The Manga
I finished the first volume of the K-On manga. This made up the entire first season of the anime which I just watched. MC Yui meanders through life as a less than stellar student until she discovers the After School Tea Time Club, a music club. She decides she will learn guitar and join. So what does she do? She goes out and buys a fricken Les Paul Gibson that she calls Geeta! I really loved this manga’s slacker vibe. The girls in the club (Mio on bass, Ritsu on drums, Mugi on keyboard and Yui on guitar) are so unfocused on their goals, it’s like an anti-school club story. The manga ending is different and much less dramatic than the anime version. In the manga Yui makes a hash of her performance at the school festival because she hasn’t had enough time to practice due to her cold. In the anime she rushes home to get her guitar and the teacher Sawa-chan plays the first song in her place. She gets back in time to play a triumphant finale. The anime also had an enjoyable filler episode featuring the girls playing with some other bands at a live venue. Now I’ve got to read the second volume, which became the second season of the anime.
Have to say, the manga’s a lot more pervy than the anime was. Sawa gives off some downright predatory vibes towards her charges, even grabbing Mio’s breasts at one point. It’s clear her penchant for designing skimpy outfits for them stems from her predilection in seeing young girls wear revealing costumes. I suspect Sawa is simply a stand in for the author Kakifly here.
I’m still working my way through the second volume of the K-On manga. There’s a nice storyline around a school performance of Romeo and Juliet, with Mio playing Romeo and Ritsu playing Juliet. Yui quips that Mio is perfect for Romeo because she’s ‘Ro-Mio’. But actually, they’re both playing against type. The tomboyish Ritsu is better suited for the Romeo role, whilst the sensitive and ‘girly’ Mio could do Juliet. Both girls struggle with this role reversal in their rehearsals, but nail their roles when they realise they should simply reverse their personas. Thus, Ritsu pretends she’s Mio, and Mio pretends she’s Ritsu. Kakifly does a particularly good job of presenting Ritsu as feminine in her girly Juliet outfit during the play, which is a success.
I finished the K-On manga today. The Romeo and Juliet storyline was the highlight, the rest was a bit disappointing. The author Kakifly didn’t seem to know how to conclude the story. Not that there was much of a story. It was the epitome of slice of life. It ends on a very sentimental note – the four senior girls are off to college leaving little Asunan on her own in the After School Tea Time clubroom. But not for long: she’s already recruited her friends June and Ui, Yui’s little sister, for the new band. I believe the author did follow up mangas based on these characters plus one of the original K-On girls going to college, but they didn’t get anime treatments.
The Anime
I started watching my K-On anime bluray. This was such a brilliant adaptation of the manga, it really puts new flesh on the bones with songs, voice talent and movement. A manga like this one was really meant for an anime treatment to bring it completely to life. The voices for all the girls are so perfect and the songs are so good. The mangaka, Kakifly, must have been beside himself when he saw this.
I’m still watching my K-On bluray. I have to admit, some of it’s not as good as I remember it. The humour often feels forced and not especially funny. The Christmas episode was particularly lame and unfocused. But I love the animation style from the Kyoto Studios team. The K-On girls have the most adorable big oval eyes, and their personalities are so warm and sparkling. For me, the drummer Ritsu is Best 
Girl. I love her boundless enthusiasm and quirky tomboyish ways. When teamed with the equally quirky Yui, they’re an unbeatable duo. One of the fun things about the series and the manga was always the way the members treated the club as a place to hang out and have snacks rather than to practice. It was like, what sort of band is this? But clearly the after-school tea time aspect is an important part of their bonding which gives them strength and confidence to be the band they will be. But the introduction of Asuzan, the fifth member, brings a welcome shift in the dynamic of the group that emphasises their need to finally take the club and their band more seriously. I think I liked the second half of this first season better because of this.
I finished watching my K-On season one anime. It was a pretty solid show, ending on the usual high of a performance at the School Festival, but this time featuring new member Asuzan in the band. I loved how they did an encore of Fwu Fwu Time with Mugi starting them off on keyboard, then Ritsu joins in on drums, then Mio on Bass, then Asuzan on rhythm guitar, and finally Yui on lead and vocals. Very cool. In the end not much really happens, which is classic Slice of Life genre, but you enjoy spending time with the characters, watching them do their thing and being extra kawaii. They’re what makes the show. I’m thinking I must re-watch the film now, because yes I have a bootleg copy.