This week on K-ON!!
Everything comes full circle. Old journeys come to an end and new ones begin. Real heady stuff.
We start the episode with the girls getting together for one last walk to school. Actually, it's just Mugi, because everyone else is running late. Mio and Ritsu turn up a few moments later, and they wonder where Yui is. She shows up, apologizing profusely . . . seems she woke up early to play the guitar and lost track of time. Could it be? Is Yui picking up the idiot ball for her last day of school? Naw, Yui had good reason to be practicing her guitar; as we'll see a little later. In fact, they're
all carrying their instruments. To their graduation. What's up with that? Don't worry, kids, it's just a little harmless foreshadowing. Nothing to see here . . . move along . . .
Soooo their last walk to school turns out to be more of a dead run, since this is their graduation day. Everybody else is already at school, including the juniors. We see Azusa for the first time, looking pensive and thoughtful. Under her crumbling facade of stoicism, she's secretly distraught at the situation she faces. She sees the girls running to their classroom, and it upsets her even more. It upsets her so much she viciously assaults a level 16 wall for 2 HP.
The wall, being a wall, thoroughly kicks Azusa's ass for 80 HP, blowing through her defenses. The wall scores 30 gold and gets +200 EXP. The wall now has over 9000 EXP and levels up. For her trouble, Azusa gets a big bandage and head trauma.
We go back to the girls, who have finally arrived. Yui, as it turns out, tripped and fell and has torn a hole in her manly tights. Fortunately for her, her sister and
Offdensen Nodoka are crazy-prepared with a set of spare tights. As Yui and Nodoka (eh, Nodoka?) go off to get changed, we learn that Ms. Yamanaka's class has chipped in and gotten her a going-away card.
We also learn that the school has this tradition that the underclassmen give the graduating seniors a flower. Cue bittersweet montage of the girls getting their congratulatory flowers. Yui and Nodoka finally come back and get their flowers. Ritsu hands Yui the card, and they're almost caught by Sawako. They cover up having the card by . . . acting even more suspicious. Yui gets stuck hiding the card for the entire graduation ceremony, looking
very obvious about it too; to the point that Sawako is wondering "Eh, WTF is going on?" She begins speculating on what what Yui may be hiding. (
Gitah? Really?)
In between all this, we get more Azusa looking sad and feeling blue. A convenient gust of wind from the Fan Service Gods tries to lift some skirts and only succeeds in blowing Azusa's bangs to the side.
The girls survive their graduation ceremony and Yui finally gets to sign the card; only to almost get caught by Sawako again. They return to the classroom, and Yui gazes over her diploma. One of the random extras announces that the class got Sawako a card. Yui reveals that she has the card, and proceeds to show off her ability to demolish the fourth wall at will . . . humming along to the background music as she presents the card to Sawako.
After this, we get the first sign that the girls' journey is only just beginning. A random extra asks to have her picture taken with them. She implores them to not stop playing, that she finds their music "interesting." You can see the expressions of shock on the girls faces . . . "Interesting"? Not "cool" or "awesome"? Just "interesting"? WTF?
That's right, girls. You were a high school garage band with a single non-school gig to your name. While you may be the darlings of Oricon outside the fourth wall; inside the fourth wall, you've got a long,
long, way to go. The journey out of childhood may have come to an end, but the journey to adulthood has just begun.
Afterwards, they head up to the clubroom. Yui suggests to Nodoka that they walk home together, and plan their Vulcan costumes for the upcoming Star Trek convention. Nodoka heads back to the student council room. Since she's, technically, no longer part of the student council; she's actually going back to see the random extra from two paragraphs ago, as the
Klokateers Tea Timers have brought her in to be forcibly brainwashed by repeatedly listening to HTT's music (and you thought that tape was just to leave something behind for future keion-bu members. Oh no, children, it's just another tool in Nodoka's plan to make the girls of HTT the
sixth largest economy in the world, ahead of a certain death metal band . . . )
Azusa is sitting in her classroom totally spaced out, and completely oblivious to the screams coming from the student council room. Her, Jun, and Ui have their own inside jokes, apparently; as Jun snaps her out by saying "anime figurine." Jun is off to the jazz club. Ui is depressed. For years, she's been one step behind her older sister. But now, her sister is about to take a veritable quantum leap. Azusa vows to join her in getting s<guitar chord>tfaced with the rest of the Hirasawa clan as they celebrate Yui surviving to adulthood without getting them all killed with her evil genius talents.
Azusa goes to the clubroom to find the girls having tea one last time. A touching scene ensues, as Azusa gives them all farewell notes and tries to assure them that the
Galactic Republic club will be fine with her as
Chancellor of the Senate club president. As she goes to set her bag down with the others, it hits her. The fact the girls are graduating finally hits her. The diplomas piled up to one side. The graduate flower on the table. All of it hits Azusa right between the eyes and her facade of stoicism crumbles in an instant.
Azusa breaks down, right there, in front of the girls. She mumbles about not wanting them to graduate. Not wanting them to go and leave her behind. Pleading for them not to go. There isn't a dry eye in the house. Except for the girls, who seem
remarkably composed. They've had their cathartic breakdowns already, and they can only look on sympathetically. Except Yui, who runs right over to Azusa and discovers the bandage she's been wearing all day.
Yui demonstrates that all Hirasawas are crazy-prepared (she keeps bandages and other first aid supplies.) She then gives Azusa mementos . . . a picture from the girls' freshman year. A flower laden with symbolism. The other girls yell at her for stealing the spotlight (and for raiding the club scrapbook,) and for totally going off-script.
You see, the girls went to the clubroom one more time
for Azusa. They wrote a song for her and everything. Now we see why the girls brought their instruments. Why Yui got up extra-early to practice. They play their song for Azusa, all of them singing along. Sawako and Nodoka hang around outside the door listening in, but this is all about Azusa.
Azusa stands up, claps enthusiastically . . . and informs them that it really wasn't that good. She then tells them "Hah! Yous is alls freshmans agains!" But, really, she'd want to hear that song over and over again. They then get together for one final jam session and the series ends over the strings of
Fuwa Fuwa Time.
The final episode of K-ON!! is bittersweet. On one hand, the girls have completed the journey out of childhood. They graduate and leave high school behind. Their role as members of a high school music club have come to an end. On the other hand, their journey to adulthood has just begun. They've made friendships that will last a lifetime, and they've been told that their musical journey is not yet complete . . . that there is so much more than what they've accomplished as a high school garage band.
Final score for this episode is ten manly tears and empty bottles of Cap'n Morgan's out of ten.
Next episode: Moe Wars -- Chancellor Azusa declares emergency powers and dissolves the Senate, ushering in the Empire of Moe. <cue Imperial March>