K-ON! 03: A crappy Lucky Star remake
Posted: April 21, 2009 Filed under: Uncategorized 22 Comments »
Damn it, I envy you!
Also, disclaimer of sorts: Hooray for semi-sensationalized post titles!
I’m going to say it flat-out: This episode sucked.
It felt like…
- A major Lucky Star ripoff
- A dragged out 4koma
- Crap
As much as I love ‘ya, Yui, you ain’t no Konata.
Clearly superior.
This episode solidified the K-ON! – Lucky Star connection I had brewing in my mind (“old news,” yes, but still…).
I’m pretty sure that somewhere along the line, Konata mentions how she goes off to “clean her room” instead of studying… just how Ritsu talks about it in this episode. The lines are basically copypasta from Lucky Star, only with slight variations.
Speaking of copypasta, the characters of K-ON! are straight out of Lucky Star.
Yui is nothing more than a Tsukasa.
She’s the moeblob who can’t concentrate on much and doesn’t know how to do a lot. (aka, she’s downright stupid) Just as Tsukasa took a while to learn how to use her new cell phone and how to play an MMO, Yui takes a while to learn the guitar. There ain’t much difference between the two, if any at all.
Mio is a Kagami variant. And by variant, I mean that she’s a Kagami wannabe.
Rational, hardworking, and… EMBARRASSED and SCARED?
WTF. NO. DO NOT WANT.
This is breaking the Kagami mold for me. I don’t want to see Little Miss Cool degenerate into an obvious moe attraction. Kagami was a witty character who threw sharp remarks at Konata and wasn’t afraid to be awesome. Mio is that… plus some weird “HEY LOOK AT ME, I’M CUTE, RIGHT?” appeal in the form of social ineptitude + a lack of bravery?
I prefer my Kagamis sharp, not squishy.
Ritsu is a Konata variant.
She’s got the lack of concentration skills, she’s the boke to Kagami/Mio as the tsukkomi, the gaming addiction, etc.
But then again, she’s pretty different from Konata. She ain’t an otaku (though she reads manga), Ui beats her at a game consistently, and she has some weird craving for food that is shared by Yui.
Speaking strictly from an objective standpoint (or semi-objective… Yui is my favorite here), Ritsu is the most unique character (some might argue “and thus the best”) character in K-ON!.
Tsumugi is Miyuki.
Oh shit, I can’t tell who’s who anymore!
Now I’m not complaining that the humor is bad. It’s just reused and cliched.
The old KyoAni model.
Even the next episode seems to be the famous (infamous*) “beach/vacation” episode, that one episode in every KyoAni title (scratch that. Every school life/SOC anime.) that just has to happen.
It was nice seeing the old midterm/finals episode spiced up with some Yui-getting-100%, but even that ain’t too far from stereotypical.
Would I rather see a badly-drawn moeblob or Konata?
Well, that depends on what they’re doin-
OH WAIT, they’re doing the same exact things. => Lucky Star > K-ON! any day.
Though I've gotta say, this was an awesome scene.
And why did this episode feel like a drawn-out 4koma?
(Is K-ON! a 4koma anyway?)
It was needlessly long and… well, it was needlessly long.
Lucky Star hit fast(er) with multiple jokes going on in one episode, whereas this episode mainly focused on one thing: Yui’s inability to concentrate for the midterm.
Of course, there was the progression: Yui fails –> Yui has to retake and pass –> Yui can’t study –> Group study session –> Pass
However, I doubt that that needed to be one episode long. As I’ve not read the manga, don’t quote me on this, but… it felt like KyoAni shuffled their feet throughout the episode to give an entire episode to the beach/vacation arc. Couldn’t they have fit something else into this episode? Like something from a later chapter or something… anything to make this episode go by a little faster?
Poo.
"Today's joke is... this entire episode!"
And now moving on to more episode-specific talk (aka the “here, look at my not-very-witty captions to some screenshots” section)…
I finally understand the ED now!
“Please don’t say ‘You are lazy'” because that’s just what Yui really is!
Wait, no. According to the lyrics, she’s actually…
Right?
I’m not going to go into specifics as to why Yui’s studying habits (or lack thereof) are so similar to mine (I’m pretty sure that other bloggers have got that covered), so you’ll have to make do with the crap above.
When you’re studying, it’s pretty hard to ignore your friend dramatically barging in and then your other friend whacking friend #1 on the head twice. Or rather, it’s very hard to ignore the bump snowman that occurs as a result.
–> it comes back to haunt you in your dreams.
Moral: Stay awake. Don’t make friends.
Yui actually improves on her own, you know! No need to actually study!
By the way, what’s that math in the lower screenshot… factoring?
Microscope time!
So x^2 + 13x + 30…
The answer here is obviously “(x + 3) (x + 10).”
Yui wrote…
) ( x ) ( + 13x ) ( +30
Is this even math anymore?
For starters, how can you leave the parenthesis open at the beginning?
Yui should go join the Bonklers.
Is Yui human? Cause her hand sure isn’t.
Oh, and don’t get me wrong. I like K-ON!. I just don’t love it anymore.
Uh. Yeah. I’m out.
[…] off the presses, fangzhao’s report that K-ON! is a crappy Lucky Star remake has not reached deaf ears. Nor unsympathetic ones. I am in complete agreement with fangzhao; and […]
I disagree. I’ve never seen the Puni Puni sequence before and it seems like the K-ON girls have much more self reflection then the LS ones. Yui actually tried whereas Konata didn’t.
In any case, I also loved Index and hated Mikoto. To each his own.
apparently you being sick has made you bitter. i cant willingly partake in this K-ON! bashing and comparing it to the EPICNESS that is lucky star, or as bob likes to call it raki suta. NOW, that being said. i did notice some inconsistencies but i laughed my ass off almost the entire episode, i loved it. i loved the puni puni thing with the fingers, reminded me of the weiner dog from kurokami, i loved the foot squish, the rolling through the door grand entrance. I LOVE MOE! so in my opinion, this show is awesome, and yes yui does belong in the bonklers. mio is refreshing, shes like half tsundere, half moe where as kagami was all 8 cylinders tsundere. also. yui=moe=love=epic. and yes the math was off.
and K-ON! is not a 4koma, its an actual manga.
Did K-ON! start as a 4koma? Or am I mistaken?
In all fairness to Mio, comparing 3 episodes of Mio to 24+ episodes of Kagamin, who IMO is one of the best anime characters ever, isn’t really a fair fight.
I thought the math was pretty funny actually. Yui’s answer to question 4.3 is XXX. She had to have cheated to get above a 0.
I wouldnt say that K-ON! is a remake of Lucky Star. Oh sure, K-ON! has LOTS of similarities in Lucky Star. But somehow, the creators variated some of the elements of K-ON!
No, K-ON! isnt crappy at all. But thats just your opinion. I dont care.
Your fault. If you lose all expectations, K-ON WILL FULFILL YOU.
They’re both shitty shows.
Just a side note: I went and read K-ON! chapter one (the manga), and it feels like a half-4koma. It starts off like a regular manga, but then goes into the 4-panel mode with a punchline at the end… so I’m not really sure. :/
@ Roy Mustang: But doesn’t Konata cram just like Yui and get a decent score the first time ’round? Also… oi oi! Those words should not be said here!
@jerseyse410: Haha, maybe my brain is fuzzy! But I like my tsunderes 100% tsundere, not some half-assed 50%!
@RP: Yeah, it definitely ain’t a fair fight… but I’m evaluating it as it stands right now, so I can’t really put K-ON! in any sort of fair fight right now. I guess we’ll just see how it unfolds!
@Kabitzin: Actually, it looks more like…
…to me. Her “x”es and her parentheses are practically identical!
But yeah, Yui is stupid. If she hadn’t retaken that test, she probably would’ve put that “12” in a frame in her room.
@Kairu: Hey, I didn’t say that K-ON! is crappy!
EDIT: Shit, I did. Blame my sickness. Anyhow, I think K-ON! is good, but not great.
Oh, and although K-ON!’s attributes sometimes differ from Lucky Star’s, the overall impression that I got was what you just said: that K-ON! has lots (too much, I’d say…) of similarities in Lucky Star.
@lelangir: I can’t argue with that!
@matt: Maybe. I guess I’m a sucker for shitty shows then.
I’d agree with you for this episode. I don’t think it sucked, it was just way too slow paced and felt like material was reused in another context.
Personally, I’d like it if K-ON! moved onto when they start performing… that would change the show quite a bit from all the Raki Suta similarities hopefully.
I totally lol’ed at this though. Very nice. xD
But yeah, Yui is stupid. If she hadn’t retaken that test
Stupid people don’t make 100s. They make 89s. Yui just has different priorities.
Anyway, what can I say? Index is one in a million. Mikoto is a dime a dozen (or 20,000).
“# A dragged out 4koma”
That’s because it is. And the material KyoAni added and how they added it definitely made things feel off. Since two volumes have been released so far, it’s kinda hard to make a lot out of it. Then again, with the excellent work that SHAFT did in adapting Hidamari Sketch, it makes me wonder if KyoAni can do more than just cranking up the moe factors of each of the characters from what they were in the manga. :/
@Ayano: Actually, that’s what I was trying to get across. Also, I finally figured out what “Raki Suta” means. …I fail.
@Roy Mustang: Maybe Yui performs well under pressure…
Also, Index is just your ordinary comic relief! Mikoto =/= MISAKA/Mikoto’s imouto(s)! D:
@TheBigN: Yeah. After reading chapter one, I found that the manga is definitely at a much faster pace than the anime, mostly due to all that random moe appeal KyoAni stuck in.
I can’t believe I never saw how similar the characters are. I guess I just overlooked/ignored it. I mean I obviously thought they were similar, but not that similar. Great character comparisons.
Lucky Star is on a totally different level then K-ON, it’s like a classic. That being said, I do still like K-ON a lot.
Lucky Star had that dude singing in front of waves during the credits. You really can’t beat that. Ever.
Of course, I only think that the characters are similar, I mean, K-ON has a continuing theme of having a band (which was slightly absent in this episode), while Lucky Star was kind of just random (and great).
Yeah! More Ritsu support!
My issue is with KyoAni adjusting the characters from their manga personalities.
Yui (manga) – is dense, but certainly not stupid. She can and does do things on her own. She isn’t THAT shy and she does seem to want to work toward goals.
She acts Silly.
Yui (anime) – dumb as a sack of rocks, squealing and tripping over her own two feet. I am not fond of her voice either… everyone else seems to have a great tone, but Yui (slap on a high voice and call her moe).
Mugi (manga) – stood out as a mature helpful girl. Has interest in new things and enjoys a good laugh. Obviously willing to stand up for her new friends.
She seems like a Hime-type with heart.
Mugi (anime) – air-headed and seems kind of underhanded. She is hardly noticeable or stands out. What the heck was with that scene with the french fries?! Your telling me she can pack a lunch of sweets and cook tea, but can’t pick up a fry and eat it?
I don’t want her to fade off into the background because KyoAni can’t figure out what to do with her.
K-On! is indeed a 4Koma. it is very witty imo. A lot of 4Koma have moments of looking like manga panels. It expands on the charas and situations a lot better.
KyoAni doesn’t seem to be using a lot of the 4koma jokes… and when they do use them, it is a blip on the radar and then it’s over. They seem to shove “Moe Moments” into the show rather than humor.
I got no Moe feeling from the Manga at all. Which is why my liking for K-ON! is growing. I watch the anime for motion purposes. >_>;; even though I can’t seem to get over the blob-animation.
@glothelegend: Mamoru Shiraishi for the win! Of course K-ON! and Lucky Star differ in the overall approach (band vs. regular school life + otaku), but the characters are way too similar (and so are the school life elements!).
@unicogirl: Yeah. Like TheBigN mentioned earlier, KyoAni took an approach to K-ON! that’s basically “just cranking up the moe factors of each of the characters from what they were in the manga.” Though moe isn’t bad, obvious moe appeal definitely isn’t good (and it’s even worse when that’s mostly what’s driving the show).
@Roy Mustang: Maybe Yui performs well under pressure…
Also, Index is just your ordinary comic relief! Mikoto =/= MISAKA/Mikoto’s imouto(s)! D:
Mikoto is just a side character. Index, like Yui, is a superior harem lead.
Index’s conquests include the main male protagonist, Stiyl Magnus, Kanzaki, the Fullmental Alchemist, a cat named Sphinx and some sort of interdimensional sentient energy life form. That, my friend, is a superior harem. What does Mikoto have?
Yui wrote:
x * x + 13 * x + 30
What you see as open/closed parentheses )( are actually x’s and what you see as x’s are actually multiplication signs.
@Roy Mustang:
If you count Last Order, Mikoto got a bigger role in the overall series!
The introductory arc (Index’s arc) was 6 episodes long, but the Accelerator arc was 5 episodes long, there was the one-episode-long Mikoto arc, and then there was the 2-episode-long Last Order Arc. (I don’t count the Hyouka arc as Index’s because Index is more of a side character than anything else except in the second half of episode 23.)
More like Index has that… for three episodes, and then degenerates to biting Touma for crappy comic relief! At least Mikoto is consistent!
@Son Gohan: Ah, I can see that now. …but that doesn’t make her any less stupid. She answered 4 (3) as “X x X” then! (Kabitzin, you were right! D: ).
@fangzhao
Agreed,
I am all for cute characters with cute faults, but not to a point that it takes over the purpose of the anime.
I lol’ed my ass off at your edit of Mugi’s hair.
As for your view of K-ON! I agree with pretty much all points. I have a total “wtf?” moments with Mio all the time because she acts bipolar throughout the show. (being super agressive about studying towards Ritsu vs. Crying over bleeding fingertips?….)
Regardless, I still plan on watching towards the end.
P.S. Shiraishi ftw.
@unicogirl: Yeah, and K-ON! is heading down that rocky path! D:
@Aidid: Agreed. Mio’s contrasting personality traits feel really awkward at times. Mio looks just like Zange from Kannagi, by the way. >:|