So since pretty much every aniblogger on the planet is talking about this, I figure I should too.
I've been complaining about how K-ON!! season two has little to do with music in a show that is supposed to be about a band. While episode 20 was finally a concert episode (Indeed, their last concert), it didn't win me over again for that reason. Instead, it made me realize something about K-ON!! as a whole.
I'm not sure why I didn't realize this before, but K-ON!! isn't about music. It's not about a band; music honestly plays a very small role. Instead K-ON!! is a slice of life show about the people in a high school band. There is a very small difference there, but it causes the show to go from just "okay" to "great". A very large part of what makes the show so great was episode 20, and the fact that every major character had a role to play made the episode that much better. As http://enryoshitaino.tumblr.com/ said, episode 20 of K-ON!! was good because of all the episodes leading up to it. For me though, episodes 1-19 of K-ON!! were also made better because they led up to episode 20. Before that, they were a lot of random episodes that didn't seem to build towards anything. That's fine for, and expected from, a slice of life show, but all of them were somewhat validated at the end of episode 20. For me, the first 19 episodes of K-ON!! were simply there to endear the characters to me, which is why I nearly cried at the end of episode 20. (I really wish I could cry at anime/movies. Even when I feel like I should, or even want to, I can't.)
However, no matter how good episode 20 was, the next few episodes will help to make or break the show. They'll have to be a good balance between the regular slice of life episodes and episodes like this last one. If they're all just slice of life, the show feels like it will fizzle, but too many like 20, and the emotional impact of them will become expected, even boring.
I'm pretty sure I didn't express myself as well as I'd like to, but I think I got my point across.
Edit: I should clarify some of those statements. First, everything I wrote about K-ON!! was referring to the second season, hence the "!!". Episode 20 of K-ON!! can't compare to episode 12 of K-ON!.
I would argue that K-ON! is about a band that happens to be made up of high school girls, whereas K-ON!! is more about high school girls who happen to be in a band, which as I've said in the past is not a direction I liked. My point was that K-ON!! 20 redeemed the second season somewhat, not that it made it as good as or better than the first.
Showing posts with label k-on. Show all posts
Showing posts with label k-on. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
K-ON!! Season 2
It's K-ON!!(Yes, the !! is part of the title), and thus awesome. Review over.
Seriously though, season 2 seems to be shaping up much like season 1 did, although if it's 26 episodes long, it might get stale.
K-ON!! is awesome, but I really liked Sora no Woto better. They had pretty much the exact same production team/studio, which is why K-ON skipped a season.
I liked Sora no Woto better in part because it wasn't such a moeblob show. I'm not being very fair there, K-ON did develop into more than moeblob later in it's first season, but they seem to have lost their momentum or something. Really episodes of K-ON can do two things: focus on music, or focus on moe. The first two of season 2 focus on moe, and the show is much better when it focuses on music.
For those not anime-savvy, a moeblob show is one in which at least the main character (In K-ON all 5) is not so much a person as a blob of moe. It's probably best you look that word up on Wikipedia or something. Technically, moe translates to "budding", and moe can be roughly translated as "a turn on" depending on usage, but it's very hard to describe accurately. It's one of those things you just kinda pick up from watching a lot of anime. Not even Japanese otaku can define it in less than an essay and do it justice.
In fact, a real definition of it is widely debated in the anime community, particularly in Japan. I would agree with Joseph L. Dela Pena when he argues that moe is a pure, protective feeling towards a female character, without the sexualization of lolicon. But even that doesn't really capture it.
Seriously though, season 2 seems to be shaping up much like season 1 did, although if it's 26 episodes long, it might get stale.
K-ON!! is awesome, but I really liked Sora no Woto better. They had pretty much the exact same production team/studio, which is why K-ON skipped a season.
I liked Sora no Woto better in part because it wasn't such a moeblob show. I'm not being very fair there, K-ON did develop into more than moeblob later in it's first season, but they seem to have lost their momentum or something. Really episodes of K-ON can do two things: focus on music, or focus on moe. The first two of season 2 focus on moe, and the show is much better when it focuses on music.
For those not anime-savvy, a moeblob show is one in which at least the main character (In K-ON all 5) is not so much a person as a blob of moe. It's probably best you look that word up on Wikipedia or something. Technically, moe translates to "budding", and moe can be roughly translated as "a turn on" depending on usage, but it's very hard to describe accurately. It's one of those things you just kinda pick up from watching a lot of anime. Not even Japanese otaku can define it in less than an essay and do it justice.
In fact, a real definition of it is widely debated in the anime community, particularly in Japan. I would agree with Joseph L. Dela Pena when he argues that moe is a pure, protective feeling towards a female character, without the sexualization of lolicon. But even that doesn't really capture it.
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