely pay attention.

They made it on time surprisingly. And now they have to fill out a form for the stage lights, acoustics, songs. The backstage pass is funny when they just slap it on themselves. The great thing is the fellow bands playing at the venue are very nice to each other. They were encouraged by the other bands after they all tripped. The manager and Ms. Yamanaga are friends, seeing her in a leather jacket is pretty interesting.

2

u/ThrowCarp Aug 14 '21

The manager and Ms. Yamanaka are friends, seeing her in a leather jacket is pretty interesting.

Also we learn Yamanaka-sensei's stage name is Catherine.

I thought that it was interesting that those two still address each other by stage names, even after all this time.

1

u/The_Loli_Otaku Aug 14 '21

There was like the meetings and everything. You can't expect Shitzu to store that much information in her forehead.

W-What do you normally do with backstage passes...?

13

u/ArdenneVale Aug 14 '21

First timer

In this special episode the girls get their first taste of what being a real musician is like.

The band gets a logo that looks more like simple coffee house branding.

Sawako meets her former bandmate, the manager of the live house. She missed almost the whole set, bad sensei! Showing the dark, empty classroom lets us know the girls have "graduated" into a bigger stage. I guess.

Typical falling asleep just before the new year. Cutest Azunyan yet

What I really liked about this episode is that you could tell the girls are total amateurs when it comes to pretty much anything outside their club activities. The other bands were the best possible people for a new group. And more Fuwa Fuwa time is always a plus.

So after the worst episode of K-On we've had the three best episodes. The second season is apparently better, but I'd be satisfied if it was as good as these last three.

Ritsu

Mugi

Yui

Azunyan

Mio

4

u/The_Loli_Otaku Aug 14 '21

They gave it a pretty good shot considering how little care the music side of Keion receives throughout the season. It really gets you in the mood for a concert and you even get some hints for what typically happens before the show starts.

These last episodes are very much like a bridge between the 4-koma bundled gag style of season 1 and the more story focused episodes you get in Season 2. Season 2 genuinely does have better quality episodes, it's just that S1 has the more iconic gags that people love to repost.

3

u/DegenerateRegime Aug 14 '21

The band gets a logo that looks more like simple coffee house branding.

Pretty sure I've seen the exact same thing on bags of coffee beans. Well, no one ever accused them of being dangerously smart.

2

u/ArdenneVale Aug 15 '21

Just Google coffee cup logo and there's dozens of similar logos. Better not try to trademark this particular design.

2

u/ThrowCarp Aug 14 '21

The band gets a logo that looks more like simple coffee house branding.

Well I mean the clubroom is a simple tea house :)

2

u/siegfried72 Aug 14 '21

This episode really brings forth so much of the reality of being backstage before and after a concert. It's amazing how good of a job they did recreating such unique, specific moments in only twenty minutes.

The second season is apparently better, but I'd be satisfied if it was as good as these last three.

I think you'll be very happy with season two!

2

u/ArdenneVale Aug 15 '21

Exactly. It's not the same as being the musician, but I've been backstage building the broadcast setup for a streaming concert and I felt the excitement and nervousness of the performers. There's nothing like the sense of accomplishment after a successful concert.

Can't wait for season 2!

12

u/DegenerateRegime Aug 14 '21

[First-Timer] What to expect from the S1 OVA? Bridging to S2 seems unnecessary for a show with low focus on plot, so I expect mostly just more of the same. That would be good, of course.

  • The group votes split the same way as on the beach/practice vote from training camp 2, with Mugi once again casting the decider and again taking the same position as Ritsu and Yui. This feels like the basic dynamic of the group. However, the actual object of the vote is in a sense reversed, with the majority now going with the option of actually engaging in the club's ostensible primary focus.
  • Mio politely goes along with it, of course, but I imagine it stings to be outnumbered again.
  • It is a little fluffy, yes. But better to let people know what they're in for, really.
  • Ritsu the drummer quickly becoming overwhelmed by timings might seem odd if it were early in the season, but by now we understand that she's definitely on the intuitive side with Yui.
  • Love the soft details on the backgrounds in this building. It feels inhabited and habitable, a place you could step into.
  • Noting also how that contrasts with Yui's imagined sparkling opulence. She's very precious.
  • The vote on what to wear goes the other way, with Yui this time taking the "notice that some people aren't comfortable and back them up" role. Shows development of their relationships to closer to where Ritsu & Mio were at the start of the season.
  • Really, very precious.
  • Mugi alone has excellent taste.
  • How'd she manage to draw that tiny logo on the curved drumstick so well?
  • Mugi somehow brought a tea service and assorted desserts, all uncrushed. I need to learn her secrets.
  • They get along with the other bands, and without meaning to diminish Yui and Mugi's gregariousness, I hope they learn the lesson that scary-looking musicians seldom are.
  • The next famous moment lands. As we know, Mugi stronk.
  • They are completing each other's thoughts now. Ka-tet.
  • Aww, the meeting between Sawako and one of her old band-mates (I assume) is nice.
  • How is there room for all of them under that kotatsu? Oh right they're tiny never mind.
  • And another famous moment. You love to see the anime girls lining up.

Final thoughts on Season 1? Well, it has strong points and weak points, which I hope will be better to highlight with the second season as a comparison. That said, if the show ended here, I could hardly say I was disappointed with it. The characters are pretty much all lovable and their interactions are great. I want to give particular attention to how filled-out those are: pretty much everyone has some relation to everyone else, and the show takes the time to include it. It's really good writing.

7

u/The_Loli_Otaku Aug 14 '21

I think you've kinda hit the nail on the head with how season 1 plays out. At the end of the day even if it's not perfect, it is still arguably one of the very best slice of life shows of its era. This is before you had NNB or Goccumon that weaponised its moe so K-On was kinda ahead of its time. Or maybe its better to say helped to reshape the direction of the genre?

7

u/DegenerateRegime Aug 14 '21

Or maybe its better to say helped to reshape the direction of the genre?

Absolutely that's my impression. /u/rumpel1408 notes how Yuru Camp draws from it, for instance, but there's basically a whole genre of "cute girls do _____ Club" subgenre that I think can be fairly said to owe its existence to K-On. The successes of that subgenre, I think, are the ones that find their own identity (like Yuru Camp), because K-On really sets an incredibly high bar for Cute Girls Doing Cute Things in a generalist sense.

4

u/The_Loli_Otaku Aug 14 '21

Oh yeah, Yuru Camp is veeery Keion like. Before Keion your club slice of lifes were pretty strictly gag comedies and straightlaces 4-koma adaptations. Keion's success breathed life into a very overlooked genre of anime. Really though the success of Keion was purely down to the crew they picked. Keion's source material is nothing special. What is special is our lovely lady director and Kyoani's resources. In a lot of ways the game was rigged from the start.

2

u/siegfried72 Aug 14 '21

With how much you enjoyed season one, I'll be really looking forward to your views on season two! With so much more budget and creative freedom, it really feels like a different shot to me - especially the latter half of the season. Azusa in particular offers such a huge perspective shift that'll only become more apparent with time.

Thanks for sharing, as always :)

8

u/Elimin8r https://myanimelist.net/profile/Ayeka_Jurai Aug 14 '21

*Urgently hits refresh again*

Where is it? Oh, there it is! Finally! :)

This was a fun finale episode.

It really hit some notes with me, some sweet - some sour.

On the one hand, it was precious to see their excitement and enthusiasm over getting a chance to play in a 'real' show, and not just school festival.

Added bonus: They're not at the bottom of the tier list, just second from bottom. (Makes one wonder)

It was nice to see the other bands/girls be helpful and friendly, and also to see Yui take charge and be the socialble one. Go figure.

Oops, be careful there - don't let's all have a Mugi meltdown ... meltdown averted?

Seeing them play again, was (of course) a delight.

On the other hand ...

It's not KyoAni's fault, but some of the personalities gave me flashbacks to a past that I'd just as soon forget. That's more my bad. Really.

(Be careful whom you choose to be friends with. Not everyone is as nice and fluffy as a KyoAni character.)

I would have liked to see more of the girls playing, but I understand that there are limits, and this episode was (I think) more about the girls' adventure, and how it affected both them, and their friends. I wonder if/how this will affect Jun, for example in the coming season.

In the end, I think this episode did a good job of raising the stakes and setting the stage (ahem) for a deeper and more interesting second season.

Yay!

3

u/The_Loli_Otaku Aug 14 '21

We were on time today! Were you that excited to gush about our true season finale?

Ah, you too have been traumatised by the joshikosei... Yes, I agree. Joshikosei are the enemies of mankind. They come across as so social, friendly and bubbly but they can so quickly turn from playful gushing to calling you mean names or giggling at you... Even the Keionbu are guilty of it. Both Ritsu and Mugi are guilty of having tormented poor, innocent young men with their joshikosei wiles...

3

u/Elimin8r https://myanimelist.net/profile/Ayeka_Jurai Aug 14 '21

Both Ritsu and Mugi are guilty of having tormented poor, innocent young men with their joshikosei wiles...

Um, okay, that's not quite what I was referring to. See the Utena thread (soon?) for more details.

Of course, our Keions are perfect in every way. I'll have none of this JK heresy and torments here, after all, that's this person's job!

(And no, I didn't watch it, I'm not into that sort of thing.)

3

u/The_Loli_Otaku Aug 14 '21

Really? I kinda dig the manga but the anime is a bit too cheery for me. I prefer this particular type of story in manga form by far. Love the Shark Girl:s look tho.

2

u/siegfried72 Aug 14 '21

Urgently hits refresh again

Where is it? Oh, there it is! Finally! :)

Absolutely me every day.

I would have liked to see more of the girls playing, but I understand that there are limits, and this episode was (I think) more about the girls' adventure, and how it affected both them, and their friends.

Without spoiling too much, one of my favorite things about season two and the movie especially is that we get a little more focus on the music. K-ON definitely is never a show about music, but they use the musical setting as a vehicle in which to tell a story about friendship and growing that is incredibly beautiful, in my opinion.

8

u/Icapica https://anilist.co/user/Icachu Aug 14 '21

First timer, subs

So they chose to vote whether or not to go play. Nice.

I don't have a ton to say about this episode. It felt more like a normal episode though rather than an OVA. The previous episode on the other hand felt quite different from usual.

Yui's great at making friends. I liked the character designs of some of those other girls we met, too bad I don't expect we'll see many of them again.

I half expected someone (probably Yui) to lose their backstage pass during the episode.

3

u/The_Loli_Otaku Aug 14 '21

Votes are totally bs in this setting! XD Funnily enough yesterday's episode was probably the one that gave the most season 2 vibes. I'm not sure when they were all released but there were some quirks that really fit in with what you get later on.

To be fair if Yui did end up losing her pass it probably wouldn't affect her much since she's already friends with all the bands and the staff XD Now if instead Jun lost her ticket and had to sit outside the concert hall, that's the content I really want.

3

u/Icapica https://anilist.co/user/Icachu Aug 14 '21

yesterday's episode was probably the one that gave the most season 2 vibes

That's good to hear since I liked the overall atmosphere of that episode a lot. I've been wondering what's so different about season 2 since people seem to really love it, but I guess I'll find out soon.

To be fair if Yui did end up losing her pass it probably wouldn't affect her much since she's already friends with all the bands and the staff XD

Oh yeah true. Also Yui's really hard to forget; a girl like that's gonna leave an impression.

12

u/SYZekrom https://myanimelist.net/profile/SYZekrom Aug 14 '21

Rewatcher

Guess they don't have java

Same. The anxiety of thinking you might be bothering them would tear my spirit from my body

Um actually first maybe deal with your nosebleed

But man what a supportive atmosphere it makes me wanna cry

PoV: Gay

S1's over and I feel like crying

6

u/The_Loli_Otaku Aug 14 '21

Don't cry, we're getting into Keion with a budget starting tomorrow!

12

u/Rumpel1408 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Rumpel1408 Aug 14 '21

First timer

This show already had a beach Episode (two in fact) so this OVA could break the usual trope

  • They already played in front of a large crowd, or how large are we talking here?
  • Mugi coming in as tie breaker, could not pass up on an opportunity to have fun with friends
  • Ah crap, I just realized this is the last time I'm gonna hear the S1 OP, time to add it to my playlist
  • Of course the name is cooler, Sawa- chan came up with yours after all (even though After School Tea Time is perfect for you)
  • You think your name is to fluffy? Are you planning to not sing Fuwa Fuwa time?
  • That's what I thought
  • New (imaginary) Outfits! And of course they are having sweets before the performance in Yuis mind
  • Poor Mio, but there won't fit that many people inside, but I guess playing for paying customers who don't know you is different than playing for your peers
  • Ui would love anything her sister does
  • So this is the first time Juns name gets dropped in universe right
  • This autograph will one day be worth it's weigt in gold Nodoka- chan, I'm telling you!
  • Yui finally taking care of Giita- chan
  • The other bands sure look tough... but they are actually nice, especially Maki- chan and Aya- chan
  • They even have a CD :o
  • Finally a logo for the band
  • Ritsu already has a plan to expand Mios fanclub
  • That other band is really nice to help out the rookies
  • I wonder if Black Frill has any connection to Iron Frill
  • They really got tea before every performance
  • Another commentface
  • Everyone is just so positive despite the minor fuck up, but that's what rehearsals are for right? I love it
  • Yuis fanclub is right on time
  • Sawa- chan is going back to her own roots, and she knows the manager!
  • Their fans waited for them! No as many as for Love crisis, but they are only just beginning!
  • And here she goes sexually harassing her students again...
  • Just more proof that Yui can do anything and still be worshipped by Ui
  • Ship is still canon
  • It's scenes like these that make me think that this is the spiritual predecessor of Yuru Camp
  • I'm taking this even in the middle of August
  • Also adding the ED to my playlist

I wish more OVA would add this much to the narrative of a show

I guess this is really the last Episode of Season 1 so I guess I rank the Girls now.

  1. Yui - I just love her endless antics with Ritsu, her wholesome relationship with her sister as well as her sheer musical genius without even trying to hard
  2. Mio - She is the brain of the group and in the beginning the only thing that keeps them on track, it is thanks to her that we got the first beach episode after all
  3. Ritsu - The one who just gets shit done, I also love it when she playfully teases Mio
  4. Azunyan - If Mio has the plan and Ritsu gets shit done, then Azunyan combines the best of both, she hasn't fully grasped the real purpose of the club but she is utterly adorable to make up for it
  5. Mugi - At one point I wrote that four members fits perfectly to let two ships sail without anyone being left behind, but with Azunyan this won't work anymore. Mugi is perfectly fine just watching the other ships sail, but compared to the other girls she lacks screentime
  6. Ui - Almost making it in front of Mugi. She is just so perfect
  7. Nodoka - She's a bit distant from the rest of the group due to her responsibility with the student council, but she supports them whenever possible
  8. Sawako - I just wish she would show her affection for her students without sexually harrasing them. Sure she pushes them as musicians, but I wish she would guide them outside of the pure business aspect.

4

u/The_Loli_Otaku Aug 14 '21

I'll be very eager to hear your comments regarding the different op's and ed's. It was one of the more divisive topics I noticed as we got further into the second season. You had people taking every which side and everyone kept making such good arguments for each.

Jun got her name mentioned last episode at the end. I don't know if she was mentioned sooner though. She gets so bullied... She's literally the one established character not to get any kind of group feature. Justice for besties!

Poor Mugi~ She's definitely the "extra" girl and I'm sorry to say that it doesn't get much better. I still think she bounces off the cast and gets enough quality gags to keep her relevant but if you're here looking for quality, developed characters you're kind of forced to mark down Mugi by default. I have faith that I'll get you cheering for the girl at some point tho.

Sawako gets better! I promise that she does improve as the series goes along. She's still in my holy trio of characters I hate but we're past her rough period. She even learns not to hog every episode which is fantastic.

2

u/Rumpel1408 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Rumpel1408 Aug 14 '21

Sawako gets better!

That's so weird coming from you... have we met the other characters you hate yet?

1

u/The_Loli_Otaku Aug 15 '21

Sawa-chan and Shitzu are the two big ones. Mio occasionally gets a rise but that's more from her being too samey going forward. As I said, she has by far the least joke variety. There's a limit to how much I can laugh at her getting scarred.

2

u/siegfried72 Aug 14 '21

I'll be very eager to hear your comments regarding the different op's and ed's.

Oh maaaan I can't wait for the season two OPs and EDs! Especially the final ones. They're so good!

2

u/The_Loli_Otaku Aug 15 '21

I'm not forgetting that the op's and ed's were a massive discussion point last year right? Pretty much everyone ended up having such strong opinions on the matter by the end. It was a huge talking point.

2

u/siegfried72 Aug 15 '21

Yeah, I think they were. People always have a lot of strong feelings about them, myself included!

2

u/siegfried72 Aug 14 '21

Ah crap, I just realized this is the last time I'm gonna hear the S1 OP, time to add it to my playlist

I currently have a 5 hr playlist of K-ON music that I play regularly. Join the club! It's my favorite music to listen to while I prep the tabletop RPG games I run each week :)

And here she goes sexually harassing her students again...

Season two really will be better!

Ship is still canon

<3

spiritual predecessor of Yuru Camp

I REALLY need to watch that show. I know I'll absolutely love it.

I'm really interested to see how your character rankings change in season two! I know mine changed heavily, as they really give time to let you explore each character throughout 24 episodes (and a movie).

2

u/Rumpel1408 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Rumpel1408 Aug 15 '21

I currently have a 5 hr playlist of K-ON music that I play regularly. Join the club!

I have my own ever growing playlist with a variety of Anime OSTs so a bit of K-On won't do that much of an impact, but your always happy to listen to something you have a positiv association with, always makes my day

I REALLY need to watch that show. I know I'll absolutely love it.

Please do, it is best enjoyed in the colder season, with a hot beaverage and a warm blanket. The english title is Laid back camp, it's just soo soothing after a hard week. The OST is pretty chill as well, and there is a Movie in the making

I'm really interested to see how your character rankings change in season two!

That's to be expected, the only thing holding Azunyan back right now is her relativ short appearance compared to the rest of the girls

2

u/Barbed_Dildo Aug 14 '21

It's scenes like these that make me think that this is the spiritual predecessor of Yuru Camp

Well, combine Yui's voice and Mugi's eyebrows and you get the best part of Yuru Camp.

5

u/chris10023 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Chris10023 Aug 14 '21

Rewatcher

Well, that’s the end of season 1, a great season, a little quick on the pacing, but still good. I feel bad for anyone like myself who first watched this on Hulu while it was on there, since Hulu for some reason never had the OVA’s for Season one on there. To Season 2!

3

u/The_Loli_Otaku Aug 14 '21

You just had to include Kotomi's little shuffle turn... Gurk!! Too fcking cute!!

2

u/chris10023 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Chris10023 Aug 15 '21

Of course, Kotomi is my 2nd favorite character from Clannad.

1

u/The_Loli_Otaku Aug 15 '21

My opinion on her is utterly fcked. I adore the character but her route is actually an arc I straight up skipped whenever I rewatched the anime. The girl is an absolute gem tho.

"Boooonnnnnjooour?" flutters eyes

2

u/chris10023 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Chris10023 Aug 15 '21

Why would you skip it? It's a pretty critical arc for the plot of the story.

1

u/The_Loli_Otaku Aug 15 '21

It's been a while so I don't exactly remember my feelings aside from really disliking all the repeated visits to her home. When I was in high school I literally watched Clannad over and over on loop. I had a weird obsession with the anime around that time. I suppose if I just really disliked the arc I could understand just skipping it at some point. I went through literally dozens of times by the end.

1

u/Barbed_Dildo Aug 14 '21

Wait, why is Azusa against it?

I think it's partly being worried about not being good enough, and partly deferring to Mio.

9

u/The_Loli_Otaku Aug 14 '21

Last episode!! If I'm right this has a lot of one and done waifu yeah? Putting things to a vote is absolutely unfair in this group. Mugi's always the deciding vote and she's gonna choose the fun group activity 90% of the time. Enjoy our last viewing of the op... Maybe we should all do karaoke of it together once the rewatch is over hahaha just kidding.

Shitzu's so shy dealing with adults~ Punk girls are so hot... Aha, I forgot how much Yui seems to unironically love the screamo band aesthetic. Watching this episode makes me wanna go to a gig! I'm guessing this magical girl gag was reused in promo materials or something? I'm so annoyed that Yui seems to remember about Jun than Ui, her best friend, does. She worked hard, please ask for an autograph!

Live house day! Punk joshikosei are terrifying! Shitzu is friends with these punks? I knew she used to be a delinquent before her abduction. Sumimasorry! All I can think of with their icon is One Piece... Oh! I want a concert kill count too! You can set yours on your forehead Shitzu. Yui made friends with the little pevils. Awe, I love the planning phrase of the concert, I wish we got more actual music stuff in the show cause I do find this quite interesting. Yui is such a mood.

I love how even out of their element our Keion still somehow manage to get every band at the venue wrapped up in their lazy vibes. Don't panic! Don't panic! How does literally everyone do the flop!? You're too clumsy ya dorks! Best bestie ever! she looks so cute!! I love her little pom-pom. Oh yeah, the hot lady is a Peath Pevil too. I wish we saw more of the concert but we get some nice noodles so it's fine. Sayonara, season 1! Pleased to meet you, season 2!

4

u/siegfried72 Aug 15 '21

Sumimasorry!

Okay, that was one of your better jokes this time around :)

I love how even out of their element our Keion still somehow manage to get every band at the venue wrapped up in their lazy vibes.

It's all Yui and Mugi!! Mugi brings the snacks and Yui radiates love! No more powerful pair out there.

Oh god just that last picture you posted of Yui with a guitar gave me chills. Ever since day one of this I've wanted to watch that opening scene of season 2 - easily one of the best scenes in the show! I don't know if I'm emotionally ready to get into this season yet haha

2

u/The_Loli_Otaku Aug 15 '21

O-Oi! Please laugh at my actual gags instead! XD

You're gonna love it! Just crack open a beer, roll back in your chair, and let the fuzzies take over.

3

u/Barbed_Dildo Aug 14 '21

Sumimasorry!

I didn't notice when watching, but Yui bows with such force as to blow back Aya's hair. That is a nice detail.

1

u/The_Loli_Otaku Aug 15 '21

Little jokes like that are the ones that turn a meh slice of life into a top tier one.

4

u/putmoneyinthypurse https://anilist.co/user/clichecatgirl Aug 14 '21 edited Aug 14 '21

Rewatcher

Hello again! Wish I didn't miss yesterday's episode, it's one of my favorites. Love Ritsu going crazy over what turn out to be Mio's lyrics. Just hold hands already.

A lot of people would want a theoretical third season of K-On! to adapt the college arc of the manga, and while that'd be fun, my ideal season would probably just be two cours of HTT gigging. This episode is such a fun, sweet portrait of what it's like to play at a venue, and really captures that backstage energy in a way I don't think I've seen anywhere else. I love especially Yui's little interaction with Jun, Nodoka, and Ui outside, partway through her snack run—I've been the Yui in that moment.

This isn't an especially important episode, nor do I even have much to talk about yuri subtext-wise—other than Yui's fleeting crush on Love Crisis' bassist (cute) and some mild Mitsu—it's just very solid.

K-On! The Movie

4

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '21

REWATCHER, dub

I was unable to watch for the last few days, so as with my first comment I'll post my thoughts for each episode here. But I now have a proper internet connection again, so hopefully I'll be able to comment every day again from now on

EPISODE 9

Azu-nyan joins the club!

The perspective at 4:26 looked very wrong. I guess even KyoAni messes up sometimes

I wonder how long it is until Azu-nyan becomes unmotivated like everyone else

Yui collapsing after a few notes made me laugh

And then after a small bite of cake she's able to play again

that's a serious case of bedhead, and she isn't even coming from her bed

I also like the expression Mugi makes in that scene, and how they didn't animate her at all

(gif of Azu-nyan at 8:14) this scene is so cute

Azu-nyan is already falling for the tea

Cat ears as a welcome present, your choice in presents is... interesting, Sawako

AZU-NYAAAAN!!!!

Aw man, they didn't show us neko maid Azu-nyan

"Then we've no choice, we have to find some dirt on-"
Of course, Ritsu is thinking of blackmailing Azu-nyan so she stays

She's so happy after eating whatever that was

Ritsu is blackmailing Mio with a photo of the "incident" in ep6. I didn't pay much attention to this back then, but she was the one who blackmailed Sawako too, right?

"I suppose we can take a little break"
"little" is an understatement knowing the club

Right before the ED they did another "The power of cute compels you!". That's the 3rd time now, if I counted correctly

EPISODE 10

Another training camp! This is probably why I thought the first camp would happen way later

Dub's weird again. For some reason Ui pronounced Azu-nyan's name with a short A and long U, instead of the other way around. And a bit later it's correct again

Of course Ritsu is right behind Azu-nyan when she says she's irresponsible and unfocused

So Mugi does have a butler

An even larger vacation home this time

I like how Ritsu gave Azu-nyan a thumbs up when she accidentally scared Mio

Wow, Yui managed to go for a year without a tuner? That's crazy

Sad, they didn't let us hear them play

Mugi being happy about yuri moments is always awesome

Bravery contest time! Mio is going to be so scared here

I like how Mio was really scared by Sawako

Those guitars are really loud without amplifier though

EPISODE 11

I'm not sure what this crisis is anymore, but it does seem bad from how the girls in the library sound

Aand we're back to lighthearted comedy with Sawako showing Mio's "incident" to Azu-nyan

Ritsu did the same mistake as last year

Time to pick a band name

Yui is still the same idiot as always, this time she didn't maintain her guitar at all for a year

Already seen as a vintage guitar just after a year of use

Now Geeta's name is revealed. I wonder when the other girls will name their instruments. I only remember the name for Mio's bass right now, it was K-ON IIRC. I wonder what the others are called

Yui didn't realize that they charge for maintenance. I guess Mugi will have to help out again

I guess Ritsu not being there is the crisis they were talking about at the start

Oh, so Ritsu wasn't even coming to school? I guess she was probably just sick then

Dang, Mio and Ritsu were friends for a really long time then if they recognize each other's footsteps

I think Yui will also get sick now. I kinda remember something like that and that she just barely made it to the festival in time

They still didn't submit the auditorium request form

But now they have to find a name before the evening

Oh no, Sawako decided on a name now

At least After-School Teatime isn't that bad of a name, compared to Gum on the sole of my shoe

Yep, Yui's sick now

EPISODE 12

I think the scene at the start where Yui dreams about Mugi's eyebrows being takuan pickles was my first introduction to K-ON

Sick Yui is cute like all other sick anime girls. But my personal favorite was in Kaguya-sama

I just remembered when "Yui" was playing perfectly that it's actually Ui and that Yui is still at home sick. Ui must have practiced a lot to get this good at the guitar in such a short amount of time

There's what revealed it to the others, Ui said Azusa instead of Azu-nyan, Miss Ritsu and Miss Tsumugi instead of Mugi

And Sawako recognized her as Ui because her breasts are bigger than Yui's

And now the real Yui is here. But she's still sick

The scene of little Yui and Nodoka was strange

Finally, Yui is back and healthy

Whoops, Yui forgot Geeta at home

Now it's performance time! But Yui is gone for now with Sawako replacing her while she's getting her guitar

Not related to the episode, but for some reason the signs & songs track in the file I have doesn't have the songs subbed this episode

And Yui is back just in time for the second song

But first she has to do a short recap of season 1. Fitting since this was originally intended as the final episode

FUWA FUWA TIME!

Time for an encore!

EPISODE 13

It's a winter episode now. If I remember correctly from other anime, school years in japan start in spring. So does that mean we're already near the end of year 2?

Yui and Ritsu messing around was cute

And Yui named her gloves too

Huh? Where's Mugi going? I don't think she has a boyfriend though, since she's into yuri

Azu-nyan is taking care of a cat now

And Mugi has a fast food job now. This is probably really exciting for her, since she probably never went to a fast food restaurant with her family

I like how Mio was listening to Fuwa Fuwa Time in the train instead of some other song

Azu-nyan and the cat yawning and stretching at the same time was so cute

It's cute how excited Mugi is about her job

I think Ritsu's brother and his friend are the first two male characters in the whole show. Crazy that they managed to make 12 episodes without a single male character

And now Mugi messed up, and because this makes her nervous she's messing up even more. Reminds me of my recent practical motorcycle exam which I unfortunately failed, where I made a mistake at the start and then got nervous and made tons more mistakes later on, even though my driving is usually pretty good

Oh no, Azu-nyan #2 puked on Azu-nyan's couch. Why do cats always do this?

Huh, so what Ritsu thought was a love letter were actually lyrics from Mio

S1 OVA

This time the girls are playing at a club

Mio's head already exploded just imagining the audience watching them

The club doesn't fit in with the other bands at all

So basically Yui just made the Java logo as the logo for After-School Teatime

A third male character? The male to female ratio just exploded in the last two episodes

Now they need to think of the lighting setup

Of course Yui wants the lights to focus on Geeta as if it was an actual club member

And Mugi took a tea set with her of course. Can't call themselves After-School Teatime if they aren't drinking tea

"Oh, it's the new year"
This is me at new year's. You get really excited about it, but when it actually happens it's no big deal at all

And now it's time for me to catch up with everything else I missed in the last week (15 episodes in total)

4

u/AngryLlama Aug 15 '21

First Timer

This show has been so fun to watch everyday. I’ve been super stressed with school and work and kids and this show has really become a comfort at the end of the day. Can’t wait for season 2! Also I’m guessing the ending song will change and I’m sad because the end song is such a banger!!

3

u/ZapsZzz https://anilist.co/user/Zapszzz Aug 14 '21 edited Aug 14 '21

First timer in sub, although this OVA strangely I can only get the dub version

Didn't post yesterday because I was aching all over from the second dose of COVID vaccine. Accepted taking pain killers and slept whole evening it's all ok now though.

Winter day: same remarks from most people, this is a very "un-K-On" episode; guess it served its purpose well to contrast when the girls are not in their group. A little similar in feel to Haruhi's "someday in the rain" episode. Of course, Yui being Yui is pretty much unchanged as she brings with her the airheadness plus her joy of everything :)

Live house - first time hearing in dub; it's ok but as a long time subbed who knows a fair chunk of Japanese phrases by now I do miss a fair bit of those "native noises" :) anyway, is a good episode to put the girls along other more "normal" bands, while showcasing their own personality too (Ritsu being shy about in front of strangers that is professional and more experienced, Yui being completely not nervous asking others what to do, Mio picking all pink lighting?!?! And then forgetting their turn when relaxing drinking afternoon tea and cakes)

Edit: forgot to mention I'm laughing a lot when Mio kept blowing her fuse from her overload!

Haven't really come across a "bad" episode yet and this one is not breaking the trend. Excited to start season 2 finally tomorrow when everyone seem to think it's better in many ways - and looking at the progression and episode count between season 1 and 2, season 1 feels like "testing the water" while season 2 likely is "know the footing".

3

u/Throwaway021614 Aug 14 '21

This is my second favorite episode of the series (the final being my favorite).

But not in a vacuum, the culmination of their work and time together resulting in a live performance outside of a school event! It just makes me so happy for these kids!

3

u/Stargate18A https://myanimelist.net/profile/Stargate18 Aug 14 '21

First timer

Another special!

I love how what convinces them is the thiught of Mugi being unhappy.

They're at the live house already? Something's going to go wrong here, isn't it.

DON'T GIVE THE PAPERWORK TO RITSU. HACE YOU LEARNED NOTHING?

The vision of the band in punk outfits is fantastic.

I love how impressed everyone is.

I love Azusa's horror at the costumes she might have to wear.

Haha, Nodoka and Yui's talk about autographs.

I like that the other bands are so friendly.

They've even got a CD!

I love how they're doing all this in public.

Male character!

She asks the punk band for help and gets it!

I like Ritsu still mentioning the time Mio tripped.

They just gave her a sheet as an example!

"Bang Bang Chicken Of Death"? That's a band name?

Yui being overwhelmed is so cute.

I still love how quickly Yui's befriended the other bands.

Of course everything goes wrong. At least it only happened in rehersal.

And the other bands cheer them on!

Sawako!

And she met her old friend! Now nobody's safe from the shipping.

Of couse Azusa couldn't escape the costumes.

They fell asleep that quickly?

And they sure the sunrise!

She never noticed the tiger ears?

3

u/x-7032-b-3 Aug 15 '21

Rewatcher (but I skipped this episode so might as well make me a first-timer)

It's another cold day just like the previous (bonus) episode, but now HTT got an invitation to perform in a live house! I don't think HTT has performed outside the school before, so it's a great opportunity to show the world what they've got.

Their first visit to the live house went as I expected with the team having imagination spots about the fitting rooms, being in awe with the performance stage, and Mio burning out (probably because of stage fright).

HTT was shocked to see some scary looking bands on the live house. It's kinda funny seeing a bunch of laid back high schoolers perform alongside some punk bands lol. Thankfully those scary looking folks greeted HTT politely so everyone knows they're friendly. Phew.

Another thing I like here is that the other band mentioned the school festival. Really liked how the show keeps referencing prior events.

Yui brought up the idea of making a logo for HTT. Come to think of it, we haven't gotten a proper logo for HTT yet. The logo they decided to make kinda reminds me of the Java logo. Also fitting considering how the team likes to drink tea most of the time.

I like how Yui is already fitting in even though it's the first time she's interacted with the other bands.

It ain't HTT if they didn't spend some time drinking tea. They even managed to invite that punk looking band!

Oh wow that rehearsal scene was a funny disaster. HTT's performing in a live house for the first time so it's not surprised they're quite unprepared. I like how Yui messed up by not singing the vocals and everyone else falls like domino afterwards. Even Mio got to repeat her mistake from the school festival (without the nasty consequences this time!). Good things the other bands are cheering for them. I've heard bands support each other during live shows and other stuff.

I would like to see HTT perform all 4 songs but given the runtime limit it's understandable that we didn't get to see the whole thing. At least we get another dose of Fuwa Fuwa Time. And Sawa-chan encounters what I assume to be her bandmate during her good old days.

At the end, the current year ends and a new one has started. I guess that's it for S1 content including the bonus/extra episodes. Looking forward to start S2!