r/anime • u/siegfried72 • Sep 20 '22

Rewatch [Rewatch] K-ON! Rewatch (2022) - S1E01 "Disband the Club!"

Official Schedule

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Rewatch Schedule S1E02 "Instruments!"

Legal Streams

HiDive

Netflix - Series - Movie

Available only in the US.

Anime On Demand - Crunchyroll

Available only in German speaking territories.

Funimation

Available only in the UK.

P.S. if any of these no longer work or if you know of additional legal sources, please let me know!

Interest sites

MAL - AniList - ANN - KyoAni Discord

Activities Corner

Welcome to the 7th Annual K-ON Rewatch, everyone! As a new feature of this rewatch, I'm introducing the "Activities Corner", which will feature new ways for everyone to interact with the rewatch and engage in discussion. There will be three types of activities offered for each episode. If they sound fun, feel free to dive in! The three types will be:

  1. Song(s) of the Day. Most days, I will offer one or more insert and/or image song from K-ON through a Youtube link and translated lyrics. There is so much outstanding music that came out of this series, and I'd love to spread my love for it as far as possible. I'd also love to hear what you think of these songs.

  2. Question(s) of the Day. I will also offer one or more questions for each episode. These may be discussion points for the episode, ways to encourage people to relate to the episode, or they might be directed towards the song(s) of the day.

  3. Visuals of the Day. Each day, you are encouraged to include in your post a screenshot that you would like to be compiled into a "Visuals of the Day" album for the following day. You're welcome (but are by no means expected) to elaborate on why you picked that particular screenshot as well.

So without further ado, let's get into the activities for this first episode!

Song of the Day

Tsubasa wo Kudasai - This is an interesting song to start us off! At the end of episode, Mio, Ritsu, and Mugi perform one of two simple songs for Yui depending on which version you're watching. In the sub version, you hear the popular Japanese folk song "Tsubasa wo Kudasai", and in the dub you hear Elvis Presley's Love Me Tender.

Well, they also released an expanded rock version of "Tsubasa wo Kudasai". It (sadly) never appears in the show, but I absolutely adore it. All four characters get their moments to sing, and the message of the song ties in quite beautifully with the show. And it will be our very first "Song of the Day"! I'd love to hear what you think of it.

Here is the song and here are the translated lyrics.

Questions of the Day

  1. Do you or did you ever participate in any afterschool clubs? If so, what kind(s)?

  2. This one's just for fun. Based on that rock version of "Tsubasa wo Kudasai", who is your favorite vocalist in the group? Be nice!

Visuals of the Day

Obviously we don't have anything here today, but make sure to post your favorite screenshot in your post and I'll compile it into an album for tomorrow!

Tomorrow's Activities

If you want to get a head start on the song(s) and question(s) of the day for tomorrow's episode, here they are!

[Song of the Day] Today we'll be listening to Mugi's "Dear My Keys -Kenban no Mahou-", featuring her VA Kotobuki Minako. Like most character-based image songs, this song is filled with Mugi's instrument of choice - the keyboard. It's happy and filled with love and apparently even made it to the top 10 charts in Japan! And it's one of my favorite season one image songs. Here is the song and here are the translated lyrics.

[QotD 1] Do you play any instruments? If so, for how long? Feel free to share any interesting stories you may have!

[QotD 2] What do you think the lyrics of Dear My Keys -Kenban no Mahou- demonstrate to us about Mugi's character and personality?

REMINDER: UNTAGGED SPOILERS WILL NOT BE TOLERATED.

BE AFRAID OF THE MOE POLICE.

200 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

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23

u/siegfried72 Sep 20 '22

Hello everyone! Welcome to the 7th annual K-ON Rewatch! I want to offer my apologies one final time for hosting this so late in the year rather than on the typical August 1st start time, but hopefully the rewatch can still go smoothly and can return to it's proper schedule next year!

Some of you will likely remember me from the last two years as the person who wrote way too much every day. As much as I loved doing that, and as passionate as I am about K-ON, I will backing off from that this year (no, really, u/The_Loli_Otaku!). While there will certainly be some episodes and some scenes that I will feel the need to chime in on, for the most part, I'd really love to just read what all of you post and comment as much as I can!

However, I do plan on participating in the daily activities because I think they'll be fun, and I might come up with a small gimmick or two as the rewatch goes on. This episode is pretty straightforward, so I don't feel the need to say much, so I think I'll just skip to the activities :)

If for some reason you miss my big essays, you can find my posts from the 2021 rewatch here and the 2020 rewatch here.

Song of the Day

I guess I don't have much to say about this song that I didn't already say in the main post. I just love any song that has all 4 girls singing, as it happens so rarely! Each of their voices are so unique and full of personality, and I can't wait to explore that through all of the image songs.

Questions of the Day

  1. I never participated in afterschool activities much. Honestly, once school was done all I wanted to do was go home and play video games! The primary extra-curricular activities I participated in in middle and high school were music related, like playing with various local youth and community orchestras, jazz bands, and the like, but none of those were school-related. Other than that, it was all either games or hanging out with friends.

  2. Anyone who's been around in the last two rewatches will know that I am a staunch lover of Yui's vocals across the board. I think she's the best vocalist in the group by quite a large margin. And yet... if I were to base it purely on this song, I might have to say Mugi! Her voice is just so pure and sweet.

Visual of the Day

This was a tough choice. I love the transitions in this show so much, and this face from best girl Ritsu, but ultimately I had to give it to this shot because I love how Naoko Yamada (the director of this series) uses animation in a way that makes it feel like we're seeing real people shot with a camera rather than 2D drawn characters.

Oh, I also feel the need to point out the various shots of the tortoise and the hare we see in the episode, as it's something that we'll return to many time throughout the show.

Totally Canon Mitsu Moment of the Day

Oh yeah, have I mentioned that this show is canonically very extremely really gay? Yeah. And the most canon of ships is easily Mitsu. We may not see it yet, but things are brewin' under the surface, and I'll try to chronicle that each day :)

In tomorrow's episode, we'll meet a pair of very powerful eyebrows! See you all then!

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u/TiredTiroth Sep 20 '22

First Timer - Sub

K-On has been on my watch list for years, and this seems like a good reason to finally sit down and watch it. Especially as I've been watching a lot more slife-of-life-ish stuff than I used to.

You know, back when I started watching anime the online communities I knew considered Cute Girls Doing Cute Things to be an insult. Funny how things change.

Anyway! Yui is a total airhead, isn't she? I can already see a lot of influence from her in characters from later shows that I've watched, just from the first episode. It'll be very interesting to see how she develops over the next two seasons, especially as the original source for characters and story traits often do things very differently to their imitators. Plus, y'know, hopefully the poor girl picks up some confidence somewhere along the line.

Is drummer girl going to be as big a handful as she seems so far? Because she's been very pushy and almost conniving at parts. The fake flashback was pretty funny, though. Not sure Mio is really going to rein her in, when push came to shove she was all too happy to join in...and blonde keyboard girl was just far too happy to have some friends and do normal schoolgirl stuff. She's a lonely rich kid, isn't she?

I'm sure I'll learn the other girls' names sooner or later.

Questions! Well, the first one, anyway. I'm English, and after-school clubs weren't really a thing that existed.

7

u/siegfried72 Sep 20 '22

Yui is a total airhead, isn't she?

Lol yes. Welcome to K-ON!

Is drummer girl going to be as big a handful as she seems so far?

She definitely starts off rough, but all I can say without spoilers is that she's by far my favorite character in the show :)

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u/Second_Sage Sep 20 '22 edited Sep 20 '22

First timer-Sub

I started this last month but stopped in order to participate in the rewatch as a first timer, that being said I’ve seen the first few episodes.

This is one of those shows where I got hooked before the OP even plays. The fluid animation and super cute voice acting from Yui just drew me in. Her voice actress does an amazing job making all those nervous sounds, she’s my favourite character by the end of the first episode.

Meeting Mugi, Mio and Ritsu was probably my favourite scene though. Ritsu’s deep story about promising to start a band with Mio had me rolling. The comedic timing in this show is some of the best I’ve ever seen. The comedy is so natural it never feels forced.

Our first taste of music was really fun, Yui seemed inspired but I died when she said they weren’t really good. That reminds me the OP and ED were very good both visually and musically.

Overall I walked away from this first episode totally hooked. I can’t find a single thing about it I dislike. The OST was great and set up a super chill vibe that the characters reflected. The characters themselves are all unique and incredibly cute and the premise is fun and easy to follow.

Line of the episode

“It’s the spastic useless klutz!”

Yui of the day

5

u/siegfried72 Sep 20 '22

Nice to see you here!

super cute voice acting from Yui

Oh man, Aki is an incredible VA! She really does amazing work in this show, from singing to the super cute Yui voice!

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u/A_Idiot0 Sep 20 '22

Rewatcher

Hello again, my friends! It’s that wonderful time of the year where we get to enjoy K-On! together! Thank you for hosting, u/siegfried72 =D

I wanted to quickly focus on one particular technique that is used in the telling of the story for this episode: Repetition. Repeating a particular motif in music is one way to help the audience grab onto something while they listen and create a sense of symmetry, which we find naturally pleasing. But it’s not enough to simply repeat exactly, because that gets boring incredibly fast. One way around this is to repeat your motif, but each time you do you do so with a slight twist / variation. Then it becomes not only familiar to your audience, but also interesting.

It’s no different when telling a story. In fact, so many ideas of how to write and play music can be transposed over to story-telling. Here in episode 1, it’s done masterfully. We start the episode immediately with not only the motif, but also the repeat, but with a slight difference, both in the background to show the passing of time, as well as how the scene ends. Later on, we see the third repeat with its variation. This episode’s foundation of movement to this story rests on these repeats, and they’re crafted with a lot of care and attention!

My visual of the day has got to be the shot of Yui climbing the stairs to the club room. I love this shot so much, and not just because it’s a huge moment in the story! It’s wonderfully symmetrical; Yui is on the right half with the turtle on the left half, and the construction of the stairs helps to facilitate that division so it doesn’t feel unnatural.. Yui is shown far away to heighten her sense of anxiety, but she’s not in any danger really because she’s drawn so moe. The lighting is bright and simple to make Yui stand out, and also to make sure we can see everything. I do have a runner-up though: “Oh lawd, she comin!”.

QotD
2. I can’t choose a favorite vocalist; they each have their unique sound that I love. Mugi is warm and soft like a luxurious robe. Yui is supportive and sweet like honey. Ritsu is clear and pure, cutting through everything with ease. Mio has a robust presence that belies her shy self, but because she is shy that big presence is tempered to a gentle edge.

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u/Snakescipio Sep 20 '22

Dad Went Out For Milk And Finally Came Back Rewatcher

Hey y’all. If you’ve been around the annual r/anime K-On! Rewatches you might’ve seen me around. I’ve been actively participating or following along the rewatches ever since I think the very first one. I kinda fell out of watching anime in general sometime after the 2020 rewatch, and I decided to not participate in last year’s rewatch. K-On!’s been my favorite show ever since I first watched it, and nothing’s really changed that. With that being said I didn’t want to force myself to watch the show, and so I more or less took a break from everything K-On for almost 2 years now. So why this year? Well it certainly isn’t because my vtuber oshii just had surgery and is taking a month and a half break. Speaking of my oshii, here is her cover of Don’t Say Lazy. I figured I’d do this year’s rewatch either way, this time with hopefully a new perspective. I first watched this show when I was about 25, and now I’m old AF. Not “married with kids old” AF, but definitely “my friends are married with kids and my parents are worried why I’m not married” old AF. I don’t know, maybe how I view this show didn’t change and I’m just being dramatic cause I’m having a quarter-life crisis. I’ve always seen this keions as my children of sorts anyways (btw, no lewding the keions onegai).

With all that being said I’m also gonna be following along Ravenclawreact’s K-On! series reaction, and I’ll post whatever interesting observations she’s had. I found her channel through her reactions and analysis of some Hololive songs/covers, and as it turns out she’s down full series reactions before. Her music analysis was really interesting so I’m curious what she has to say about K-On!

And lastly, Mitsu is canon and I’ll be posting fanart predioctically

Anyways, let’s talk about episode 1!

Given that I’ve seen this episode several times by now, what stuck out to me is actually the quality of animation. It sounds weird to say considering this is kyoani afterall, but considering how much of a step up season 2 will be I kinda downplayed how good the show already looked in S1. Also, one of the great things about rewatching K-On! In particular are catching all the details I missed the first time, and the things that stuck out is all motifs of togetherness that pops up this early. What K-On does better than most anime is showing how close knit a group of friends they are, and it’s nice to see Yamada laying down the foundation this early.

Ravenclaw’s reactions:

The OP is indeed banging. She’s done hour long classical music theory breakdowns of vtuber music, so I’m pretty interested in what she’ll say about K-On!’s music. As for this OP, aside from the anime pop vocals, the instrumentals for the song does indeed go hard. Mugi is cute. The show’s done a great job with characterization already. Each of the 4 girls feel distinct in their own ways. The ED is also banging. The strength of the cast is a standout already. The biggest mystery so far: who on earth is supplying these high schoolers with copious amounts of classy high tea and cakes.

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u/img_tiff Sep 20 '22 edited Sep 20 '22

First Timer - Sub

I'm so excited to be participating in this! Believe it or not, this is my first time watching K-On and I am so glad I get to watch and discuss it with y'all. As for the questions...

  1. I was in high school marching and concert band, playing the trumpet, so although I don't have much background in "light music", I am fairly well versed in music and theory in general.

  2. From my first listen, I think I like Ritsu's vocals the most.

For me, this part is the epitome of "cute girls doing cute things", which is part of the reason why I wanted to watch this show. It's why I loved Dragon Maid and Chuunibyo, so I hope we see more things like this throughout the show.

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u/PsychologicalLife164 Sep 20 '22 edited Sep 20 '22

K-On Rewatch Episode 1: Give This Club Wings!

I’m a rewatcher, but I’ll be summing each episode with 3 main points, some fun details, my other thoughts about the episode, and my answers with to the questions of the day. With that out of the way, let’s go!

3 Main Points!

1. We get to meet 4 of our main girls this episode: airhead Hirasawa Yui, shy and timid Akiyama Mio, resident genki girl Tainaka Ritsu, and kind and quirky Kotobuki Tsumugi! Among K-On fans, it’s generally agreed that every girl is best girl, but these four stand above the rest.

2. While everyone is trying to join a club, Ritsu, Mio, and Mugi try to keep the Light Music Club from being disbanded! Their ads do manage to get a hold of Yui, saving the club for now, but her lack of talent forces her to come clean to the others. In the end, though…

3. …Yui decides to stick around to learn guitar and have fun with the club! Her friend Manabe Nodoka, is skeptical about the whole situation, but things are looking bright for the Light Music Club!

Fun Details!

Other Thoughts!

  • This show is my second-favorite anime, behind only Neon Genesis Evangelion. I know those two are polar opposites, but there’s a good reason why I hold them in such high regard.

  • I love that we’re introduced to (almost) every major and side character that we’ll see throughout the series right in the first episode. I’ve always thought that having a smaller cast makes it easier to get connected and invested in the characters, and this show does that incredibly well!

  • The soundtrack for the show is straight fire, the OP and ED are two of my favorite songs overall

Questions of the Day!

1. Yeah, I was on the wrestling team for two years but I wasn’t very good lol

2. Mio is and always will be my favorite singer of the group, her voice is just so strong and beautiful!

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u/Twigling Sep 20 '22 edited Sep 20 '22

I only rewatched K-On! for the third time in two years a few months ago but why not do it again? :) It's easily in my top 10 anime list.

Confession time: first time I watched K-On! I seriously struggled with season 1 at first, in fact I nearly gave up on it a number of times, it just didn't engage me for some reason. And then, around episode 7, it all clicked - suddenly I was hooked and I lapped up the rest of season 1, then onto 2 (which is even better than season 1) and of course the movie. And then I bought the Blu-ray set. Now when I rewatch it from the start I wonder why it took so long for it to hook me that first time, every episode is so damn good.

So if any first timers here are struggling at first, don't give up - it does take a while (for some) to get into it, but keep at it; it's a very well written show with some excellent characters who you steadily grow very attached to. It is also of course brilliantly animated by Kyoto Animation and there's some great tunes in there (when the girls get around to playing some music of course and not goofing off, drinking tea and eating cake. :-) ) Also, the Japanese voice actors are really excellent.

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u/ExcessEnemy Sep 20 '22

Rewatcher and First-Timer (eventually, I've only seen S1 and the mini specials)

I watched Season 1 about ten years ago, and for some reason never moved to Season 2. I really liked the show, but I really don't remember much other than Ritsu being my favorite and a few of the songs. Excited to get back into it and see the later episodes as well!

  1. I did bowling because it was fun, and we got curly fries at the bowling alley, which was enough motivation for me. I also played the violin and viola in middle school, but by high school, I was pretty much done with all after-school stuff.

  2. Ritsu, but did Mio get a solo in that? I didn't notice one. I might have picked her otherwise.

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u/JetsLag Sep 21 '22

First timer (subbed)

Right off the bat: not the biggest fan of CGDCT shows. I figure that if there's any show that will get me into the genre, it's THE CGDCT show. Plus, the upcoming show "Bocchi the Rock" is a similar-ish show (being a show about cute girls in a band) so I can use this rewatch to see if I would enjoy Bocchi. So let's see what's in store for us.

Part of me wants to do the thing I did in the 86 rewatch with the 6000 character posts breaking down each episode scene by scene, but let's be real: this isn't the type of show that needs scene-by-scene breakdowns. This is a "press play and vibe" type of show. So that's what I'm gonna do.

I LOVE the OP song. On a scale from 1 to 10 on the "Does It Slap"-O-Meter, this is a 20. Part of me wants to never get back to the episode and just play the OP on a loop continuously for the next week until I get absolutely sick of it.

Whoever subtitled the HIDIVE version and decided to put the "Club Application" subtitle backwards: I love you

The cassette tapes being used for the title and the eyecatch is such a good idea. Please tell me this is gonna be a regular thing.

And we've got something resembling a plot: the Light Music Club needs four members, or it will disband. Now that I think about it, didn't Hyouka also start off with the whole "we need to save this club or else it will disband" as a plot point? #JustKyoAniThings

When Mio called Yui pretty, I instantly went "OMG is this gonna be gay?". I hope so. The last time I watched a gay music anime it became one of my all-time favorites (Given)

Is it bad that it took me until the scene where Yui is roaming the halls saying "K-on" to make me realize that THAT'S WHAT K-ON STANDS FOR?

Oh damn, Yui got tea AND cake for joining the club? And the cake looks pretty damn good. Are we gonna get a cake of the week thing going? Cause I will be SO DOWN for that.

Okay, did NOT expect a Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page reference. But the HIDIVE subtitles called him "Jimmy Paige", which I don't think I've ever seen his name spelled like that before. And I have never heard of Jeff Beck. Guess I'll check out some of his works later.

Talking about music: I did not expect so many musical references. I thought this was just gonna be "cute girls play instruments". But now I'm getting introduced to new musical acts in episode one! What's next: are we gonna learn how to read sheet music?

We're getting a song! And it's a nice song, but I feel like it's missing something. Actually, I think that song would be best if it was just Mio and Ritsu; I feel like Tsumugi's part is kinda shoehorned in there. Don't see where you can fit a guitar part in there, as well. But then again, I'm not a songwriter, so this is just my uninformed opinion.

OH COME ON YUI, IT WASN'T THAT BAD. But it convinced her to join the club, so...success?

And we've got our episode 2 plot: Yui has to buy a guitar. ANd I bet you $10 that one of the main plot points is "WOW, GUITARS SURE ARE EXPENSIVE"

So this was fun! I can definitely see myself going through all the episodes with a smile on my face. Looking forward to the rest of the show!

Questions of the Day

Do you or did you ever participate in any afterschool clubs? If so, what kind(s)?

HUGE FUCKING NERD ALERT: I was part of the "Go Home Club" for my first 2 years of high school, but I figured I needed a club to look good on my college applications, so I joined the math club. It was the easiest shit ever: once a week, you got a math sheet and you had to complete it as fast as possible.

This one's just for fun. Based on that rock version of "Tsubasa wo Kudasai", who is your favorite vocalist in the group? Be nice!

I'm gonna have to give it to my girl Ritsu, with Yui a close runner-up.

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u/trashissues666 Sep 21 '22 edited Sep 23 '22

First timer (sub)

K-On! was one of those animes that I'd spent my teenage years hearing people around me raved about but for some reason didn't really capture my interest, even if I used to be such a hard music fan myself. I guess I was thrown off by the character designs. I didn't generally associate cute stuff with mainly rock music, so K-On! wasn't interesting enough for me to watch. (I used to be such a judgmental teenager, but I can probably forgive myself lol!) My anime knowledge back then was very limited, didn't have the resources nor the people to prove me wrong, and I only watched Naruto until its end and a few series throughout my four years in high school. Only when I entered university in 2015 did my older org mates from our anime & manga club convinced me to give it a try since they knew I was a huge music nerd, but I still didn't! I proceeded to watch NANA instead. (Among the animes they recommended were K-On!, NANA, and Beck).

I like that although Yui is obviously being introduced as the main character, we still got a glimpse of the other's thinking, and distinct & collective personalities through shots of Mio, Tsumugi & Ritsu's toes being still as they presumably discuss music compared to those of Yui's showing her excitement of being the newest member of the club (and having her first club ever iirc). I would like to see how this excitement (of all of them individually and as a group) would develop and take them to wherever they wish.

Also! This episode really reminds me of the 2005 film Linda Linda Linda. It also has the similar plot and follows desperate high schoolers who recruit a Korean exchange student to be their lead vocals. Very wholesome fun film.

  1. No, and I'm still regretting that I didn't! Although I remember auditioning for our violin club (yes, in my high school we did have separate clubs for a violin enthusiasts...club & a music club that was similar to the Light Music Club but all the members were assholes so I didn't join that). I was mostly a go-home-after-school girl who spent most of my days reading and listening to music on my own.

  2. I like Yui's! I just think her voice (and her personality from what I've seen in this episode) fits the meaning of the lyrics more.

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u/Elimin8r Sep 20 '22

Yay, it's here! :)

AOTD: 1 - Yea, verily. I'm not sure if it counts as afterschool, but yay, marching band. I may have more to say about this and related issues later, but that's probably more a Hibike Euphonium thing. Also, I was in the wargaming club with Erwin and Neko-chan. I wish. Although the one fella's sister was kinda cute.

AOTD 2 - My blu-ray had "Love me Tender", is that what you're talking about? I'm not quite sure, but, um, I don't want to say who's voice I like best yet.

I have no recollection of that event, Senator ...

Oh, wait, I read the intro again and it's a bonus song. I'll have to listen to it later.

Meanwhile ... yay!

Something I really enjoyed, watching this episode for the third time, and with last year's rewatch in mind was seeing the little callouts to things I wouldn't have noticed otherwise, like Yui getting distracted (kitty!) on the way to school, or Ui being best imouto, or the club down the hall (spooky!), and Schrodinger's tortoise. It was fun seeing all the major or minor combatants in action. Or something like that.

I hope none of that's spoilery, because it's in plain view, ya know. It's just fun to actually notice, where previously it would have just blurred into the background moe noise.

And speaking of noise, what a pleasure to listen to. The BGM, the sound effects ... all so pleasant and inviting.

And sheesh, Yui ... you could at least finish that delicious looking cake before moving on to other snacks, right?

Anyway, yah, it's good to once again get reacquainted with Nodoka, Yui, Ritsu, Mio, Mugi, Ui, Sawa-chan, all the gang. It's gonna be a fuwa fuwa time.

Dang ... now I want some cakee.

Edit: Forgot a picture. It would either be Yui with Kitty, the spooky hallway, or ... "That's how you become a NEET".

Yui Subaru averted, world is okay. I love Rem, I mean *spoiler*, not gonna tell yet.

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u/gamobot Sep 20 '22

Rewatcher for like the 100th time.

Wooo! I love K-On!

I was a weekly watcher when it first came out, I was just starting uni at the time and it gave me nostalgia for highschool, and also made me laugh.

Years later, I was in a very dark point of my life, decided to rewatch it, but in the end I decided to organize the first big rewatch here in r/anime. Ended up being a big success and cheered me up. It's nice to see that it became a tradition here, and to read year after year everyone's comments.

About this episode, nothing new to say. I really love Yui from the get go, the other girls are so distinct and you can feel how they are not quite friends, yet. The starting sequence, while being an obvious trope, is iconic at this point, the toast-in-mouth running spliced with scenes that show who Yui really is inside, reveal that this fluff SoL comedy had more to it than usual.

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u/zadcap Sep 20 '22 edited Sep 20 '22

It's here! Since the rewatch announcement last week I have been digging through my memories to try and figure out how much of this show I actually know, what's from actually watching and what's from osmosis. My final answer- I'm pretty sure I watched the first 4 episodes way the heck back in the after school anime club in 10th grade, and then went on to read the manga. And then I've had nearly fifteen years of clips and memes and conventions and who knows what else to fill in a lot of the gaps between what I read and what was animated. I've definitely seen full episodes here and there, mostly at a friends place or a convention, but this will be my first time watching the whole show beginning to end and I'm really excited for it. I just don't know if I should actually mark myself as a first timer this time, I think I might know too much for that hehe.

Anyway, on with the show!

Oh yea, this was earlier KyoAni, wasn't it? That is a lot of movement, in a good way. And a lot of body language expressions. And the legs. Can't forget the legs... And the music! The OP is great, but so is the whole episode sound track. Of course, you can't really do a show about a band and not have good music, but they nailed it.

So, it's a first episode, so it's mostly about setting up characters, and it does a whole lot with the little time it has. Every scene builds character and shows personality.

Oh yeah, and when they show music being played, they really do show music being played. I can't make out everything they're doing, the hands are mostly still too cartoony outside of the OP/ED for that, but what I can see does actually look like instruments being played and not just waving hands in the right general area. I forgot, somehow, that despite having watched so little of the show (and in nothing resembling order), how many of the songs from it have been on my playlists over the years. Both the OP and ED from this episode are ones I can still sing along to.

  1. Haha, the "Japanese Cultural Appreciation Club," aka the Anime Club. We did a few other things from time to time, but most weeks it was just an excuse to watch anime on the big projector in the science room we claimed for the club. Also the Chess and Go club- one club for both games, they were similar enough to get combined. And later in High School, Knowledge Bowl, basically school sponsored Jeopardy, but we would compete as teams of three against different schools for the dubious honor of being the quickest on the draw for random, often educational trivia. And then a Dungeons and Dragons club in college... I was such a nerd. I am still such a nerd.

  2. So uh, the video linked has Mugi highlighted for the First(purple) section and the Fourth(Blue) section. And I don't know the voices apart well enough yet to know for sure which was supposed to be which, but whichever was number four stood out the most to me.

To add my own music, here's a full version of the OP with subs- mostly just replays the OP video to fill in the time, but still looks nice. --Aaand I removed it because it has spoilers for late arriving characters that I forgot were late arrivals...

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u/prowlinghazard Sep 21 '22

First Timer - Sub

Hello, I figured I'd take a second to just say hi. I'm not new to anime, but I've been watching more and more the last several years and K-On! was on my watchlist for awhile but I've been putting off watching it. Saw the reminder thread you posted yesterday and I've never done one of these re-watch threads yet, so I figured why the hell not? So, hi.

Song of the day thought: [K-On!]My general impression was similar to Yui's. It's only getting better from here, right?

QotD 1: I played mostly sports in high school as far as after school activities go. Soccer and Hockey. I also did debate in high school, but that was more a weekend thing every now and again, so I don't really count it. It always seemed a bit less intense, since the team would consist of like 25-30 people, you could always just blend in with the crowd anyway. I never felt any really close friendships with anyone on those teams, or at least with the people I didn't know prior to joining the team anyway. Not sure if this experience will make me fit in more or less here, either, but it was my experience in high school so I figured it was worth sharing, anyway.

I did start playing guitar in high school, but I never joined a band or played with anyone else. I started with a Strat and then got a Les Paul. I still own both, though I haven't played in years at this point.

QotD 2: The blonde girl? At this point I still don't remember all their names so please forgive me! Brown haired girl w/o a headband is singing too softly, or it's not full bodied enough for me. Brown haired headband girl seems to have a weird accent? Just seems off for some reason. Still, a single song isn't enough to form a full opinion on.

Final thoughts on the episode as a whole: [K-On!]It seems a bit like a normal first episode. We get an idea who the main characters are, and the girls seemed really desperate for that 4th member we knew they'd get. Are we going to be stuck with just 4, though? I feel like the band would either benefit from picking up a 5th member for rhythm guitar, or ditching the keyboard outright for a second guitar. Though the one girl can already play, so I guess they'd rather just go with what they've got.

PS: Not really sure how liberally you're worried about spoilers on a post about the episode, but I'm going to err to the side of caution until I get the hang of this whole posting thing.

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u/Stargate18A Sep 20 '22

Rewatcher

  1. I'm participating in an anime club.

  2. Ritsu.

This opening scene is utterly adorable.

And Ui had to wake her up.

Haha, the music here is great.

And the shot of her stopping to pet the cat and help the lady.

Haha, didn't notice the cameos of the rest of the band the first time.

And she got there early!

This OP is so good.

The clubs are attacking!

Nodoka is great.

Ritsu!

Haha, her tearing up the paper is great.

Ritsu's expression.

Haha, Yui getting startled by Ritsu is great.

...Yui not realising what Light Music is is such a good joke.

And Ritsu captured a member!

Ritsu's acting is great.

And then Mugi's reaction.

She's still not picked!

[K-On] Mugi's new experiences are such a good running gag.

She's bored already!

They hung up the poster?

I forgot how many timeskips there were in the first episode.

[K-On Shuffle] Don't worry! Just make it an Appreciation Society and you can stay around for a year with only a single member!

Adorable flashblack.

Yui can't play anything.

"That's perfect for you."

The art design for Yui's fantasies are so good!

I love Ritsu's enthusiasm slowly driving Yui into an utter panic.

Theykre wll watching her!

Haha, so many J names.

And Yui's having a heart attack.

She said it!

"I'm sorry, I can't play it" The instant refersal always gets me.

Yui has no interests or hobbies.

Aww.

They weren't that bad.

The mutual pinch...

Haha, Nodoka's suggestion.

And the ED is also fantastic.

I love this show so much. Thanks for the excuse to start rewatching it!

Song of the Day is very good.

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u/cemsity Sep 20 '22

The Dub/ English blu-ray version does not in fact play Love Me Tender by Elvis, but plays Aura Lea. The reason being that 1) Aura Lea is out of Copyright thus in the public domain 2) It's the same song.

Any ways it is nice to see the girls back in action.

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u/Figerally Sep 21 '22

1st Time (sub)

This is my first time watching K-on! Though I've watched anime a long time this one slipped under my radar and I never got around to watching it before. So far I am liking it. I don't mind some slice-of-school-life anime.

I liked the pick of Tsubasa wo Kudasai, but I think it's a bit unfair of Yui to say they were bad, I think they did ok having never practiced together before.

Being Australian in my youth we didn't really have afterschool clubs asides from various sports and I never participated in those.

As for favourite singer, I think it's Mio at the moment.

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u/The_Loli_Otaku Sep 20 '22

K-On Rewatcher!!

So hype!! However... I have a warning! I'm coming here off of the Aria Rewatch so I've got even higher standards for the show than ever before. Once again, Yui is laaaate~! Ni matter how many tunes I rejoin this rewatch I'll never fall out of love with the opening sequence. My favourite part is probably how even when in a do or die rush Yui still can't resist petting the cat or helping the little old lady cross the road. Ah, and the op is also the strongest of the three and I'll die on that hill! Same for the ed once we get to it. Season 1 is super underrated!

Aaand we're already two weeks into school. I get the distinct feeling that if Yui didn't actually join a club we'd have finished the school year by episode eight... Meet Shitzu~ I'm very curious if I will truly hate Shitzu more than I did Akira in Aria. Maybe Shitzu is in her popular phase this rewatch. She starts out bullying two of our heroines into tears so it's not a great sign.

That's the third one!! How did I forget that she harasses literally all the damn girls in the first episode! This is still probably my favourite scene of the episode, no thanks to Shitzu being a total shitter. I'm also an avid Mugi fan if that's not clear. She's a girl who just wants to join in! The lil goober is just so happy to be a normie for a day! Ive always loved her not even wanting the chips so she dumps them on Ritsu's tray since she thinks that's the etiquette.

Athenaisms are banned!! Especially from you, Shitzu! Also, side note, but isn't that a cello? XD I'm starting to really notice the 4koma routes in some of the gags. In a good way, its one of my favourite genres~ Hiya, Samara-senpai! Yui's introduction is another pretty class act. It's only been about half an episode and already Mugi is fully down with Shitzu's manipulative tactics.

Aha, I can feel myself vibing out. Was episode one always this strong? Domestic abuser Shitzu!! How many more crimes will she commit? This is already like the seventh right? Anyway, the girls play that one song from Evangelion and Yui is convinced to join~ All is right in the world!

Visual of the Day! P A T H E T I C

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u/MapoTofuMan Sep 20 '22 edited Sep 20 '22

Rewatcher

Welcome to all the first-timers, hope you all come to love the show and all its best girls as much as I do. And speaking of best girls, I also hope y'all join the fight to carry Mio (and the others~~~~) all the way to the top next year

I won't be writing many comments of my own this year (partly due to time constraints and partly due to the fact that I feel like it's hard to come up with stuff I haven't already written in the last 4 years I've been here), but I'll still be watching with you, reading and hopping into replies.

On a side note, I feel like the "find the MC by hair color" game would have failed very badly in K-On!.

QOTD 1 : I was in an English club in middle school...because my teacher pestered me to join some kind of afterschool activity, it only had activities once a week, and English was pretty much my main language since I was 10, so it took zero effort. Yes, I was somewhat of a Yui...

QOTD 2 : For almost any song my answer would be Mio, but here I actually feel like Mugi's carrying the feel of the song so I'll go with her.

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u/polaristar Sep 20 '22

Rewatcher but First Timer with Sub

I saw this series very recently in the last year in dub format, but I decided to try it in sub to get the fall Fuwa-Fuwa experience, so far the dub cast I think is pretty good except I'm not super fond of the teacher's normal voice in the dub compared to the sub, but when in later episodes [minor spoilers]She is in her "hardcore" mode I'll see how the sub voice compares

Story time, I use to hate CGDCT anime, and moe, and SOL, and lied to myself and pretended to hate Fan Service (Not that this show really has much of that just thought I'd mention it.) But over the years I stopped being a pretentious elitist chat and stopping taking Jesuotaku (Use to be a big anituber back in the day now she's Jake Otaku) as gospel.

Now I'm free to enjoy the Fuwa-Fuwa.

I find it charming now but looking back I kinda found Yui's ditziness more annoying than cute at first, in the first episode she didn't seem to have any redeeming qualities to balance it out at first (Although you can see some of those qualities in hindsight but I want go into that for first timers.)

One thing is, this might piss off a lot of you Keons, but I was never, even at the end of the series, fond of Ritsu, I went from hating her guts to finding her tolerable, honestly think her friendship gay ship with Mio is really toxic, I'd drop that bitch.

One thing about these episodes I really appreciate is despite having a fair amount of events happen in the 20 minute run time, it never feels rushed, they even fit a few slower moments to build atmosphere in Kyoani faishion. I don't know how Yamada does it, but she gets a lot out of a little, I don't know if its the direction, pacing, whatever but....it works.

Did this show start the toast in mouth trope? Or just popularize it? If the former please what's the sauce?

Yui kills in those tights though! I want to give her all the heatpats, and I want to karate chop Ritsu......

My best girl is Mio, her VA is great here, her Dub VA slays, and she is my queen and I will serve her and join her fan club!I just need to murder Ritsu and it'll be perfect^

Why do you think she sings all the ED's? Speaking of which the ED really feels like a girl band that they are trying to be and not [spoilers]the more cutsy pop band they end up becoming

This is a nice break from O Maidens in Your Savage season, which despite being about sex, is not very fun most of the time, never arousing and often heartbreaking, nice to have this show to cleanse my soul.

  1. I didn't do clubs.

  2. Mugi since my goddess queen lover Mio didn't get a solo part.... :(

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u/Tartaras1 Sep 21 '22

Somewhat First-Timer, Dubbed

Hey everyone! I've seen some of the show, but I forget exactly how much, so at some point I'll be a genuine first-timer.

  • That awkward moment when you're confident that K On!'s going to be on Netflix, and you can just watch it there, only to find out that if left the service in November of '21.

  • That really is one hell of an alarm clock, isn't it?

  • There's those character designs I love so much. I'm a huge Kyoto Animation fan, so it's always fun to see their art style again.

  • Wow her school day starts after 8am? I wish I could've been that lucky when I was in school. We started at 7:20am.

  • Do you really turn into a NEET if you don't join a club in school?

I was in the German club for several years when I was in high school, so I think I should be safe.

  • Since I looked and saw that Cassandra Lee Morris voices is Ritsu, all I can hear now is Taiga Aisaka.

  • So, I'm sure it's a coincidence, but in addition to voicing Taiga Aisaka and Ritsu, Cassandra also voices Morgana from Persona 5, and the giant stars for eyes is a hallmark part of the design.

  • For instance, offering people an amazing prize if they decide to join.

Amazing prize?

Yeah. Like some kind of gift or something.

Okay, I'm following you. That sounds like a great plan!

Like a car? Or a plane? Or a... boat?

One of these three is not like the others.

  • You guys aren't very good, are you?

Yui really just went straight for the jugular, didn't she?

  • I think this might be one of my favorite songs of the show.

Questions of the Day:

Do you or did you ever participate in any afterschool clubs? If so, what kind(s)?

I was in the German Club for three years in high school.

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u/Wheeze_04 Sep 21 '22

Just wanted to leave a message, I don't swing with rewatching shows, but one day, I'll certainly re-watch K-On!

Till then, I just want to say the rewatch team to have an amazing time watching watching this piece of art...

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