Why do you watch K-ON ?
 

K-ON is described by many as seinen, targeted at men between the ages of 18 and 30. Yet from my personal observation, the fanbase belies this classification. My adolescent younger brother and cousins adore K-ON's believable depiction of teenage camaraderie. My college buddy watches it avidly for the cute characters and tasteful moe-ness. On Youtube, I see fangirls of a wide range of ages enthusiastically singing their own covers of memorable songs like "My love is a stapler." And I personally watch it for the sense of nostalgia and as a relaxing escape from the business of life.

Clearly, the target is much broader than the typical Seinen, and people of many different walks of life enjoy K-ON for their own reasons. This thread is to survey the demographic landscape of fans and get a glimpse of which kinds of people watch K-ON for which reasons. So post some information about yourself--age, gender, occupation, nationality--and then share why YOU watch or read K-ON.

I'm a Chinese-American male recent college graduate, currently working as a research associate in a bio lab. For me, K-ON is a kind of therapy--after a long day's of frustrating experiments, I can plop down on my chair and be carried away by the light adventures of Yui and her friends. I don't need anime with tons of in-your-face action or fanservice; what I love is heartfelt realism and relatable situations. It reminds me nostalgically of the days I spent in Japan during my study abroad. I loved the episode where they went to a rental studio, which looked exactly like the one I went to in Shibuya, complete with the mirror. Plus, I totally dig the feel-good upbeat music.

Hm... Excellent question actually, i mainly watched k-on because it had a theme of music. From the first episode to the last, theres this sort of feeling that drags you in and cannot make u stop, in other words, wants you to watch more!!! It keeps you away from your busy daily lifestyle makimg you relaxed, heartwarming and happy=)

The music keeps you happy, very catchy and memorable,which fits my expectations in music lol from fuwa fuwa to tenshi furetayo, all the songs are special in their own way. To me they kinda relate to reality lol (not really but kinda).

Also because of the fun factor, it has the slice of life and comedy genre that gives you a good time watching it, you can even relate your own life to the main characters lol. I just love music and k-on brightened my life lol. Oh yea and it kinda makes me happy to be able to visit japan a couple yrs ago lol.

Btw this is the longest post ive ever written lol.

Btw im 14, male, chinese-indonesian as my nationality and a high school student =)

Actually, this series was a recommendation to me by my female friend. We marathoned Season 1 over at her place and it sorta left me wanting for more. I ended up following the franchise from the manga to Season 2, and I was also carried away by the emotions in Season 1 Episode 12 and Season 2's many emotional moments.

Maybe one reason why the end of Season 2 really hit me is because I wished that I had enjoyed high school the same way they did.

I, for one, did not experience the pleasant high school memories that students would carry through college. I was bullied by the same people who made my elementary life a rocky road, and even though the source of those bullying moments have left that school prematurely, it kinda stuck. Another is that I was betrayed by a friend for the first time in high school.

I know that it happens anywhere, from here in the Philippines to Japan (it's even worse there), but I can't help but feel jealous at Yui and the others for having such a nice time in high school.

But K-ON! isn't all a reminder of how my high school life sucks. It even gives me a smile, seeing their antics, and it makes college much less of hell.

I'm a native of the Philippines, currently 20, and a college student.

This is why I watch K-On!

I'm a 25 year old Chinese-Filipino male, medical student.

Why I watch K-on.... I actually mainly started it because of it's high school, slice-of-life factor to it. And the music was actually a bonus. I found it once on the internet, I think, and I thought Yui was cute so I wanted to see it. When I started watching it, I kept wanting to watch it on and on. And when Season 1 ended I felt a gnawing feeling, just cuz the season had ended.

Um.... The music definatly was a bonus for me. Since I like music, and the songs were better than I had expected. Very catchy and cute, Whenever I listen to them, I always smile and sing along.

The characters are easy to relate to, and they easily remind me of my freinds and me. As I watch it, It makes me hope that the remaining 3 years of High School are good like the girls'.

I'm also glad that it isn't in-your-face! fanserivce-y either. As a girl, I always felt a tad awkward with fanservice in the anime I watched.

But, Yeah. It never manages to not put a smile on my face, or not leave me hungry for more.

I'm a 15 year old female, White-Filipino American, and a High School 10th grader.

My longest post ever.....

I checked season 1 since CoalGuys was subbing it and it got a subforum here. :heh:
I didn't really think season 1 was anything special. It brought pretty good comedy and I liked the music but the annoying focus on Mio's fear of everything, Cat-ears Azusa, and molester Sawako really annoyed me. However, it did do a good job of making me like most of the characters, especially Yui, so it stuck. It was season 2 that really made appreciate this show, with slower pace, less focus on the fanservice, and the occasional well-placed thoughtfulness.

One thing cannot relate to is the though of separating with your friends in high school. A great thing about my high school is that we have a 90%+ pass rate for the best colleges in the country so I'm still with them even in college. I'm a male Filipino college junior taking a Physics degree.

The first season's cuteness and interesting plot-lines (what with the dreams and hopes of getting to Budokan) got me to keep watching. Even after the second season became more dull in trying to document real life rather than entertain (not to mention the continuous lack of focus on Mio and Tsumugi's character development), I kept watching because the cuteness was still entertaining till the last few episodes, so it wasn't horrible enough for me to quit until then.

I cannot relate with the girls in Season Two - period. They were still more emotional in Season One, despite the fanservice.

I am a twenty year old Chinese male, currently studying in the Year Two of my college, Singapore. About to graduate, but still surprisingly cannot relate with the girls due to the poor plot development.

I watched the first season due to hype, and while I enjoyed it for what it was I was far from impressed.

I watched S2 for the heck of it since I reasonably enjoyed S1 and enjoyed it for being quite possibly the best, most pure example of slice-of-life I've ever watched.

I'm a 95-year old lesbian trapped in a man's body who flunked out of Kindergarten.

I watch K-On! because it just puts me at ease. I've never been able to describe it, I'm just happy when i watch it, I've tried to explain it to my friends but have never been able to accurately describe it, it just makes me happy.

Vietnamese/American Male living in California, Age 30, IT Support Engineer.

It's awesome.

I initially wasn't impressed with K-On! - substantially because I thought it was going to be like the old tv series "The Monkees" and have a new music video every week. Well, over time they created enough music that I retracted that complaint (though more animated music video wouldn't be objected to). The series content itself was pretty standard "high school girl daily life comedy" so it wasn't until about 3/4 through the first season that the 'azumanga daioh' type vibes started up for me -- the chronicles of a group of friends, their bonding, and their time in high school together.

The series, especially in the second season, hits that end-of-the-day-exhausted-salaryman vibe very well: calming, sweet, amusing, nostalgic.

I know a LOT of people who enjoy the show with no demographic left untouched. Teenage/20-something women love it, adult males various ages, ... heck, my wife thinks it is funny/sweet and she's my age. I'm a '52 flavors' white male with a japanese-american wife - we're age 53, she's a pharmacist and I'm an engineer living in the Pacific Northwest US.

I think the animators made a stellar design decision there - they managed to cross the gender lines big time by providing attractive elements as well as relationship elements.

I watch it because I enjoy watching it very very very much ...
I guess I knew K-ON! from an announcement at a forum, and I decided to give it a try. After the first few eps, I also tried reading the manga ... And not before long, it became addicting :D
I think I have rewatced both K-ON! and K-ON!! 5 times at least ...

Btw, I'm a 21 Chinese-Indonesia, at my final year of my university study ...

16, male, Chinese, Singaporean. I first started watching K-ON only weeks before the second season started airing. I was fairly intrigued by its immense popularity when the first season was still airing, but never actually bothered to check it out. But with the second season around the corner, I thought it would be a great time to marathon the first season to see what all the hype was about. I wasn't sure what to expect but being a fan of slice-of-life shows and "cute girls doing cute things" in general, I went into it with fairly high expectations and it exceeded them in every way possible. Season 2, being much better than Season 1 in my opinion, has also in the same way impressed me. As for why I continue to follow K-ON passionately, I think these two posters summed it up really nicely:

Basically, K-ON provides me with a much needed relief from the stresses of everyday life. To be able to jump into the world of the light music club and witness their joy and laughter is a pleasant experience. You may call it escapism, but almost every work of fiction has an element of escapism that draws people to it and I hardly see anything wrong with that. The themes of friendship present in the show also resonate very well with me, considering I am a final year student myself about to graduate this year.

It also helps that the music is awesome.

I'm watching K-On!! because this is one of the best animes ever.

I watched it for the wrong reasons...at first. I expected music, awesome instrument animation (since it is the same KyoAni who awed me with Haruhi), Beck-like approach, and...a slight bit of yuri (damn Lucky Star and their KonataxKagami shiptease).

Haha.

After they mentioned Budokan, I was psyched, I was already imagining some awesome concert episode where they rock out and all that jazz, but I saw them drinking tea, lazing around, working part-time and cosplaying. Then I learned that it was adapted from a yonkoma and stopped expecting from there. I followed the manga, all the while thinking to myself; "Hey, this is fun! And KyoAni's doing a good job in being faithful to the source...their twist in things actually makes the show a lot more fun!". I spoiled myself rotten until I ran out of chapters to read (which only took half a day with a few intervals) and went on waiting for K-On! episodes every week, imagining and predicting how this and that will go for each episode. I found myself fascinated with how the girls managed to keep me tuned even in the most repetitive episodes--and that's when I realized that they grew on me to a point that I got used to expecting them weekly. At that point in time, I thought that maybe this show didn't really aim for great feats like the studio's previews works, but emphasized a very simple yet meaningful message to their viewers. I watched a girl grow up from being a directionless freshman to an aspiring musician and upperclassman who found something she loved--all thanks to music. I ended up staying for the lighthearted ride.

When season 2 was announced, I could only jump in joy and fist pump at the sky.

I was impressed through and through with how it went from then on. It also helped that I really liked Azusa (the Mugi focus, I also cherished). The show's characters had me really attached to them that I cried with them in their times of grief, I laughed with them when they were all having fun, I even ate cake and drank tea with them in their procrastinating periods. Watching them relaxed me greatly.

To put it simply, K-On gave me a nice experience, one that I know I will remember for a very long time.

I'm a 19 year old female majoring in Engineering, a native of the Philippines, and a long time anime/manga...errr, "otaku". :heh:

20 year old male, 3rd year Chem Undergrad.

I watched the first season cause i was drawn in by the reference that htey made to DMC in the first episode.

I continue to watch and enjoy it cause it helps me get away from the reality of life and stop hating mankind for just 24 minutes every week.

A bit of the problem is that "seinen" means it is actually assumed to be most interesting to the demographic of JAPANESE men 18-30 IN JAPAN. Bets are off off-island in the rest of the world as to who would be interested. Even so, because of the inputs of the female production staff - the series has crossed the rigid social boundaries and has become popular with a broader audience in Japan as well.

I watch K-On because it's entertaining.

Do I need any other reason?

I watch it because its just plain fun, has believable cute characters, no big messy dramatic or overly comic love triangles and cool music. Its also something safe enough to watch with my kids, who are starting out as musicians themselves.

I'm drawn to shows by their art. If I don't like the art style, I don't care too much how awesome the story is. OTOH, if the art is great, as this is, I'll put up with a fair amount of floundering. Not that K-On flounders. It procrastinates sometimes, but always has a rudder even if the destination is foggy. It a nice simple and easy to watch and repeat series with amusing bits and no world domination plots or scene chewing going on. Like the Light Music Club itself, it's light and fluffy.

I'm a 47 yr old Caucasian Creative Director and dad of 4 who has been watching anime since I was a small kid and see no reason to stop. My boys like this little side hobby and it helps in my creativity.