K-ON! 09

Azusa gar-ified.

No, this picture does not have anything to do with this post.

Very subtle, KyoAni.

Some things I liked:

Azusa’s character: she isn’t just your average loli, nor is she copypasta from Lucky Star.  Though some might find her desire to be productive as annoying, I find it unique and refreshing, bringing something new to an otherwise pretty predictable anime.

The humor: for the first time since episode 1, I felt that this was a true KyoAni work (though of course, it doesn’t make up for all that painfully direct and stupid humor in recent episodes).

We can see a few more recurring jokes starting to form in this episode: Azusa’s love for cake, Azusa’s treatment as the new Mio, etc.  I can only hope that they aren’t used too much, or else their effect will probably become as bad as Mio’s “fetal position in a corner” deal.

Some things I didn’t like:

Just about anything with Sawako-sensei in it: she makes what could have been an incredible episode into a pile of stupid humor.  I don’t care how insistent KyoAni/original mangaka is/was on delivering fanservice via random outfits courtesy of Sawako-sensei, but I think it’s just stupid.  Non-sequitur may work well in some anime, but it flat-out fails in K-ON!.

The ending: because every anime needs a clichéd theme, be it “the power of friendship,” “believing in oneself,” or “life sucks.”

The OP: Either put Azusa in all of the scenes, or leave her out!  What’s the point of inserting her in the band scenes and not the random running/stepping on stones/etc. scenes?

Oh, and I liked the new ED:


10 Comments on “K-ON! 09”

  1. jerseyse410 says:

    you have a habit of pleasing me then frustrating me when i read your posts about some of my favorite shows. we shall now go over these points

    -Azu-nyan is WIN. i love the subtle feet reference, i missed the takoyaki insert, grats on that one. maybe because i hated kanon, but thats probably just me. im having a hard time classifying her as “loli” though. She is the runt of the litter persay and she has the fiesty personality which i adore but she is a high school student and she isnt overly ecchi or anything so i think she is just another cute female character that has satisfied quite well my obssession with nekomimi.

    -Sawako-sensei im on the fence about. i love the outfits she brings, i LOVE the nekomimi that she brought for azusa and i thought it was cute that she was all stalkerish and making azusa have mio moments but overall she is kinda annoying.

    I liked the face pic, that was win, saved.

    -As for her being the OP/ED. i wish they had like re-done the animation but i can understand the money situation or wanting to adhere to the music videos that have made these 2 songs viral over there. I like how they put in azusa though, i just kinda wish they would make that last push and get her into the OP/ED completely. i missed it the first time around because i just naturally skip the OP/ED but i was generally surprised when i went back and watched them. K-ON! continues to make me feel like a moephile.

    —>On a different note, Higashi no Eden 8 made me rage.

    Death to ohsugi-kun in the most painful of fashions.

  2. npal says:

    The ED was even more fail, but since they didn’t bother pasting her on that at all, I thought whatever. But since they tried to add her to the OP, they should have done a better job. I didn’t like the Azusa going emo, the rest of the ep was your usual K-ON ep I suppose.

    And now that you mention it, Nutcase-sensei was ok this ep. She acted normal at sometimes. It’s tiring when she appears out of nowhere and ruins the girls’ fun with her cosplaying stuff (ie the “I’ll have milk tea” was a good Sawa-sensei scene).

  3. Roy Mustang says:

    The Melancholy of Mio Akiyama. Best episode of K-ON so far.

  4. Finally! Someone who doesn’t hate on Azusa’s strive to practice her instrument! It really is refreshing to see a character like her. I can sort of understand her cause I used to be like that in band (except not strict like her, but had the same ideals). I mean, when I’m in the band room, I want to play my instrument, not talk all day and have snacks. I can do that elsewhere. Like when you’re in the bathroom, you want to take care of your business, AND ONLY BUSINESS!!!

    I also agree with your Sawako-sensei rant. At first, I did like her abit, but now all she wants to do is dress up everyone -_-. Its also very creepy when they animate her like if she were one of the students (as in, all gumby and blob-y). She needs to step her game up, yo! =3

  5. glothelegend says:

    Hahahaha new ED.

    Yea Sawako is sucking a lot lately, all she does is dress people up. Repetitiveness is bad, and I’ve been noticing a lot in K-ON lately. Hopefully Azusa gets them practicing.

  6. fangzhao says:

    @jerseyse410: Eh, “loli” is just the appearance for me, to be honest. The average loli has those stereotyped elements of “cute,” “innocent,” etc., but when it comes down to it, any abnormally short girl, a young girl, or a childish girl is technically a loli.

    The OP was fail. I hated the sometimes-Azusa/sometimes-old OP status that plagued the entire thing.

    @npal: I liked the fact that they didn’t try to ruin the already pretty badly done ED with ctrl-v of Azusa.

    Azusa going emo was pretty interesting to me, actually. It diverges from your average “loli mentality,” and presents something unexpected.

    Sawako was less Sawako than normal in this episode, but I still disliked her. Maybe it was the episodes before that made me hate her so much. D:

    @Roy: I’d say that episode 1 is better, but in retrospect, that was probably because of the hype and that it was my first look at the series.

    @Jesus159159159: I think that a healthy balance of practice and slacking off is needed. Azusa is an incredible contrast to Ritsu and Yui in this aspect, more than Mio ever could have been. Awesome example, by the way. +1 rep

    Sawako seems to have deteriorated into little more than a running gag that got old after the second OBVIOUS FANSERVICE. And I’d have to agree on the animation part. It’s pretty creepy, considering that she’s what, twice their ages?

    @glothelegend: I thought that this episode was a nice rest from the repetition, actually. Azusa certainly helped make 09 a less predictable episode. …though Sawako didn’t really help.

  7. Bob fucking 51 says:

    Didn’t like her, inb4NO U

    P.S: that much.

  8. jerseyse410 says:

    NO U

    P.S: bad bob

  9. fangzhao says:

    Azusa is awesome.

  10. no name says:

    this anime is overrated, period
    cute, but so predictable its a pain to see it

    also, tons and tons of fanservice for fanboys, music fanboys, and ronery people


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