First Impressions / K-ON!

OP2 Sequence

OP2: 「Utauyo!! MIRACLE」 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 2nd OP!: Download, Streaming ▼

「夏期講習！」 (Kaki Koushuu!)
“Summer Course!”

We’re past the halfway point of this sequel’s run, which means we have new opening and ending themes! I don’t know what the deal is with getting Toyosaki Aki to sing high pitched songs this season, but “Utauyo!! MIRACLE” has a very similar sound to the first opening, “GO! GO! MANIAC”. The opening sequence is pretty fun to watch though, with Yui using her pencil case as a mic and twirling around on stage, and Houkago Tea Time mobbing Sawa-chan, Nodoka, Ui, and Jun with mad hugs. There’s also some cake voodoo going on, which I got a good laugh out of when I saw it. Unsurprisingly, the new ending theme is a lot more serious and has much more attitude and features a song sung by Hikasa Youko. Neither song has been an instant hit on the first few listens, but I do love the look of all the characters in the ending sequence itself. Ritsu has her bangs down too!

As for the episode itself, I thought this was supposed to be about some extra summer cram lessons in preparation for final exams. Instead, it turned out to be mostly about Mugi and Ritsu and a really good showing at that. I was waiting for a Mugi-focused episode to show up along with some more jokes about her thick eyebrows, and this episode delivered just that by opening with Yui’s dream about them being pickled radishes. I almost got Endless Eight vibes again with the whole dream thing going on again, but luckily this episode turned out to be more about Mugi learning about the joys of arcades and cheap candy stores. It’s almost weird seeing Ritsu being the sensible one out of a group, but it did put an amusing spin on things.

I found it funny how Ritsu was relieved about winning a stuffed animal from the UFO game for Mugi, simply because I could picture the latter’s disappointment if they had to walk away empty-handed. The scene with Ritsu showing Mugi how to eat candy too was pretty cute as well; however, all of that only served as a set up for things getting really quirky when Mugi asked Ritsu to hit her. I really can’t imagine anyone hitting Mugi when she’s so adorable, so I wasn’t too surprised that Ritsu wasn’t able to either. Mugi’s just way too innocent and naive to know any better, but it’s pretty hard to say no to her when she’s so insistent about something. Evidently, she sees the abuse Ritsu gets from Mio and the cheek-on-cheek rubbing Azusa gets from Yui as some skinship she’d like in on.

Surprisingly, things did end up at the private tutoring school, though studying was the last thing on the schedule. While Mugi gave it her all to play the airhead (i.e. “boke”) and get Mio to hit her, all she ended up doing was showing us just how cute she is in glasses. Comedy-wise, the real laughs came at the end when everyone decided to play a game to determine who gets the extra piece of cake. Somehow Ritsu figured it would be easy for Mugi to wind up last and get flicked in the forehead, but naturally she wins and Ritsu gets punished with her own bright idea. The best part was watching Mugi steal Mio’s strawberry from her slice shortly after, thinking that it would set her off just like it did with Yui when Nodoka unintentionally did the same to hers. After hearing Yui whine like a baby to Azusa how it’s akin to stealing the heart of the cake from a person, I couldn’t help but laugh at how Mio started tearing up on the spot. I felt bad for her, but I really couldn’t stop laughing especially when Yui went and grabbed Nodoka to show her exactly how big of a deal it is. Oh man, that was good times.

When things were finally cleared up, Mio got the honors of hitting Mugi to make up for it, but all that resulted from that was another blow to Ritsu’s head. No one in their right mind can hit Mugi even if she eagerly wants it, but it did happen off-screen when she praised Ritsu by saying she would be popular with the ladies if she were a guy. I was thinking that was a hint of Mugi’s lesbianism coming through for the first time in a while, but it didn’t quite drift into that territory much to my disappointment. She did get the result she wanted at least. Next time it looks like there’s going to be a marathon of sorts and Yui’s already complaining about how much she has to run. Oh Yui, you’re the only one I’d put up with this much whining from.

 

ED2 Sequence

ED2: 「NO, Thank You!」 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 2nd ED!: Download, Streaming ▼

Preview

94 Comments

  5. The new ending…. omfg!! IT’S AWESOME!! BEST ENDING EVER! This is way better than Don’t say lazy. It’s in fact the best ending I’ve seen in 2010 thus far. xD

    z0mg
    Reply

      2. Yes, trust me… I’ve seen many… In fact I’m an OP/ED-oholic. xD
        And the new ED just is f***ing awesome! WAY better than the two EDs before and the OPs aswell. I want the full version now! d-(^_~)z

        z0mg
        Reply

    2. Mugi was never really one of my favs in the group but I’ve grown to be quite fond of her. she is real adorable and doesn’t seem to take herself too seriously at times (which is a win in my book).

      Shinjiro
      Reply

  10. Don’t Say Lazy is still #1 for me, but I’ll give this one a little more time to grow on me before I compare it to Listen.

    …But the OP is just total bleh.

    Hayate Yagami
    Reply

  12. The new ED is f-ing awesome! **.** Wow! I absolutely adore the style, the song is also very good (probably not as good as Don’t Say Lazy, but I’ll see how the song will do on the long-term in my playlist). It completely pwns the OP as usual. I have to say I came to like Go! Go! Maniac! after a few dozen listenings since it has a good rythm even though Yui’s voice is annyoing, but I didn’t manage such thing in the new OP yet 😛 Can’t wait for the full version of the ED, I’m quite sure it’ll end up in my TOP 5 favorite endings ^^

    Jurkasz
    Reply

  14. My body…… It wasn’t ready……

    KyoAni you jerk!!!! There were two things they successfully alluded me from.

    1.) Ritsu x Mugi episode.
    2.) New OP and ED.

    Jesus Christ… The preview… It implied a Nodoka episode. Then the OP and ED… People are hoping for that one. I was really a skeptical bastard, I wouldn’t believe KyoAni would change the theme songs. I mean… C’mon we had to ride the happy trippy ED song of LiA in Clannad ~After Story~ after being dealt with an emotional blow. 🙁

    For me ED almost killed Don’t Say Lazy. Heck flash video is in repeat. I just love the chorus so much! Also I did love the concept of the video. KyoAni almost gave it a realistic PV esque. Quality everywhere!!

    Also… This was like… A wallpaper minefield… I love how everyone was given spunk. HEADBANDLESS RITSU!!

    Now for the OP, I’m gonna miss Go! Go! Maniac… Amusing animation though. Go! Go! Maniac was an earworm.. I don’t know about this one.

    Anyway… Wow… Today was just a surprise…. Damn you KyoAni.. DAMN YOU!

    megalith
    Reply

      1. Yep.. Total win!

        Yesterday I was like… “No way… KyoAni with 2 theme songs!?”
        On the other hand I didn’t find any songs awkward.. Just not that appealing or memorable. Unlike when I first heard Go! Go! Maniac. Then I fell in love with the catchy beat it has. I love a good drumming. Anyway this is just 1st week so my opinions can change.

        OTH. For those looking for subs. Looks like the 30 minute airing delay on TBS yesterday, and some people who actually thought it ended with 13 episodes might’ve caused the RAWS to be delayed or something. Still no subs.

        megalith
        Reply

      2. Oh and btw who wants some gifs check my photobucket page.
        Advisable if you don’t direct link to it(for those who want to use this). As the bandwitdth may expire leaving you with an unusable link. Save it in your comp is the better solution.

        Don’t have any use for this account anyway but just for sharing gifs to those interested. Enjoy. 🙂

        megalith
        Reply

  21. I still can’t believe there’s another season of K-on to sit through before we get something better from Kyoani. Their next project is Nichijou and personally that’s not something to look forward to. I don’t see any FMP or Haruhi announcements around the corner either and seeing the success for sales of Angel Beats, PA Works is now pretty much a shoe in to animate Little Busters, even when I felt their work on Angel Beats was pretty mediocre. Looks like a pretty dark road for Kyoani.

    lHyDrAl
    Reply

  23. I like the new OP, because an OP song of anime is supposed to set the tone for the story, and this “Miracle” song really does that, as well as the previous “Maniac”. K-ON is all about girls being so silly but yet so cute, and these two songs exactly have plenty of those two attributes.
    Of course I like the new ED too. More like straightforward rock. All K-ON’s ED songs are about “What-if”, I mean, “What if the HTT becomes the real pro band and makes a PV?”, that’s been the theme of ED’s all along, and the newest “No, Thank You” doesn’t disappoint. It does look just like a PV of a professional rock band.

    DC/AC
    Reply

  25. The new OP has some cute animation but the song seems off with what I’ve expected from the series. Then again, it might just grow on me as most songs in K-on does with me. The new ED is sweet and really look pro (in par at the very least with Don’t Say lazy”. Can’t wait to see the episode!

    Shinjiro
    Reply

  27. The new ED animation is gold!!! but the song itself… I will have to give it a few more listen to like it as much as Don’t say lazy and listen…

    the episode itself is nice 🙂

    jrj
    Reply

  30. I like all the openings and endings actually. I prefer the endings, but they’re all pretty creative compared to a lot of the other stuff out there.
    I lol’d pretty hard when I looked up close at the scenes in the opening, like practicing the can-can, the cake hypnosis, the audience twirling around with Yui, the Nodoka attack… it was just funny.
    And as long as the ending is artistic and features Mio, I couldn’t care less if the opening is too fast paced. 😀

    innerchihiro
    Reply

    1. No real reason, other than ending sequences generally aren’t as eventful as opening ones. K-ON is an exception of course. I used to go with nine opening screenshots and six ending ones, but feel that sometimes less is more. The streaming video tends to help offset the less screenshots too.

      Divine
      Reply

  32. Something about “number of unique events”. Face it, the OP has tons of them, while the ED primarily consists of Mio’s spray paint, single shots, a couple group photos and a door. OP has the singles, several events (tackling characters, cake voodoo, concert, dancing fail), and a few group photos.

    Anyways…do not deny it, Ritsu and Mugi went on a date for the first half of the EP. I mean, game center (souvenirs included) followed by candy store followed by burger shack? inb4doujin.

    Vsin
    Reply

  33. Graduation of the 4 of them is supposed to be at the end of this season 2, and both OP2 and ED2 are crying out loud that it’s coming and inevitable.

    Gift wrapped pen case, concert in the classroom and mega-hug of Sawachan, Ui and Jun for the OP2, all point that it could be a situation after the graduation ceremony.
    And the lyrics of the ED2, like, they don’t want memories because they love everyone so much right now….bringing back memories is something grown up people love to do but for us, right now, it’s no, thank you.

    So much feel of a beginning of an ending.

    DC/AC
    Reply

    1. ^precisely same as my own thoughts..the 0P forshadows a bittersweet go0dbye..it’s much understanble if 0ne’s t0 see what its lyrics imply..same with the ED albeit it has a badass appr0ach t0 it..that being said,i’m sad that k-0n’s t0 leave s0oner=(

      anyway, c0ntrary to 0thers’ 0pinion,imh0, N0, Thank Y0u! beats the 2 first EDs! idk,but the lyrics,vide0,and musical arrangement are superb! the s0ng has a better appeal t0 me,same w/ utauy0 miracle.

      keiOnDaisuki
      Reply

  37. The new OP’s medlody is pretty confused and distorted and unlike stuff like Daybreak’s Bell (where instruments are chaotic but fits together as a whole). Go Go Maniac wasn’t great shakes but was still coherent at least. The ending has no real impact either. Listen was more flawed than Don’t Be Lazy but it still had greater impact than the new ED.

    Fortunately the anime itself is still interesting enough with some funny scenes (Mio getting her strawberry stolen was funny and Yui is still the lovable klutz)

    Zaku_Fan
    Reply

  38. “Utauyo!! Miracle” will need some time for me to get used to, though I expect to embrace soon, as I now have embraced “Go Go Maniac”. lol The OP animation is just as fun to watch.

    OTOH, “No, Thank You” rocks! The opening guitar riffs got me hooked at once. As for the Ed animation, I am particularly mesmerized by their delinquent schoolgirl outfits.
    https://randomc.net/image/K-ON/K-ON!!%20-%20ED2%20-%20Large%2001.jpg

    First thing I thought of when seeing that was the girls rock band SCANDAL.
    http://www.scandal-4.com/
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandal_%28Japanese_band%29

    Though their second outfit in that ED was also impressive, with Azu-nyan looking particularly cute and gorgeous in that.
    https://randomc.net/image/K-ON/K-ON!!%20-%20ED2%20-%20Large%2003.jpg

    This must be the first time Kyo-Ani has switched OP and ED for a show in the middle of its broadcast. Meaning they’re getting more confident in terms of allocating money to make a second high quality OP/ED animation.

    For the record on Kyo-Ani’s OP/EDs (not including OVAs and movies):

    AIR – only 1 cour – 1 OP/ED each

    FMP: Fumoffu – ditto

    Haruhi 1 – ditto

    Kanon 2006 – first Kyo-Ani show to run 2 cours – still 1 OP/ED each for entire run

    Lucky Star – 1 OP for entire run, low-budget still shot ED for first half, even lower budget live-action singalongs featuring Shiraishi Minoru in second half

    Clannad – ditto for 2 cour shows

    Clannad: After Story – ditto for 2 cour shows

    Haruhi 2 – ditto for 1 cour shows

    K-ON! Season 1 – ditto for 1 cour shows (Azu-nyan shoe-horned into OP from ep 9)

    Kinny Riddle
    Reply

  39. This turns out even funnier than the manga chapters it was based on.

    Yui had that “Et Tu Nodoka?” expression when Nodoka took her strawberry, even more priceless was her dragging Nodoka all the way to their clubroom and showed Nodoka Mio’s distraught look just to illustrate what a big deal it really was. XDDD

    (Mugi stealing Mio’s strawberry was just as funny as hell. )

    Mugi’s masochistic spirit may well have been truly awakened now. 🙂 Thanks to this revelation, I’m sure the doujin artists have now gone to overtime in coming up with their Ritsu x Mugi yuri doujins in time for next month’s Summer Comiket.

    PS While unassuming, the overalls matches Yui’s lovable innocence just fine.
    https://randomc.net/image/K-ON/K-ON!!%20-%2014%20-%20Large%2026.jpg

    Kinny Riddle
    Reply

  41. Damn, I think if I put one too many html links, my post gets put into the “Awaiting Moderation” queue.

    Anyway, what I mainly wanted to say in that post was besides how impressed I was with the new ED, is how the HTT girls’ delinquent school uniforms remind me of the girls rock band SCANDAL.

    Kinny Riddle
    Reply

  44. So let me get this straight.

    We get the earliest RC review of a K-On!! episode ever.

    AND the same episodes is also the LATEST to be released in subs.

    That makes no sense.

    starss
    Reply

    1. My take is that the subbers had to work on the new OP and ED. That takes time vs being able to watch it raw and understand it without the need to explain it to no one. Makes a bit more sense now?

      Island Esper
      Reply

  45. Now that’s an ED !!!! I still like DSLazy more; but can change once I heard the whole new song. Mugi is great. However I feel that even with all the money she has her life is kind of empty 🙁 Of the mundane pleasures of the poor. Enter Ritsu 🙂 I had a blast with this episode

    Island Esper
    Reply

  48. Subs are out, and the new OP and ED songs will take some getting used to after the high-energy beats of “GO! GO! MANIAC” and “Listen!!”. Hopefully the songs will grow on me as the second cour moves along. (Either that or hear the full versions of the new songs.)

    And I thought Azu-nyan’s dreams will be the only trippy dream this season… Good to see an interesting call back to Mugi’s pickled radish eyebrows, then raised the trippy dream up to eleven with Mugi turning into jello. LOL

    Awww…Mugi’s too damn cute to hit! Hitting on her, on the other hand… 😀

    And poor Mio, never expecting Mugi to steal her strawberry… Having conflicting feelings on whether to hit Mugi or not didn’t help either, but it was amusing to watch her flustered reaction. D’awwwwwwww…

    Incognito
    Reply

  49. After getting the time to finally watch this episode, I have to say this was probably one of the funniest episodes since 2. Especially the scene when Mio got jacked and she started to tear on the spot.

    Not really diggin the OP too much, but the ED song, hands down wins as my favorite one. I’ve listened to it during my breaks at work at least like 10 times so far. The xylophone intro with the guitars is badass, THEN the music video that goes along with it tops it off for me. Mio and Ritsu look really good in hoodies with them up.

    fall3nbs
    Reply

  50. love the new opening and ending!!!!!!! i loved this episode Mugi is so funny!!! My favorite part was when Mugi stole Mio’s strawberry and thenMio started crying!!! X3

    Kurerian
    Reply

  53. 1. Agree with Yui, strawberry is the heart nad soulof the cake… dont steal it, or suffer the consequences (being hit or watching Mio crying)
    2. Mugi wanting skinship so badly to the point of getting hit, and praising Ritsu fro being manly… I can see a wave of yuri doujins…
    3. Great ending! Best since “Lazy”, if not better…

    ewok40k
    Reply

  54. nice episode anyway, and nice songs, I guess…

    the episode itself is interesting, and I duno why it’s just much interesting than azu-nyan and gang, and really, mugi should just get into a co-ed school to experience life…

    well more moe-ness to keep me waiting for the PSP game, which is great anyway…

    kaineng
    Reply

  57. Why is Yui so amusing?

    I just love it when she complains. I loved it how she makes a big deal of the strawberry. Aki Toyosaki’s VA work on that doesn’t get old. Also… The crane machine has a surprise VA work for Mugi. *devilish smirk*

    Well.. Going back to what I was doing.. Slowpoke finishing a marathon of Requiem for the Phantroll… This thing is a mindf***.
    Show Spoiler ▼

    megalith
    Reply

  58. Here’s some really insane K-On related news.

    Below is the TV ratings for the week of 27th June to 4th July in the Niigata area:

    http://supportista.jp/2010/07/news08094508.html
    1 – Late Night News 29th June – 54.7%
    2 – World Cup Japan v Paraguay 29th June – 53.6%
    3 – K-On!! episode 13, 29th June – 48.0% – which can be considered a record for a late night anime

    This was mainly because the episode in Niigata was broadcast right after the World Cup match and the special late night news bulletin after it.

    For other areas, the episode drew the regular 11.8% rating fitting for its genre as the networks which did not broadcast the World Cup aired the episode at the scheduled time, the same time when the Japan v Paraguay match went into extra time and penalties.

    Kinny Riddle
    Reply

  59. The new OP is dynamic, with respect to the music and the video. The ED has gotten gloomier in the theme of the song but still smacks my head in awesomeness. Which makes you wonder, they’re called the light music club, but should rock be considered light music? I can ask the same for Death Devil as well.

    First impressions: we are now halfway into the 26-episode series (as Episode 1 confirmed it; some of you may not have seen it in the subs). And I got lots to say so I placed them inside a spoiler tag.

    Show Spoiler ▼

    And with that, I end my dissertation. Semper fi.

    Razgriz
    Reply

    2. Whoops forgot that I clicked reply to this thread :S
      Anyhow, yea I noticed the twirl too. Really cute, the scenes here are better than the first OP, in a slice-of-life kind of way. Not for fan service shots though.

      ahbonk
      Reply

  62. This episode is probably the funniest one thus far for this second season. Seriously, I don’t remember the last time I laughed so hard from watching K-ON. And of course, having a Mugi-centered episode is almost like an instant “win” to me.

    pierce
    Reply

  64. Finally WATCHED the freaking episode…..
    I have to say, looking at it on RandomC was not like watching it. It was way funnier than I expected after hearing the comments and looking at the pictures. I mean, when Mugi stole the strawberry and Mio teared up I thought life in K-ON!! world couldn’t get any better, but then Yui brought it back to the “soul of the cake” thing and I was practically on the floor laughing. Seriously, Yui needs to use some of that energy for more productive things (like studying heh heh).
    Not to mention Mugi’s cuteness and her interpretation of Mio and Ritsu’s “skinship” were some of the highlights of this episode.

    innerchihiro
    Reply

  66. Fun episode with two interesting new songs from the girls. Poor little rich-girl Mugi…she so wants to be part of the physical give and take but is treated like a princess.

    What was that “thumbs up” game they played to determine the winner of the extra slice?

    Martin
    Reply

  67. haha it was a nice ep really, I like mugi even more ^^ and ritsu is perfect too ^^
    i like the ending animation but i like more listen (song)but maybe later, its pretty cool, of course.
    and im sure i will like the OP latter like it happen with the first OP.

    lol
    Reply

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