K-On! Episodes 1-4
So yeah...yesterday I kinda spent my last money on K-On! volume 1. I know this series has quite a large fanbase (I wonder why *rolls eyes*...), but due to the recent disappointments that were
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and
Summer Wars I've decided to stop listening to what people say. Knowing this is the kind of show my older brother would make fun of me for watching, I decided to watch this in my room on my small screens rather than upscale it on the blu-ray and watch it on the big screen down stairs.
First off, I'm going to have to state the obvious - Mio is too cute. Also, although I only played bass for a while (I can't remember why I gave up)...I guess I kinda get attached to bassists more (like with my older brother's band, me and the bassist get on a lot more than the drummer, although we never discuss bass). To be honest, I wonder how my older brother would have reacted when watching the scenes of the girls in the music store - in all serious, I'd predict that he'd be able to point out every model of guitar there, and any flaws in their designs (if there were any).
Character wise, at the start it appears that we've been presented with the forgetful klutz Yui, the hyperactive idiot (Or should I sum it up with "The drummer" xD) Ritsu, the rational, mature-but wait, incredibly cute Mio, and the unusually rich, light haired Mugi. All major character types accounted for! Although in these four episodes alone, it's easy to see how some of them are breaking out of the mold - Mio and Mugi in particular. I've already pretty much proclaimed my love for Mugi in the previous paragraph, so I'll guess I'll get her out of the way. Sure, she's the most responsible one of the band (although I still have yet to see her turn down Mugi's cake =3) but boy are the scenes where she hears something slightly scary adorably hilarious. With Mugi, she's a lot more confident than other characters who share a similar archtype; in fact, her confidence was something I had to get used to. While Yui and Ritsu are hilarious, I've yet to see anything that really sets them apart...well, this is only 4 episodes, so I'm not expecting perfectly developed characters at this stage. These characters do show a lot of promise, and their interaction is quite possibly the greatest part of this volume.
I remember the other week when I went to one of my brother's rehearsals to take photos and recordings, and I noticed how often he (the front man/guitarist) and Oli (his bassist) interacted; inbetween songs they were always giving each other tips and stuff. I noticed instantly how Rio became a kind of 'mentor' to Yui...well, it was true that the guitar and bass are pretty similar in construction; it's mainly the music and the role in a song that differs (aside from y'know, the difference in string number and width). Then there was Ritsu taking the majority of the abuse - they couldn't have got the band atmosphere more accurate xD.
Musically; I love the opening and ending theme - particularly the ending theme "Don't Say Lazy!". Usually, I like the opening theme of an anime, but hate the ending (or vice versa), but this time it's a win with both. The animation is, as expected, wonderful; with incredibly cute character designs.
I remember watching, and wishing that more attention was given to the music side of things...well, I'm glad that it didn't go too deep into jargon (sometimes when my brother is telling me about something, I end up zoning out); yet it's obvious that a lot of time was taken into thinking of the models etc the band use...try looking it up on Wikipedia and you get things like:
Mio is a shy girl who is in the light music club. She plays a left-handed, 3-Color Sunburst Fender Jazz Bass with a tortoiseshell pickguard, though is shown playing a Fender Precision Bass in the first manga volume. She uses D'Addario EXL160M medium bass strings
So yeah...I guess there is something for the music nerds. Let's just sum up her personality in two words, then go on about what gear she uses xD. Saying that though, I was never expecting the show to focus most of the time on the technical side of music (After all, when do you see proper sneaking around in
Naruto?) but at this point, the Light Music Club might as well be called the Light Cake Club xD
The only downsides I would name is Stephanie Sheh's performance. Sure, her voice fits the character, but when Yui is trying to speak fast, I can't understand her, and it just sounds like squeeks. Also, the voice does get irritating after a while. In the interview with Stephanie Sheh, she says she tried to find a voice that didn't sound too similar...I'm calling bull on that one; sounds like a lot of her other voice roles. The second is more minor; how they translate the Japanese currency into dollars. This might have worked if they airbrushed away the Japanese like 4kids do; but when I hear them talking about something costing $50 when the subtitles tell me it's 250,000 yen...yeah, it doesn't really work.
My enjoyment of episode 4 would have been better if not for the disc randomly skipping during the opening theme. I took the DVD out of my TV and tried playing it on the laptop, where instead, it stopped just before the half-way point; a bit of cleaning and it was fine...still annoying as I haven't played the disc before. Oh well.
This last Tuesday was apparently "Abuse a Bassist Day" *looks at Mio with a fiendish look*...but that'd prolly cause her to cry...*sad face*.
K-On! is definitely shaping up to be a good show. I do wish there were more than 4 episodes on this disc, or that I could have watched it on blu-ray...but oh well, licensing issues and all that jazz...I do have hopes for this show though.
7.5/10
