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Old 2009-07-02, 08:37   Link #5
Haak
Me, An Intellectual
 
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: UK
Age: 33
Okay let me start off by saying that I know fuck all about music. Just want to make that clear so you can understand my perspective.

Animation Quality:
Has been perfect all the way through but it was somewhat sloppy on the last episode.
9/10

Voice Actors:
No complaints here. All the characters were very distinguishable by their voice. You could tell them apart easily. Also it must have taken a lot of effort for Aki Toyosaki to do that rasping voice in Episode 6.
10/10

Soundtrack:
It was kinda ‘meh’ really. The soundtracks gave it feeling but there isn’t really any single piece that I would want to listen to over and over. So it should be 6/10, however I feel it necessary to bump it up one point since I’ve had the opening and ending songs stuck my head for quite a while now and I see that as an achievement:
7/10

Script:
I have to base this solely on how well each of the genres has been done, since there wasn’t really much plot and I don’t think there was meant to be.

Comedy: 6/10. – There weren’t really any hit and misses but I never genuinely loled once. There were some funny moments like when the gang first imagining what Yui’s sister would be like or when someone got a pantsu shot Mio (lucky bastard) or when Nodoka entered in on Sawako molesting Mio , but they just produced short giggles. There aren’t really any funny moments that I would look up on youtube and play over and over again. In that regards, even Kanon was funnier.

Slice of Life/Music: 7/10. – There were some decent bits here and there but there wasn’t that much. I think they did well to make it seem as if music was a part of everyone’s lives (like how Ritsu did some subconscious drumming on the table in Episode 6, and stuff like looking after their instruments). However, they had three drama bits and both were just God awful, cringe-worthy.

Moeness: 10/10 – Well really, by now 10/10 ought to be a standard for Kyoani. Cat ears and dresses for the fucking win. =3

So overall I would say 7/10. However, the first half episode 2 felt like filler and they did the beach thing twice! I also feel it necessary to drop it a point since it seems K-On’s biggest strength is moeness and I can’t help feel that’s just a little bit...shallow...
6/10

Characters:

Yui Hirasawa: At first this one seemed to me to be a typical retarded moe. However, what I didn’t expect was this anime character to be by far the most retarded character I have ever come across. I mean my God, this character takes retarded moe to a whole new level. I’ve never seen an anime character quite like this one since Osaka in Azumanga Daioh. I’m surprised no one in the anime suggested that she might have some sort of mental problem. Unfortunately it seems this is the only original thing about Yui. Otherwise she’s pretty much a typical character. I did actually feel a little sorry for Yui at the start since she was feeling the force of social pressures to change what they deemed ‘unsuitable’ characteristics. So I was actually a little glad that it didn’t turn out that way for her. But that was the only bit where I emphasised with her. Otherwise I just really didn’t care what happened to her.
Originality – 3/10
Empathy - 3/10

Ritsu Tainaka: A typical tomboyish moe. Wasn’t really impressed with this one. The only thing she did was piss off Mio a lot. She was pretty much Konata but far less funny. And I didn’t understand why she started the club if she was going to procrastinate. Surely the whole point of starting a light music club is because you enjoy it? Why would you procrastinate? It’s good for a writer to make a hypocritical character but the whole point of a hypocritical character is that their hypocrisy is shown to be understandable when taking into account their back ground (i.e. Sasuke Uchiha) or revealed not to be hypocrisy after all (i.e. Lelouch Vi Britannia) (Note: This is where I think School Days failed a bit). Ritsu didn’t have either. I did however understand why she felt so annoyed at Mio choosing to hang out with someone else. But, again, that was the only bit where I emphasised with her. Otherwise I just really didn’t care what happened to her, either.
Originality – 2/10
Empathy – 3/10.

Tsumugi Kotobuki: Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, what were they thinking when they made this character? All she did was provide food and drinks and play the keyboard, otherwise she had pretty much no relevance to the plot. They also made her ‘the yuri one’ but they failed to capitalize on that. They made her ‘the obscenely rich one’ too which had some slight effect on the plot but pretty much seemed like a plot device to me. I felt she was just a compilation of unused typical character traits.
Originality – 1/10 (one point because of the eyebrows)
Empathy – 0/10 (SHE DID FUCK ALL)

Mio Akiyama: Probably the most unique character, but not by much. For most of the part she was just a less funny version of Kagami but her large variety of extremely specific phobias made her a little interesting. Other than all those phobias of hers, she was the one I empathised with the most, especially with regards to dealing with Ritsu and most especially with regards to hanging out with other people for a change. In that case I sympathised as well. Imo, it could’ve been better though...
Originality – 5/10
Empathy – 7/10

Azusa Nakano: NYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Sorry had to be done. She was my second favourite character. I guess someone had to turn out to be ‘the small one’ and she was it. But unfortunately she was just a smaller version of Mio but without her phobias. I empathised with her frustration with the group for procrastinating so much but I didn’t understand why she couldn’t just ditch the group. He ended up feeling more attached to them than anyone else despite being the most recent addition to the group. I didn’t really care what happened to this one either.
Originality – 2/10
Empathy – 4/10

Sawako Yamanaka: The typical ‘Teacher with issues’. At least they made it relevant to music. And she did play a fairly large role.
Originality – 2/10

Nodoka Manabe: The ‘sensible one’
Originality – 0/10

Ui Hirasawa – ‘The sibling’. A mature younger sister looking after a retarded older sister. I wonder where I’ve seen this one before?
Originality – 1/10

Overall Character Originality: 3/10 (Added an extra point because they can all play musical instruments)

Overall Character Empathy: 3/10 (well I suppose you have to take into account that an 18 year old guy is gonna find it difficult to empathise with a group of high school girls)

Overall Score: 6/10

Highlight of the series:
Spoiler for space:
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