Keep It or Trade It?: Prototype 2 (360)
Keep It or Trade It?: Tekken 3D: Prime Edition (3DS)
Keep It or Delete It? : Mass Effect Infiltrator (iPad)
Keep It or Delete It?: The Walking Dead Episode 1: A New Day (XBLA)
Keep It or Trade It?: Syndicate (PS3)I’ll admit, I’ve been slacking in the review department, and I’m here to make amends. Thanks to a binging session last night, I’m here to talk a little about the first 5 episodes of K-On! The show is produced by Kyoto Animation (Haruhi, Lucky Star, Clannad, Air, etc.), a company that most people seem to either love or hate. This season’s production seems to be bringing more of the same around the internet. Either you love this moe-filled depiction of four high school girls in a band or you want to kill me for using the word moe in yet another post.
The girls, dressed up in the ending credits. Great song!
The K-On! anime is based on a 4-koma manga (like Azumanga Daioh or Lucky Star) written and drawn by kakifly. It follows four high school freshman girls who join their school’s keionbu or “light music club”. All the other members have graduated; so, it’s up to them to keep the club alive. The story is cute, funny and simple. It’s a slice of life anime; so, don’t expect mecha, magical girls or other dimensions. But if you liked Azumanga Daioh and Lucky Star, you’ll probably enjoy this as well. Thus far, the girls are just getting to know each other and starting to get ready for the school festival, where they are going to play a concert. They’ve had to start all the way at the beginning since Yui doesn’t even know how to play a guitar or read music when the series begins.
The characters each have their own quirks; they aren’t groundbreaking but what they do, they do well. Yui, the guitarist, is the airhead with the heart of gold. She doesn’t know much about music, but she wants to do well for the sake of the club. Tsumugi plays keyboard. She is a sheltered rich girl, but isn’t snobby; she’s willing to share whatever she has for the good of the group. She isn’t used to common society and enjoys learning about things that normal kids do. Ritsu (drums) and Mio (bass) are the only members who knew each other prior to joining the club. Mio tries to put up a strong front and is the den mother of the group, but she has her weaknesses (including possibly trypophobia?), and Ritsu knows how to get to her. Ritsu, the club president, reminds me a lot of Suzumiya Haruhi. She’s the club president, the schemer of the group and even wears a yellow headband. Episode five introduces Sawako, the school music teacher, a bit more, but anything I say here would ruin the enjoyment of seeing it for yourself.
KyoAni, do I sense a pattern?
Artistically, the show is common fare. Kyoto Animation is never going to overwhelm you with great art, but they are fairly consistent. The girls are drawn cutely, which is really all that is needed for this show. Sometimes, the character drawings are a little oversimplified at times (the pic of Ritsu above shows some signs of that), but it gets the job done. The reality is that this is a show about music; so, that’s where the focus needs to be, and they’ve done a good job in that department. According to Anime News Network, the ending song “Don’t Say Lazy” sung by Mio’s voice actress (Hikasa Youko) debuted at #2 on the Oricon singles chart and the opening “Cagayake! Girls” with Yui (Toyosaki Aki) on vocals opened at #4. Both songs are catchy, and I, like Japan, prefer Don’t Say Lazy, but both are good. The background music in the show fits well and I think I’ve noticed variations on a similar melody in a few different episodes depending on the location the girls are in.
In summary, if you’re looking for explosions and big robots, move along, but if you don’t mind a cute, funny slice of life, give this one a shot.
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Final Grade: B+. Not the runaway hit of the season, but a good one.
