First Impressions / K-ON! / OVA/Movie

「番外編 計画！」 (Bangai-hen Keikaku!)
“Extra Chapter – Plans!”

Included with the ninth and final volume of the K-ON Blu-ray/DVD releases was a third bonus episode. Much like the two that aired during the televised broadcast, this latest one takes place prior to the girls’ graduate when they’re planning for an overseas trip. What that actually translates to is our lovable light music band being unable to agree on a destination and realizing they need to get passports first. The best part of it all? Yui busting out some hella bad English as practice in case they get lost. “Okay! No Nihon-go!”

It’s almost been a year since the second season of K-ON started airing, so hearing Toyosaki Aki, Hikasa Youko, Kotobuki Minako, Satou Satomi, and Taketatsu Ayana voice their respective roles had a distinctly different feel to it. All five of them have been cast in numerous other series since then, using a variety of voices for a wide range of roles, so it was kind of odd having those character associations coming back to K-ON. Youko in particular had me wondering if this is what Mio always sounded like, whereas Aki made me realize how much of a voice she was using to portray Yui. Then there’s Ayana, who may forever be perceived as the bratty Kirino. Where’s my Azu-nyan? With all those other roles coming to mind, the Sakura High girls felt a bit foreign to me on some level. *gasp*

Of course, I wasn’t opposed to the girls dressing “down” a bit with Mio tying her hair up in ponytail in a way that only she can pull off. The sight of it paired up with a loose off-the-shoulder lavender shirt on top of a white tank top had me imagining a swarm of Yui’s saying “Yes, please” in broken English all around. Ritsu had a similar look going for her, whereas Azusa’s red top with an exposed back showed just enough of her yellow one underneath. A little revealing for the young one if I do say so myself. Naturally, we can’t forget Yui and Mugi’s summer dresses, which combined with the rest made me realize how even Japanese high school girls can dress really feminine. Asian culture is a stark contrast to its western counterpart, where you rarely see girls in skirts. Sadly, it’s mainly jeans on this side of the world.

I got to hand it to slice-of-life series for making something as mundane as applying for a passport interesting to watch. Mio’s attempt to look more adult-like with her ponytail backfired, and retaking a photo somehow became an eventful thing on its own. Throwing Sawa-chan into the mix provided some comic relief as the unmarried teacher who’s never been overseas, whereas talk about how foreigners tend to perceive Asians to be a good ten or so years younger led to some amusing jesting between Yui and Azusa. I’m not sure what was funnier though, the squabbles about how they’d get mistaken as elementary school kids or the fact that it’s so true. Last but not least was Azusa saying that they’re “After School Tea Time” in English, which I thought sounded pretty cool coming from her, but Yui insisted that they’re “Houkago Tea Time” wherever they go. “HTT 4 Life” is what I’d like to conclude, but it’s “No Rice, No Life” according to her.

In a lot of ways, this bonus episode felt like the perfect setup towards the movie that will be released at the end of this year. The thought of “the adventures of HTT overseas” had crossed my mind, but in reality the movie will focus on a period of time back in Sakura High that hasn’t been shown yet. I guess we’ll have to leave the overseas stuff to the university years, which the recently announced continuation of the manga will be covering.

 

73 Comments

  6. THE MOVIE SHOULD BE WHEN THEY GO OVERSEAS ;_;
    Enjoyed all the Mio-ness and Mugi is damn pretty 😀 missed Yui and Ritsu antics so much. After watching this, you realise how much you miss K-ON!
    Miotail 8Db

    Rei
    Reply

    1. i want an overseas trip for them as well. it’s not like an impossibility that they’d take one while they’re still in HS eh??

      i’d stop thinking that the world’s coming to an end and just focus on waiting for the movie. LOL

      keiOnDaisuki
      Reply

    1. For me it’s mainly Mio in a maid uniform + her shyness + her scared reactions, Azuza with neko-mimi, Ritus’s antics, Mugi’s eyebrows, and Yui’s cute comedy. Oh, HTT songs too. And Sawa-chan’s wild side, Ui’s love-love caring for Yui, Nodoka’s maturity, and it doesn’t hurt that the VAs are hot/cute.

      kira-kun
      Reply

    2. If you ignore the moe factor overload of KyoAni (which they tend to overdo in this series, err make that most of their series), this series is a very good slice-of-life and comedy show and at times fairly heart warming too. That’s what I like about K-ON, it’s a series that guarantees you hours of fun viewing, of course I would best remember K-ON for their antics and ability to fit in drama in the right time Show Spoiler ▼

      Ghostalker
      Reply

  11. This episode was very entertaining because of three reasons.

    1.) Mugi’s face
    2.) Macchu Picchu
    3.) Engrish

    But seriously though the macchu picchu part got me smiling just by hearing Azusa mess it up. The funny highlight for me again is Yui’s antics to break down some kick *ss engrish.
    Where… very.. delicious… cake shop?
    I immediately lost it there. The part really never gets old.

    “…I got to hand it to slice-of-life series for making something as mundane as applying for a passport interesting to watch.”

    It’s been working its wonders pretty well.

    On a side note, this ep was very nice and very promising as well. Somehow I get the feeling that the movie might involve something like this. I’ve been hoping for this idea ever since the season ended and everyone threw predictions and assumption for S3. For me I think this is a good addition to the series itself if it gets used. Though america huh..

    Now I’ve been thinking, someone told me that Yuu Asakawa(Norimi’s VA) is fluent in English. If that’s true then I can only assume and predict that she can be a guide for the girls. This could probably give her a bigger role than back then. I think it’s also gonna be a good chance for interaction between the new LMC and the old LMC in a more grande scale.

    Though something tells me this won’t happen anytime soon. But it’s hint for what’s to come. Can’t wait for the Movie!

    megalith
    Reply

    1. Lol, they went to Machu Picchu? I didn’t follow K-On! (yes, season 1) farther than episode 3 but I need to see this. As a peruvian, I find it amusing/fascinating the misconceptions about my country and the engrish part would make it more funny. Gonna find those subs!

      haitechan
      Reply

    1. Finally watched it. K-ON! always makes me smile. I loved seeing the girls in so many colorful outfits. And Mio in that picture box reminded me of Yui before she took her picture for school, the little preening is so cute. I hope we do see some stuff of them in America or something, it’s always interesting to see things like that. Can’t wait for the movie!

      innerchihiro
      Reply

  17. Unless we all attend to the premiere in japan, we all have to wait until the dvd/blu ray release.
    If we are lucky, it may be only 3 or 6 months more.
    Sometime around 2012. T_T

    Sorry to let you know.

    pd. But there is also the camrip possibility. o_O

    Luis
    Reply

  19. I’ve been watching K-ON!! for months now. It’s such a light-hearted series, you can just take your time with it and not feel like you’ve missed anything. Glad to see there’s another episode of the bunch’s antics. I’m still on liek, episode 14 or something. Haha

    Shirt
    Reply

    1. Actually dw about it, I only just read the message regarding not asking for raws, subs, and PV’s 😛 Sorry~~ But wow! This is an awesome site and also an awesome post! You’ve made my K-ON refreshed in my mind Divine~ ^^

      Tofu
      Reply

    2. Ui was worried about Yui going overseas so she bought her a self-defense book. They were practicing scenarios in the park and Mugi decided to play the part of the thief while she was at it. “Hand over your money~” Gotta love Mugi.

      Divine
      Reply

      1. Mio got her own fan club and probably got some love letters, even if they are most likely innocent ones due to them going to an all girls school. I wonder if they plan to go to an all girls university as well?

        znail
        Reply

      3. w-what??!! mio’s not getting a boyfriend!! JUST NO!!! Show Spoiler ▼

        DX

        anyway, the one likely to get a boyfriend is either yui or ritsu (OMG! NO!! ricchan, please don’t break mio’s heart!! DX)

        keiOnDaisuki
        Reply

  30. Ah! One more episode of K-ON! My life is complete! 😀

    On the more down-to-earth side of life, I’m pleased to inform everyone that 4 out of the 5 HTT seiyuus have been confirmed as safe from last week’s quake. We’ve yet to hear from Sato Satomi (Ritsu), but hopefully she should be safe as well.

    http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2011-03-11/anime/manga/game-industry-members-check-in-after-quake

    Mio looks absolutely mesmerizing while she combs her hair with her hand while sitting down in the photo booth and trying to take a picture (and gets interrupted many times by Yui and Ritsu).

    This episode is “so K-ON”, in that the girls plan on doing something, but instead wasted the entire episode doing other things in preparation for that something instead. lol

    Not that I’m complaining. 🙂

    Kinny Riddle
    Reply

  35. Great episode, it was funny throughout but the “no rice, no life” line actually had me laughing out loud.

    I’m actually looking forward to the movie now, this episode has whetted my appetite.

    duh
    Reply

  36. woot!! i finally got to watch the subbed one!! XDD

    man, i LOL’d many times in here because of…

    –YUI!! doing a charade, pantomiming some random but funny things. LOL
    –OMG. the ingurish. XDD yui did so many!! LMAO.
    –for some reason i found it hilarious when ritsu said this line: “Those who believe can see it.” i dunno, maybe because with how satomi played it. XDD but then again, ricchan’s known to do/say random things as well. XDD

    Show Spoiler ▼

    i rate this as an EXCELLENT Episode!!! XDD
    K-ON!!!!!!! FTW!!

    p.S.
    sawa-chan’s hot in this episode. LOL.

    keiOnDaisuki
    Reply

  42. I’ve been watching “My Little Sister can’t be This Cute” lately, and though Ayana voiced Kirino, there’s just no trace of Azusa in her character.
    Seriously, I can’t hear Azusa in Kirino’s voice.
    And I’m glad I couldn’t,
    because I can still believe in the illusion of the character that is Azu-nyan 😀

    Mickey
    Reply

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