AnimeSuki Forum - View Single Post - K-On!! (Second Season) - Overall Series Impressions & Total Series Rating

GMT · 2010-10-05, 09:31

Season Two and Season One of K-On! are two different beasts. Season One was almost all about the moe-baiting. It was Fuwa Fuwa Time personified. In the end, I declared it to have a final rating of six (and a half) Melancholy of Hirasawa Yui's out of ten . . . or, average. Will Season Two rise to the occasion? Will having double the broadcast episodes warm the cockles of my shriveled, Scrooge-like, heart? Read on, and find out!

Animation Quality: - 9/10
The animation work of Season Two goes well above-and-beyond that of the first season's. KyoAni cut the reliance on cheap sight-gags and animation reuse way down. The scenery is more lush, the character animation smoother and more detailed. The nameless redshirts and background details are filled out, bringing the world of K-ON!! to life in a way that the first season never quite managed.

Voice Actors: - 9/10
My fears at what'd happen when they'd do the Region 1 dubs for S1 were realized. They cast Christina Vee as Mio. That alone makes me want rage impotently like Darth Vader did at the end of Revenge of the Sith. The voice acting for K-ON!! is still excellent. If anything, the voice actresses outdo themselves for S2. The drama of Ro-Mio and Ju-Ritsu, the dawning realization in Episode 20 that the school festival performance would be HTT's last. Even the nameless redshirts get distinctive voices and personalities.

Script: - 7/10
The scripting for S2 far exceeds the one for S1, insofar as there was an underlying theme to all the madness. It's still fluffy, it's still formulaic Japanese slice-of-life, but it gets the right reactions at the right times. The fluff is mostly grounded by the girls' coming-of-age . . . but never fear, the light comedy is still there in heaps.

Soundtrack: - 9/10
It's hard to argue with a fictional band that outsells quite a few real bands in its particular music segment and has inspired not-inconsiderable numbers of would-be musicians and even the odd tribute band. Hokago Tea Time has a distinctive sound. It's light rock, but it has a noteworthy '70s edge to it. I do have some minor issues with some of the songs which prevent me from giving this category a 10/10 (some of the repetitiveness in the full-length OP/ED songs, and the questionable use of smoking-crystal-meth tempo at the end of Utauyo MIRACLE, although Yui's VA gets bonus points for trying to sing in-character this season.)

I'm still not giving a score for editing. I've never read the source material, so I can't comment on the editorial choices.

Enjoyment: - 8/10
I enjoyed this series very much. Moreso this season than last (enough to not be willing to wait for the subs to turn up on YouTube, for instance.) I'll definitely add the DVDs (whenever they come out for R1) to my collection, and watch them regularly.

Emotional Involvement: - 7/10
This season of K-ON!! inspired emotional involvement in a way that the first season utterly failed to do. We watch Yui grow from Too Dumb to Live to an Evil (but oh so lazy) Genius, who is aware of her situation in life, and takes a remarkably long view of the future. We find that behind Azusa's suave, stoic, ultra-mature exterior; beats a heart as moe and girly as the rest. She also has a life and friends outside the club (whom we learn become the club by the end of Episode 26.) Ritsu and Mio's relationship is fleshed out, even as Mio's character development was almost entirely neglected this season (possibly as a "Take that!" to her legion of fanboys.) Even then, we find that Ritsu has touches of insecurity behind that genki facade, and Mio has a center of (resigned) steel under all that fluffy moe goodness. Even Subway Molester Man Sawako has a backstory to explain her present eccentricities. The girls of Season Two, unlike the cardboard cutouts of Season One, seem like people with hints of actual nuance. They lose some emotional involvement by turning the "Girls prepare for the most important exam of their young lives" and "Azusa's quest to save the LMC" storylines into "Press the WIN button, and win," but 'emotional involvement' is inherently subjective; so YMMV. High art K-ON!! still ain't, but at least you don't have to feel guilty about getting emotionally involved in this show.

Overall Score: 8.2 / 10. The Good: Just about everything was improved in the second season. The Bad: Still feels kinda like "Seinfeld . . . in JAPAN!!11" Not nearly as bad as, say, Lucky Star, though.

2010-10-05, 09:31	Link #4
GMT Orthodox Haruhiist Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Making metal ... for fish Age: 44	Season Two and Season One of K-On! are two different beasts. Season One was almost all about the moe-baiting. It was Fuwa Fuwa Time personified. In the end, I declared it to have a final rating of six (and a half) Melancholy of Hirasawa Yui's out of ten . . . or, average. Will Season Two rise to the occasion? Will having double the broadcast episodes warm the cockles of my shriveled, Scrooge-like, heart? Read on, and find out! Animation Quality: - 9/10 The animation work of Season Two goes well above-and-beyond that of the first season's. KyoAni cut the reliance on cheap sight-gags and animation reuse way down. The scenery is more lush, the character animation smoother and more detailed. The nameless redshirts and background details are filled out, bringing the world of K-ON!! to life in a way that the first season never quite managed. Voice Actors: - 9/10 My fears at what'd happen when they'd do the Region 1 dubs for S1 were realized. They cast Christina Vee as Mio. That alone makes me want rage impotently like Darth Vader did at the end of Revenge of the Sith. The voice acting for K-ON!! is still excellent. If anything, the voice actresses outdo themselves for S2. The drama of Ro-Mio and Ju-Ritsu, the dawning realization in Episode 20 that the school festival performance would be HTT's last. Even the nameless redshirts get distinctive voices and personalities. Script: - 7/10 The scripting for S2 far exceeds the one for S1, insofar as there was an underlying theme to all the madness. It's still fluffy, it's still formulaic Japanese slice-of-life, but it gets the right reactions at the right times. The fluff is mostly grounded by the girls' coming-of-age . . . but never fear, the light comedy is still there in heaps. Soundtrack: - 9/10 It's hard to argue with a fictional band that outsells quite a few real bands in its particular music segment and has inspired not-inconsiderable numbers of would-be musicians and even the odd tribute band. Hokago Tea Time has a distinctive sound. It's light rock, but it has a noteworthy '70s edge to it. I do have some minor issues with some of the songs which prevent me from giving this category a 10/10 (some of the repetitiveness in the full-length OP/ED songs, and the questionable use of smoking-crystal-meth tempo at the end of Utauyo MIRACLE, although Yui's VA gets bonus points for trying to sing in-character this season.) I'm still not giving a score for editing. I've never read the source material, so I can't comment on the editorial choices. Enjoyment: - 8/10 I enjoyed this series very much. Moreso this season than last (enough to not be willing to wait for the subs to turn up on YouTube, for instance.) I'll definitely add the DVDs (whenever they come out for R1) to my collection, and watch them regularly. Emotional Involvement: - 7/10 This season of K-ON!! inspired emotional involvement in a way that the first season utterly failed to do. We watch Yui grow from Too Dumb to Live to an Evil (but oh so lazy) Genius, who is aware of her situation in life, and takes a remarkably long view of the future. We find that behind Azusa's suave, stoic, ultra-mature exterior; beats a heart as moe and girly as the rest. She also has a life and friends outside the club (whom we learn become the club by the end of Episode 26.) Ritsu and Mio's relationship is fleshed out, even as Mio's character development was almost entirely neglected this season (possibly as a "Take that!" to her legion of fanboys.) Even then, we find that Ritsu has touches of insecurity behind that genki facade, and Mio has a center of (resigned) steel under all that fluffy moe goodness. Even Subway Molester Man Sawako has a backstory to explain her present eccentricities. The girls of Season Two, unlike the cardboard cutouts of Season One, seem like people with hints of actual nuance. They lose some emotional involvement by turning the "Girls prepare for the most important exam of their young lives" and "Azusa's quest to save the LMC" storylines into "Press the WIN button, and win," but 'emotional involvement' is inherently subjective; so YMMV. High art K-ON!! still ain't, but at least you don't have to feel guilty about getting emotionally involved in this show. Overall Score: 8.2 / 10. The Good: Just about everything was improved in the second season. The Bad: Still feels kinda like "Seinfeld . . . in JAPAN!!11" Not nearly as bad as, say, Lucky Star, though. __________________ Go into the water. Live there. Die there.