K-On! - Episode 2 Discussion / Poll

[Random Wanderer]

Originally Posted by Amber.Dawn

I wonder why people think that this show is taking place in the past?

I think it's the camera, for me. Modern anime has taught me that high school students don't generally carry cameras around with them. If they want to take a picture of something, they'll use a cell phone. Owning a camera that is PURELY a camera and not something else clearly means that the series is either set in the past, or the person in question is old and out of touch with modern technology.

[SeedFreedom]

I just realized they made quite a deal of money doing the job. 8000 yen a day equates to about $80 American. For a days work of just counting cars that's not bad.

EDIT: im going blind. nvm this.

[neothe0ne]

Originally Posted by SeedFreedom

I just realized they made quite a deal of money doing the job. 8000 yen a day equates to about $80 American. For a days work of just counting cars that's not bad.

$20 per person? Doesn't sound too unreasonable esp. since certain luxuries tend to cost more in Japan than in the US (or maybe I have the wrong impression).

[Bonta Kun]

Originally Posted by Random Wanderer

I think it's the camera, for me. Modern anime has taught me that high school students don't generally carry cameras around with them. If they want to take a picture of something, they'll use a cell phone. Owning a camera that is PURELY a camera and not something else clearly means that the series is either set in the past, or the person in question is old and out of touch with modern technology.

yea general consensus is that today camera phones are the norm, not to say that people still don't carry cameras around(they do provide the better picture no matter what) but from the looks of things the camera shown isn't digital so gotta be a good few years back.

its always a little issue about when an anime like this takes place

[SeedFreedom]

Originally Posted by neothe0ne

$20 per person? Doesn't sound too unreasonable esp. since certain luxuries tend to cost more in Japan than in the US (or maybe I have the wrong impression).

Ok, im seeing things. i thought they each made $80. $20 a person actually sounds pretty bad.

[Raiga]

Originally Posted by SeedFreedom

Ok, im seeing things. i thought they each made $80. $20 a person actually sounds pretty bad.

*checks*

Subs say 8000 yen a day but it doesn't say whether that was 8000 for each girl or 8000 pooled... hmm...

[Amber.Dawn]

Well, how long did they count cars for? If they did it for 10 hours, it would be decent pay.

[Peanutbutter]

Originally Posted by Raiga

*checks*

Subs say 8000 yen a day but it doesn't say whether that was 8000 for each girl or 8000 pooled... hmm...

Actually, I think there's two assignments involved. Counting the number of people in vehicles, and counting the number of vehicles. The first one is 9,000 yen per day and the second one is 8,000 yen per day. My opinion is that the pay does not take into account the number of people working.

Thus, we have two girls in one group, both doing the 2 assignments, and performing hourly shifts for 12 hours per day. So, in the end, they earned 34,000 yen for 2 days work.

On another note, I like to seek a consensus. Which subs should I keep? Coalguys or qq? Which one do you guys is better thus far?

[risingstar3110]

Originally Posted by Peanutbutter003

Actually, I think there's two assignments involved. Counting the number of people in vehicles, and counting the number of vehicles. The first one is 9,000 yen per day and the second one is 8,000 yen per day. My opinion is that the pay does not take into account the number of people working.

Thus, we have two girls in one group, both doing the 2 assignments, and performing hourly shifts for 12 hours per day. So, in the end, they earned 34,000 yen for 2 days work.

On another note, I like to seek a consensus. Which subs should I keep? Coalguys or qq? Which one do you guys is better thus far?

Most people searched for part time job alone, so i think 8k or 9k must be for each person and each day. They take turn to do the counting, but normally, no one can do the counting for several hours continuously anyway (believe me your brain will disband you if you choose to do so) and they maybe sued (and get crushed by fanbases) for exploiting cute high school girls. So if they want so much information that require two student per turn, then a minimum 4 is a must (just enough).

When you think about it, the job is just a temporary one, so 8000 Yen per full day work is reasonable. It must still be lower than the adult average hour paid

[Klashikari]

The thing that really struck me in this episode wasn't the moe at all (though Mio's antics were a nice treat), but the interactions between the girls, especially Mio and Tsumugi's towards Yui.

It came quite early that Yui was able to befriend them despite the ridiculous dojikko etiquette she earned very early (not like it was wrong either way). That is to say, I might thinking too much about it, but the whole "name" deal with Yui probably triggered something with Mio, which sparked her zeal for the part time job later on.

The first visit to the shop was really something more than it meets the eye: Tsumugi and Mio's behaviour were quite important. Despite Yui was probably seen as a mere fifth wheel for the club to prevent it to be disbanded, she somehow knew her own place (when she apologized for being thoughtless in episode 1) and then makes quite some efforts to meet the club expectations.
As far as Tsumugi was portrayed, she is obviously gifted by talents and ressources. Thus, her reactions after Ritsu's hardship and Yui longing for the guitar gave her some depth, as I explained in the general thread before: she is taking things in a relaxed way and her curiosity allows her to get interested in other people. From my perspective, Tsumugi was shown rather concerned about Yui, and then got experience with the part time job despite she arguably doesn't need anything like this.

This is where the "price cut" comes to me as something meaningful (especially compared to the "easy way" in the manga):
1) Tsumugi wanted to try out Ritsu's "outstanding" efforts, which was a fun experience for her.
2) allowing Yui to finally get the guitar, but without spoiling her too much (as told before, if she wanted to, so could simply get the guitar for free and gives it as a present to Yui. But no, she cut the price so that it will be within Yui's budget).

The antics/jokes along the moe were only a side dish in my opinion for this episode. The episode shines a lot in my books, because as far as I could see, the friendship between the girls was depicted very well with subtle details without being overly cheesy (though Yui's reactions were obviously ).

[Principalities]

Gotta say, enjoying the characterization of ALL 4 girls so far.... This is one well written anime!

[DidCart]

Originally Posted by Random Wanderer

Owning a camera that is PURELY a camera and not something else clearly means that the series is either set in the past, or the person in question is old and out of touch with modern technology.

HIGH PROBABILITY!

People here said that the keyboard was from 2007 at minimum and other said that the camera wasn't a digital one. If here in Brazil digital cameras are popular a earlier than 2007, imagine in Japan. So could this anime be independent of time? Maybe.

[BetoJR]

I think you people are reading too much into this. There are people who prefer stand-alone cameras (be they digital or not), for matters of quality - I know, I'm one of them.

[Klashikari]

^ seconded. I personally prefer using a camera, instead of generally cheap ass resolution you get with cellphone (no thanks, I'm fine enough with my 3 years old cellphone model, thankyouverymuch).

[BetoJR]

So, does that make us both out of touch with modernity?

[DidCart]

Guys, we are talking about Japan here.

How much is the percentage of japanese teenagers that use non-digital cameras in their daily life?

But I think that this discussion is pointless. What's the importance of it to the full enjoyment of the series? For me, any.

[faervas]

yeah I think people are reading to much into the whole camera thing. I carry a Blackberry and a canon G7 and I have a film camera I carry some times. phone cameras are all fuzzy and are crappy in low light. If you are more serious about photos then carting a snap shot camera in a purse or book bag is no big deal.

[Amber.Dawn]

I don't even HAVE a cellphone. I use a regular camera.

[prnoct90]

Originally Posted by Peanutbutter003

On another note, I like to seek a consensus. Which subs should I keep? Coalguys or qq? Which one do you guys is better thus far?

I second this. I don't speak Japanese, so I would like to know which people think is better?

[Justin Kim]

Whichever typeset is cleaner I guess? I guess it's your opinion, you can't really justify which subbings are better unless one of them has really awkward translations throughout the episodes.