First Impressions / K-ON! / Series Introduction

OP Sequence

OP: 「GO! GO! MANIAC」 by 豊崎愛生, 日笠陽子, 佐藤聡美, 寿美菜子, 竹達彩奈 (Toyosaki Aki, Hikasa Youko, Satou Satomi, Kotobuki Minako, Taketatsu Ayana)
Watch the OP!: Download, Streaming ▼

「高3」 (Kou 3)
“Third-Year High School”

K-ON!!!!!! YEAHHHHHH!!!!!!

“Moeblob” Houkago Tea Time (HTT) is back with another full season and the best part of it all is that TBS isn’t holding out on the widescreen version like they usually do. It’s K-ON in sixteen-nine all the time! I gather this one needs no introduction, but please refer to my brief blurb in the Spring 2010 Preview if you do. Now as for the premiere episode of the series that Kyoto Animation can milk the hell out of at this point (and easily get away with it), it was 100% cuteness and a few chuckles all the way through. I wasn’t consciously looking forward to this sequel given all the other new shows that were airing, but watching this episode quickly reminded me of how much I’ve missed Yui and her gang. This time around, I got the feeling that all the seiyuus are a lot more comfortable in their respective roles, which makes it all the better.

Production-wise, KyoAni doesn’t disappoint in the least, as the screenshots above should indicate. I’m assuming they had a lot more funding this time around, because I really don’t recall season one ever looking this good. My only complaint is that they didn’t show us anything from HTT’s live performances at the entrance ceremony (…yet again). A shame to say the least, especially when Mio had “Watashi no Koi wa Hotchkiss”, “Fude Pen ~Ball Pen~”, “Ichigo Parfait ga Tomaranai”, and “Fuwa Fuwa Time” all lined up in the schedule! In addition to never having heard of the third song, “The Strawberry Parfait Doesn’t End”, I was hoping to hear some of the season one songs in-show again.

So with that, I’m left hoping they’ll give us some live concert scenes sooner rather than later, even though it’s unlikely given the cost/time required to produce them. On the topic of music however, I can’t say that I really like the new opening theme “GO! GO! MANIAC” because Toyosaki Aki singing fast-paced songs doesn’t sound nearly as good as the more pop-like “Cagayake Girls” from season one. Hikasa Youko‘s “Listen!!” ending theme is a lot better, but still doesn’t have the same immediate impact that “Don’t say ‘lazy'” did. However, I do like their outfits in the actual sequence and it’s nice to see Azusa there as well now. In fact, all the girls look pretty stylish in the ending and I love how it goes against their usual image in the show itself.

Overall, this was a very cute episode with a few quirky laughs that the series is known for and served as a mini re-introduction to all the characters as well. Things revolved primarily around Yui and the others entering their final year of high school and frantically trying to recruit more members to the club so that Azusa isn’t all alone next year (even though she was secretly happy about being defaulted as the new club leader). Naturally, silliness ensued from their inability to find anyone much like before, but it did end on a rather sweet note. Other than that, one of the highlights was Sawako-sensei becoming their new homeroom teacher and the one responsible for getting them all into the same class, meaning that Mio isn’t the odd girl out this year. (Hurray for Mio!)

So there you have it. Fun times with the light music club. K-ON season two, are you ready for more? Because I sure as hell know I am!

 

ED Sequence

ED: 「Listen!!」 by 豊崎愛生, 日笠陽子, 佐藤聡美, 寿美菜子, 竹達彩奈 (Toyosaki Aki, Hikasa Youko, Satou Satomi, Kotobuki Minako, Taketatsu Ayana)
Watch the ED!: Download, Streaming ▼

136 Comments

    1. good for you infinite! I am so proud of you! Your parents should be so glad that you finally got first in something for once in your life! Keep up the good work! Also, stay in school/don’t do drugs!

      longtimefirsttime
      Reply

      2. @longtimefirsttime
        retard reply -.- Just because you didn’t make it as first post, don’t mean you can make fun of others by being sarcastic and insulting, you freaking retard -.-

        GinGin
        Reply

  4. I’ve only watched the BD-Rips of the first season (I finished it 2 weeks ago), and the raw of the first ep of the second season, and there is no animation improvement imo. That’s not a problem though, since the first one looked pretty good too.

    viral
    Reply

  7. The opening is realy good in images and music… the only think that is bad is the singer. Without her the op would have been superb ^^’

    The ed is a lot better than the op. i can’t bring myself to not regret “don’t say lazy” (i woke up every day with it^^) but i think i’ll be liking the ed (since i watch more often the ed than the op anyway). and mio is sooo cute so it’s ok =)

    Zeross
    Reply

    1. Ok so I watched the RAWS and I enjoyed it! Also loved the short segment practiced Fude pen that was pretty cool!(Divine I think you mistyped Fude pen with Furude Rika :))

      Also loved part where everyone was watching Azusa’s reaction when they said she’d be leader by default.XD

      Now the songs…. They’re growing on me though that’s for sure.
      I typed it already in some comments and I’m lazy to rehash it….

      First season OP had the awesome instrumentals which matched with Aki Toyosaki’s voice while ED had a touch of attitude. This time around the second season OP felt faster and felt even more faster with the high pitch voice meanwhile the ED was lighter compared to the first season.

      Like I said I loved the quality animation in the OP and ED. Can’t wait for the Blu-ray releases~

      megalith
      Reply

  10. I just marathoned the entire first season in the last 2 days so that I could watch this one. Now I’m eggcited 😀

    I watched Sora No Woto first so I’ve got things completely backwards. All the characters are the same in my mind ^^

    imerik
    Reply

  16. Well well. It’s at least good to see that a certain cat-like fifth character is finally getting the respect she deserves and is put into the OP and ED without making it look like a cheap edit.

    longtimefirsttime
    Reply

  19. FINALLY K-ON YESSSSSSSS I been watiting for this anime since i heard that there was going to be a second season, finally, well the opening wasn’t as good as i though it would be but what the hell its k-on will see better in later episodes

    WhtieLighter17
    Reply

  22. K-ON is back!!! *cries in joy*

    OP: I’m quite disappointed, this is basically the same OP we had in the first season except the song is different and that Azu-nyan is properly fitted in. Probably the animation quality is a bit improved, but I don’t like the idea of bringing digitalized scenes in. The song itself is definitely worse than Cagayake Girls, which was the worst song (but this doesn’t mean it was bad) in the first season, at least for me.

    ED: Don’t Say Lazy was love on the first sight, but Listen!! is also good. I really like the clip, Mio looks very cute with that bow in her hair and the wink at 1:21 simply drives me crazy! 😀 I secretly hope that Youko will sing the OP too on one of the OST albums, I really missed that in the first season. I like her voice very much 🙂

    Jurkasz
    Reply

  23. OP, do not like. Something about it is a complete turnoff to me. The animation is nice though. ED, it’ll grow on me eventually. Not so much that it’s “not good” (it’s pretty damn good) but it’s hard to compete with Don’t Say Lazy.

    Gotta find me somewhere to watch…

    Vsin
    Reply

  24. Well, couldn’t wait on subs…..had to watch a raw. But it was worth it. My season is complete now. Anything else will be just icing on the cake. I have to agree about the op.
    Just doesn’t click somehow. But the ed is great so alls good.

    Kalliente
    Reply

  27. Strange, I thought that K-ON!! airing would’ve brought back jaalin. Guess not…

    ”Production-wise, KyoAni doesn’t disappoint in the least”

    From just the OP, you could tell they poured in a bigger budget for the show, especially with the CG instruments and cleaner animation.

    Overall, it was a nice start

    Arabesque
    Reply

      1. More moe, eh? How about a crossover shoujo-ai pic of Hinagiku and Mio for starters? (To all: What say you? 😀 )

        https://randomc.net/image/K-ON/K-ON!!%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2011.jpg
        Sawa-chan… (*goes into Metal Gear Awesome Solid Snake voice*) OhmyGodhotnessIwannabangyou! :P~
        Okay, enough MGS-related references… (BTW, the “I’m deeeeeaaaaad” one is from a funny MGS4 walkthrough on YouTube…)

        https://randomc.net/image/K-ON/K-ON!!%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2021.jpg
        I wouldn’t mind having Azu-nyan giving me nightmare fuel tonight…

        https://randomc.net/image/K-ON/K-ON!!%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2030.jpg
        Let’s just say this is moe poisoning at elevated danger levels… I’m sure KyoAni is saving the more critical levels of moe poisoning for last…

        Incognito
        Reply

  30. Wow, time flies; Azu-Nyan has gained some weight.
    I’m liking the ED. The song is pretty good, while the animation is nice and fluid; I particularly liked the lighting throughout. Also, Image 40 = zomg.

    Meery
    Reply

  35. I’m the only one that likes this OP better than the S1’s (and I don’t even like the series that much)?

    I’m really happy Random Curiosity is still around, thanks a lot DIVINE.

    Coyote
    Reply

  36. as soon as yui picked up the guitar and jammed to watashi no koi wa hotch-kiss i was like “…..awesome”

    the new op and ed arn’t as catchy as the first seasons, but i’m sure they’ll grow on me.

    fall3nbs
    Reply

  40. I can’t watch this now. I have to wait until it’s finished airing and marathon it. I’m such a fan I can’t wait a week for the next episode. D’: I’ll definitely keep reading up on each episode though. The plethora of screenshots you provide are fun to look at too. :]

    Le
    Reply

  51. HTT ftw! I mean seriously and much like Divine, I didn’t know how much I missed watching the overdose of cuteness until I’ve seen them all together again. This made my evening brighter! I’m with hellishdude, this is one sweet season for anime.

    Shinjiro
    Reply

  54. I want to join the HTT club !!! oink !!!!! There wasn’t enough Mio we want more of her. 🙂
    Need to hear the full OP and ED a couple of times to decide how to rate them. But Don’t say Lazy is such a great song that is really hard for another to beat it. OH please gods, let all of them flunk last year and be forced to repeat and have a season 3 LoL more MOE!!!!

    Island Esper
    Reply

  55. I liked Mugi’s Captain (from Captain & Tenille) tribute outfit from the ED. Funny stuff.

    I didn’t like the OP and ED so much the first time I watched it, but when I watched it again a few hours later to kill some time, I found that I actually liked them both a lot better.

    Weird.

    All in all, fun stuff. Then again, if you follow the manga, there aren’t going to be a whole lot of surprises in this show.

    sarcastic_weasel
    Reply

  56. moe-blob is nice once in a while;
    I had gotten a little tired of it after re-watching lucky star too many times
    I wish they would have a few male characters to add variety (and not make target audience so obvious perhaps xD)

    Prooof
    Reply

  59. Hurray for K-ON! Season II!! Yea!!!

    Ummm…did anyone else feel this episode was kinda boring? ^^; Compared to the first episode of the first season, this one for the second just seemed rather too light-hearted.

    The animation is gorgeous…just…wow…unbelievably so but in many instances such as when Yui was navigating through the crowd of girls in front of the class roster and when she picked up the sakura off the ground…I felt those were unnecessary.

    I’m still going to watch this but my expectations aren’t and enjoyment level I feel aren’t going to be as high as they were for the first season.

    Horus
    Reply

      1. Yea…I actually didn’t like the OP and just watched it for the sake of watching it. Same for the ED as well but again, the animation was just amazing ^^ The music…not so much. I expected it to be cuter in tune than the rock hard stuff. That’s something I expect if Sawa-sensei was the main character…actually, if she was it would probably be more gothic rock X.x

        Horus
        Reply

  60. It is announced they are going to release 9 volumes of blue-rays for the season 2. So it’s likely a 25-26 episode series, in other words, K-ON show goes for 6 months from now on.

    DC/AC
    Reply

  61. divine, I just want to tell you how much I appreciate you continuing at least a little more of Random Curiosity ^_^
    I look forward to continue watching K-ON! in K-ON!!

    ichigo_daisuki
    Reply

  62. Moar moe overload!~ K-on is awesome stuff to just watch with a smile. I preferred S1 op and ed, i think both songs in S2 are a bit lackluster, altho the ED animation rivals (actually is rather similar) to S1’s ed.

    Ep1 was good at the start, then it all went down hill from the opening ceremony onward. This ep could have been the epilogue to the first season and it would have fit perfectly. what with the sombre mood and all.

    I’m rooting for more concert scenes and singing! Thats what K-on is supposed to be about! I guess the song for ep1 was supposed to be the school song sung by each character as the cam focuses on them, but id much prefer to hear tea time again haha

    babyphish
    Reply

  63. K-ON!! is finally here.

    Season 1 OP and ED was actually better, but I am enjoying this anime already. Mio is back too. <3
    I miss seeing her. And, honestly, if it was between the new OP2 and ED2, I like the OP2 better. It's fast, it's catchy.

    They really bumped the quality up a bit, too.

    octoberasian
    Reply

  65. aww. OP was a litttttle disappointing, but YAY FOR K-0ON!!
    Same old K-ON. I wish they actually sang for the orientation performance – but oh well! i’m looking forward to their new single 😀

    Mio
    Reply

  68. YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! Haha, I still don’t know why I even love K-On. I always used to day-dream when I was learning guitar about how cool it’d be to see an anime that was band-related, and possibly involving some romantic/drama plot.

    Okay, so there isn’t a plot. Whatever.

    Everyone–> this is your reason,”it’s Kyoto Animation.” If your gonna label me a moe-tard, get it right..”IM A KYO ANI-TARD!!”

    Back on subject, I personally liked both songs, don’t knock before you listen to it a few more times, I’m sure it will grow on you. So maybe she isn’t the best singer in the OP, I respect those raw sounding vocals where they try, and that is what I think what makes a song good. Maybe you don’t see how hard it’d be to top what the first season already had, I like don’t say lazy and cagayake girls just as much as the next person.

    The way I see it, is they tried to continue with their own K-On thing, both in the anime, it’s OP AND ED, not best it. You’ve gotta respect that, because we liked it, and we’re lucky it didn’t change.

    Dawn
    Reply

  73. I pretty much feel the same way. I didn’t really need a sequel for K-On! but this quickly reminded me of what I liked about the first season. Also, thanks for the screencap of the cakes at the end…..

    AuroraFlame
    Reply

  75. Ho, reminds me of Haruhi when fans hated Super Driver but spanning thousands (though not as many as hare hare yukai) of fan dubs everywhere. theed will definitely grow on me. i love yoko hikasa’ns voice, aki toyosaki is growing on me but after this season’s op….

    underMebius
    Reply

  77. Like many others I’m quite disappointed in the songs… maybe I’ll catch on to the ending later but the opening I don’t think so. Especially since Cagayake Girls was so good no one can forget it. But yeah the ending song sequence was really cool, I loved their clothes and Mio was super cute as usual 😀
    I have to admit I found this first installment slightly draggy though. Now that we’re into the 3rd year, it might be a bit difficult for the producers to keep things fresh. But at the same time, I don’t mind seeing familiar scenes and moe moments all over again. It’s awesome that we get to see the girls again 😀

    Sumire001
    Reply

  80. K-ON!!
    /falls over from moe overload

    I love these girls. I just wish I knew them when I was in high school. Would have been totally badass. (And it took me a few minutes to realize that HTT was After School Tea Time in Japanese. * w* )

    But I think both the OP and ED are a little sub par compared to S1. Well…no one can really beat Cagayake Girls and don’t say LAZY! in terms of greatness. But I think both’ll grow on me after a few more episodes. And I’m still kinda pissed that Yui gets all the weird songs to be lead vocal on (they’re all high pitch and pretty crazy. They’re cool, don’t get me wrong. I love Yui as lead vocals in Fuwa Fuwa Time over Mio. /hides from Mio fans), while Mio, as awesome as a singer as she is, gets the cooler songs. Biased KyoAni? I think so.

    But YAY!!! At least we have more K-ON!! for the rest of the Spring season!

    queenie
    Reply

  82. wow that was a nice first episode for the comeback of K-ON!!

    and laughter as always, the songs… good enough. i’ll have to disagree with divine this time, i prefer the opening wor, since i’m rather… desperate as i am in school already, didnt toyosaki aki can sing this fast, and the ending hints a new member. hmm…

    CHEERS FOR MORE K-ON!!!!!!!!!! (wow if it did have 10 seasons this would be the title?)

    kaineng
    Reply

  83. just like last time, i like the ED more than the OP…
    i kinda first thought “heck, why did you speed up the OP twice!?” .. well…
    anyways, good to see our girly group back 😀

    Nightflame
    Reply

  88. <333333

    mio-chan! mio-chan! mio-chan!

    that ending is great. personally i like it better than don't say LAZY! (/ducks) also mio's wink at 1:21 of the ending made me melt.

    Popo
    Reply

  89. Allow me to join divine in raving like a mad fanboy: K-ON!! (With two exclamation marks this time) It’s back! WHOOOO!!! lol

    I got taken aback by Toyosaki Aki’s fast paced voice for the OP, at first I even thought she was using a synthesizer to speed up her voice. I don’t completely dislike the song, but Cagayake Girls suits her better.

    Hikasa Yoko’s ED is much better once again, though it lacks the oomph of Don’t Say Lazy. But it’ll suffice. Gotta love the costumes our girls are in. Mio herself gets three different costumes – casual, casual with ribbon, and faerie.

    No offense to bitter Kyo-Ani haters out there, but these guys do what they do best in terms of animation quality. Quality is indeed top-notch for this first episode, I think I got mesmerized by the part with the cherry blossoms fluttering as the girls return from the school opening ceremony back to their classroom.

    We should hopefully be hearing the third unplayed song the HTT band played in the welcoming ceremony some time soon, perhaps in the school festival episode.

    Kinny Riddle
    Reply

  91. Ohhhh, that’s what was annoying me about the ED

    The singing seems oh so very slightly off the beat when it cuts to the “band in a box” scene. A very slight rush I think. Most of you probably don’t care, but I couldn’t listen to Daybreak’s Bell ever again after I heard the breaths in the track -_-

    I still can’t like the OP though…

    Vsin
    Reply

  98. To be honest I am not too thrill with the new opening and ending song, it just doesn’t seem to have the same moe impact as season 1 opening and ending, Cagayake Girls” and “Don’t say ‘lazy’” felt so much better. Besides that it was pretty normal for episode 1.

    Mike
    Reply

  100. Meh, since I didn’t really like the first season (because you saw like 4-5 minutes of actual music being played), I didn’t really like it going into the first episode. I watched it, OP and ED songs were pretty bad. Animation is solid, KyoAni is always good. If they play at least 10 minutes, minimum, of music this season, I may enjoy it. Also, don’t cry about my opinions because it’s a “light music show.” Pfft, light music. Yeah, totally. Food is good.

    TheFresh
    Reply

  101. I really liked the ep :3
    and Im so happy to see them back
    and I loooove Yui *O* xD

    I also liked the OP and ED, but I think that I prefer the others.
    But theres more song to come so lets see ^^

    lol
    Reply

  102. Oh, got to this one a bit late! I thought it was really good actually. The new OP and ED lived up to the first ones for sure, I really liked both of them. And same with the episode. I guess that when two seasons air pretty close to one another, not much changes. It was very welcome though, glad to have it back the same as before. My only hope is that they play more music, which they did in this ep, but MORE! 😛

    innerchihiro
    Reply

  103. Really, after 2 years, they still play the same 4 songs at the freshman concert. I know the manga is like that too, but I wish they would have done a different set for the TV series, like maybe throw in the S1 op. That would have been cool and they are supposed to have gotten better so it would have been plausible. Well, if they don’t get any “new” songs in this season, I will be very sad. Oh, Yui’s solo “guitah” intro rocked.

    ^kirakun^
    Reply

  108. I don’t fully understand why I keep coming back for more (must be the moe), but I enjoyed this first episode of K-ON!! I recall looking forward to each episode every Friday last spring. I welcome the new overlo- I mean, season.

    K-ON! ED > K-ON! OP > K-ON!! ED > K-ON!! OP
    The new ending theme is somewhat catchy (no doubt the work of Yoko Hikasa’s voice), but I found both the new ending and opening themes to be rather bland. The OP especially is borderline chipmunk annoying.

    Also, something I threw together quickly: http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/2498/kyoani.jpg

    Kevin
    Reply

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