Hey Guys! Today I am going to do what is called an Anime Review Rewind. This is where I review Anime that I watched when I was a teen and see how well they hold up for me as an adult. The first one I actually reviewed on my Instagram, but I wanted to expand on it using this platform.
Information
The first anime I have done this with is called K-On! This anime came out in 2009 with its source material by Kakifly originally coming out in Japan in 2007.
The Synopsis that Anime News Network of the first season is as follows:
“It’s Yui Hirasawa’s first year in high school, and she’s eagerly searching for a club to join. At the same time, Ritsu Tainaka, a drummer, and her friend Mio Akiyama, a bassist, are desperately trying to save the school’s light music club, which is about to be disbanded due to lack of members. They manage to recruit Tsumugi Kotobuki to play the keyboard, meaning they only need one more member to get the club running again. Yui joins, thinking it will be an easy experience for her to play the castanets, the only instrument she knows. However, the other members think their new addition is actually a guitar prodigy…”
There is a second season along with a movie that are also really fun and exciting. I was also able to watch it all through Netflix USA at this current time but they’re also available on home video.
Review
K-on was the first anime I watched that was contemporary music based and because of that it’s made me fall in love with the genre.
I realized while watching it this time there was a lot that I had forgotten little tidbits that had happened in the plot and how little music was in it as compared to others I have watched since. I guess because at the time I thought it was just a musical anime and that is it but no it is considered a slice of life; this means that essentially we are following the daily lives of the main characters with not necessarily any supernatural elements although there are some anime/manga that are slices of life that have supernatural elements.
I loved the friendship that was created through this. I remember the first time I watched this I wished for as much as I could to have a girl friendship like this. With going to a restaurant, having tea at school or someone’s house, with a training camp on the beach with a sleepover attached or being able to travel somewhere with your friends doing something you love. It is definitely one of those shows that teens are going to love in that sense.
I also appreciated that the anime itself showed the audience all through the high school experience in this particular school and I remember when I first watched this as a middle schooler that I truly looked forward to high school because of that concept. Watching it now, I could definitely relate more to the feelings of wanting to be remembered and having fun with my classmates in school.
One item that I found strange and didn’t realize the first time I watched was that there pretty much was only a couple of male characters in this story. Because of that, there came some interesting directions that went over my head the first time I watched it and now find not weird just different?? Without spoilers, I guess as an adult it was not as subtle as it was the first time I watched it (either that or I have more knowledge). either way it did not hinder my enjoyment.
To that previous item, I actually was doing my research on the source material from this anime and it is advertised as a Seinen(geared for adult men) most likely because it was serialized in that type of magazine in Japan. This allows the different items to make more sense now but it still surprised me nonetheless.
Conclusion
Overall though, it still holds up to me as an adult. Is it sad though, that I want to know all about their college experience now?? Most of the manga/source material is available only digitally through Amazon so I’m at least going to get the college manga (once I get enough digital credits that is 😉)
Because of these points, I have to give it a 4 out of 5 stars aka 4 sushi 🍣🍣🍣🍣. I think my only gripe with this other than the weird items I missed when I was younger was that there was not more of it. I would highly recommend this to people who love music, slice of life/contemporary coming of age stories, and female friendships.
Have any of you guys read or watched this? Do you want to now?? Let’s talk about it!
Sushirainbow 