AnimeSuki Forum - View Single Post - K-On! - The Movie

GMT · 2012-07-21, 03:31

So the award-nominated K-ON! movie has been released on DVD, BluRay, and on the internets (though the last part should be said with an "arrr, matey!") It got pretty high marks during its run in Japan, and the parts of the fan community that don't bemoan it as the harbinger of the apocalypse of moe that's "ruining" anime; likewise give it decent marks.

Today's review seeks to answer the deep questions (as I am contractually obligated to produce at least one tl;dr post per year): Is it worthy of the attention of the casual viewer? Is it a good introduction to the franchise for someone who's never seen K-ON! or read the manga? Is it really the harbinger of the apocalypse of metal anime apocalypse?

Spoiler for the first six minutes:

The film starts off, as such properties often must, with a recap. A recap, and an enormous troll. Houkago Tea Time has accidentally summoned, and must dispense with Mustakrakish ... wait, wrong movie. But we do see the girls playing <GITAH CHORD> brutal metal. It's all lovingly animated; from the fierce expression on Ritsu's face, to how she nails those double kicks harder than Pickles, to the stiff-legged manner with which she stands up afterward and makes her way over to Yui. We can marvel at Yui hammering out the galloping strum of metal, and the girls losing themselves in rocking the <GITAH CHORD> out. In fact, they will turn the whole moe genre metal. Just like they will make everything metal. Blacker than the blackest black times infinity.

Or will they?

As Azusa, the One Sane Woman, enters; the rest put the "fun" in dysfunctional rock band. They turn it up to eleven, taking their place among such greats as The Stones, Guns n' Roses, Van Halen, Cream, the Eagles, and Zazz Blammymatazz. Amongst all the arguing, Azusa discovers the Magic Tape Recorder(tm,) and the gig is up . . . the girls, it turns out, are just taking the piss. Somehow, Azusa isn't surprised. Cue the opening credits with the girls acting cute to sugary '60s Britpop.

Epic troll is epic.

It's also one of the best six minutes of cinema I've ever seen. We see what the animators can do with an expanded palette of techniques while, at the same time, not forgetting any of the comedic flourishes and timing that make up a big part of the show's soul, and make it accessible to people who aren't just basement-dwelling otaku. It cleverly recaps the entire animated run of K-ON! without feeling like an infodump. It firmly establishes the main characters and their personalities. It's a big "take that!" to anyone expecting, or hoping, for MOAR DRAMATIC GRIMDARK!!11 This movie has a very firm idea of what it is, and the story it wants to tell. In skewering the rock tropes, this movie says that it's not Spinal Tap, it's not BECK and it's not Metalocalypse. It's K-ON! and it's damned proud of that fact.

Now that I've gotten that out of my system, the next three minutes completes the recap and then we get to what the story is really about.

Forget all that stuff about going to London. That doesn't even take up more than a third of the film.

The film, instead, is about how do they want to remember their senior year in high school? How do they want to be remembered? And, most importantly; what can they do to thank someone who, in a very big way, has made it all possible for them?

Those three questions drive everything the girls will do in the film ... from how they carry themselves through their graduation trip, to the things they do in the process of writing the song. And to further heighten the impact, the movie very tightly focuses itself on Yui. The others have their parts to play, but in the end, it's Yui who is the protagonist. It's Yui and her friends marching inexorably towards their graduation. It's Yui who struggles to express her feelings towards the impeccably reliable Azusa.

That's what makes this movie work so well. She's headstrong and she's something of a practical joker; and has a habit of always biting off just a little more than she can chew. That, when combined with her friends; who very much play the parts of her id, her ego, and her super-ego; drive the story, make opportunities for hilarity to ensue, and create, in combination, a compelling super-protagonist that almost any person watching the film can, in some way, relate to and follow without having ever seen an episode of K-ON! before in their lives. The first ten minutes of film set a strong pace that defines the rest of the movie.

The film also remembers who its fans are. There are many, many, opportunities for the girls to act as they do in the anime. There are lots of tie-ins, shout-outs, and call-backs to even small things in the show that will make the observant fan go "Ohh, I see what you did there, KyoAni." And, it wouldn't be K-ON! without at least one groan-worthy pun stretched into a running gag, because Houkago Tea Time loves their puns almost as much as they love their sweets and tea. And the shiptease. Good heavens, the shiptease.

Final scores for movie reviews are given relative to other movies that I've seen ... which is why this film earns an 8 out of 10. Relative to other K-ON! it's easily a 10/10 ... an excellent retelling of the second season's already excellent ending arc.

Pluses:
- The film is easily accessible to those who are unfamiliar with the K-ON! franchise. Watching the raw, without benefit of understanding Japanese, was a fulfilling experience all by itself.
- The characters, taken together, make for likeable, and easy to identify with, protagonists.
- The comic timing is well-done, and most of the humor doesn't require that one be a fan of the show to get it.
- Visually, it is excellently done. No, it isn't quite the scenery porn that the Haruhi movie, or even Hyouka are; but it stands up very well on its own (and it's also light-years beyond the anime.)
- This movie averages one animated song performance every eighteen minutes. Which puts it right up there with, say, a season of Metalocalypse.
- We finally get to see a montage of the girls showing their work ... a lot of legwork went into that song.
Minuses:
- It's K-ON!, so the characters aren't especially deep or complicated. Especially not at a first glance from a new, uninformed, viewer.
- The world of this movie is very rose-colored. It's almost distracting how clean and idyllic the world of K-ON! can be sometimes. But, then again, the movie shows that you don't need lots of grimdark and shades of gray to tell a compelling story.
- Some of the humor still requires being Japanese, and a fan of the show, especially, to get.
- Yui, taken by herself, is something of a divisive character. Many can appreciate her spunky naivete. Others will be off-put by her tendency to grab the idiot ball with both hands.

2012-07-21, 03:31	Link #810
GMT Orthodox Haruhiist Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Making metal ... for fish Age: 44	So the award-nominated K-ON! movie has been released on DVD, BluRay, and on the internets (though the last part should be said with an "arrr, matey!") It got pretty high marks during its run in Japan, and the parts of the fan community that don't bemoan it as the harbinger of the apocalypse of moe that's "ruining" anime; likewise give it decent marks. Today's review seeks to answer the deep questions (as I am contractually obligated to produce at least one tl;dr post per year): Is it worthy of the attention of the casual viewer? Is it a good introduction to the franchise for someone who's never seen K-ON! or read the manga? Is it really the harbinger of the apocalypse of metal anime apocalypse? Spoiler for the first six minutes: The film starts off, as such properties often must, with a recap. A recap, and an enormous troll. Houkago Tea Time has accidentally summoned, and must dispense with Mustakrakish ... wait, wrong movie. But we do see the girls playing <GITAH CHORD> brutal metal. It's all lovingly animated; from the fierce expression on Ritsu's face, to how she nails those double kicks harder than Pickles, to the stiff-legged manner with which she stands up afterward and makes her way over to Yui. We can marvel at Yui hammering out the galloping strum of metal, and the girls losing themselves in rocking the <GITAH CHORD> out. In fact, they will turn the whole moe genre metal. Just like they will make everything metal. Blacker than the blackest black times infinity. Or will they? As Azusa, the One Sane Woman, enters; the rest put the "fun" in dysfunctional rock band. They turn it up to eleven, taking their place among such greats as The Stones, Guns n' Roses, Van Halen, Cream, the Eagles, and Zazz Blammymatazz. Amongst all the arguing, Azusa discovers the Magic Tape Recorder(tm,) and the gig is up . . . the girls, it turns out, are just taking the piss. Somehow, Azusa isn't surprised. Cue the opening credits with the girls acting cute to sugary '60s Britpop. Epic troll is epic. It's also one of the best six minutes of cinema I've ever seen. We see what the animators can do with an expanded palette of techniques while, at the same time, not forgetting any of the comedic flourishes and timing that make up a big part of the show's soul, and make it accessible to people who aren't just basement-dwelling otaku. It cleverly recaps the entire animated run of K-ON! without feeling like an infodump. It firmly establishes the main characters and their personalities. It's a big "take that!" to anyone expecting, or hoping, for MOAR DRAMATIC GRIMDARK!!11 This movie has a very firm idea of what it is, and the story it wants to tell. In skewering the rock tropes, this movie says that it's not Spinal Tap, it's not BECK and it's not Metalocalypse. It's K-ON! and it's damned proud of that fact. Now that I've gotten that out of my system, the next three minutes completes the recap and then we get to what the story is really about. Forget all that stuff about going to London. That doesn't even take up more than a third of the film. The film, instead, is about how do they want to remember their senior year in high school? How do they want to be remembered? And, most importantly; what can they do to thank someone who, in a very big way, has made it all possible for them? Those three questions drive everything the girls will do in the film ... from how they carry themselves through their graduation trip, to the things they do in the process of writing the song. And to further heighten the impact, the movie very tightly focuses itself on Yui. The others have their parts to play, but in the end, it's Yui who is the protagonist. It's Yui and her friends marching inexorably towards their graduation. It's Yui who struggles to express her feelings towards the impeccably reliable Azusa. That's what makes this movie work so well. She's headstrong and she's something of a practical joker; and has a habit of always biting off just a little more than she can chew. That, when combined with her friends; who very much play the parts of her id, her ego, and her super-ego; drive the story, make opportunities for hilarity to ensue, and create, in combination, a compelling super-protagonist that almost any person watching the film can, in some way, relate to and follow without having ever seen an episode of K-ON! before in their lives. The first ten minutes of film set a strong pace that defines the rest of the movie. The film also remembers who its fans are. There are many, many, opportunities for the girls to act as they do in the anime. There are lots of tie-ins, shout-outs, and call-backs to even small things in the show that will make the observant fan go "Ohh, I see what you did there, KyoAni." And, it wouldn't be K-ON! without at least one groan-worthy pun stretched into a running gag, because Houkago Tea Time loves their puns almost as much as they love their sweets and tea. And the shiptease. Good heavens, the shiptease. Final scores for movie reviews are given relative to other movies that I've seen ... which is why this film earns an 8 out of 10. Relative to other K-ON! it's easily a 10/10 ... an excellent retelling of the second season's already excellent ending arc. Pluses: - The film is easily accessible to those who are unfamiliar with the K-ON! franchise. Watching the raw, without benefit of understanding Japanese, was a fulfilling experience all by itself. - The characters, taken together, make for likeable, and easy to identify with, protagonists. - The comic timing is well-done, and most of the humor doesn't require that one be a fan of the show to get it. - Visually, it is excellently done. No, it isn't quite the scenery porn that the Haruhi movie, or even Hyouka are; but it stands up very well on its own (and it's also light-years beyond the anime.) - This movie averages one animated song performance every eighteen minutes. Which puts it right up there with, say, a season of Metalocalypse. - We finally get to see a montage of the girls showing their work ... a lot of legwork went into that song. Minuses: - It's K-ON!, so the characters aren't especially deep or complicated. Especially not at a first glance from a new, uninformed, viewer. - The world of this movie is very rose-colored. It's almost distracting how clean and idyllic the world of K-ON! can be sometimes. But, then again, the movie shows that you don't need lots of grimdark and shades of gray to tell a compelling story. - Some of the humor still requires being Japanese, and a fan of the show, especially, to get. - Yui, taken by herself, is something of a divisive character. Many can appreciate her spunky naivete. Others will be off-put by her tendency to grab the idiot ball with both hands. __________________ Go into the water. Live there. Die there.