Review for K-ON! - Volume 1

Introduction

Who'd licence an anime? You think that it's hard enough in the UK having to wait for a US licence, and then a US dub, followed by an Australian release before we get the requisite PAL transfers. There's an innate delay to the process that makes us feel like little orphan Oliver when it comes to asking for more. That's before you get to licensor requirements. The US company that you get the materials from may insist on certain requirements being filled, and they in turn may be hamstrung by the original Japanese owners of the property, insisting on things being done the way they want (There's a reason why the Love Hina dub was so bad). And if anywhere in that process a shoe gets thrown, we in the UK get screwed. It's a wonder that we get anime here at all.


All of which preamble is in order to soften the blow when it comes to K-ON! Given the hoops that Manga are jumping through to get this title to the UK, I personally would have given up on the idea long ago. But K-ON! is the title of the moment, this year's Haruhi Suzumiya, a fan favourite that is busting down the walls of its genre and attracting new worshippers to the altar of anime like never before. This first 14-episode series has spun-off a feature film, and a second 26-episode series as well. It's hitting big on DVD and more importantly Blu-ray as well. Except when it comes to releasing the series, we've apparently stepped back in time by seven or eight years. In the current climate of bargain prices and hefty half-season boxsets released in quick order, Manga Entertainment have to release K-ON! the way that the original licensors stipulate, in single volume discs. Season 1 will have 4 in total, with 4 episodes apiece on the first two, and 3 episodes on each of the final 2. The release schedule is horrendous too, with volume 2 currently set for November. Being burned with part series Blu-ray releases once too often over the last year, Manga have wisely refused to release single Blu-ray volumes of K-ON! in the UK alongside the DVD releases, and instead we'll get a 2-disc Blu-ray complete series collection next year. Oh, and licensing requirements have meant that a key song in episode 1 has had to be replaced in all English language territory releases. Given that this is a series about a pop group, that is something of a big deal. On top of that, the DVD R.R.P. is pretty last decade as well. That's a lot going against K-ON! and it hasn't even been released yet. It's a good thing then that it deserves its reputation.


Yui Hirasawa has spaced out her way through elementary and middle school, and history looks to repeat itself when she starts high school. Even though she is eager and excited about her new life as a high school student, after a few weeks pass, and after every extra-curricular club in school has courted her, she still hasn't decided on which one to join. It's when her friend Nodoka gently informs her that she's on her way to becoming a NEET, that she finally picks a promising flyer and fills in the form. She chooses the Light Music Club, inspired by some happy memories of playing the castanets in nursery school. She isn't quite ready for what membership entails.

The first four episodes of K-ON! are presented on this single layer disc from Manga Entertainment.

1. Disband the Club!
Ritsu Tainaka and Mio Akiyama swore that they would start a band together, and on entering high school and learning of the Light Music Club, they figured that it would be the ideal kick-start. But for the outgoing drummer Ritsu, and the shy bassist Mio, their plans seemed to be scuppered when they learned that last year's members have all left, and without a minimum of four students, the Light Music Club would have to disband. It's time to start recruiting, and their first mark is Tsumugi Kotobuki, a keyboard player who walked into the wrong room, looking for a Choir Club. The friendly atmosphere charms the gentle Tsumugi, but they still need a lead guitarist. The trouble is that when Yui Hirasawa walks through the door, and sees just what is expected from her, the first thing she looks for is the exit.


2. Instruments!
Cakes, biscuits and tea are all well and good, but if they are going to be a band, Yui is going to have to buy a guitar. Even with an advance on her allowance, she's still short of the amount required for the instrument she has set her heart on. It's time for the team to pull together. It's time for everyone to find a part time job.

3. Cram Session!
Now it's time for Yui to learn how to play. Actually, it's time to learn how to read music. In fact, it's really time to start studying for the midterm exams, but Yui isn't the sharpest when it comes to studying, easily distracted, and currently too much in love with her guitar to concentrate on anything else. It comes as no surprise when she has to sit a make-up test. The surprise is that she is banned from club activities until she passes, and that would put the Light Music Club below the 4 student minimum membership again. The girls are going to have to help Yui study.


4. Training Camp!
Summer vacation has arrived, and Mio has discovered a tape of the old Light Music Club performing. With the school cultural festival after the holidays, Mio believes that the band ought to be ready for their first live performance, and to do that, she decides that they ought to have an intensive training camp over the holidays. Mugi's got a summerhouse at the beach that seems ideal, but sun, sand and surf prove to be too much of a distraction for Yui and Ritsu.

Picture

K-ON! gets a 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer, which as usual is filtered through Australia's Madman Entertainment, who have deigned to give it a native PAL conversion. The animation is excellent, detailed and fluid, while the show is replete with bright, sunny colours, and very pleasant character designs, character designs that served as inspiration for the characters in the Sound of the Sky anime. This is another high-end anime production, and it shows on the screen, with some very imaginative animation, and thoughtful character study. I noticed no problems with compression or judder, and the image looks fine, even when scaled up on a high definition display.

Sound

You have the option here of DD 2.0 Stereo English and Japanese, along with the usual translated subtitles or a signs only track. The audio is fine, the show's splendid light pop music comes across with great effect, while the dialogue is clear throughout. As usual I opted for the original language track, but from what I sampled of the English dub, it's one that follows the original pretty closely in terms of character voices, style, mood, even to the point of using Japanese honorifics.

The song that is replaced is Tsubasa wo Kudasai at the end of episode 1, an instrumental piece that is obviously played by a start-up amateur band, nowhere near perfection by any means. The English release (both original language and dub version) use 'Love me Tender' a.k.a. 'Aura Lee' instead, and had I not read about it on the Interweb, I wouldn't have noticed, so perfectly does it match the animation. It's still bloody annoying when this sort of thing happens, and quite understandably fans are watching Bandai Entertainment (who are responsible) like a hawk to see if subsequent releases, with more story specific music pieces are affected.


Another pre-emptive licensing whinge here concerns the Blu-rays, which we in the UK won't have to worry about until next year. The Japanese K-ON! Blu-rays, hideously expensive, with two episodes per disc, have uncompressed LPCM 2.0 Stereo audio. The K-ON! Blu-rays released to the English-speaking world have lossy DD 2.0 Stereo tracks encoded at 192kbps. HD video with SD sound… thrilling! Incidentally, this DVD's DD 2.0 stereo audio is encoded at 224kbps.

Extras

K-ON! gets the usual treatment of static menus and a jacket picture. As usual I only got a check disc, so I can't comment on disc label art or packaging.

The only extra feature on the disc is a 10-minute interview with the English voice of Yui, Stephanie Sheh. She discusses the character and the show, and also talks about how the show relates to her own experiences of high school.

Conclusion

It's Beck, but without all the angst and drama. There's no violence, no swearing, no relationship angst, but the story is still about a group of like minded individuals coming together to make music. Instead of all the heavy stuff, it's music made in the context of light, fluffy, slice-of-life comedy, with adorable characters, non-stressful situations, and a delicate and very approachable wit. K-ON! is the sort of show that you can just lose yourself in, allow yourself to be washed away by a tidal wave of sugary sunshine and whimsical joy. It's the sort of fun that makes you endlessly grateful that you have just spent 90 minutes watching a Japanese cartoon about high school girls, and not in the slightest bit embarrassed that you're a man rapidly colliding with middle age, who should know better.


The joy, as always in this sort of show, comes down to the characters, and K-ON!'s characters pretty much follow the usual anime tropes. Yui, the lead character is the clumsy, spaced-out, ditz that finds her calling and unexpected talents when she joins the Light Music Club. She's easily distracted, and charmed by the most trivial of things. The founder members of the club are best friends Ritsu and Mio. Ritsu is the loud, eager, brash, and slightly stupid member of the club. Mio balances her out by being smart, elegant and soft-spoken, as well as being shy and prone to teasing. The calm placidity of Tsumugi rounds off the band. She's easy-going and a tad maternal, and helps ground the others. These four girls form the heart of the show, and the way their personalities interact creates most of the humour.


With the majority of anime released in big, 13 episode chunks, I've nearly forgotten how to review these small volume releases. It almost seems unfair trying to judge a show on just a small fraction of its content, and I don't think I'm doing K-ON! any favours by taking these four episodes out of context. For the first two episodes, I had that new series feeling, that 'best thing since sliced bread' inkling, with a perfectly put together story of a group of girls coming together with the hopes of somehow making music. The first two episodes set the scene brilliantly, introduce the characters, and get the ball rolling in terms of putting the band together and forming friendships.


It's just that the final two episodes shift gear away from that, slow the story down in favour of more character development and character comedy. Episode 3 is all about Yui's impending exam hell, with a lot of the laughs coming from her frantic attempts to revise. Episode 4 looks like it's getting back on track with the music club going on a training camp, but distractions strike in the form of holiday time, and most of the episode is devoted to indulging in distraction, and Mio trying to get everyone motivated again. It isn't until the closing minutes of the episode that we get some idea of the band's potential, and Yui's savant gift.


As I said, that opinion comes from taking these episodes at face value. I'm sure in the context of the series as a whole they'll fit just like a glove. But I do hope that with the next volume of K-ON!, the Light Music Club will spend some more time actually making music. They need to get their act together, as the School Cultural Festival is just around the corner.


Expensive single volumes, a daft release schedule, a song replaced in the first episode; there are plenty of reasons to give K-ON! a miss. But I can give you 93 reasons to invest in this first volume of K-ON!, 93 minutes of unadulterated joy. It's a fun, slice-of-life, music anime, and it's delicious.