04.6.2009 - K-ON! First impressions

Posted in Anime, K-ON! by Epi at 11:15 pm

Love the hat Mio…

I can’t believe how many groups are subbing this show. Either way I thought I might as well write about the most talked about show of the Spring 2009 season.

Unlike most of the anime community out there, I’m not a KyoAni fanboy (Kaioshin not withstanding). I never quite liked the look of the mecha in Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid, and I’ve always preferred the Gonzo version more. While Haruhi was undoubtedly a pantheon-level show, aside from that and Kanon, I’ve never really gotten into any other KyoAni shows. Still, I’ve acknowledged that they have created some of the nicest animated shows in the past few years and for that they stand out in my mind.

With all of that in mind, I came into watching K-ON! with a pretty open mind. I had no preconceptions, expectations or any hate of the show. What I saw though was not too impressive.

First of all, the trademark KyoAni production values have seemingly disappeared. With absolutely beautiful high school hijinks shows like Kannagi and ToraDora! hanging around, this show looks as if it were animated in the 90s by comparison. The washed out palate, the lack of any lighting effects, the low framerates, all of it was pretty disappointing considering the studio that was producing it, and considering that the first episode usually sets the tone for the series. The only redeeming thing was them reusing the Haruhi God Knows guitar effects over again.

As far as the story was concerned, I found it to be a bit boring actually. Throughout the episode, I felt like I had watched this show before, and finally by the end I managed to figure it out. This show is actually just a different version of Manabi Straight! The entire concept of 4 girls coming together to do something they had no idea how to do. The concept that they had just met in school, and were going to go on fun adventures. The idea that the show is a bit TOO cute for it’s own good (cute without being Moe~~~, more just annoyingly cute). And of course the character designs themselves:

Hmmm Ritsu…	is a Manami clone, from personality down.
Meanwhile, Yui…	is the shy Mika.
Mio is of course…	none other than Mei, the girl that “didn’t want to be there”
Tsumugi is not exactly…	Mutsuki but they kind of have the same expressions.

Overall, K-ON! if were produced by any other studio it probably would have been completely ignored by the anime community, and after its pretty boring first episode even more so. Still I have a feeling we’ll be hearing about how stupendously amazing this show is over and over again in the next few months. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against the show, and I may even watch it if it continues to be even midly entertaining, but then again I also watched Asu no Yoichi (which coincidentally is a clone of another series, but this time the absolute classic Ranma 1/2) so I guess I like watching mediocre shows.

P.S.:

I can’t look at Mio without thinking of the significantly cooler Yomi.

P.P.S.:
Looks like someone else actually doesn’t like this show either. Actually make that two people!